Not Bad for an Amateur (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read online

  Lily was in her car sitting on the side of the road, trying to decide what she wanted to do now. There was no manual for Beginner’s Shifting 101. Her skin was itchy feeling and tingling. Last night she had taken a long hike after midnight, trying to look for signs of nocturnal life, but came back just before dawn to sleep a couple of hours, eat, and shower to drive around in her so far fruitless search.

  A large green pickup pulled along beside her, and the handsome man inside of it asked if she needed help. Was every man in the vicinity huge? Geez. “No, I am fine, I stopped to text a friend, and I am just sitting here soaking up the sight of the prairie.” Lily knew it was not much of an excuse, but the man seemed to believe her and touched the brim of his cowboy hat then drove off.

  Do I need help? Why, yes, sir, could you point me in the general direction of your nearest pack of werewolves please? I just want to ask a few questions about survival and other stuff. I swear I will be discreet and respectfully leave voluntarily if they decide to kick my chubby ass out of the county for trespassing on their hunting grounds.

  The conversation with herself made Lily laugh. How damn crazy would that have sounded to the man if she really asked for those directions? There was not much more she could do to prep for tomorrow night. So far she planned to eat a lot of meat before it began to get dark. Then she would open the bathroom window so she would have a way back into the little cabin the next morning. Lily had a small carry bag to stash jeans, a T-shirt, and sneakers in and planned to hide them behind the cabin, just in case she needed to get dressed in a hurry and didn’t get back inside fast enough.

  When Lily got back to the motel, she went to the manager’s office to pay for the rest of the week. Jim Logan liked to talk and smiled widely when Lily told him how much she loved the area. “I plan on staying around for a couple more days. All of this wide-open space is amazing.” She wondered why his cologne seemed to make her heart thump a bit harder. Normally she could not stand a man that drenched himself in scent. Most of the commercial colognes made her sneeze. This stuff was oddly musky, almost like an old forest. Jim Logan was handsome and he smelled good, yet something about him today made her cautious. He stared at her with solemn eyes even when he was smiling.

  Chapter 2

  The small gray-and-tan wolf crept along the edge of the scrub trees. The howls of nearby wolves called to her, and she wanted to join in but was cautious. She was considered a lone wolf, even a rogue if what she had read was accurate. The beauty of the night and the sounds of wolves calling to the moon made her feel alive.

  She made her way higher up in the small outcropping of rocks. The scent of blood pulled at her senses. From the number of howls and growls, she assumed there had been a major kill. At the top of the hill of rock, she perched herself to observe the pack of wolves tearing at the flesh of a deer carcass. Every part of her being made her want to join in with the pack and howl as loud as she could. She must have made some sound because the largest wolf raised his bloody muzzle, scanning the area with his dark eyes shining golden in the moonlight.

  He huffed deeply, and the three large wolves around him went still. The wolves involved with tearing the flesh of the deer stopped and waited for some kind of signal from the obvious leader of the pack. Alpha, he is the Alpha of the pack, she remembered. When he began to snarl while staring right at her hiding place, Lily backed away slowly until she could no longer see those yellow eyes. Then she ran as fast as her four paws could take her. There must have been seven wolves in that pack, and if she judged her welcome by the growls and snarling tones of the Alpha, there would be no welcome for a lonely runt wolf like she was. Survival of the fittest was the rule of wild animals. She felt the vibration of many paws running behind her, following her close.

  She climbed another outcropping of rocks, trying to find a way to hide from the snarling wolves chasing her. When she looked over her shoulder, Lily almost fell in fright. The sight of the six huge wolves with their bloody muzzles and teeth bared only twenty feet or so behind her caused her heart to thump harder. She was trapped. The hill of rock was daunting for the little wolf, she hadn’t planned on being forced to run and hide from a pack of weres.

