Nature of the Beast Read online

  Nature of the Beast

  By Breukelen Girl

  Smashwords Edition

  © Copyright 2013

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may contain violent and sexual content. By reading and purchasing this book and downloading it, you consent to being of legal age for such material.

  This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to www.smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Writing takes time and effort and Breukelen Girl goes to a lot of it for your reading enjoyment.

  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. You can find more of Bg’s free writing on her blog “A Werewolf Blog in Brooklyn”

  http://altijdbreukelen.wordpress.com

  The werewolf novels

  Growing up Werewolf

  Perception

  Lycan La Vida Loca

  Alpha

  Nature of the beast

  Beasts of Burden

  Of Wolf and male

  Reasons

  Revenge

  The Pack

  Lunar Night Stand

  Wild Life

  Werewolf Storm

  Wolves

  Other Breukelen girl novels

  Lunar Nights

  Bleeding Hearts

  The Shadow trilogy:

  Shadow Aspect – Book 1

  Shadow Games – Book 2

  Shadow Boxing – Book 3

  1

  “Just date him already.” Bodil sighed heavily pinching the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes. “What’s the big deal?” She asked flicking her brown hair over her shoulders and looking at her younger sister. As if sorting out her own love life wasn’t eventful enough, now she had her sister coming to her for advice and guidance that Bodil felt, fairly unqualified to give.

  Cadence “Bg” Sommers eyes widened as she stared back at the older Sommers female. “Hello, kettle-black, are you even listening to yourself?” she fired back. “You used to be the poster child for being your own person, for being Miss Independent, for not being forced into a relationship with someone, remember that? All those dominance fights, what were they for?” Bg asked twisting her black hair in her hands, out of nervous habit.

  She’d always looked up to her older sister, even if she hated the dominance fights she had built a rather renowned reputation on. A reputation for turning down would be suitors and then being challenged by them, to fight for her own choice not to date them. “This isn’t anything like that.” Bodil replied flippantly back at her little sister in frustration.

  “Says you, the girl who’s trying to pimp me out to a pack alpha.”

  Bodil sighed loudly. “First of all, I resent that. I’m not pimping you out. I’m trying to encourage you to see Paris.”

  “Pimpage.” Bg threw back at her crossing her arms.

  “Oh really?” Bodil sat down heavily in a chair, looking back at her sister. Bg briefly wondered if Bodil was beginning to feel tired, from everything. She sure was getting frustrated far too easily over there current argument of contention. “What’s so wrong about going on a date with Paris?”

  Bg frowned at her sister. Bodil wouldn’t let it go till she got an answer. She was just like their father in that manner, stubborn as all hell. A true alpha trait really. Still it didn’t give her sister, even acting, co-acting alpha of their New York pack the right to dictate to Bg what she should do with her love-life. Ever.

  That had never been one of the leading alpha’s duties as far as Bg remembered. Not that Bg really knew what to do with her love life anyway. That was why she was talking to her sister. Because things had become complicated for her. Yet, part of her was resisting the easy way out, a date with Paris Dárenberg. Seemed simple enough. But really, was it?

  He was an alpha male, from another werewolf pack. Bg was just a beta werewolf, who’d caught his eye. “Why are you advocating this?” Bodil crossed her legs and sat back. “Strengthen alliances between the Breukelen and Manhattan Maen packs is that it?” Bg asked eyeing her sister’s cool demeanor suspiciously.

  Maybe it was the tiredness of being pack leader and a member of the Sommers family, the leading pack family in Brooklyn, that was wearing her down. “No of course not. But Paris keeps pestering me and making certain dealings difficult because…” she waved a hand at Bg.

  “Because he wants to go out with me?”

  “Right.” Bodil answered her.

  Bg sat down opposite her sister and dropped her bag. This was new information to her. She hadn’t heard of this. Why hadn’t she heard of it until now? “He’s made it abundantly clear, that if he gets to date you, business will run smooth.”

