Once Bitten Twice Smitten: BBW Werewolf Shifter Menage Romance by Ariana Hawkes Read Free Book Online Page A

puberty.”
    “And then they become wolves, and spend their lives running around on four legs?”
    “No, as far as I understand it, they can change back and forth at will,” her father said. Aspen stared at her left hand, remembering how strange it had looked. All knotty and sinewy, and – a bit like the leg of a big animal, really. Her breath became fast and uneven, and, suddenly, she was hyperventilating. Her mum wrapped her arms around her, and her father squeezed her knee.
    “Sweetheart, it’s ok, it’s ok,” her mother whispered, but her usually soothing voice didn’t have any effect on Aspen just then.
    “I saw something happen to my hand,” she managed to say, before bursting into tears. “It changed, right in front of my eyes.” She sensed her parents looking at each other over her head, and she broke into loud sobbing. Her mother rocked her back and forth, as she had done when she was small, making comforting sounds. Little by little, Aspen regained control of her breathing. She pulled away and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Her father handed her a tissue, and she blew her nose.
    “Why did you move away from Gila? There was a man at the door today, who told me to ask you,” she demanded. Her father’s eyes filled with fear.
    “Who was this man?” he almost shouted.
    “I don’t know. I was in bed, screaming in pain, and he rang the doorbell.”
    “And you opened the door to him?” She nodded. “Aspen, we’ve been telling you your whole life not to answer the door to strangers!”
    “Dad, I’m not a child anymore. And, anyway, I was in so much pain, I hardly knew what I was doing.”
    “It’s ok, sweetheart,” her mother said, rubbing Aspen’s fingers, her face contorted with empathy at her daughter’s suffering. “What else did the man say to you?”
    “He said he’d had the same pain when he was younger, and that I’d soon start to feel better than I’d ever felt before. He knew I was from New Mexico, and he said you should be the ones to explain everything to me. And he was really kind,” she finished. The air was heavy with silence.
    “Aspen, the reason why we left New Mexico, and moved as far away as we could was because we were terrified that the werewolves were going to snatch you,” her father said.
    “People say that they’re very protective of their own kind,” her mother added.
    “Even when being their own kind is the result of them biting you!” her father said angrily.
    “Pat, calm down,” her mother said. “This isn’t helping.” She turned back to Aspen. “Our friends warned us that they might try to kidnap you. So we did everything we could to prevent that from happening. We left Gila as soon as you’d recovered. We changed our names, our identities, as far as we could. It was like we were in a witness protection program. We made the house as secure as possible.”
    “Hence the multiple locks on the door,” Aspen said. “I thought you were just OCD.”
    “We trained you to be strong and ready to defend yourself. We were so glad when you took up boxing in your teens, and then roller derby.”
    “But, despite all our efforts, it looks like they found you anyway!” her father said.
    Aspen put her head in her hands. There were so many things to absorb.
    “I – I just can’t believe all this is true. It sounds crazy,” she faltered.
    “That’s because we raised you up here, where people don’t think about werewolves, and don’t hear the legends. Down in the towns around Gila, it’s far more accepted.”
    “I think I want to go and lie down for a while,” Aspen said. “But I’m scared that, if I do, the pains will start again.” Just then the locks on the front door clunked open and Venus, her younger sister, bounded into the room. As usual, she looked like she should be hosting a teen music show. She was stick-thin, with tiny hips, huge, cartoon-character eyes, and a cloud of immaculately-styled dark hair. It was only her sweet