Once Bitten Twice Smitten: BBW Werewolf Shifter Menage Romance (2 page)

“Chase Cooper,” he said to the receptionist at the same time that Brad said “Bradley MacConnell.” The face of the receptionist, a balding, gray-haired man with heavy jowls and a swollen drum of a belly, fell at the sight of them.

“Well, I’m really sorry to tell you fellas that we only guarantee these rooms until 6pm, and since it’s a quarter of eight already, I’m afraid we’ve only got one left.” He looked at each of them anxiously. “I don’t know what to tell you. I guess I’ll have to let you fight it out between yourselves.” As Chase turned to look at Brad, his wolf growled hopefully at the prospect of a fight. Chase shushed it up. Brad shrugged.

“Hey, I don’t have a problem with sharing,” he said.

“You and me. Share a room. Are you serious?” Chase yelled.

“Well the alternative is you being stuck in the middle of the town, and not being able to shift.”

“
Me
? Why the hell would I be the one to not stay here?”

“I booked first.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because the guy I booked with told me I could have the pick of the cabins,” Brad said. Chase scowled.

“Well that doesn’t mean shit. If I’d arrived first, I’d be nice and cozy in the cabin now, while you’d be out on your ass,” he said.

“The only reason you weren’t here first is because you couldn’t resist sniffing me out at the Greyhound station.”

“Your point is?”

“That we’re in this together. We’ve both come here to find the girl. This whole thing started because we used to be friends. There’s no denying that. As long as you don’t keep me awake with your snoring, like you used to, I’m ok to share a room with you.” Chase stared at him for several long moments.

“Ok,” he said at last. “But only for one night. And then one of us can move.”

“Exactly.”

“Snoring my ass,” Chase muttered, as they filled out a form and picked up their key. “Coming from the guy who used to wake me up howling when he was having nightmares.”

“Coming from the guy who used to suck his thumb in his sleep.”

“Don’t lie!”

They continued bickering all the way up to their cabin, which, as luck would have it, was right at the back of the complex. Brad unlocked the door and it swung wide open, revealing a dark wooden interior, with a huge fur rug, rustic furnishings, and a double bed.

“What the fuck?” Chase said. “Not only do we have to share a room, but we have to sleep in the same bed!” Brad breezed past him, bounded onto the bed and lay down flat.

“Wow, that feels good,” he said. He lifted his head and looked at Chase. “Believe me, I’m as excited about it as you are. But there’s nothing we can do about it. So how about we quit bitching and chill the fuck out?” Chase dropped his bag in the corner of the room.

“Whatever,” he said gruffly. Brad opened one eye and gave him a sly look, knowing it cost him to yield on anything.

“Thanks for agreeing, dude,” he replied, and closed his eyes again. Chase sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him in distaste. Everything about him was irritating. From his immaculate good looks, with his black hair, dark eyes and razorblade cheekbones, to the scattering of chest hair that poked out of the top of his shirt, to the way he dressed like a hobo, but somehow managed to look good with it. And that was before you took his personality into account. He was so annoyingly laid back. If he’d been human, he would’ve most likely been a stringy-haired surfer, living on a beach in California. Instead, he was an Alpha’s son, and one who didn’t seem to be taking his responsibilities seriously. Chase’s wolf began to whine, begging to be let out. He strode towards the door and opened the latch.

“Where are you going?” Brad said drowsily.

“To the woods.”

“In your clothes? It’s definitely going to rain, bro.” Chase snorted dismissively and slammed the door shut behind him.

He strode to the back wall of the complex, vaulted over it, and jogged into the forest. The burning under his skin and the straining of his joints and tendons was becoming unbearable. As his wolf made a sudden lurch inside him, he gasped and stopped dead. This was the longest he’d ever gone without shifting, and it felt terrible. He ripped his shirt off and, just in the nick of time, yanked his shoes and jeans off as well, as his wolf tore itself out of his human form. The pain of it took his breath away. These days he barely noticed the discomfort of his joints cracking, and his muscles stretching to their limits. But this felt like the first time he’d ever shifted. When he finally stood as a wolf in full, huge, with golden-hued fur and apple-green eyes, it took him some time to compose himself. And then the rush came. His body was flooded with euphoria as it remembered that it could run as fast as it wanted, see everything, hunt anything it came across. He started to run. The woods were damp, the air thick and rich with mulchy earth and dense pines. He ran fast, trying to shake off the hurt that his parents had caused him by lying about Brad’s potential claim on the girl. But it wasn’t something he was going to get over fast. Especially if it turned out that she wasn’t his. He snarled at the thought. It wasn’t possible. It just wasn’t. He was Chase Cooper. Number one. The winner. He was faster, better, stronger than anyone else. He’d marked the girl: he just knew it.