  She’d met Paris two weeks ago in Seattle for the first time, and they’d shared an amazing night of passion together. Then Bg had returned to reality in Brooklyn and that meant sorting out her on-gain-off-again boyfriend Conall Wakely. After a lot of thought on the matter and putting herself through turmoil in doing so, she’d broken up with Conall. Since then, Paris had been pursuing her heavily. Paris wanted to do more than go on the dinner date, she owed him and Bg knew it. “This does not make an ounce of sense.”

  Bg suspected Paris, being an alpha werewolf was more used to the game of pursuit than anything else. Maybe that was what held her back from saying yes to him. She didn’t want to be played like a game. She didn’t want to just be a passing fancy for the alpha werewolf. More than likely, she was. She wasn’t sure she could handle that. Not considering the relationship she’d just got out of. Alpha werewolves tended to play the field a lot and have numerous lovers, from what Bg had figured out about them, over her lifetime.

  “Love rarely does.”

  Bg’s mouth dropped open. Had Paris said something about being in love with her, to her sister? “What? There’s no way he could be, he doesn’t even know me, all that much.” Bg stammered out, slightly thrown with the happy thought as much as she was by why she was happy to hear those words in a sentence together, aimed at her.

  “Why else would he be such a pain in my neck then? There’s no other reasoning to it. Other than he’s a pissed off alpha male, who wants to date my sister.” Bodil shrugged her shoulders loosely and scratched her head. “I call it like I see it.” She replied back at her stunned sister.

  Bg watched her sister rotate her neck and shoulder muscles quickly. Bodil didn’t normally show the signs of stress that easily. In fact, since before she became co-alpha of the Breukelen Pack, Bg wasn’t sure she’d ever really seen her sister stressed as it were. “So why’s he going to you, rather than coming to me directly.” Bg asked curiously. It was an interesting ploy he was using but why?

  “That, I have not figured out exactly. I mean, you two have met and spoken, didn’t he you know…Ask you out?”

  “Yeah, well, no, well..”

  Bodil arched an eyebrow back at her. “Which is it?”

  “Well, he would have… except...I had to explain to him about Conall and me.” Bg stated, hating herself even as she said the words that sounded lame to her own ears. She could imagine how bad that part sound to her sister.

  “Aggh!” Bodil cried out, throwing her head and down her hands on the arm rest loudly. “Conall Wakely, this is about Conall Wakely? What is it with you and that guy?”

  Bg leant forward frowning heavily. She didn’t realize her sister disapproved so highly of Conall. Her ex pack partner for the past few years. She’d never seen Bodil indicate her dislike of him until now. “Hey poster child for threesomes. You’re in no position to be hypercri
tical and talk.” Bg said referring to her sister’s own recent relationship status, that was known amongst family and a select few in their pack. Even if she didn’t officially say so.

  “Do not drag my men into this.” Bodil replied defensively glaring back at her sister.

  “I’d think you of all people, then, being in such a unique relationship would understand the open relationship I was in with Conall back then.” Bg fired at her.

  Bodil put a hand to her head and rested on it. “Oh dear god. Did I just hear that my baby sister say she was in an open relationship with a pack werewolf?”

  “What?” Bg blurted out. How could an open relationship top the threesome relationship that she knew her sister was somehow in with two Breukelen Pack werewolves, that she refused to publicly acknowledge or talk to anyone about?

  Bodil rolled her eyes and looked back at her sister. She opened her mouth and closed it again. Leaning forward on her legs as she spoke. “Open relationship Bg, is just a way for him to get what he wants from anyone and have some control over you at the same time.”

  “Well not anymore.” Bg frowned, suddenly unnerved by her sister’s words “I broke up with Conall last week.”

  “Then, if that isn’t the case, why won’t you go on a date, a single date with Paris?”

  “Because I just don’t want to be disappointed again, expecting one thing and getting another.” Bodil looked stunned at her sister. She pulled back and sat in her armchair, thinking.

