Bite Me by Donaya Haymond Read Free Book Online

long antenna. His voice projected guilt, confusion, and effort to hold things together. “Look, it’s the other phone. The news must have shocked her into shape-shifting.” He placed a fragile limb around my mother’s shoulders. “How are you holding up, dear?”
“I’ll worry about that later; right now we need to deal with Dianne’s problem. I don’t think she knows how to return.”
“Will she attack us?”
“If she has the same personality, she won’t. With human memories translated into wolf thinking, her temperament should be similar to a dog’s, with us at least.” She crouched and tentatively touched me. I licked her hand, happy with simple affection, and she petted me for a while longer. Drops of water trickled down her face. The alpha male pushed the little dots on the object, making little beeps.
“Hello? Nat? You know how we couldn’t get Dianne to change when we were visiting you? Uh huh. That is no longer an issue. Right. No, we didn’t tell her. . . not now, we’ll talk about that when my entire family is biped again. Thank you.”
After that, I was too frustrated with the meaningless sounds to pay attention, miserable without knowing why. Time passed. The room grew darker as the sun sank down below the trees and buildings, and the wolves all around would soon be active. Without warning there was a different creature in front of me, at my eye level. At first it frightened me, but I recognized the scent as the same female there was before, and pressed myself against the ground to acknowledge her dominance.
With a soft sigh she showed her concern. Our ‘conversation’ continued in a mixture of body language and vocalizations.
I am sad. I whined. I am confused.
I am sad too. I need your help.
I am beta juvenile. Awaiting orders. My instincts made me eager to contribute.
You were different before.
What?
Mom was conveying as much as she could, but wolf dialogue does not include the concept of transforming from one thing to another. Not a.
. . not down on the ground. You stood up. You looked different. Remember? You were a human.
    Maybe. The subject was out of my depth, so I clung to my original thought, which was easier to wrap my mind around. Something’s wrong. There is danger.
    Yes, but can you change back? That will lessen the danger. Do what I do. Her transformation made me yelp in surprise. Now a woman, she said something to Dad, sounding upset. Another strange loud noise came, this time from far away. He left and she became a wolf again.
    Try to understand, daughter. It is urgent. You must do what I did. I know what you mean. It’s too hard. I don’t know how. I don’t want to. She growled and bared her teeth, making me flinch.
Mercy! Mercy!
Then her temper returned. No. You forgive me. Tell me why you don’t
want to.
    I indicated an improved situation, unable to express it in individual ‘words’. What I meant was that it was easier being a wolf–much easier than human responsibility and doubt.
    Then a new arrival distracted me. Nat (though I didn’t remember his name) walked in and I flung myself at him, growling. He was not one of the pack, and I had the dim feeling that somehow he was the cause of our trouble. I tried to crunch his throat and would have succeeded if the outsider had been a normal man. The impact flattened him and sent his bag flying. He fought my jaws off with his hands, yelling, “Whoa! Bad Dianne! Wolf-girl get off nice vamp. Geez Louise! A little help here please, Ferdinand.”
    Dad pulled my snarling body away. “She must be angry with you about the diagnosis.”
“Heck of a displacement job.” The doctor pushed himself up, hands covered in bite marks. His tie was pretty shredded. “Are all shapeshifters this irrational?”
“Be glad she’s not a (oof!) werewolf on her night. It’s ironic—a lycan goes insane once a month and is completely the same mentally any other time, while Dianne can go either way. Though (ouch!) this time she