First Bite

  We fell asleep that way.

  11

  I woke up with a hell of a hangover. My body was stiff and uncooperative. I felt like I'd gone through a growth spurt, complete with all the raging hormones.

  I creaked open my eyes and found myself staring at an unfamiliar bedroom. The sheets covered my naked body up to my breasts. Light poured into the room through the large window. I sat up. The sheets pooled at my waist.

  I clutched my aching head and tried to make sense of this whole situation. There was last night with the werewolves and the apple tree, and the. . .the. . .the raging animal sex.

  I straightened and blinked. Had I really done that? Had I really turned into some sort of animal and gone all the way with a complete stranger? A strange one, at that? One quick look down at my naked self was all the answer I needed.

  The door swung open and Orion stepped inside. "Good morning!"

  I yelped and flung the sheet over me. "Knock first!"

  I jerked to a stop and grinned at me. "Sorry." He reversed course and shut the door. A moment later came a polite knock. He opened the door and strolled inside.

  "I didn't tell you you could come inside!" I snapped.

  "Hey, I knocked," he pointed out as he moved to stand beside the bed. His eyes swept over me. I tightened my death-grip on the sheets and glared back at him. "Sooo, how are you feeling?"

  "Ill," I growled.

  His smile widened and he dropped himself onto the bed. I scooted away. A pained expression slipped onto his face. "Come on, don't be like that."

  My eyes narrowed. "Be like what? Like you made me bite into an apple that's made me into some sort of a sex monster?"

  He nodded. "Yeah, like that."

  I grabbed a pillow and threw it into his face. He took the hit like a statue, and the pillow dropped onto the bed between us. "What the hell am I supposed to be like?"

  He shrugged. "Maybe a little moody, but not so murderous."

  My body shook. I clenched my teeth. He jumped to his feet and smiled down at me. "You know, I bet you're really hungry. How about we go out for a bite?"

  I blinked at him. "Are you insane? The only place I'm going is out of this town!"

  Orion jerked his head towards the door. "You might not be hungry, but I am. How about we talk about this over a good breakfast?"

  I armed myself with more pillows-of-death. "Did you hear me? I'm getting out of here!"

  He pointed at something beside the bed. "That's going to be a little difficult."

  I leaned over the bed. My face fell. My clothes lay in a pile on the floor. They were in tatters.

  "However, if you agree to come to breakfast with me, I'll loan you some of mine," he offered.

  I whipped my head left and right. There was a long closet in the wall to my left. I wrapped the sheets tightly around myself and slipped off the bed. Something tugged on my 'clothes.' I glanced back and glared at Orion who knelt on the bed. The sheets were trapped beneath his knees, and he had a triumphant grin on his face.

  "Something the matter?" he asked me.

  I grabbed the sheets and tugged. His heavy body kept them pinned to the bed. I looked at the short distance to the closet. My desperation overrode my embarrassment.

  I abandoned my sheets and raced naked for the closet.

  "Hey!" Orion called out.

  He clamored off the bed. I reached the closet and grabbed the sliding door. Orion grabbed me from behind and lifted me off the floor. He pulled me away from the closet and spun me around.

  I kicked and squirmed in his grasp. "Let go! Let me go!"

  "Sorry, my lovely. Can't do that," he replied as he dropped me back onto the bed.

  I spun around and glared at him. I froze when I beheld a devious look in his eyes. Those same eyes were taking in every naked part of me. I sat up and smacked him across the cheek.

  He stumbled back. The carnal look in his eyes disappeared. He rubbed his cheek, but there was a smile on his lips. He avoided looking at me. "Thanks. I needed that."

  "Come closer and I'll give you another dose of medicine," I promised.

  He shook his head. "Thanks, but I think I've learned my lesson about touching. At least for now." He dropped his hand and folded his arms. "I get the feeling we started off this morning on the wrong foot. Maybe we can start it fresh."

  I opened my arms and showed off my naked assets. "Fresh? Fresh? I'm a monster now, and all you can say is you're hungry?"

  His smile fell off his face. "You're not a monster."

  I threw up my arms. "I'm not the Easter Bunny!"