  Lunar week was a fairly important time to a werewolf. Lunar week was the week leading up to full moon. All werewolves were affected by it. They tended to have heightened emotional and physical sensations and feelings until the full moon. For a werewolf’s sex drive, it was like dialing the notch up to top gear. It could be unbelievably unbearable to deal with rampant hormones. A regular sexual partner in this case, was a help to that time.

  “He wants to date me during lunar week.”

  Bg and Bodil knew all the implications of werewolf pack lore in New York. All werewolves did, they were made aware of it growing up, and they all lived by it. It was what it meant to be a pack wolf. “Well if you guys are here, that’s no problem you’re under Breukelen protection and if you’re in Manhattan then the Manhattan Maen will cover you. No wars needed.” Bodil replied automatically.

  There was a general rule that all werewolf packs in New York adhered to. It was that during a lunar week, werewolves could not go in another pack’s territory at night during that week. It was a way to try and keep the peace amongst the packs and police any troubles they might have. The exception to this rule was, if you got permission from the leading pack alpha of the pack’s territory you wanted to go into. Essentially, it worked like immunity where the wolf in question, had a guest pass.

  “He wants to date me for the entire lunar week.”

  “So…oh. So you think this is just about sex.” Bodil said moving around in her chair. Suddenly she felt uncomfortable. “That’s why you think I’m pimping you out.” Because of the tendencies that werewolves underwent during a lunar week, sex played a big part in keeping them, sane and rational as it were. Werewolves by nature were very sexual creatures and during lunar week, they tended to indulge in that aspect of their nature, a great deal.

  “Of course it’s about sex if it’s during lunar week. But that’s not it.” Bodil stared at her sister.

  “And you want more than just sex. I can understand that.” She smiled at her little sister. “The guy is gorgeous and intelligent. He’s pack leader, so he’s got the best position in the pack, so you know he’s no loser.” Bodil said listing his attributes.

  Bg frowned, in the two weeks She’d known him, Paris had gone from lieutenant to Manhattan Maen pack leader and he really didn’t want to talk to her about how that had come about. Which again, just made her hesitate. If he didn’t want to talk to Bg on an equal level, it just meant he wanted physical intimacy with her and she wasn’t sure that was all she could give or would settle for when it came to him. As far as Bg knew, there were only two ways to become pack leader. The title was either handed to you or you fought, to the death for it.

  “He’s a hell of a businessman. I should know…try dealing with him on a corporate level and you’ll see what I mean. I don’t know about humor but I mean, for one evening, you could overlook that, right? It’s just one date.”

  “Well yes.” Bg replied rolling her eyes. It wasn’t like her ex Conall had been a good relationship for her. She wasn’t going to date some werewolf just because she was told to. She may not have figured out how to perfect her love life the way she wanted it, but she did know she wouldn’t just date anybody for the sake of others. That made absolutely no sense and it seemed, that was all her sister was telling her to do.

  “But you’re too scared to take a risk on him, because Conall is all you’ve ever known about relationships.”

  Bg put her hands in her lap and looked at them and back at her sister. Right there was the center of the issue. How’d her sister see it and get it? Bg had been with Conall for quite some time now. And she really hadn’t had a lot of experience with other males. “Is that so stupid?”

  Bodil pushed up out of her chair. Sometimes she forgot she was three years older than her sister, especially when she saw her look vulnerable like she did now. “No it’s not. It’s perfectly logical to get scared.”

  “Right. So what I do?”

  “You think of yourself and what you want and need. The right guy will understand that.”

  “What if I don’t know what I want?” Bg asked weakly.

  Bodil sighed heavily. She understood that feeling. It’d taken her a good two years to figure that out, for herself. Taking a leap was a risk, was to her, what love was about. You had to pray your heart didn’t get smashed to smithereens. But she couldn’t tell her baby sister that.

