First Beginnings

  First Beginnings

  Penn Lake Wolves Book One

  By Clare Atling

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination.

  First Beginnings

  Copyright © 2013 by Clare Atling

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

  Sarah has everything in place for the first time in her life. She and her friend Callie are about to open their lifelong dream bakery when one night turns everything she thought she knew upside down.

  Seth is the alpha of his pack and has waited years to find his mate. Can he convince Sarah she will be happy on Penn Lake Island or will she choose the life she has worked so hard for?

  Dedication

  To my husband who is my happy ending. xxx

  Chapter One

  Looking at herself in the full-length mirror behind her bedroom door, Sarah took in her carefully chosen outfit. Smart blue jeans, green cami top and her sexy, black patent, three-inch heels. Okay, so she could barely walk in a straight line in them, but they cost her most of her week’s wages.

  Tonight, she and her best friend, Callie, would be hitting the bars in the hope of getting very drunk and celebrating the fact that they had passed their final exams, before sitting down and working out how they were going to open their own bakery. Sarah had managed to save some money, but knew it would be nowhere near enough to make up her share. It had been their joint dream all through college and she had trained hard with Callie to become joint business owner of their bakery.

  She brushed out her long blonde hair and decided to let it hang loose, then applied some lip gloss. Sarah knew she was pretty and had a good figure, even though she ate her way through most of what she cooked on the bakery course. Callie, on the other hand, was bigger in size but equally as pretty. Sarah knew Callie was often annoyed by the fact that Sarah could consume vast quantities of junk food and yet still maintain her size 8 figure.

  She could hear Callie getting ready in her room next door and smiled at how much she loved her best friend. They were perfectly matched together and told each other everything.

  ‘Come on, Callie! Time to hit the bars... I’m thirsty!’ she shouted as she made her way out. Callie came out of her room, laughing at Sarah’s comment.

  ‘Okay, okay,’ she replied. ‘Anyone would think you’ve never been out before. You’re like someone who’s just turned twenty-one and can legally go to a bar for the first time!’ Callie had on her favourite pink top which had jewels around the neck line, blue jeans and her pink, high-top pumps. Although Callie was a plus-size girl, she had the grace of a panther and looked beautiful with her glossy brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. Sarah laughed at her comment, grabbing her purse and keys from the side.

  ‘Cab’s waiting for us,’ she said. ‘Come on. All the hot men will be taken by the time we get there. We’ll be stuck in the corner looking like two old spinsters!’ Shutting the door and making sure it was locked, she followed behind Callie, watching her gracefulness.

  ‘It’s so not fair that you walk like a catwalk model in those shoes,’ she commented, ‘whilst I look like Bambi on ice.’ Callie laughed out loud and looked down at Sarah's shoes.

  ‘You know, as much as you love those shoes, they’ll be off your feet within the hour and in my closet by tomorrow morning,’ she said winking and smiling at her friend.

  Once they made it to the bar, they paid the cab driver and entered through the big, posh-looking doors. The bouncer was talking to some blonde and didn’t give them a second glace as they walked through the crowded area towards the bar to get the first drinks of the night.

  As Sarah sipped her spritzer, she noticed Callie was holding on to her vodka and lemonade with a strange look on her face. It was almost as if she was sniffing the air. Sarah smiled at her friend and pulled on her arm to get her attention. Callie bent her head down to hear what Sarah was saying above the noise in the bar.

  ‘You okay?’ said Sarah. ‘You looked like you were lost for a minute.’ Callie smiled back reassuringly, but it didn’t look convincing.

  ‘Sorry,’ she replied. ‘Thought I saw someone I knew, but it wasn’t them.’ Callie couldn’t lie to save her life and Sarah knew it. However, she let it go as they were out to have fun and get horribly drunk, before inevitably waking up the next morning vowing to never drink again.

  ‘Come on,’ shouted Sarah, ‘drink up. I want at least two more drinks before I hit the dance floor.’ Then she picked up her glass and downed the rest of her spritzer.

