First Moon (New Moon Wolves) BBW Werewolf Romance Read Free Page A

on antibiotics just in case, there was nothing to worry about and that was that.
    The bite tingled even more fiercely as if to prove her wrong.
    It must be Bob’s death messing with my head. She shook it off and focused on the present.
    “So is Bob really dead?” Christine seemed to be reading Audrey’s mind.
    “Yep.” Audrey kept her response short, not sure how much she should or wanted to say. There was an active police investigation after all.
    “And the wolf is from his house?”
    “Yep.” Audrey rolled to a stop at an intersection and checked for cross traffic. Off in the distance, the lake gleamed like a polished sapphire. The sun hung low in the horizon, a ball of fiery orange dipping itself into the blue water of Lake Michigan as if it just wanted to cool off. Given the frigid lake could make her legs go numb within minutes, Audrey figured the sun had chosen one of the few places on earth that could take its heat.
    Christine gave a low whistle. “Wow. Keep me posted on what you find. Sounds like we have a few mystery wolves on the loose.”
    “Sure thing. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” Audrey said goodbye and tossed the cell phone into the passenger seat. Aiming her truck toward home, she hit the gas pedal. On days like this, she wished her parents were alive, particularly her mom, but a heart attack had taken her dad five years ago and cancer got her mom not long after. She missed their thoughtful insights. Her mom had been a great listener and loved to hear what she called ‘Audrey’s animal stories.’
    Audrey sighed and looked to the sky. “I miss you, Mom and Dad.” There was never any sign they could hear her, wherever they were, but she couldn’t keep herself from talking to them every once in a while.
    Wanting to combat the wave of melancholy that overtook her at the thought of her parents, Audrey blasted the radio, singing along and tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. She had a long drive ahead of her, might as well make it a happy one.
    Since the lakeshore where she worked had some of the most expensive real estate in the state, Audrey lived almost a forty-five minute drive inland. The place she called home was a modest two-bedroom ranch with a yard full of bird baths and feeders brimming with birdseed. The landscaping consisted of a tangled mass of wildflowers which fed the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. As a result, her lawn was always buzzing with activity.
    Pulling into the driveway, she put the truck in park and hustled into the house. She was late; her charges would be hungry. Sure enough, when she stepped into her house, a chorus of anxious chirps and muffled snuffling greeted her.
    She grabbed the birdseed and went to work. “Hush, sweeties, I’m here. The food is coming.”
    The sad fact of life was the park service didn’t have the space or resources to save every animal, so Audrey had taken to rehabbing some of her foundlings out of her home. Her boss knew about it, but wasn’t thrilled. It wasn’t strictly against policy, but it did open the agency to some liability if anything went wrong. Plus, it went against the mandate to let nature take its course.
    Unfortunately, Audrey had never been able to turn her back on an animal in need. So she’d promised up and down to only take in animals that posed no threat to humans. Her boss would go ballistic if he saw the big wolf currently sitting in the back of her pick-up. Good thing they’d stopped dating. Otherwise it would be impossible to hide her infraction from him.
    “Oh well. Rules were made to be broken, right?” she muttered to herself as she distributed food. The birds received a mix of live insects she kept in the fridge along with birdseed. The squirrels and rabbits currently under her care gobbled up an assortment of fresh vegetables.
    At least she didn’t have too many animals. Just a few robins whose momma had gone missing, a baby squirrel she’d found alone on her lawn and some rabbits she’d