Claimed by the Beast - Part One by Dawn Michelle Read Free Book Online

went back to Gwen and found
her smiling at her. The smile made her stomach twist and
grumble.
    “Please, Crystal, eat.”
    “I’m not hungry,” Crystal lied.
    “Yes, you are.”
    Crystal ignored the rebuke and stared at
her. “You’re like her, aren’t you?”
    Gwen tilted her head. “Ember?”
    “Yes.”
    Gwen smiled. “I’m like you, too.”
    “I’m not—”
    Gwen held up a hand, stopping her. “We’re
women, and that means we’re difficult.”
    “No, I’m not,” Crystal argued. “And that’s
not what I meant.”
    “Oh?” Gwen asked with a lightness to her
tone. “What did you mean?”
    “The thing where she—you know, she took off
her clothes and…”
    Gwen nodded. “And she turned into a
wolf.”
    “Oh my God,” Crystal breathed out in a
rush.
    Gwen nodded at the plate of food. “You
should eat. Ember tracked that deer down so we’d have enough for
all of us.”
    Crystal’s head jerked to the side as she
processed Gwen’s words. It didn’t look like the kind of meat she
was used to. It smelled different too, and that wasn’t just the
green and brown herbs sprinkled on it. Those had their own scents
that she could pick out.
    “Holy crap,” Crystal whispered as she
realized what she was doing. “I can smell the, uh, the meat and
stuff.”
    Gwen nodded.
    “Ember, um, did this? She caught a
deer?”
    “She’s our best tracker,” the blond woman
said. “We all can, but Ember has the best nose.”
    Crystal stiffened. “She really was sniffing
me!”
    “Yes.”
    “What’s going to happen? Am I going to die?
Here, I mean?”
    “I hope not,” Gwen said. “We’ve already lost
someone. We don’t want his death to be for nothing.”
    “Gee, thanks.”
    Gwen shrugged. “We saved you the other night
and you haven’t thanked us yet. It’s only because Henry is smitten
with you, and I’m trying to remind myself that you’re scared and
clueless, that we haven’t given up on you.”
    “Thanked you? For saving me?” Crystal gulped
and remembered when she’d ridden home with the large man. “Um, I
thanked Hank.”
    “So you should know we aren’t going to hurt
you.”
    Crystal frowned. She couldn’t deny what Gwen
was telling her but that didn’t make it any easier to accept.
“Okay, um, thank you. But now what?”
    “Now you should eat.”
    “Enough with the damn eating!” Crystal
blurted. “I’m kind of freaked out here. Food’s not my number one
priority!”
    “If you want to know more, you’ll have to
eat first.”
    “Fine!” Crystal snapped and picked up the
plate. It had cooled but she could still feel the heat on the
bottom of the ceramic. She glanced up at Gwen when she realized
there was no fork or knife with it. Gwen nodded for her to go
ahead. Crystal sighed and picked up one of the thin strips of
cooked meat and bit into it.
    The flavor exploded in her mouth, stinging
her tongue and overwhelming her senses for a moment. She tore it
off and chewed on the morsel, savoring the juice that she squeezed
out of it before she swallowed it down. She tore off another piece
and followed that with the third and final bite. After she
swallowed it, she saw two more strips remained. She devoured them
and licked the flavor off her fingers and lips before she
remembered Gwen was watching her.
    Crystal looked up at her, intent on playing
it cool. Gwen’s grin told her the woman knew her secret. She’d love
the crude meal more than the most expensive dinner she’d ever
eaten. She ignored her smile and said, “There, I ate.”
    “Do you want more?”
    Crystal forced herself to shake her head.
“I’m fine.”
    “You’re a terrible liar.”
    “Whatever.”
    Gwen shook her head. “We don’t lie to one
another, young lady. That’s the first rule you need to learn.”
    “I’m not one of you,” Crystal protested.
“I’m just a kid in high school!”
    Gwen frowned. “You’re right and you’re
wrong.”
    “All right, you seem to know so much—you
tell me