Just then, he spotted the white bob of a rabbit’s tail, and he salivated. He hadn’t eaten for at least 18 hours, and his stomach was growling like it had a life of its own. Breaking into a sprint, he was soon right onto it, and caught it easily, snapping its neck with a satisfying crunch.

As he finished his meal, he saw another white flash in the distance. He’d eaten enough to fill his belly, but he could never resist the thrill of the chase. Immediately, he ran after it, judging the best way to approach. But then, there was a dark shape to the left of his field of vision. He snapped his head around. It had to be Brad. It was. He saw his distinctive pure black fur and dark amber eyes. The only werewolf he knew whose eyes changed color as he shifted, which was absolutely typical of Brad. Chase snarled. His instincts wouldn’t allow him to drop back and let Brad have the rabbit. He continued to chase after it, slightly better positioned than Brad. But Brad soon caught sight of him, and increased his speed. He closed on the rabbit fast, and made the kill. Chase’s teeth made contact with the rabbit’s back leg at the same moment that Brad snapped its neck. Brad dropped it, his eyes glowing with fury, and launched himself onto Chase with a roar. His teeth bit into the back of his neck and his claws dug into his ribs. Chase was paralyzed for a moment, unprepared for Brad to be anything other than laid back. He yelped as Brad’s teeth did him some real damage, sinking in deep, and trying to tip him onto his back. Chase let himself fall, and they were rolling around in the dirt together, Brad snapping at his muzzle and nipping at his ears. He was angry. They weren’t playful bites; he wanted to teach him a lesson, Chase realized with a shock. He couldn’t help biting him back though, and they rolled over and over, each trying to force the other to submit. A hard bite on the haunch made Chase yowl, and at last, he conceded defeat, the knowledge that he shouldn’t have tried to take Brad’s rabbit pushing itself to the front of his mind.

Brad howled in satisfaction, before sinking his teeth into his kill, and eating ravenously. Chase hung around several feet away, watching him, licking at the surprising number of wounds on his body. As Brad came to the end of his meal, and began to groom his paws, the trees rustled, and rain began to fall heavily. It was soon a deluge, breaking through the tree canopy and wetting their fur. They ran back to the hotel, pausing to shift at the spot where Chase had left his clothes. Standing on two feet again, Chase picked them up off the ground. He’d shifted so quickly earlier on that he hadn’t had time to put them up in a tree before he took on his wolf form. And now they were soaking wet. Brad threw him a contemptuous glance.

“I did warn you,” he said, and strolled over to the wall, his massive, muscled body still naked. Chase followed him sheepishly, and they leapt over the wall and crept back to their cabin.

“I said I’m sorry,” Chase muttered, when they’d both showered, and were sitting at opposite ends of the bed in their boxers, their naked torsos equally magnificent, yet different. Chase’s chest was hairless, and his muscles were long and lean. His skin was the same gold as his hair. Brad was hairier, and a little more solid. He had meat on his bones, and his chest was broad and deep.

“You always want to take what’s mine!” Brad replied, with more anger in his voice than Chase had ever heard before.

“What do you mean?”

“You really don’t remember, do you?” Brad shouted. Chase shook his head.

“You were always stealing the girls I liked. Every time I mentioned that I wanted to get to know someone, there you were, turning on the charm, making them like you, just so you could get one over on me!” Chase continued shaking his head, genuinely mystified. “That’s why we fell out. That’s why we’re no longer friends!”

“We were teens,” Chase said. “It was all about proving ourselves, about beating the competition. It was natural!”

“Yes, that’s what your father had you believe, because he had this macho thing going on, and he wanted to indoctrinate it into you!” Brad said. Chase frowned.

“My father was pushing me a lot. But that was his duty as the Alpha of the pack.”

“Not to the point that it made you a complete asshole!” Brad yelled. “Now, leave me alone, Chase. I’m going to sleep.” Brad lay down at the edge of the bed, as far away from Chase as possible, pulled the cover over him, and in seconds he was asleep.

