Bad Moon (BBW Paranormal Romance) (7 page)

"Come with me," he said, his eyes suddenly
turning serious. "Our old manager quit and we desperately need
one."
I paused, shocked by his offer. "I can't do that. I can't leave my
boys."

He frowned and nodded. Then his eyes lit up
with another idea. "When's your next gig?"

"In two nights. It's in Atlanta. Why?"

"Because...well, what if I could get you a
gig in Tallahassee?" he said, propping his head up on his hand with
excitement.

"I'm listening," I said, intrigued. Maybe
this would turn out to be a roundabout way of networking after all.
Brandon would be proud.

"Well...the house show scene is pretty big
there." I gave him a blank look. "Some people treat their houses as
venues, usually college kids, people around that age. They throw
parties there and bands play from all over, and usually crash at
their house. I can't pretend the pay is good, but you didn't have
anything lined up anyway, right?"

"It's true..." I said, a sudden rush of
excitement in my veins. I could suddenly kill two birds with one
stone.

There was a rapping at the door before I had
much of a chance to think through what he had just told me.

"What?" Aamir called gruffly.

"Um dude..." came a male's voice from the
other side. "Hate to bother you but...well there's a wolf in our
yard."
Aamir shot up, his back straight as a rod. My initial reaction was
too laugh, because the prospect was simply to absurd for me to take
seriously, but the look in his eyes told me a different story.

There was fear and anger. But there was also
familiarity.

"Are you positive? You're not fucking around,
are you?" he called back gruffly.

"I mean it man. I would hurry. He hasn't hurt
anyone yet but...we'll
you know
. He's
fucking shit up. David's keeping him under control for now."

Aamir jumped out of bed and snatched his
shirt up from the ground, pulling it over his head.

"You stay here, alright?" he said, and I
nodded, pulling the sheets over my naked body as he fled the room,
closing the door behind him. It had all happened so fast that I
hardly believed it. It was all so surreal.

But of course, there was simply no way I was
going to just lay there. Wolf had to be a code for something else.
There just aren’t wolves in Florida. That’s a fact.

I jumped out of the bed and quickly scooped
up my clothes, pulling them on as quickly as I could.

Outside of the room the chatter was
deafening. More electric and excited than before, and I realized
most people were up towards the front of the living room, trying to
peak through the windows. A few girls were huddled on the other
side of the room, holding each other with fear in their eyes.

I couldn't see what was going on through the
crowd of people, so I walked out the front door. A few people
protested, but I couldn’t find any of the boys in the living room
and I needed to know what was going on.

And then I saw it.

You know that feeling when you don't really
know what's happening, but you swear to God that somehow you're
familiar with it in ways that send shivers down your spine? Kind of
like
Déjà vu
.

Well, as I looked at the snarling wolf, his
lips raised up over his long fangs, and his gray eyes flashing with
anger as Aamir and another man approached him, crouched down with
their arms spread open, and I felt it.

Because although there was no way for me to
know it, I knew, without a shadow of a doubt that those gray eyes,
clouded over like a storm, belonged to someone I had known for most
of my life.

"Trent?" I called out hoarsely. The creature
turned to me, growling viciously before he charged, tackling me
down to the green lawn beneath my feet.

I jumped on the old, dingy stage, buzzing
with energy and alcohol. I wasn’t proud of the events that led me
here, in a beat up old karaoke bar in Tallahassee, but we needed
that prize money and Trent was acting like he was too good for all
of this.

Well I’ll be the first one to admit that I’m
not. As far as I could tell from the competition, it was worth a
shot.

I took the microphone from the host’s hand
and avoided making eye-contact with the crowd, keeping my eyes
trained on the blue screen before me. The ruckus let me know that
none of the fratty boys or bleach-blondes were paying any attention
to me—they were all there to get hammered and laid. The weird,
embarrassing singing on the stage was just a plus.

“Go Bailey!” I heard Brandon call across the
room. I smiled to myself, my nerves slightly dissipating as I
noticed the slur in his voice. At least I wasn’t the only crazy one
in our group that thought this was a good idea. The music started,
and I rocked to it slowly, my eyes still furiously glued to the
screen.

It was Elton John’s “Your Song.” I both
wanted to kiss Brandon and laugh at him for picking such a cheesy
tune, but it was perfect for the number of shots I had thrown back
in the last hour. I took a deep breath before I let the classic
words flow forth: “It’s a little bit funny...”

The music coursed through me, sending shivers
down my spine. It had been years since I had sang like this, more
often than not alone in my room with a hairbrush. I closed my eyes,
taking in each note and then letting it fly, each word taking a
part of my soul with me. It soothed me, lulled me into a hypnotic
trance I never wanted to break free from. I could feel tears
welling up in my eyes.

Boy was I drunk.

“I hope you don’t mind, I hope you don’t
mind...” I cried out, letting the raucous build of the chorus
consume me. I opened my eyes and saw that every person in the
goddamn bar was looking at me. In a panic, I focused my gaze on my
boys in the back. Trent was looking straight at me, a lazy smile
spread across his beautiful face. His steely gray eyes looked
moist, like there were tears welling up just waiting to burst
forth.

Hot tears came to my own eyes as butterflies
erupted in my stomach. I was so angry at him for all the weird
secrets, terrified of his strange shifting abilities, and confused
by the tender stretch of a smile across his face, illuminated only
by the dim, hazy bar lights.

‘Holy shit. I’m in love with
him
,’ I realized, a strange pull gripping my heart. The
tears flowed down my face freely, warm and comforting down my cool
skin.

“How wonderful life is while you’re in the
world.
”