  He nodded. "You're right, you're not a were-rabbit. You're a wolf, and a wolf needs her hearty breakfast."

  My mouth dropped open. "Are you listening to me at all?"

  Orion strode over and set his hands on the bed. He leaned over so our faces nearly touched. I leaned back, but his eyes caught mine in their steady gaze. "Believe me, I know how hard this can be."

  I glared at him. "How can you-" He pressed his finger against my lips.

  "My apple was sour."

  I blinked at him. "Your-" My eyes widened. "Then you-?"

  He dropped his hand and nodded. "Yeah. I was born here, I ate an apple, and I'll die here. I'll never get to experience anything outside this valley." He paused. His eyes swept over me. "Except you. You're the first bright spot in a long, long time, so when you tell me you're a monster, I know what I'm talking about when I say you're no monster."

  I parted my lips, but no sound came out. He straightened and smiled as he ran a hand through his hair. "Listen to me. I sound pathetic."

  I pursed my lips and hung my head. "I'm. . .I'm sorry."

  Orion grabbed my hand and pulled me from the bed. He clasped me against him and I looked into his dazzling bright, mirthful eyes. "Don't ever apologize. It doesn't suit you."

  And it was at that moment my stomach growled. I sheepishly grinned. "Looks like I could use some of that breakfast, after all."

  He smiled down at me. "First let's see which of my clothes will be honored to suit you."

  I couldn't argue. Besides, maybe clothed I'd have a chance at getting my car and escaping the town in a blaze of bullets and slushy roads.

  12

  A pair of his smallest jeans and a shrunken t-shirt was my attire. My bra had survived the previous night's frenzy, and with a pair of socks and my shoes I was ready to go. Orion led me outside and I saw that a light skiff of snow covered the ground.

  I kicked at the white stuff as we walked down the path to the road. The slush got its revenge as it soaked into my borrowed socks. "You guys should export this stuff."

  Orion smiled. "It exports itself when it melts in the spring. The lower towns always forget to pay the bill, though."

  I arched an eyebrow. "Do the lower towns even know you exist?"

  He nodded. "Yeah, but they know we keep to ourselves. People ask fewer questions if they don't get a chance to talk to us."

  I swept my eyes over the tall houses as we walked down the blocks towards the main street. "That doesn't seem to be making it easier to find out about this Sickness." I turned to him. "You guys consult any doctors about this disease? Or maybe a veterinarian?"

  He pursed his lips. "That's just it. The Sickness has been around since ancient times. That's how we know a cure. What's got everybody bothered is we don't know how everybody's catching it. It's usually passed on through an infected person, but nobody new has come in for over a year."

  "Until me," I added.

  He nodded. "Until you."

  I nodded at his nose. "Can't you use that sniffer of yours to find the source? You did tell me you were a hunter by profession."

  He smiled. "Even I need a place to start the hunt."

  "What about the first person to catch it?" I suggested.

  He shook his head. "I tried that. The mayor couldn't tell us where she caught it."

  I arched an eyebrow. "The mayor was the first one to catch it?"

  "Yep, but here we
are."

  Our quick footsteps brought us to the main street, and Orion took me to the storefront of Mab's diner. I expected a hole covered by some tarp. What I saw was the front just as I remembered it before the truck crashed into it. I stood with my mouth agape as Orion grabbed the handle of the door.

  "Coming?" he asked me.

  I pointed at the storefront. "How?"

  He smiled. "You should be prepared for the unexpected around these parts. Now let's get some food."

  I followed him inside and gawked at the perfectly-intact interior. All the tables and chairs were whole and back in their places. Orion took a stool, and I slid onto another beside him.

  Mab came out of the kitchen and walked over to us. She pulled out her pad and pencil, and smiled at me. "You look rather astonished this morning."

  "Just a-" I cleared my throat to get the squeak out of it. "Just a little."

  She chuckled. "The world is a strange place. We shall say my diner is no less strange than any other, and leave the discussion there." She half-turned to Orion, but paused. Her eyes flickered to me. "Oh, and you needn't be in such a hurry to leave." I started back and my eyes widened. She chuckled and wrote a few notes on the pad. "One waffle, extra sweet, and-" she turned to Orion, "-a stack of pancakes with something special." With that Mab turned around and retreated back into the kitchen.

