Strange Lake Falls Volume 1 (Strange Lake Falls Series) Read online

  “You’re a werewolf?”

  “Yes.”

  “And I am your mate?”

  “Yes.”

  “So you’ll turn me into a wolf too?”

  “A werewolf, yes. I have to turn you with my bite. An alpha wolf can turn anyone anytime, but the rest of us have to wait for the full moon.”

  Samantha was struggling to process what he was saying. Living in Strange Lake Falls and there were a lot of things that went on that were unexplainable. She generally just accepted them, but this had to be the strangest thing she’d ever heard.

  Carter thought he was a werewolf and he would turn her on a full moon. He was serious about it. Wait, wasn’t there a full moon tonight? Was he intending to bite her? Oh shit! It wouldn’t be a bad thing to be a mate for a werewolf. If it wasn’t for the other stuff he said.

  “So what was the stuff you were saying about sharing?”

  He smiled as he continued to eat his food, unaware of her turmoil. “There aren’t very many female werewolves to mate. In order to keep our species from dying out, my pack shares their females.”

  “So you want to give me to other men to use?”

  “More specifically, I will share you with my brothers. That way we can keep the children born in the family circle.” He took a huge chunk of meat and chewed.

  She felt sick to her stomach. “I need to run to the ladies room. I’ll be right back. Could you ask the waitress to refill my iced tea?”

  “Sure baby. Hurry back.” He waved her off.

  Samantha walked to the ladies room on shaky legs. Oh God, I’m on a date with a psycho. She pulled her cell out of her purse and pushed numbers, holding it to her ear she waited.

  “Hello?” Jackie answered her phone.

  “Mom, I need you to come and get me.” Samantha whispered into the phone.

  “What? I can barely hear you.”

  “I need you to come and get me. This guy is…strange, and dangerous I think.” Samantha was almost in tears.

  “Okay baby, where are you?”

  “Steak Fiesta on 54.”

  “I am on my way. Do not go back to the table. Try to go out the back of the restaurant and circle around to the front. Whatever you do don’t let him get you alone.”

  “Hurry Mom, I’m scared.”

  Before she hung up, Samantha heard her mother telling Mary. “Get the truck started, I need to get Big Bob.”

  Samantha paced back and forth looking for her mother’s old beat up truck. Every time the front door to the restaurant opened she jumped looking to see if it was Carter. Come on Mom. Where are you?

  “Samantha? You’ve been gone for fifteen minutes. Why are you outside?” Carter’s voice came from the shadows. He approached her with that same strange gleam in his eyes.

  “I…I needed some fresh air.”

  “You should have told me and I would have come with you. There are all kinds of dangerous things waiting in the dark.”

  Don’t I know it, she thought. “I’ll be right in. I didn’t want to interrupt your meal.”

  “I’m done and I told the waitress to box yours up to go. Let’s get going.”

  “No … I can’t.”

  “Can’t what?”

  “Let’s go back inside.” She tried to walk towards the restaurant but he grabbed her. “Let me go!”

  “You were trying to run from me? You’re going to pay for that.” He tugged her with him toward his Mustang.

  “Let me go!” Samantha yanked down on her arm forcing him to release her. Then she turned and ran as fast as she could, but it wasn’t fast enough. She was knocked down to the ground by a large body tackling her.

  “You will learn you place!” Carter yelled as he turned her onto her back. He straddled her and held her down. “You will behave once you’re a wolf. Then it will all make sense.”

  “You’re bat-shit-crazy!” She tried to reach up and scratch him in the face but he was too strong.

  He held her arms down, and she watched in horror, as his nose elongated into a snout and his teeth grew pointy and sharp. Fur sprouted all over his body, and sharp claws came out of his fingertips scratching her. Was she seeing this or imagining it?

  “You’re…you’re…”

  “I’m a werewolf, and you’re my mate,” Carter said before sinking his sharp teeth into the side of her neck.

