Nature of the Beast Read online

  “Hey it’s your favourite nightmare of a first date, Bg Sommers speaking. I uh, just wanted to say hi, now that I’ve come to and uh, thanks for putting up with everything that’s uh, you know, happened in the last forty-eight hours. Not really a typical day or date for me. Anyway, um, call me will you?” She disconnected the call quickly.

  “Ugh! You sounded so desperate. You are ridiculous, no male is ever going to want to go out with some girl who sounds so completely insane as you do. Least of all him!” She threw her phone down on the bed and stood up, untying her bathrobe. She gain walked over to her wardrobe with the light satin material billowing out around her.

  “I have so screwed this up.” She muttered pulling out items of clothing in her wardrobe and gathering them in her arms and heading back to the bed. “So screwed.” Bg muttered again, walking into her bathroom and turning the shower taps on to warm.

  She slipped the satin robe off and onto the ground and noted the used condom hanging on the corner of the small trash bin in her bathroom. A reminder of her own guilt of what might have just ruined the one relationship she did really want to be in.

  “At least we were safe.” She muttered stepping into the shower and under the warm spray. Not that her own words made her feel any better about having had another man who was not Paris and for him to have heard her. He left after she shape shifted, so he’d been around until then. Which meant, he’d probably left because of her.

  How could she explain it to him, that would make sense. That would make her actions seem any easier or better because she hadn’t done the Shape shift with him? She couldn’t and that was the worst part. Of course, it didn’t help that Booker was also a friend of Paris’s. Talk about awkward.

  The shower did little to cleanse her mind of her guilt or to make her feel all that much more relaxed than when she had stepped into it. Bg decided to leave three more messages, slightly more coherent on Paris’s mobile phone. Equally as stupid sounding as the first.

  “Okay now the guy is just going to think I am a plain stalker psycho chick with issues.” She muttered to herself putting down the phone after the last voice mail message had been left. “Best to just forget about him and get used to the single life girl, cause, you’ve got nobody!” Bg told herself.

  She’d finished dressing when there was a knock at her bedroom door. “Come in.” She stated looking over as the door opened and stared back at Paris, in a different change of clothes. He really was devastatingly handsome. Really there was no other way to describe the man so honestly.

  His brown hair was short and stylish and he had a solid v shaped build that told Bg he wasn’t afraid to work out to stay in shape and look as great as he did. His square jaw had been shaven and his skin looked smooth. Made her want to run her tongue along it.

  “Hey, I’m glad to hear you’re doing better.” He said walking in slowly. Bg stood up quickly, practically springing off the bed. She then paused and stood up. She didn’t want to seem like she was going to throw herself at him, didn’t want to appear completely desperate.

  “I called you, like three times.” She blurted out instead and mentally kicked herself for betraying her own self’s inner most feelings.

  “I know, sorry I only just got your messages, I had some business that needed taking care of.” He said as she checked out the outline of his leg muscles against his pants and how the fitted black t-shirt filled out across his broad chest.

  Bg gulped down a vat of nervous saliva. She didn’t want to be some needy, nerdy, desperate girl. She had to cool it around Paris. “Oh. Okay.”

  “But I brought you flowers, to cheer you up.” He said producing a bouquet from behind his back of mixed, coloured, flowers. Of course, if Bg had been concentrating a little more on Paris instead of her own panic, she’d have smelt the flowers or noticed the hand held behind the back.

  “I thought you smelt a bit too florally. Thank you.” She said accepting the flowers off him. “I love getting flowers.”

  “And I promise that’s why I skipped out on you. But I was thinking the whole time about this date of ours…”

  Bg rolled her eyes as they stood opposite one another. She was shorter than him by about half a head. “I really picked a lousy time to try and set us up, hey?”

  “You couldn’t have possibly know things would turn out like they have. Nobody could have seen it coming.” Paris replied sympathetically.

  “Except maybe, Conall Wakely.” Bg replied bitterly.

  “Right.” Paris agreed, the anger in his tone evident enough for her.