  Chapter Two

  Marcus could scent a wolf amongst all these disgusting sweaty humans. He had come here to find a new play toy for his son, Colt, who hadn’t seemed to want to play since the death of his mother five years ago. Of course, Marcus knew that bringing him a human female every now and then wasn’t really helping, but they were much easier to control and kill than the wolves he had brought him. They tended to fight back and use their strength and Marcus had to kill them faster than the human girls.

  Colt was a good boy who had doted on his mother, the stupid bitch. She’d had the nerve to try and run away with Colt after he beat her one night. She had made some comment about him being sick in the head after she had found one of his playthings in his dungeon. He’d caught her packing some clothes when he was supposed to be away on business. Marcus had kept her in his dungeons for a few months before he’d slit her throat. She had always been a good fuck, but a useless bitch when it came to ruling his way. He, of course, told Colt that his mother had left him to be with another wolf; since then, Colt had remained withdrawn. Marcus was slowly losing patience with his son, disappointed in how he had turned out. Colt was 440 years old and should be ruling by his father’s side, not sitting like a sissy boy looking for a mother he would never find.

  Looking around the noisy bar, searching for the perfect play toy to snap Colt out of this gloom, he spotted the blonde dancing on the dance floor with her fat friend. He sneered at the larger girl, thinking that he could give her to the guards to fuck before preparing the blonde for Colt. Watching her golden hair brush along her back, he was getting hard thinking that, if Colt didn’t want this one, then he would keep her for a while for himself.

  Smiling an evil grin, he sat watching in the dark corner, waiting for his chance.

  Chapter Three

  ‘Urgh! Callie, my feet hurt.’ Sarah looked down at her feet, noticing her shoes were gone. She burst into laughter and nearly stumbled into the bush on the side of the path. Callie shook her head and laughed at her friend.

  ‘Your feet hurt because you took your shoes off ten minutes ago,’ she replied. ‘You’ve been walking across this dirty path barefoot.’ Callie continued to glide along elegantly, making Sarah stop and frown.

  ‘It's so not fair. First you never get as drunk as me and always end up getting me home. Secondly, you never lose a pair of shoes.’

  Before Callie could answer, she stopped and raised her face again, as if she was once more sniffing the air.

  ‘Callie, you’ve been doing that all night,’ said Sarah. ‘Sniffing the air like you’re smelling a fart! Really, someone as graceful as you should wait till you’re back home before you let rip!’ Sarah was laughing so hard at her own comment that, this time, she did fall over and landed, very unladylike, on her hands and knees.

  ‘Sarah...’ Callie began, sounding concerned.

  ‘I’m fine... I’m fine...
God, I’m so going to regret that tomorrow…’ Sarah looked up and saw a man approaching.

  ‘Sarah...’ said Callie, ’I’m going to tell you to run... as fast as you can. Okay!’ Callie stood in front of Sarah in a defensive pose whilst Sarah got to her feet. She suddenly felt herself sober for a moment before looking again at the man closing in on them.

  ‘Callie... you okay?’ Sarah was now standing upright again, wondering what was upsetting Callie. ‘Do you know him or something?’

  ‘No, but I think we should get out of here.’ Callie was mentally slapping herself for coming this way home. They had done it plenty of times before, but now she felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time. Fear.

  Callie grabbed Sarah's hand and started to run, but didn’t get far before she felt a hard shove on her back. Callie flew through the air and landed on her stomach. Quickly, she got to her feet and span around, just in time to see the man grab Sarah by the arm.

  ‘Stay out of this, bitch, or I’ll snap her arm like a twig,’ the man sneered at Callie.

  Sarah felt his hand tighten on her upper arm and knew it was going to leave a bruise.

  ‘Run, Callie!’ she shouted frantically. ‘Get some help.’

  She didn’t want Callie to get hurt, but then again she sure as hell didn’t want to be left alone with this nut job. She tried to struggle away, but he leant in. He sniffed her hair and licked his rough tongue against her cheek. She could feel herself beginning to shake with fear.