  I’m going to die, was the last thought Samantha had before everything went black.

  ✯✯✯

  Adrian should not have come. He walked from room to room in Elena’s house. There were vampires feeding and fucking humans everywhere. Some of the humans were strapped down while more than one vampire fed from them.

  The smell of blood and sex surrounded him. This was not Adrian’s type of place. Sure he’d been to many blood parties through the centuries, but he preferred a more intimate feeding. He didn’t like to exploit his human hosts. They deserved to be treated with more respect. Elena, no matter how hard he tried to teach her otherwise, never outgrew her thirst for live human blood, or her need for brutality.

  Adrian stopped at a door and looked into the bedroom where Elena was naked and kneeling between a human woman’s legs. Her fangs were sunk into the woman’s thigh and the woman’s mouth was stuffed with a man’s cock. He smelled their arousal and couldn’t help but be affected.

  Elena released the woman and turned to Adrian. She spread herself out on her hands and knees. “Come and join us.”

  It was impossible to resist such an open invitation. He removed his clothes as he stalked toward Elena and the human woman. He would take nourishment and pleasure this night, but he would refuse any more party invitations.

  Chapter 4

  “Do you see her?” Jackie asked from the passenger side of her old pick up truck. Mary was driving so she could look for Samantha, but she didn’t see her anywhere. She tried dialing Samantha’s number but it went to voicemail.

  “I don’t. There are a lot of cars here. What was her date driving?”

  “A blue mustang.” Jackie told her unbuckling her seat belt.

  “I see the car, but they aren’t in it. Do you think she went back inside the restaurant?”

  “I’ll go in and check. You stay here in case she’s walking around or something.” Jackie opened the door and started to climb out. A scream in the night pierced her heart freezing her. Samantha.

  She reached inside the cab of the truck and grabbed her shotgun. “Keep the truck running and call 911.” Jackie took off running towards the back of the restaurant in the dark alley.

  She stopped when she caught a glimpse of what looked like a dog lying on top of something. That something was whimpering. Samantha? Jackie didn’t think twice about it. She lifted the old shotgun her grandfather had taught her how to use and shot at the creature. She hit him in the thigh and he ran off limping.

  “Samantha!” Jackie ran as fast as she could to her daughter dropping to the ground next to her. “Baby I’m here. Momma’s here.” There was blood from the bite mark on Samantha’s neck. She covered it with her hand because she didn’t have anything else to use, and she knew had to make the blood flow stop.

  Samantha opened her eyes briefly. “Mom?”

  “Yeah baby, I’ve got you.” Jackie knew she had to get her to a hospital, or she could bleed out.

  A few seconds later Mary came running into the alley. “Jackie! Samantha!”

  “Over here!”

  “I heard the gunshot and came as soon as I could. The 911 operator is sending the sheriff.”

  “I need an ambulance. Never mind, we’ll take her ourselves. The hospital’s only two blocks. We’ll get there faster than an ambulance.”

  Mary helped Jackie lift Samantha up. Jackie tucked her shotgun under her arm, refusing to leg go of the weapon in case that rabid dog came back.

  “Come on baby, stay with me.” Jackie whispered to her daughter with tears in her eyes. She would not lose her child, ever.

  ✯✯✯
>
  Adrian had been back in Boston all of twelve hours before he was called into a conference with his vice-president and second in his clan, Charles Norris. “What’s this about?”

  “Sir, we’ve had some major problems with our Blood Corp Warehouses.”

  “What kind of problems?” Blood Corp was his largest business. He started it about fifty years ago under a different name, as a research facility before it became known as a blood bank. He brought vampires into a new age of not having to hunt for their food, and it was much safer and easier for them to protect their secrets.

  Vampires still drank from the source because nothing beat warm blood from a live host, but nowadays there were parties where vampires could go to enjoy that kind of feeding. Like the one Elena had thrown for him before he left for Boston.

