A Bride For A Werewolf: The Beginning: Insatiable Werewolf Series, #1

Chapter One

It had been hours driving back to San Francisco from Colorado. Harper didn’t know why he didn’t fly and why he needed to drive, but of course he did know. There were no flights through this blinding stomach-tightening snowstorm.

Harper had to see a girl he had just met in one of his college classes, and he thought he was in love, feeling passion and desire at first sight. He couldn’t wait until she returned from her vacation with her friends, so he decided to make this treacherous trip to be with her.  

If you want to see me again, I’m staying at this lodge, she had said, walking out early from the large lecture room at the college they both attended, her long blonde hair flowing casually down her back, her tight jeans fitting in all the right places that took his breath away, thinking about how beautiful she must have been both in and out of bed. As she passed his seat, she discreetly handed him a note with her name and her telephone number on it, which included the location of the lodge where she had planned on staying in Summit County. 

Traveling back to San Francisco, he didn’t expect it to get dark as early as it had. He didn’t think about much, not since he’d met Elisabeth. His head was in the clouds after she kissed him in a corner, and his eyes had blinders on where only she mattered. Thinking of nothing but her pretty face, he climbed into his SUV, and drove into a blinding snowstorm.

When Harper had time to think, he knew he must have been a fool to travel there alone and then drive back, but he was young and foolish and in love, and he had to hurry back to San Francisco to see to his ailing father.

As he passed a sign on the winding road, it read, WATCH OUT FOR DEER. WATCH OUT FOR LANDSLIDES. Holding tight onto the wheel, his fingers appearing to be molded into it, driving slowly with his blinking his eyes trying to see through the windshield. Because of the accumulation of snow covering his windows, he managed to see the signs just as he reached them and passed them.

He wiped his brow with the back of his hand from nervousness, and when his hand dropped to the steering wheel he leaned forward, trying to make out what was standing in the road, but when he put on his brakes, the car slid, and with a loud bang it had hit something. What, he couldn’t tell.

Not used to driving, because he didn’t need to—he could have flown—he made one mistake, and went on to make a series of mistakes. 

Whatever hit the Range Rover, it felt as if someone had dropped a large sack of sand on it, and its front end buckled. The SUV came to a stop. He turned off the ignition. He couldn’t see what was lying across the road. It looked like a large animal in the front of his car. It didn’t appear to be an elk.

He knew what a deer looked like. There were no large antlers on this animal.

Stepping out into the snow, which reached high above his ankles, he looked around and there were no lights, except for the ones coming from his car headlamps. Walking around to the front, he saw what appeared to be a large dog. He wondered where it could have come from, and then through the trees there appeared lights from a farm.

Taking a deep breath, he knew what he had to do. He had to get the animal out of the way. When it fell, it straddled the middle of the road. The snow appeared waist deep on the left side. Where the animal lay it seemed the only way he could pass without risking snow getting under the carriage, or getting the SUV stuck.

He didn’t know much about a Range Rover, other than it was good in the snow, but snow as deep as this, he thought there was no way he would try to drive around or through it. He would stay on the road. 

Looking at the animal, he studied how he could lift the dog, and bring him to his car. It was so large. It appeared the size of a bear. He didn’t know there were dogs or wolves that size, but in a forest, there could be anything. This was the animal’s home, and he was just another man invading territory where he didn’t belong.

Reaching down, he took a large breath, and grabbed the dog by his shoulders, dragging him to the right of the road. When he had him out of his path, he noticed that the large dog was still breathing. He ran back to the car to get a blanket.

Opening the hatch, he took out a blanket, and rushed back to lay it across the animal. As he was bending to cover its head, the dog opened his mouth and as Harper blinked, the dog with a snap of his jaws, bit down on Harper’s shoulder.

Quickly, he pulled back in surprise and fright. He turned and started running to the car. That animal had taken a piece out of his hooded Parka, piercing his skin. 

Oh shit. What the fuck? Harper shouted, and rushed for the handle on the door. Nervous, he pulled and pulled at the handle, opening the door and then jumped inside the SUV. He had to get to the hospital. Harper started the SUV and took off. When he looked back, all he saw was the blanket. The dog had disappeared.

Driving thirty miles to the next town, the first thing he saw was a sign to a hospital. Getting off at the first exit, he drove to the emergency entrance, and he jolted out of the car running, and holding his shoulder.

A young intern caught him as he barreled through the doors with blood oozing from his shoulder. You need attention. What happened to you?

I was bitten by a large dog, Harper said, breathlessly pulling off his coat. The intern cut off Harper’s shirt to examine his wounds.

This doesn’t look like a dog bite. You were bitten by a wolf. But, this doesn’t look like any wound a wolf would make. The fangs appears too large. You need medical attention now, and I need you to stay here for a week to study you.

I can’t do that.

You will need to stay until you’ve taken these shots. If you miss one, I can’t be certain what will happen. Do you want to risk dying?

No, of course not. Now that he’d found the love of his life, he didn’t want to die.

Then, do as I say and stay put. Everything else can wait.

If he died without having children, it would be the end of the Samsa line. Robert Samsa, his father, was an only child, and his mother Charlotte was an only child, and Harper was an only child. He wanted to live long enough to have many children, and he saw that happening with the girl he’d driven through blinding snow and treacherous roads to be with.

After placing him into a room, the intern brought in a doctor to examine him. They both agreed that it had been a wolf bite, none they had seen before, something as big as a bear. Maybe an old wolf was one thought, but the marks on Harper’s shoulders proved that it could have been something younger.

Before dozing off to sleep, Harper thought about Elisabeth, and how much he wanted her to be his bride. 

His entire final year in college had been devoted to talking to her over the phone, and seeing her occasionally in school. She always had a reason why he couldn’t see her, or take her out on a date. She was the one who had been busy, and even if he had been, he would have made time for her.