  “So um, this date of ours, are we…..still on….for you know, trying, again?” She asked with a half smile. Paris reached out a hand to cup the side of Bg’s now lump-free and smooth face. Which only a few hours ago, had been verging on purple black with blotches of brown and yellow from the hits she had taken.

  “I’m game if you are.” Paris replied dropping his hand again.

  “Alright then.” Bg said smiling broadly back at him and clasping her hands together in front of her and twisting from side to side so her halter neck dress swung out and around her knees with each nervous movement.

  “What do you want to do since my last idea was a bust and well, now it’s all come and gone and can’t be done again?”

  Paris laughed lightly with her. “Actually I thought maybe I would take you away from here, literally get you out of your house. I thought, maybe you could uh, pack a bag and spend a couple days with me in Manhattan.” He said watching surprise creep in to her face. “I promise to be a complete gentleman.” He said putting a hand to his heart as he looked at her. “No taking advantage of you, you’ll even have your own room to sleep in.”

  “Oh.” Bg replied lamely before she even realised she’d said it out loud.

  “I mean, it would give a Bg to get to know one another, without all the outside interferences.”

  Bg frowned slightly looking back at him. Before relaxing again. “What do you think?”

  “It sounds like I should uh, just let my sister know where I’m going to be during lunar week and pack a bag.” She said walking around him and heading over to her bedroom door.

  “Okay then.” Bg walked out into the Sommers home and into the kitchen where she found Bodil talking with Aksel. With Boden and Booker sitting in the adjourning lounge room.

  “Hey little sister!” Aksel cried out upon seeing her and sweeping her up in a big hug.

  “I’m so happy to see you’re alright.” He said as Bg smiled and returned the hug back at him. They broke apart and she looked at her older brother.

  “It’s good to see you too. How’s dad?”

  “No change. Same-Same. Annabeth and Markus haven’t left his bedside.”

  “Oh hey, Bodil I just thought I would let you know that I’m going to head over to Paris’s place in Manhattan for a few days.”

  Bodil nodded her head as she sipped her coffee slowly. “Taking some time to get to know one another?”

  “Something like that. Last few days has been a little crazy.”

  “Just a little.” Aksel pipped up.

  “Sounds good, but you’re going with a chaperone.” Bodil replied over the top of her coffee cup. Both Aksel and Bg looked at her surprised.

  “What?” They both said in unison. “I think after what happened, I would feel a lot safer about my baby sister staying at a man’s house, who she doesn’t know at all, from another pack, if there was someone there who had her back, that’s all.” Bodil answered them, continuing to drink her coffee.

  “You do know I’m twenty-eight don’t you? Not eight?” Bg fired back at her.

  “You know it’s what the alpha would say.” Bodil threw back at her. Meaning their father.

  “And I can make my own decisions based on my own judgement calls.” Bg continued on.

  “Yes you can, and look at how well that’s worked for you with your ex-boyfriend.” Bg’s mouth dropped open and she stepped forward raising her hand at Bodil. />
  “Oh-kay, let’s not actually start a bitch fight, girls.” Aksel said stepping between his sisters. “I think what Bodil is trying to say is she’s just concerned for you, like I am and we just want to make sure, you’re going to be alright. After all, as much as we like Paris, we don’t really know him.”

  “Of course I’m going to be alright, Paris isn’t Conall!” She hissed at Bodil angrily stepping back.

  “I’m sure he isn’t but I will feel safer, if for this lunar week at least, you just take one of the guys as your chaperone and after that…we’ll see.”

  “We’ll see? What you think you actually get a say in who I date now because of what happened to me?” Bg asked her voice raising loudly with annoyance and anger.

  Bodil sipped her coffee in silence. “Oh you have got to be kidding me. This, is so not about my dating skills with pack werewolves!”

  “Booker’s available. I’ll let him know.” Bodil replied moving around her with her coffee cup in hand.

