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

nature that stopped Aspen from bitterly resenting her. Venus froze as she entered the living room.
    “What’s going on?” she said, her eyes darting from one person to another.
    “Nothing, honey,” their mom said. Aspen stood up. She couldn’t deal with Venus’ curiosity right now. She waved at everyone vaguely and went back up to her room.
     
    Chapter Five
     
    Chase sighed with satisfaction. He was once again driving into Williston just as night was falling, but the trip had been a success. The National Federation had been very helpful, locating six houses within the town that had been purchased at around the time that the girl’s family had come to live there. He was dying to visit each house on the list and have a good sniff through the letterbox, but his belly was protesting, as was his wolf. Reluctantly, he took a right and drove back to the hotel.
    As he reached the cabin, he saw that Brad had left a rabbit for him, laid out on the doormat. It was typical of him to pay back his favors, Chase thought, with a wry smile. Bringing it inside, he noted that Brad’s things had gone. He must’ve moved to another cabin. Good . Chase valued his privacy from other packs as much as the next werewolf. He stripped his clothes off and shifted, letting out excitable little yips as his body stretched out into its wolf form. Then he devoured the rabbit. It was gone in a few bites, and he was still hungry. He padded towards the door of the cabin, glad for any excuse to run in the forest.
     
    Half an hour later, with his hunger sated and his fur groomed, Chase shifted back into his human form and hit the shower. As always, he wished he didn’t have to attend to his hygiene in both his wolf and human forms. Oh, well. It was a pretty good trade off for all the benefits he gained from being a shifter.
    Brad was staying three cabins away from him, Chase’s nose told him, but he wasn’t home when Chase passed by on his way to his car. That slacker has probably been lazing around all day, waiting for me to come up with a solution. And I’m damned if I’m going to help him out! he thought with a chuckle. Brad was probably in a bar now, knocking back bourbons and chatting to a cute girl.
    Chase got into his car and pulled out the list of addresses that the Federation had given him. He figured out the directions to the first one, and headed off, tingling with excitement at the prospect of seeing the girl for the first time.
    He pulled up in front of the address. It was a small house, with a tidy front garden. The curtains were closed, and there were no lights inside. Chase got out of the car. If the girl was truly on the cusp of her first shift, as the Federation had informed his parents she would be, all he had to do was sniff, and he’d know whether she lived there or not. He took a deep snort of the cool air. There was nothing much. A faint human smell, dry, like old newspaper. He bent to open the little gate, and walked along the path that led to the front door. He put his nose to the letterbox and sniffed again. There was the same dry smell, just stronger. There was no young female living there, whether human or werewolf. He turned back, vaulted over the gate and got back in his car.
    The second place he came to was a hectic, brightly-lit house. He could hear people shouting all the way from the sidewalk. They must be having a party. There were so many humans in there that his nose was temporarily confused. He identified at least three very young females, and two older females. But there was no hint of werewolf.
    The third house was occupied by a single old lady, the fourth by a human couple, and the fifth by four young men, who ate a lot of takeaway pizza.
    “Damnit!” Chase yelled into the confines of the car. It was starting to look like those bozos at the Federation had given him crappy information. He’d been so excited when he’d got his hands on those addresses, and now it was coming to nothing. He slammed his fist