  She spied a slender crevice in the rock face and decided to take her chances at hiding. At least she would be able to fight facing them instead of worrying about having a wolf pounce her from behind. Her pursuers had fanned out and were closing in fast surrounding her,

  There was no choice left. She slid her sweating, furry body through the crevice and barely made it. She felt the scrape as she pulled her flanks inside the opening. Something wet touched under her tail, but she refused to stop moving forward. It was pitch black inside the small cavern that she found herself in. After exploring the cave until her hind leg began to drag, she collapsed in exhaustion. Her breath sounding labored in the empty room echoing off the walls, slowly returned to normal. Every muscle in her body ached from the strain of running flat out on the uneven ground, and the scrape she got while squeezing into her sanctuary burned like crazy. All she could do was to lie there and whimper in pain.

  Lily fell asleep where she collapsed. When she woke a few hours later, she could see thin fingers of light through the side wall. There was a small pool of water fed from water leeching through the opposite wall. Her right hind leg still hurt, and when she licked it to clean the wound, the taste of blood reminded her that she had not eaten since before dark last night.

  Standing took a lot of effort but she finally made it to the pool of clear water. After drinking her fill Lily limped back to the opening where she had slipped inside this small haven. She peeked outside after smelling the air cautiously. Down the hill to the right she spied them sitting under a scrub tree. No one was looking her way, and she only saw four wolves sitting in the shade. At least two of them were still around somewhere close. She could smell two distinct scents and a vague whiff of another one. So there were probably two right outside the opening and one above on top of the hill. She backed away from the crevice and went back to her cavern, deeper into the rock formation.

  It rained for two days. Today Lily watched six of the seven wolves transform into their human forms. The sight was awesome. A man was standing by a white Escalade waiting for the others. He must have gone to get the SUV earlier. From what Lily could see, every man climbing into the vehicle was big. She studied each man, knowing her life might depend on it. The last man to get into the vehicle stunned her. The man was Jim, the manager of the cabins where she was staying. He looked straight up towards the rock. She might be mistaken, but the look of regret on his face made her feel a little better.

  As soon as the Escalade was out of sight, she squeezed her body out of the crevice and began making her way back to her rented cabin. It was dark before she reached the cozy haven, and Lily grabbed her stashed bag of clothes and dressed before slipping inside the bathroom window. She made a beeline into the kitchen and ate everything that was left to eat in the place. She took a shower and packed her suitcase. It was time to try something else. She had a month to find more accurate information.

  The big white SUV drove up to the manager’s cabin as Lily was loading her suitcase into her trunk. Jim Logan saw her and had the door of the vehicle opening before the driver stopped the Escalade. He strode over to her side as she opened the door to her Mustang. She licked her lips nervously.

  “So you’ve had enough of the wild Northwest?” He wiped the sweat from his brow. His light-brown eyes never left her face while he waited for her to reply. When she did not say anything, he said, “You ever want to play in the wide open again, stop in and we’ll see if we can amp up the entertainment next time. I can maybe introduce you around to a few people I know.”

  Lily refused to let him see how afraid she was. She smiled politely and thanked him for the information and hospitality of the motel. “Here is the key. I planned to drop it by the office on my way out of the lot, but since you are here I will just hand it to you.”

&n
bsp; Jim stepped very close to her and leaned his body in until he was barely inches from her. “I don’t want you to be afraid of me, Lily Fern. I can smell your need and feel your attraction to me just as surely as you can sense my attraction to you. I warned you to stay inside at night. If I had caught you that night, you would be too sore to move as easily as you do now. All seven of us would have wanted a turn on that soft body of yours. A female going into heat is magnetic to us especially when the moon is full. I would have had to fight the others for the privilege of sinking my cock into your warm, furry pussy. Wolves don’t play when it comes to sexual needs. They will fight until one of them cannot rise his head over a female in heat.”