  Bg’s mouth dropped open. She was flabbergasted with her sister’s attitude as much as she was with her railroading commandments she seemed to enjoy inflicting on Bg. “Are you kidding?” Bg hissed with Aksel looking on at her confused. Of course, he hadn’t been there the previous night and he hadn’t been told about Booker’s assistance to her Shape shifting needs.

  “What’s wrong with Booker? You know Booker right? He’s a good guy, you like him right?” He asked as Bg just shook her head and stormed back out of the room quickly, limping as fast as she could back to her room, ignoring the sound of Bodil talking to Booker about this latest development in Bg’s ever fun-tastic social life from hell.

  She opened her bedroom door again and Paris turned around smiling at her. “Uh, slight um, change of plans. So it turns out, the modern way to date a werewolf from another pack these days is to have her accompanied on lunar week by a chaperone from her own pack. Apparently these terms of dating and having a life in the Sommers house, are none negotiable, especially when travelling to your Manhattan residence for the first time ever.” Bg blurted out quickly putting her hands on her hips and biting her bottom lip quickly, looking at him expectantly.

  “Your sister doesn’t trust me to behave myself with you?”

  “Something like that.”

  Paris chuckled and nodded his head in understanding. “This is not funny. Not at all. It’s just her power tripping way to try and control things since taking over co-running this pack from our father. Like I need controlling!” Bg blurted out quickly.

  Paris continued to chuckle. “I think, in a couple of years you’ll look back and realise she only had your best interests at heart and is just trying to protect you as best she could.”

  “Blah!”

  “Can’t say I wouldn’t do the same thing in the same circumstances if my little sister was about to stow away for a romantic week away with a handsome stranger like myself.” He held Bg’s gaze and they both broke out laughing loudly.

  “Yeah, you say that now.” Bg muttered. “I’ll start packing a bag.” She replied walking over to her wardrobe.

  “Let me know when you’re ready to go, I’m going to need to swing by my place and pick up some stuff on the way.” Booker said poking his head in around the door. Paris swivelled to look at his friend.

  “Your place?”

  “Paris, meet Booker, your friend and my week long chaperone.” Bg replied smartly watching the smile fall off Paris’s face. “Yes, not awkward at all, not by a long shot.” Bg muttered to herself shovelling clothes into a large duffel bag.

  7

  Bg hopped in to the Porsche Boxter, as Paris stowed her bag. Booker hoped in his El-Comino and waited to follow them out of the borough.

  “At least I get you to myself for the drive over.” Paris smarted as he slid into the driver side seat. “So that’s something.”

  “Nice ride by the way.” Bg commented as he revved the engine and pulled away from the curb.

  “Thanks. So what do you think you would like to do for our first, official date?” Paris asked her as they drove through Williamsburg.

  “Normally I’d say dancing. Salsa dancing.”

  “She likes to salsa.” He muttered softly. “Now would be the time to tell you I don’t dance. Can’t dance. Well I can, if I put a hell of a lot of concentration in to not looking like some So you think you can dance, reject. In fact I have been known to dance, on occasion.” He said holding up a hand. “But only to Dean Martin.”

  Bg broke out into a huge smile and looked at him. “Dean Martin?” She asked him again.

  Paris nodded his head. “Dean’s the man. He croons like no other. He’s just so cool.”

  “I love Dean Martin’s voice! It’s so romantic, you really are a complete romantic!” She squealed excitedly at him.

  “Stop it, you’ll make me blush.” He joked glancing across at her with a grin. “Or ruin my big bad alpha reputation, people will think I’m soft in the head.”

  “Aint that a kick in the head.” Bg sang at him causing him to start singing the song with her. They broke up laughing at one another. “Not bad, not bad.” He said as they passed through Fort Greene.

  “Well I can’t really dance at the moment. She said patting her leg, turns out I’m not at full dancing capacity just yet.”

  “Yeah I noticed you’ve got a slight limp still.”

  “I should be right, after another shape shift. So I should probably think about doing that tonight, getting it out of the way.” Paris looked across at her.

  “So how does your lunar week routine normally go when things are, you know, normal, so to speak?” He asked curiously.