  ‘That’s right, human,’ said the man. ‘I can smell your fear.’ He pressed himself up behind her. ‘Can you feel how much it excites me? I’m going to enjoy making you scream.’

  Callie was close to them now. ‘Let her go and I’ll go easy on you,’ she said boldly. Sarah wished she had her friend’s confidence.

  ‘Callie! No, please, don’t get hurt...’ The pain in her arm as the man held her made her stop short, but nothing prepared her for what happened next.

  Callie kicked off her shoes. Then, to Sarah’s amazement, she watched as her friend’s eyes transformed from their usual deep brown to a piercing blue glow.

  ‘Callie...’ Sarah’s voice shook as she looked at Callie. She heard the feral growl behind her and, suddenly, she was flying through the air. She landed with a thud on her side and felt the pain in her arm. She hoped it wasn’t broken.

  Looking up, she saw the man was snapping his long teeth at Callie, whilst she was growling and snapping her own equally long teeth back at him. Sarah shook her head, hoping she really had drunk too much and that her best friend hadn’t just turned into a freaking vampire, or whatever it was.

  The sound of ripping clothes filled the air as Sarah watched a white glow flow out of Callie’s body, whereupon a brown wolf appeared in her place. Feeling the bile rising from her stomach, Sarah watched as the creepy man also began to transform into a wolf, but a much bigger, scarier, black-looking wolf. Okay, so it’s not a vampire, Sarah thought as she watched the two creatures circle each other.

  The black wolf threw himself at Callie, who just managed to leap clear of him. She grabbed his hind leg and threw him against the lamp post. He recovered quickly and, once again, set about catching Callie.

  Sarah must have made a noise, as he stopped abruptly and turned in her direction.

  ‘Oh shit... Oh crap... HELP!’ she screamed. ‘Someone, help me...’ Sarah was scuffling back on her bottom, trying to get her legs to work so she could stand up and run. The pain in her arm was long forgotten as she stared into the blue eyes of the black wolf.

  Closing her eyes, expecting the killer blow, she sat there. Hearing the deep growl, she opened her eyes slightly and watched as the brown wolf, once her best friend, leapt onto the bigger wolf’s back, before she finally blacked out into sweet nothingness.

  Chapter Four

  The first thing Sarah felt when she awoke was the pain in her arm, but the pain in her head was also as bad. It was dark in the room, but she could see Callie looking at her from a chair.

  ‘Shit, Callie… how much did I drink last night? I feel like hell. Where are we? Looks pretty rundown for a hotel.’ Sarah sat up carefully and squinted at Callie.

  ‘Callie... you okay?’ Sarah asked. Callie walked over to the bed and sat down next to Sarah.

  ‘How are you feeling, besides the headache?’ she asked. ‘I don’t think your arm’s broken. It’s just badly bruised. I’m so sorry about last night. I should have told you.’ Tears streaked down her face.

  Sarah sat up straight, looking at Callie. She reached out her hand to offer comfort to her friend, as images of the previous night came tearing back to her.

  ‘OH MY GOD! Callie...’ Sarah immediately pulled away, looking at Callie as though she were a monster. Callie stiffened and moved toward Sarah.

  ‘Please, Sarah, let me explain,’ she replied. ‘I...’ Sarah held up her hand to stop her.

  ‘What are you?’ she asked suspiciously. ‘You changed, Callie. Into a fucking wolf! A wolf. Holy shit!’ Sarah shouted as she went to push herself up. The pain in her arm shot through her and she let out a sharp yelp, but she didn’t know she was crying until Callie reached over to brush the tears away.

  ‘Don’t touch me, you freak!’ said Sarah. ’What the fuck. A wolf!’ Sarah watched as Callie’s face flinched, as if she’d been slapped.

  ‘Sarah, I am so sorry,’ began Callie. ‘I know I should have told you, but I didn’t want you to be afraid or push me away. I’m still your best friend. I’m still Callie.’ She said the last sentence on a sob.