The date at the ski lodged in Colorado would have been his only chance to get to know her before they graduated, and that was why he’d made that insane journey. 

One date with Elisabeth was all he’d had since he met her, and she had brought along a girlfriend, and he was eager for more, but it was enough for Harper. He wanted to spend his life with Elisabeth.

Just the thought of her gave him chills with anticipation of the next time, but when he arrived there, he received a call from Michael, telling him that he needed to get back to San Francisco soon, because his father had fallen seriously ill.

When he arrived at the lodge, he settled into his room and called Elisabeth, but she had been on the slopes. When she returned to the lodge, she freshened up, spoke with friends and then called him in his room.

Harper, this is Elisabeth. He sat up in the bed.

When can I see you? I drove.

You drove through a storm? she laughed. You must really like me, or you’re insane.

But, of course, I love you, and yes, I’m insanely in love with you. I can’t stop thinking about you. I’ve been telling you this from the day I met you.

Meet me in the lobby in fifteen minutes. I need time to relax first, Elisabeth said.

Waiting around and pacing the length of the oversized room, Harper watched the clock. It didn’t look like it would change. Fifteen minutes was a long time, he thought. He looked outdoors as the heavy snow fell and blanketed the area. He thought of his sick father, and thought of how selfish he had been to leave him. His father said he understood how a young man felt when he was in love, but Harper wondered if his father truly understood the desires and needs of a young man.

Looking out the window and waiting for Elisabeth, he had time to watch some of the skiers hopping off the lift, and noticing some who took the ski lifts to start their ascent. Harper remembered why he’d never learned to ski. The first time his father took him to the slopes, he broke his leg, and his father wouldn’t bring him again.

Robert Samsa said when Harper begged him, I’m not going to risk the life of my only son. And, that was that, and he never took him again. Harper felt he had been too protective.

Looking at the clock, it finally showed fifteen minutes had passed.

It was time, and Harper strolled out of his room and bounded down the stairs, to see Elisabeth sitting near a fireplace with the sound of crackling wood. It’s so romantic, he thought. He stood looking at her. He had been nervous before, but nothing like this. It was as if she was a queen, and he didn’t know whether to kiss her hand, or curtsy. She’s a beauty, and his mother would have given her approval, he thought.

Elisabeth smiled at Harper. I’m hungry. I made reservations for us. But, of course she did. He had too much respect for her to have dinner in his room, and then expect to make love to her, but that’s what he wanted to do. It had been a year since he had known her, and six months from their last kiss.

He reached for her hand and she placed it in his. The heat of emotion at just touching her hand overcame him. She felt his hand tremble as he led her to the dining room. They were shown to their table near another fire, but with a view of the mountain range filled with snow. When they sat he took her hand and they traded glances. Her eyes were large and blue, her lashes thick.

Do you ski? Elisabeth asked.

No. I’m afraid not. Harper couldn’t take his eyes off of Elisabeth. Her hair was a beautiful silky blonde, her face pale, but her lips were the center of this beautiful canvas. They were naturally pink and full, and he couldn’t wait to kiss them again. He hoped it wouldn’t be six more months, because he couldn’t stand it. The desire for sex had built within him to a climax, and he needed relief.

Mr. Samsa. Mr. Samsa. It’s time for your shots, a nurse said, waking him from his thoughts.

How many do I have to take?

Three doses. Seven days after the first dose, then fourteen and twenty-one days after dose one.

The doctor walked in with the intern, the same one who cleaned his wounds. I’m Doctor Collins.

I can’t stay here twenty-one days my father is ill, Harper said, his voice low.

I’m aware of that. I just wanted to emphasize what I said before that what has happened to you is serious, and the pathologist can’t tell whether you were bitten by a wolf or something else.

What could it have been? It looked like a dog, but it was enormous, Harper said, hoping for an answer.

We really don’t know what it is. However, we’ve had bites like that before. Hunters have discovered deer with the same kind of bite marks, and a few hunters reported being bitten by a large dog or wolf.

What happened to them?

They died. The doctor looked to the intern with urgency in his eyes. You have to take care of that wound. It was as if the doctor and the intern shared some kind of secret. Therefore, it’s important that you take your doses as stated, Doctor Collins said, his voice filled with alarm.

Harper’s eyes wavered to the doctor. A grim look crossed his face and he looked down, then the intern looked to the doctor.

I didn’t want to be the one to tell you, but when I called your father to tell him where you were, and what had happened, his lawyer said he had died of a heart attack hours earlier.

Harper didn’t hear anything, because of the ringing in his ears, and his lightheadedness and the emptiness in his heart. He sat up in the hospital bed and stared into nothingness. The agony of remembering his father, and thinking of his selfishness of leaving a dying father to be with a girl he thought he was in love with, pained him. The expression on his face changed, his eyes and mouth flowed downward into a curve.

Tears pooled in Harper’s deep-blue eyes, and they deepened with profound sadness. 

His father Robert Samsa had died early. He was only in his sixties.

Chapter Two

She had been sick the entire trip back to San Francisco. It’s nothing to worry about. There’s no need to call the coastguard. Our ship’s doctor can help her. Just go to your cabin and I’ll send the doctor, the Captain said, reassuring Robert. He had no reason to doubt him. The Captain had seen many cases like this in his sixty-some years of experience operating a large cruise ship.

Placing his hand on Robert’s shoulder, he said, Don’t worry, Mr. Samsa, help your wife back to her cabin and the doctor will be there soon. So, Robert assisted his pregnant wife to her quarters from the dining room.

That’s what the ship’s captain and medic had said the day Charlotte Samsa became extremely sick as she suffered from a high fever, and then went into labor. The doctor comforted Robert, by saying, "I’ve