  Jim leaned his head down to whisper in her ear. “Do you know what I would do then? I would have sunk my teeth into the back of your neck to hold you still for my pleasure, and when I came I would still be stuck deep in your body. No matter how long or how much you wiggled or whined to be free, I would keep you hooked onto my cock until it was ready to release you. Some females even wiggle so much it becomes more enjoyable for them, too.” His breath wafted on her neck as he licked her collarbone.

  His head straightened, but his eyes were trained on her face. “Men like me like to suck and play with a woman’s body. We like to watch her tits bounce as one has her ride him while he bites and sucks her nipples and sometimes with another man fucking her mouth or even her tight little ass.” Jim had his arm around her waist and pulled her as close as he could. “I like to watch a woman gain pleasure while I lick her creamy center and then put her on all fours as I slap her ass and fuck her hard.” He removed his arm from her waist and stepped back as she dropped into the driver’s seat. “The next time you come here, remember what I have said. I will have you in both forms, and you better hope that it is broad daylight or we are alone at the time. I have a brother that I share everything with, especially females, and you are just the right size for us to enjoy together. We will make you feel wild with pleasure and fulfill every fantasy you ever had.” He tapped the top of Lily’s car, leaned down and gave her a quick kiss and told her to drive carefully, then shut her door and turned away, walking toward his cabin.

  Joel was tickled to see his twin brother, Jim, drive into the compound with the two Betas. He had a few questions for his brother. Like why he scented Jim and a few other single males around the same area that he scented the female were.

  The brothers made a pact years ago after beating the hell out of each other in a fight for dominance. They would choose a female that appealed to both of them. That way any offspring they had would belong to both of the men. The pack did not need to be divided if they wanted it to survive. If the brothers took a mate each, then their male children would be constantly at each other’s throats, and that was not the kind of political were crap either man wished for their offspring or their pack members. The twins had experienced enough of the members taking sides. While they fought, others in the pack jockeyed into position to take over if the twins maimed or killed each other. Jim thought he might have finally met the female that could become the mate they needed.

  By their nature they could not share the title of Pack Alpha. Only one of them could hold that title. The other was as respected and feared by the enemies of their pack. The fact that Joel had won the last fight is what made him the Alpha. All Betas were Alpha weres and had a say in the decisions made by their Alpha. Jim seemed content with his status as second top dog.

  There were only two females left in the pack that were not mated. Those two women kept busy servicing whichever unattached male they chose to have sex with. It was just a matter of time before one or both females became pregnant and was claimed by the male involved as his mate. The pack of fifty-two members already had several ménage family units, so it would not be a problem for the Alpha and his brother to take one mate between them.

  Jim carried a large duffel with him and set it down on the dining-room table. Normally he would have pitched his bag into a corner until he was ready for a shower, but today there was something breakable inside. He carefully lifted out the new DVD player and several other items.

  Joel was practicing with the men in the circle out in the back of the homestead when he saw Jim coming from the house. Even though he was sweaty and covered in dirt he tackled his twin before Jim saw him in the crowd of wrestling bodies. The brothers rolled in the dry dirt and chased each other into the scrub trees. All the time they were engaged in mock battle they were speaking to each other with their mind speak.

  “I believe we have our mate, brother.” The words came from Jim into Joel’s head.

  Joel grinned and returned the favor, “You mean the female that hid in that cave from you and your feral friends?”

  Jim was surprised and it cost him. The distraction gave Joel the opening to take his brother to the ground with him on top.

  Joel got up and offered a hand for Jim to take, and Joel pulled his brother up to a sitting position. The two discussed the female in question, and Jim offered his thoughts on the situation.

  “She kept asking about folklore and legends in the area. You should have seen her face when I casually mentioned that we have legends of bigfoot. Then I mentioned the werewolf legends, and her interest perked right up. I swear Joel, she had no idea that I was were, I think she was looking for her kind, but had no idea how to tell were from human.” Jim grinned. “I have pictures and a video that I am pretty sure you are going to want to see.”