  ‘Who just happens to sprout hair and snap sharp teeth at a man who wanted to kill us?’ Sarah looked around the room, looking for a way out. ‘I want to go home, Callie.’

  Callie sighed and shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, Sarah, but I couldn’t take us home as he would have scented me there. I got us out of there and ran as fast as I could. I got a cab to bring us here, telling the driver you had passed out drunk.’ Callie looked so sad the Sarah almost wanted to hug her friend and tell her it was ok. But it wasn’t ok. Callie was a wolf and hadn’t trusted her enough to let her in on this massive secret. That thought hurt the most.

  ‘So what now, Callie?’ she asked. ‘I’m trapped here in God knows where forever.’

  ‘Of course not,’ replied Callie. ‘I just needed some time to think. I found this place months ago. It’s an abandoned old spa. I thought if we stayed away for a few days, then I could think more clearly about what to do next.’ Callie had stood up and was now pacing the room. ‘Shit, Sarah, I’m so sorry. I’ll get us out of this, I promise.’

  Just before Sarah was about to tell Callie to stop pacing, they heard the sound of an engine pulling into the car park outside.

  Chapter Five

  Seth pulled the van into the abandoned parking area.

  ‘Jesus, Brandon. Really! You said this wasn’t a big job. Just something to get our teeth into.’ Seth looked over the rundown spa hotel. He knew this was going to be a big job and wasn’t sure he wanted to take it on.

  ‘Stop whining like a girl and help me get the stuff out the back,’ replied Brandon. ‘We’re meeting the owner here in an hour and she wanted us to give her a quote for the job.’ He opened his door and slipped out.

  Seth looked at his brother and smiled. There may have been 80 years between them, but they were still the closest of all their brothers and sister. He and his two brothers owned a construction company, with him mostly taking care of the payroll and admin side, whilst Logan and Brandon were the muscle and did the grunt work. Logan, however, was busy helping their dad to rearrange the house, ready for the new pack member. Seth finished securing his tool belt and joined Brandon at the front of the truck.

  ‘Ready as I’ll ever be,’ he said. ‘Lead the way, Brandon.’

  Seth smirked, knowing this was going to be one of their biggest jobs to date. Although they didn’t need the money, it would do them all good to have something to focus on besides the packing business. Seth had
become alpha of the pack some fifty years ago, when their father had decided he wanted to stand down and spend more time with their mum. Although he loved being the alpha, it was a lot of work and effort to oversee the day-to-day running of the pack and to make sure they kept exposure to a minimum. It wasn’t that they didn’t like the humans, but over the years they’d either wanted to experiment on them to find answers, or panic and want them out of their society. Therefore, they kept themselves to themselves, with just a few close human friends they had made along the way.

  Brandon was making notes on his iPad, causing Seth to snort in derision. ‘Man, you are such a geek.’ Brandon smiled, but didn’t look up from the screen.

  ‘No, you’re just stuck in the dark ages,’ he replied. ‘Two hundred and twenty years old and I bet you still don’t even carry your mobile with you. You know they call them mobile phones for a reason, don’t you? You can carry them anywhere.’ Brandon was still smiling, remembering when Seth had been given a new phone; he’d handed it straight to Brandon, asking him to keep it until it was set up and working like the old one. Brandon loved technology and, over the years, he enjoyed training himself in all the latest software and hardware available.

  Seth started up the steps towards the main entrance, expecting it to be locked. When it swung open, he checked the lock to see if it had been broken into. As he suspected, the lock was bent out of shape, as if someone had pulled hard on the door. Scenting the lock, he noticed the faint odour of a female wolf.

  ‘How long has this place been closed?’ he shouted over his shoulder to Brandon.

  ‘Maybe a year. Not that long,’ Brandon replied, putting the iPad away in his shoulder bag and joining Seth by the front door.

  ‘Well, I think it’s been used for overnight guests,’ said Seth. ‘A female wolf, at that, but I can’t tell if she’s still here.’ He walked into the reception area and hotel lobby, followed closely by Brandon.