  Orion stood on the lower rung of his stool and cupped a hand over his mouth. "Not that!" There was no reply from the kitchen. He dropped back into his seat and sighed. "She never listens."

  I blinked at him. "Mind explaining to me what the heck is going on?"

  He shrugged. "The usual. Mab's exploiting our hunger with her most expensive menu items."

  I rolled my eyes. "Not that, this." I swept my hand over the diner. I nodded at where Mab had gone. "And her. What kind of 'were' is she? The kind that can read the minds of hungry people and fix hurricane-force damage overnight?"

  He smiled. "Not everyone in this town owns a built-in fur coat. Mab happens to be a-" Mab swept from the kitchen with a plate balanced in either hand.

  She dropped them in front of us and slid the syrup between us. I glanced down at my plate and felt drool well up in my mouth. My waffle was topped with a couple of cups of strawberries. My stomach grumbled.

  Mab stepped back and smiled. "I am glad to hear you brought the best spice."

  I picked up my fork and arched an eyebrow. "What's that?"

  Her smile widened. "Hunger." She turned and walked back into the kitchen.

  "And a whole bunch of syrup," Orion spoke up as he rolled something off the top of his stack of pancakes.

  I glanced at the object and noticed it was a lemon slice. The entire top of his pancake stack was covered in the strips of sour fruit. My eyes flickered up to his frowning face. "A fetish?"

  His sly grin returned. "If it was, you'd know about it by now." I glared at him and stabbed my stack of pancakes. He held up his hands. "I was just joking."

  I nodded at the lemons. "And is that a joke?"

  Orion sighed and looked to Mab had vanished. "She knows she's the only one who can get away with this, so she milks it for all it's worth."

  I arched an eyebrow. "What exactly is 'this?'"

  He stabbed one of the lemons and lifted it to eye level to examine the pierced fruit. "This is what my apple tasted like."

  I frowned. "Like a lemon?"

  He nodded and dropped the lemon onto the plate. "Yeah. Like I said, the Blessing Tree is like life. It's sweet and sour."

  "So why is Mab the only one allowed to torture you with the dreaded lemon?" I wondered.

  He tipped another lemon off the stack and smiled. "Because she let's me eat here for free."

  My face fell and I narrowed my eyes. "So this is why you took me here? To get a free meal?"

  He shrugged. "And exercise. That's important."

  I rolled my eyes. "As much as I'm sure you'd like to hear more about yourself-"

  He grinned. "I wouldn't mind it."

  "-I'd rather hear about this town," I finished.

  He sighed and stabbed a piece of pancake with his fork. "Ah, that." He paused and furrowed his brow. "What have I told you so far?"

  "That it has a tree a gardener would kill to own and it's full of people who need to shave after every full moon," I told him.

  He stuffed his mouth with pancake, and when he spoke the counter was sprayed with spittle. "So what else do you need to know?"

  "For one, how has this town managed to keep its secret for so long?" I wondered. I leaned on one elbow and tapped my fork against the plate. "Nobody's tried to leak this to the press?"

  He swallowed and shrugged. "This is kind of a self-policing area. Everybody knows the rule is to stick to the area south of the highway so we don't can't anyone's attention."

  I snorted. "Then you might want to remind the guy I saw last night on the road."

  He whipped his head to me. "What was that?"

  "I said I saw one of you guys out on the highway last night," I repeated.

  Orion set his fork down and leaned towards me. "What did you see, and where exactly did you see it?"

  I frowned. "I saw a werewolf between the road turnoff and where the highway was blocked off. Is there a problem with that?"

  He nodded. "Yeah, a big problem. Nobody's allowed to go that far, especially if they're transformed. Could you show me where you saw the werewolf?"

  I shrugged. "Sure, but after-" Mab came out of the kitchen with two large to-go boxes and a pair of plastic forks and knives.

  "These will keep your pancakes fresh even in the car," she told us.