  She invited in human hosts-humans who knew about vampires and willingly gave their blood. Some did it for the thrill, a one time only type of thing. Some did it for money. Others were turned on and craved the bite and the sex like a drug. That night Adrian had drank from a willing host when he allowed himself to partake. Elena had offered her body to him, but he refused her, taking the human’s willing body instead. Elena was not happy about that, but he had to keep his business relationships separate and unclouded.

  Adrian didn’t plan on attending another one of Elena’s parties. It was safer to keep with the products offered through his Blood Corp business. Vampire women could become possessive, and an angry possessive vampire was nothing to take lightly.

  “Sir, did you hear me?” His vice president Charles asked with concern.

  Vampires had a hierarchy that was still deeply adhered to after thousands of years. Adrian was a Master vampire and had his own clan of vampires that he turned or they joined his clan voluntarily like Elena. He was either referred to as Master or Sire. Charles was his second in command. He had several enforcers, and most of the rest of his vampires were weaker in the Clan.

  “I’m sorry, please repeat what you just said.”

  “We have multiple Blood Corp Warehouses in every major city throughout the United States. There are five for each state to be exact. So far twenty of our warehouses have suffered some kind of problem. Five were looted and damaged, five were flooded, and ten of them have caught on fire all within the last week.”

  “Why am I just hearing about this now?”

  “When I received the call about the robberies, I went to visit the warehouses personally. The damages were minimal. We had them up and running in twenty-four hours. The flooding and fires seemed to happen all at once. You were away in Strange Lake Falls and I knew you would be coming back shortly, so I handled the situation the best I could until I could report it to you.”

  “You did fine Charles. I should have been checking in more often while I was away. Strange Lake Falls is not technologically advanced, and their towers are few and far between. That’s another thing that I will have to change once I relocate there.”

  “You’re serious about living in the middle of nowhere?”

  “It’s either that or we go to ground again.”

  “There’s a difference?” Charles joked.

  “This much.” Adrian held up his thumb and forefinger showing about half an inch, before he turned serious again. “We need to increase security. What time of day did these things happen?”

  “All during daylight hours.”

  “Then we need to hire new day guards for all our facilities. I need you to contact the packs in all the states and see if they have any wolves needing jobs. I’ll handle Strange Lake Falls.”

  “Yes, Sire.”

  Chapter 5

  Jackie stared at the doctor like he’d lost his mind. “What did you say?”

  “Your daughter is a werewolf. She will be fine. Her injuries are healing on their own. When she wakes her appetite will be tremendous. I plan to release her tonight or if you prefer, we could keep her overnight for observation, but she will be fine.”

  She would have fallen to the floor if Mary had not been there to catch her around the waist and hoist her over to a chair. “Easy honey. We’ll figure this out.” Mary turned sharp eyes on old Doc Watson. He’d been around since Jackie was just a little girl. “Doc are you feeling well? Maybe you need to get some rest.” Or maybe it was time for him to retire.

  “Don’t you go giving me any lip Mary Mags McGregor. I delivered you into this world and I have medical knowledge that can take you out.” The old doctor waved his finger at her.

  “That might be true, but I’ve got the shotgun.” Mary picked Jackie’s shotgun that she had leaned against the wall. She wasn’t as good at shooting the thing like Jackie but all she had to do was point and pull the trigger.

  “How did you get that gun inside the hospital?” Doc eyed her suspiciously.

  “The ER staff tried to take it away from me but until the Sheriff arrives to help protect Samantha, I am keeping hold of it. Now Doc, why don’t you repeat what you just said, with more information.”

