First Bite (The Dark Wolf Series) Read Free

where none were possible. Restore harmony where none could exist.
    He sighed, feeling every ounce of the crushing weight he carried on his shoulders. What had driven this young woman to such extremes? Maybe he wasn’t doing her any favors by interfering, but he was going to anyway. It was time to pull his last card out of his pocket.
    It took a helluva lot of energy for the human body to transform into a wolf. Changelings learned to draw it from their surroundings, particularly from the earth. It led to an enormous buildup of static electricity, which was why shifts often ended in a flurry of blue sparks. But in times of extremity, Changelings could sometimes collect that energy for another purpose. When he was lying this close to the injured woman, his aura and hers intersected. It would allow him to give her an infusion, not just of energy, but also—if his wolfen side permitted it—of a portion of his life essence.
    The inner wolf was devoted to his survival. It would rise to the surface without being called if Travis’s life was threatened, force a shift, and deal with the problem with tooth and claw—a fact that Travis knew all too well. It was against its very nature to allow what he wanted to do for this woman, and without its cooperation it wasn’t possible. So he couldn’t let the wolf say no.
    Listen, you
, he addressed his lupine self.
I don’t care what your mission statement is; I need to give this woman a second chance. Understand?
He waited, prepared to fight his alter ego if necessary. (And wouldn’t Freud have a field day with that?)
    Help. Give.
    If Travis had been in human form, his eyebrows would have disappeared into his hairline. The wolf had actually communicated with words, a rare event—the animal persona knew language but seldom used it. Even more rare was that the wolf had actually agreed with Travis.
All right then. Let’s do it.

    Geneva finally gave in and agreed to meet up with her coworkers, Candace and Amber, at a popular rave club. “Neva, come have a couple drinks with us and dance.” “Neva, you’ll never meet anyoneif you stay home all the time.” “You need to loosen up, Neva. Have some fun.”
    Fun? Her life hadn’t contained much of that, and really, she felt a little old for the whole rave scene. But to her surprise, she enjoyed herself. Three Jell-O shots and she was ready for a lot
more
fun, too. Amber loaned her a pair of LED gloves. Circles and spirals and even squiggles of brightly colored UV light appeared to dive through the air overhead as the techno music moved her.
    Neva was having so much fun on the dance floor that she lost track of her friends. A dedicated raver, Candace wore waist-length faux dreads in Day-Glo pink. Even in the midst of the crowd of dancers, she should have been visible. And Amber’s vivid blue tutu should have stood out as well. But Neva didn’t see them among the bodies thrashing in unison to the music’s primal beat.
    She made her way off the dance floor, but the table they’d been sitting at had been taken over by another group. Restrooms? She checked all four of them. They were large enough to do an airport proud, but her friends weren’t in them. Neva cruised the balcony that overlooked the enormous dance floor, to no avail. The massive dance room branched off into a warren of smaller rooms: a few specialty bars but mostly offices and storerooms. No Amber, no Candace. Had they left without her?
    The last door opened into a cozy pub. Although most of the chairs were upside-down on the tables, the lights were on and Anderson Cooper was on the big-screen TV. No one was there, and it was tempting to sit down for a moment. The pounding techno tunes she’d enjoyed so much were starting to give her a headache. Not that it was quiet here—just a few decibels lower than the main dance hall. Tired of the hide-and-seek, Neva decided to go home.
    That’s when she discovered two things. One, the door was locked. Two, she wasn’t alone