  “You have to know what you want. There has to be a way to figure it out? Like, by dating a guy who isn’t Conall Wakely. Give you an idea or perspective or confirmation of what you want or don’t want.” Bg nodded her head, but wondered if she really did know what she wanted in a relationship. The one she’d been in with Conall Wakely was the only real one she’d ever known. And she didn’t want that again, so how else could she know?

  2

  There was a thumping again. A deep loud resonating sound. A pounding. For a moment Bg Sommers thought it was all in her head or because of her head. It hurt. A hell of a lot. She groaned realizing the thumping feeling was banging against her body. She was slouched down against the front door. Something had happened. Something bad. She tried to remember. Bg groaned as shooting pain flared up her arm. She closed her eyes again as the world, momentarily went black. Before coming to and feeling the rattling doors vibrations beating against her back. Someone was going to take it off its hinges.

  “Bg? It’s Paris are you in there?”

  “Mmm” Bg murmured at least she thought she did. Her jaw ached, her whole face hurt and her mouth felt mushy. She slowly raised a hand to it and winced. She squinted at her fingers. Only she didn’t think she was squinting as she tried to look at her hand, there were deep cuts, where her skin had split across her knuckles and down her fingers.

  “Conall”

  Paris’s pounding on the front door became more frantic. “Cadey, is that you? Sweetheart open the door, let me know you’re alright. Come on Sweetheart, I saw him leaving as I got here.” Paris paused and Bg dropped her arm down to the ground and tried to push herself up.

  Paris closed his eyes and lifted his nose to inhale the scent around the door. He opened his eyes again when he smelt blood. The werewolf inside of him stirred relentlessly. Paris could scent well at any time but so close to Lunar Week meant he could scent greater than normally. He had only seen the back of Conall Wakely as he left the sidewalk outside of the Sommers residence in a half jog, to a nearby parked truck. But he knew to suspect before he even reached the front door, bad things, after seeing Conall Wakely. Now
he knew, because he could smell a blood and not just a finger cut of blood, but a gallon of it, behind the door.

  “Paris.” Bg stumbled crashing against the door back to the ground.

  “Bg did he hurt you? Cadey?” Paris yelled against the thick front door.

  Bg lifted one arm and wrapped her knuckles against the door lightly, groaning as her skin hit the wood. They already felt tenderized and open and like they had wood ingrained in them. She kept blinking her eyes trying to focus them. Where was Paris? She could hear him, at least she thought she could

  “Cadey!” Paris panicked. “Hang on, I’m going to find another way into the house, hold on, I’m coming.”

  Bg tried to nod her head to show she understood, but her eyes were closing on her as her head lolled back to the left side and her body became lax. A few seconds later the sound of breaking glass registered with Bg as she opened her eyes again. Seconds later, Paris was storming through the large house, appearing from the back kitchen’s entrance. He ran to her, gathering her in his arms.

  “I’m going to kill him.” Paris seethed looking at Bg’s heavily beaten face which was swelling rapidly and covered in blood, from her ear and nose. Gently he scooped her up in his embrace.

  “No.” Bg puffed heavily, blood spraying with effort form her mouth. Paris’s heart lurched.

  “What has he done to you?” Paris muttered softly in disgust, standing up with Bg in his arms. “Bedroom to the right?” Bg’s head rested against his shoulder and she looked up at him through her good left eye and blinked at him. He walked as cautiously as he could down the hall looking in the open doors till he found, what he presumed was Bg’s bedroom.

  “It’s okay Sweetheart, you’re going to be okay.” He said laying her down on the pristine white bedcovers. “I need to get a doctor to come here and check you out before we even consider a shape shift. You’re just not in any condition to do that yet.” His blue eyes darkened as he took in the full extent of Bg’s appearance.

  He noted her clothing had been torn off her, she was in her bra and underpants which were ripped also down one side. Anger surged through him. Her face showed the most damage, but her blood had flown from her nose down her throat onto her chest, covering who knew how many cuts and bruises she had. Her bra was soaked through and her arms looked awkwardly odd shaped and irregular. Her stomach had mottled bruising all over it. There was blood on her upper legs and down them.