  After they ate dinner in the communal dining hall with most of the rest of the pack, Jim decided to lure his brother back to his quarters to see the video of the little brunette. To be fair, Jim had not watched the footage yet himself. “I think I’ll go back to your place and watch a show or something.”

  By the time Jim had placed a bowl of microwave popcorn and two beers on the table in front of the couch, Joel was there ready to see what this little female actually looked like. She must be small to have entered that crevice in the rocks. Obviously she was old enough to mate or even if she had been in need Jim would not be so excited.

  “I haven’t watched this yet, so you should feel all Alpha and special that I waited. I have all the cabins rigged with cameras, you know, just in case one of those people calling themselves anthropologists working for that big research company in Ohio under the name of Fensile Corporation happen to show up again.” Jim enjoyed the look of surprise on his twin’s face.

  “Yeah, I found out where they are coming from. There was one that showed up last week. He nosed around asking questions and didn’t leave the town. He asked Martha Nells over at the store if she ever heard of anyone being attacked or killed by any animals around these parts. Or seen or heard of werewolves in the area. She told him that he needed to see the good Doctor Belcher over in Sioux Falls. He helps people that believe in things supernatural.” Jim chuckled and shook his head. “If the dumbass had only known that he was talking to one of those werewolves he probably would have shit his pants.” Jim shrugged his shoulders. “It was simple to go through his cabin and vehicle. The car is registered to Fensile Corporation, his laptop has a property of Fen. Corp. sticker on the bottom of it, and I have copies of all of the papers in his briefcase.”

  The video was actually pretty good, and Jim explained about the differences between cheap cameras and the more hi-def ones. The cost difference was negated by the quality of the video.

  When the girl’s picture appeared on the screen, Jim began narrating. “Meet Lily Fern Nelson, age twenty-eight, occupation computer forensics. According to her driver’s license she is five foot one inch tall and weighs one hundred forty pounds. She has a solid work record and has somewhere around ten grand in savings. She told me she has a committed relationship back in the city, but I knew she was lying and I let myself stomp out of there before I pounced on her.” Jim grinned at Joel. “I was in a hurry so I haven’t got the complete background on our little playmate yet.”

  Joel ignored him and concentrated on t
he image on his forty-two-inch flat screen. He saw a pretty, petite female with light-brown hair streaked with blonde highlights and green eyes. Her braid hung down to her wide hips, and Joel felt his cock harden. Seeing those pouty lips holding the bratwurst inside of her mouth had him groaning. The little woman ate as if she was starving.

  Lily drove away from the small village, feeling embarrassed. The nerve of that man, how dare he threaten her like that. She was a grown woman, and if he thought for one minute that she would allow him to intimidate her, well, he had better think again. The main problem is that he was attractive and he smelled so good. She wanted to strip them both naked in the parking lot, and see if his promise to give her unbelievable pleasure was just bragging. The thought of him naked, and wanting her as much as she wanted him, was too much to think about while she was driving down the road. She knew that he must be toying with her about the multiple-partner thing. Didn’t wolves mate for life? Obviously she was going to need more information.

  Lily unpacked and took a quick trip to the grocery store. It was a good thing she alternated between stores to buy her groceries. Especially for the pounds and pounds of meat she purchased each week. She averted her eyes away from the message boards with poster pictures of the residents’ missing pets when she got back to her apartment. It had been eight months since any pets had come up missing now, and they should take those pictures down.

  Lily put away groceries and packed meat into freezer bags, then began stacking them neatly into the small freezer as she listened to her messages. The last message had few words but gave her a warm feeling deep inside.

  “Hi, Lily, I wanted to make sure you got home okay. This is Jim from the motel.” He left his phone number, and she almost picked up the phone to call him back. Her hand hovered over the handset then she shook her head and walked away from the machine. No, she couldn’t get involved with Jim or his pack of male wolves. He never mentioned female wolves at all. What if she was the only one around? Would they expect her to service all of those men?