Chase prowled around, staring at Brad’s sleeping form, his head spinning. Had he really stolen girls from Brad? Or from anyone else? It had all been part of the thrill of the chase for him. That’s what you do as an Alpha, as his father had told him repeatedly. His wolf whined, uncomfortable at sleeping so close to Brad, when he could virtually feel the hostility radiating from him. He considered shifting and sleeping on the rug, but he didn’t have the energy right now. Eventually, he lay down on the opposite edge of the bed and fell into an uneasy sleep.

Chapter Two

Aspen Richardson charged ahead of one of the Lone Star Rollergirls’ blockers. One of Aspen’s teammates had stumbled, letting the Lone Star jammer slip through. If no-one caught her, she’d take the jam, and her team would win the entire game. Aspen fixed her eyes on the blonde ponytail whipping from side to side, and increased her speed. She went out wide, using the banked track to lend her momentum, and swung in again, pulling in front of the jammer. The girl didn’t see her coming and she staggered, her skate connecting with a blocker from her own team. She snatched at Aspen’s arm for balance, but Aspen pulled away in time, and the girl went down. In the confusion, Aspen’s team’s jammer passed by the Lone Star’s blockers. Aspen caught the girl’s hand, pulling her forward in a whip, and the girl broke through, lapping the track once, and then twice before the whistle blew for the end of the jam. The Missing City Rollergirls had won the game! They’d be in with a chance of promotion for the next season! Their supporters went crazy, whooping and screaming.

“Great job, Aspen!” Lisa Edwards, also known as Lisa Lava, hollered, slapping her on the back as she passed by on her way to the changing room. A couple of the other girls squeezed her shoulder, shouting words of congratulation as well. And, as Aspen opened the door to the changing room, she was greeted with a chorus of whoops and clapping. All the girls, some of them already half undressed, rushed her, and lifted her high into the air. Aspen shrieked and laughed in delight.

“Hey! Put me down before you all slip a disk or something!” she shouted.

“You were amazing, honey!” Debs, one of her best friends yelled.

“You’re telling me? The way she took that Lone Star loser out was
incredible
!” Winona exclaimed.

“Thanks guys!” Aspen said, once she was safely on solid ground again. She staggered a little, light-headed from all the attention, as well as the heat in the changing room.

“You go, girl,” Winona said, slapping her on the ass as a parting shot, before returning to her area of the room to continue getting undressed. Aspen was still wearing her helmet. She pulled it off, grossed out by the fact that her hair was drenched, plastered to her forehead, and clinging to her cheeks in sweaty ringlets. She stripped off her wifebeater, emblazoned with the Missing City logo, her black spandex shorts, red fishnet pantyhose and long socks, and walked over to the mirrors in her bra and panties to wipe off the warrior make-up she, like all of the girls, had striped across her face.

Aspen loved being part of the roller derby team, and she’d come to love the post-game changing-room ritual as well. For the first time in her life, she was one of the girls. Sure, there were one or two skinny-minnies, but everyone else was a similar size to her, and they were all really tough, kick-ass girls. They walked around naked as they were getting changed, and everywhere she turned there were huge boobs, generous thighs and ample asses. When she’d first started playing with the team, she’d been shy, running into a restroom cubicle to change. But then it had dawned on her that everyone else looked a lot like she did, and that they were hanging out naked, not ashamed of their bodies, and she started to do the same. It was so liberating! She found herself admiring the curves of the other girls, seeing that they were all the sexier for not being stick thin. Finally, the nasty voices from her childhood that had haunted her for so long began to recede. Her cursed parents had named her Volupta. Volupta Aspen Richardson. What a ridiculous name for a start, culled from her mother’s obsession with cheesy romance.
What kind of name is Volupta?
the kids at school asked.
It means ‘bliss’
, she’d answered. But then some smart-ass kid had discovered that it could have another meaning as well.
It means fat!
David Green had yelled triumphantly in the middle of class one morning. Then, of course, she’d become ‘Fat Aspen’. And, as if it’d been a self-fulfilling prophecy, her youthful puppy fat had turned into adult voluptuousness, which she couldn’t shake, no matter how hard she tried. She had F cup breasts, big round hips, and thighs that would never look good in hold-ups. But since she’d joined the Missing City girls, she’d stopped seeing her body as something to be embarrassed about.