  “Well I guess, normally me and…..”Bg paused looking at him. Paris glanced back at her.

  “It’s okay Bg you can say the C word in front of me. That is, if you can say his name out loud.”

  “Okay, I just don’t want to you know, wave a red flag to a bull here. That’s all.”

  “I promise you, I have put the anger issues with him, to bed. I just want you to feel safe and comfortable. Not afraid of him or because of him.”

  “Good. Well Conall and I would normally go to a few clubs with our friends. We’d meet each other at them, sometimes arrive together, meet our friends there. Spend first half of the evening in the clubs. Normally I’m off dancing and he’s chatting away to friends, and then we uh, go back to his place so he can shift in time.”

  Paris glanced away from the road back at her. “So you don’t have to shape shift?”

  “Not until the third night. Most of the time I just chose to, to help Conall get through it easier. Seemed like I should just do it too. But no, I don’t have to on the first night.”

  “Guess what tonight is?” Paris remarked at her raising his eyebrows quickly.

  “First night, first date.”

  “Already looking good from where I sit.” He smiled over at her.

  “Glad I haven’t disappointed on this date so far. Cause I really need to impress my date this time around or he might just run off on me for good.” Bg laughed.

  “Just relax and be yourself, that’s all I ask.” Paris said chuckling with her. “Hey and if that guy runs off on you,” he said glancing in his rear view mirror watching Booker’s car tail them. “He’s a jerk anyway. I on the other hand, think you’re worth a little trouble, to get to know.”

  Bg smiled broadly at him. “Careful, my ego might burst with too much more flattery.”

  He chuckled looking back at the road. “Sweetheart, I haven’t even got started yet. So you best prepare yourself for far more flattery where that came from.” He said back at her. “So dancing is out, for both of us, what else do you have mind?”

  “Hmmm. Dinner is a must.”

  “Definitely.” He looked across at her and back at the road. “We could go to a club afterwards if you’re up for it.”

  Bg smiled. “I’d like that.”

  “Then that’s what we’ll do.”


  For dinner they ate and talked at South Gate restaurant at Essex House in Mid Town New York. Bg knew the restaurant was expensive, by reputation alone, let alone it’s newly decorated interior. “So isn’t this place like always booked out months in advance?” Bg asked picking up her glass of wine.

  “Most of the time.”

  “How did you managed to get us a reservation here then with no notice?” Bg asked.

  “Called in a favour, one of the Chef’s here owes me. It’s been long overdue that I cash it in.” Paris replied smugly picking up his glass of wine. “Manhattan’s my town Bg, I hope you’ll let me show you around it, because I’d really like to see more of you.”

  The chinked glasses and Bg looked over at Booker. “Yeah but you got two tables on no notice and you’re picking up his bill. You do know he’s going to get the most expensive things on the menu don’t you?” She said as they watched Booker place his order with a waiter.

  Paris smiled broadly. “Yeah, I’m kind of expecting that. But I didn’t want three of us on my first dinner date with you. Told you, I’m no good at sharing.”

  “Are you sure you haven’t you know….seen…enough of me already? Between the bruises and the blood?” she laughed nervously at herself, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear.

  “Bg, I told you, there’s nothing to be ashamed and I meant it. The only person who should be ashamed of themselves, is not on this date, with us.”

  8

  Booker wasn’t around when Bg went down, it was a stupid thought really, that Paris had, but the first one none the less as he scooped her up in his arms again. Of course, the reason he wasn’t around was because Paris had sent him away to get them drinks at the bar. So it was his own stupid, egotistical fault really.

  “Addison get Booker from the bar!” Paris yelled at his best friend. As he looked at the blonde haired male sprang to his feet promptly and sprinted towards the three deep bar, which Booker was deep in, at the front of.

  Paris moved, quickly with his people, fellow pack mates, clearing the way through the club for him as he carried her out of the club hastily. He moved abruptly as Bg continued to cling to him, shivering uncontrollably and burning up in his arms.