  “I’ve been here in Strange Lake Falls for near to fifty years, and I’ve seen a lot of things in my time. A lot of strange things. I had a man in ER that coded and died, only to revive while in the morgue twenty-four hours after he was pronounced dead. He attacked the coroner biting him, but not draining him completely, and then he ran off. I have had many instances where people would come in with cuts or gunshot wounds that would heal up right before my eyes, and if that wasn’t enough, I fell in love with a werewolf girl who was promised to her pack’s alpha. I was heartbroken but I had to let her go. That was thirty-five years ago. I know what I am telling you is strange, but you live in Strange Lake Falls. What do you expect?”

  “So, Samantha is a werewolf. What can we do to reverse it?” Jackie was finally coming around and she was going into Mom mode.

  “You can’t fix it, honey. It’s done. Once she is bitten on a full moon, she will become a werewolf, or she will die.”

  “Well she sure as hell is not going to die!” Jackie was on her feet again, ready to fight for her daughter.

  “No, if her body refused the change she would have died on the way to the hospital. She didn’t and her wounds are healing. That means she accepted the change and she’s part wolf now.”

  “If there are wolves and such around Strange Lake Falls, why haven’t we heard about them?” Mary asked setting the shotgun back down.

  Doc sighed with relief. He was going to have to get the hospital security up here to take the gun away if she picked it up again. “Strange Lake Falls hasn’t had a wolf pack in years. They dispersed and went lone wolf when they couldn’t find enough females to mate,” Doc Watson said.

  “That’s…what he said,” Samantha’s voice cracked with exhaustion when she spoke.

  “Oh honey, you’re awake.” Jackie was at her side in a second. Mary was on her other side.

  “Carter. He said I was to be his mate, but he had to share me with his brothers because there were very few women.”

  Jackie was shocked. Some sleazy wolf had the nerve to bite her daughter and planned to pass her around. “Over my dead body!”

  Chapter 6

  Adrian settled in his bed in his Boston suite as the sun was rising. Being an older vampire he was no longer ruled by the sun. He continued sleeping during the day out of habit.

  Despite the misconceptions humans had, vampires did not catch on fire when they were in sunlight. They were not soulless creatures that killed everything in their path, and they certainly were not dead.

  They were more like a mutated, anemic human. Certain senses were enhanced, like their hearing, their taste, their strength, and their sense of smell. Their increased abilities, their bodies used up blood at a rapid pace and they needed to keep it replenished often. Their increased senses also meant that they were more sensitive to the sunlight and could burn, but they didn’t catch on fire. They usually slept deeply during the day, but didn’t usually dream. If they did dream, they would not remember it. />
  As young vampires they used up a lot of energy and tired themselves out quickly. It was always safer to rest during the day while humans were out in the fields working. Then at night under the cover of darkness they could seek out blood they need to keep them healthy. While young they could continue to eat and drink like humans, but it was the blood they need to rejuvenate them. Older vampires like Adrian only ate when around humans to keep up his illusion. He didn’t need to feed with blood as often either, maybe once or twice a week.

  As he lay there allowing his body to relax, he considered going to ground again. He was getting so tired of the world and all the wheeling’s and dealings. What was the point?

  He drifted to sleep, expecting to fade into the usual blackness, but instead he fell into a ray of sunshine on a sandy beach in front of an ocean. Looking around he wondered where he was. Had he been there before?

  “You haven’t. I brought you here,” a female voice said in his head. He knew that voice. It was his sire, Lila. He looked to the left and caught sight of her. She was wearing a translucent white sundress, and her long jet-black hair fell to her ankles. She walked towards him, and he was reminded how beautiful she was, but she no longer stirred his desire.

  “That is because I was not meant for you,” she said again without moving her lips. Her words went straight to his head.

  “No one was.”

  “That is not true. You have a true mate waiting for you.”

  “After all this time?”

  “That is why I came to you. I sensed your depression and desire to hibernate. I cannot let you do that. It is finally time for you to meet your mate.”

  “She’s in my world now?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who is she?”

  Lila laughed. “I cannot tell you that. You have to discover it for yourself.”

  He frowned. “How will I know who she is? At least tell me what she looks like.”