  Orion grinned and took the boxes. "Thanks, Mab, you're a life-saver."

  She chuckled. "I aim to please."

  13

  Orion led me outside with our boxes in our hands. The gray sky hinted at snowfall and a blustery wind blew past us.

  I cringed and wrapped my free arm around me. "I don't think we're going to find anything at the highway. Not after this long."

  He turned to me and tapped the side of his nose. "Don't underestimate the power of the nose. I'm not the local hunter for nothing."

  "You told me you helped people find things," I commented as we walked down the street in the direction of the motel. "Is it people?"

  "Among other things," he told me.

  "What about paths leading out of the area?" I wondered.

  He paused and turned to me with a frown. "Mab told you to stop having those thoughts."

  I shrugged. "A girl's gotta have a goal in life."

  "And that goal is to leave here?" he guessed.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. "Listen, I didn't ask for this trouble."

  He slipped his hand into his box and pulled out a bit of lemon. "Nobody asks for lemons in life, but what they can do is make the most of it."

  My eyes fell on the lemon and flickered up to Orion's face. "You're not seriously making lemonade out of that stuff, are you?"

  He shrugged and slipped the lemon back into his box. "Maybe I'll make some martinis. That is-" his eyes flickered to me, "-if someone's still around to enjoy them with me."

  I pursed my lips and turned away. My eyes swept over the small, snow white town. A few people walked along the sidewalk, and the kids were back at the sledding hill. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Those martinis better have the little umbrellas."

  He grinned and offered me his arm. "Do you prefer blue or pink?"

  I smiled and accepted his arm. "Definitely blue."

  We walked arm-in-arm to the motel. My car was parked in the same spot. Orion searched his pocket and pulled out my keys. He held them out to me and jingled them. "Care to do the honors?"

  I swiped the keys from him and nodded. "Of course. No self-respecting reporter would let her sidekick do the driving."

  He chuckled as I unlocked the doors. "So I'm a sidekick now?"

  I looked over the top of the car as he stood by the passenger door. "Would you rather
be the comedy relief?"

  He shrugged. "I thought I could at least be the dashing hero."

  I shook my head. "Nope. You're all wrong for the part." I ducked down to hide my snort as his face contorted with disbelief.

  "Hey! Wait a sec!" He slipped into the passenger seat as I started the car. "What do you mean I'm all wrong for the part?"

  I had a hard time suppressing my grin. "A hero can't have a nickname like 'Sour,' can he?"

  His face fell. "You too now?"

  I shrugged as I pulled out of the parking lot. "I'm just saying it'd be pretty hard to take a guy seriously with that kind of nickname."

  "What if we say my real nickname is 'Orion,' and go with that?" he suggested.

  I wrinkled my nose and shook my head. "Nah. Nobody would ever believe it."

  Orion threw up his arms and nearly tossed his box of pancakes. He juggled the box and slapped it back into his lap. The mighty hunter sheepishly grinned at me. I rolled my eyes and shook my head, but I couldn't hide my smile.

  We drove through the town and out to the highway. The deserted road was plowed, and I wondered if the pass was open. Unfortunately, our destination didn't take us as far as the road block. I stopped the car a quarter of a mile past the town turnoff and gestured at the road.

  "That's about where I saw whoever it was."

  "And you're sure it was a werewolf?" he asked me.

  I tilted my face towards him. "It wasn't the Easter Bunny."

  "Was it male or female?"

  I swept my eyes over him. "It looked like you did last night."

  He pursed his lips and looked out over the road. "Male, then."

  Orion stepped outside and walked down the road. I followed behind him and watched as he knelt on the ground and brushed his hand over the paved road.

  "Damn. . ."

  "Your spider senses aren't tingling?" I asked him.

  He stood and shook his head. "Not when a snowplow's been by here. But fortunately the scent isn't entirely gone."

  Orion walked over to the steep snowbank and plunged into its deep depths. He was buried up to his waist in the white fluffy stuff, but he pushed his way through the pile to the untouched wilderness beyond the ditch. He paused beside a half-covered bush and plucked something off the bare leaves.