I was more nervous than I could imagine ever being as I sat in the waiting room in the veterinary office of Caleb Smyth’s rescue shelter while awaiting his arrival.  With a good number of animals in need of care, Kenzie and Oscar immediately went to work.  Left alone, my thoughts went to the absurdity of the situation.  I was literally there to meet a man who was openly shopping for a wife.  Or, as the werewolves put it, a mate.Was I really going to go through with this?I’d thought that when I broke my engagement with Rob that I’d wait a while before I let love come my way.  As for marriage, it wasn’t something that I was really anxious to enter into.  After all, as long as I continued to live the way I’d chosen for the last few years, I could see no issue with finances in my future.  I’d inherited a tidy sum from my grandmother and the novels that I wrote padded the money pot.Unfortunatel

The expression Danica wore was both amusing and frightening as she watched Caleb lead me into the chair next to his at the dining table.  If he noticed the hate for me in her eyes, he gave no indication of it as he made the introductions around the room.He seemed mildly surprised to discover that Kenzie and I had already met her.  Even so.  Other than express his surprise, he made no effort to explore how and why we were acquainted.  Instead, he initiated light and interesting table talk about the history of the mountain while we enjoyed several courses that could easily have been served in a five star restaurant.  I found the stories that he and Oscar told of their ancestors’ practices and beliefs to be both entertaining and intriguing.It was eye opening to discover that there were significant likenesses and differences in the beliefs and operation of the packs.Since Caleb was pack leader and Oscar was second in line behind Noa

The guest room where I was placed in the big house was adjacent to Caleb’s.  In fact, there was a concealed door that allowed him to enter without going into the hallway.  This wasn’t something that I was aware of until I heard it open a few hours after I’d gone to bed.I was in that zen state of not being fully awake, yet not quite into a deep sleep when I heard the creaking of the door.  My mind was aware of it, but my body remained unwilling to respond as I peacefully lay beneath the damask coverlet that adorned the bed.The wherewithal to react finally hit me when I felt the cool air on my nakedness as the covers were pulled away from me.  Sitting up, I quickly turned on the light while pulling the top sheet up high enough to cover my bare breasts.I rarely slept in the nude, but since I’d arrived with the intention of an afternoon visit and not a lengthy stay, I had no night clothes to wear.  I could have rem

I hadn’t eaten since the dinner party the night before, so the spicy broth hit the spot.It occurred to me to question its contents, but, then, I thought better of it.  What did it matter? I didn’t like being handicapped in such a way. It actually brought forth hints of the claustrophobia that I suffered from. As the creepy cook so adamantly insisted; if I wanted to use my legs, I’d have to drink the broth and I definitely wanted to use my legs again.I found the fact that this broth had such crazy healing properties puzzling since it tasted like a simple Asian beef broth to me.  Since I knew so little about werewolves and their ways, I accepted that it had some type of property that would renew my ability to function normally and drank every last drop.I didn’t get a chance to test out the results of the broth before Caleb returned to my room.  I’d fallen into a deep, dreamless sleep almost immediately after consumin

There were still a matter of hours before the full moon would rise and I already felt terrible.  In fact, the sensations in my body were so strange and awful that I couldn’t even accurately describe them to anyone if I tried.  Every inch of me twitched and ached, from my bones to my muscles.Since I’d never experienced this before, I suspected that it had to do with the fact that I had Caleb’s venom inside of me.  I would have confirmed it with him, but he was nowhere to be found.  After I’d submitted so willingly to him a few nights earlier, he’d not returned.  It was almost as if he’d lost interest after a successful conquest of my body.Since I’d arrived almost a week earlier, I’d not been allowed out of my room.  The only faces I’d seen were Caleb, Philip, and Danica.  Kenzie returned several times over the course of the few days, but was unsuccessful in getting near me. It was