Beta's Baby: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (Wolves Hollow Book 2) Page 2

  Taking a long breath, Grayson leaned forward and said, “A body was found this morning.”

  Scott's eyes narrowed. “Was it...”

  “Yes. It was eaten.”

  Scott scrubbed a hand down his face. “Shit.”

  “The organs were ripped from the body, and half-chewed remains of the intestines, stomach and heart were found near the head,” Grayson went on. “The limbs were torn off the torso and scattered.”

  “Where was the body found?” Scott asked tightly.

  “Less than two miles from The Happy Inn.”

  Scott cursed. “It's heading to Wolves Hollow.”

  “Maybe it's here already.” Grayson's frown deepened. “It certainly looks like this...creature is heading south. Two bodies in Woodsgrove, three in Spring Creek, one in Glenley.”

  After Glenley, the next town would be Wolves Hollow. Scott swore viciously. They had enough trouble on their hands.

  “Just what the fuck is it?” Scott spat. “What kind of a creature is this? What kind of animal would kill and devour humans in such a grisly, brutal manner? Do we know what we're dealing with?”

  “What's what I want you to find out.”

  Scott's eyes widened.

  “After taking over the Silverfangs and Red Razor packs, the Sentinels is now one of the largest wolf packs in Wolves Hollow,” Grayson said. “Being big and powerful means nothing if we can't even defend ourselves and protect our own. This is our town. We have to protect the residents. It's our responsibility.”

  Scott nodded. He agreed with Grayson wholeheartedly.

  Grayson was a good Alpha, a good man. He cared not just for his pack, but his town. The other packs just wanted power for power's sake. But Grayson never used his power to oppress and abuse others. He used his power to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.

  “This creature seems to target only humans. All the victims so far have been human. From what I've heard, the new owner of The Happy Inn is a human woman,” Grayson said grimly.

  Scott stood up. “I'll leave right away.”

  “I can't spare many members of the pack,” Grayson said. “You'll have to work with one or two...”

  “I'll go alone.”

  Grayson shook his head. “No, you...”

  “You need every member of the pack, Alpha. The Duskfall wolves won't give up so easily. They might recruit other packs to their cause and attack again. We have increased our numbers, but there are still other packs that are larger than us.”

  “Scott...”

  “I'll be fine, Alpha. And I won't let you down.”

  Grayson regarded him for a moment then sighed. He saw that Scott wasn't going to back down.

  Grayson stood up and clapped his Beta on the shoulder. “You've never let me down, Scott.”

  Scott grinned. “I know.”

  Grayson managed to roll his eyes.

  The laughter faded from Scott's eyes and his expression became dead serious. “If the Duskfall wolves join forces with another pack, it will be a harder, more violent, more bloody fight. We can't afford to lose. They will slaughter all our members if we are defeated. Young, elderly, pregnant females, none will be spared.”

  Grayson gave a curt nod and gripped Scott's shoulder. “Find the monster, but don't fight it alone.”

  “I...”

  “No Scott. This monster isn't just a rogue shifter. I've spoken to some of the shifters in the other towns. The Alpha of the Glenley pack told me that his wolves tried to hunt the monster down. But the scent, the tracks, the marks made by this creature isn't like anything they've come across before. It's not a shifter, Scott. You're not dealing with a rogue. You're hunting a monster.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Christine took the warm bottle of milk and rushed back to her room. Darren was screaming at the top of his lungs, as he grabbed the bars of his cot.

  “Come here,” she said, scooping him up. “It's okay, darling. I got you.”

  She gave him the bottle and the boy began to drink hungrily. But after a few mouthfuls, Darren pushed the bottle away and began to kick and cry.

  “What's wrong, sweetheart?” Christine murmured, rocking him. She tried to feed him again but Darren simply refused to take the milk. Instead, he flailed and squirmed in her arms, his piercing cries making her feel helpless and frightened.

  She took his temperature, but he wasn't running a fever. Christine carried Darren out of the bedroom and paced around the kitchen. She walked out to the reception area of the inn and stood at the window, humming a lullaby to her baby.

  Darren's sobs subsided and Christine swayed gently as she inhaled the sweet scent of his baby shampoo. She kissed his head as he gradually drifted off to sleep.

  Christine swallowed and looked around the empty inn. Mr Randall had left an hour after breakfast. She had tried to decline his large, generous tip but he had insisted that she take it. “I'm going to recommend your inn to my family and friends,” Randall said cheerfully. “I enjoyed my stay here tremendously. Thank you, Christine. Now, you take good care of your mom, you hear,” he told Darren as he chucked the little boy under the chin.

  Christine carefully shifted the sleeping baby on her shoulder. Darren was almost eight months old now, and he was getting quite heavy. It wasn't easy being a single mom, but she was doing the best she could.

  She gasped and stifled a cry when she heard a knock on the door. Darren whimpered but didn't wake up.

  She tried to peer out the window, but she couldn't see who was at the door. It was full dark outside, and there was no moon tonight.

  Gingerly, she moved to the door and stammered, “Y-yes?”

  There was no answer. Had she imagined the sound? She was about to move away when she heard another knock.

  Nope. It wasn't her imagination. There really was someone at the door.

  “W-who's there?” Her voice was barely a croak. She put her hand to her nose. There was an unpleasant smell coming from under the door. In fact, unpleasant was putting it mildly.

  “Hello...”

  Christine jumped. It was Mr Randall's voice.

  “Mr Randall?” She pressed her ear to the door. “Is that you?”

  “Yesss.”

  Christine stepped back and frowned. It was Mr Randall's voice but he didn't sound like himself. It sounded like he was breathing hard and hissing through his teeth.

  “Mr Randall,” she called out again. “W-what's wrong? Why did you come back?”

  Heavy thuds sounded and her door shook. He was trying to kick her door in!

  “What…!” What was he doing? What was happening?

  Christine's eyes rounded as she slapped her hand to her heart. Oh God! Something must have happened to him! Why hadn't she realized that straight away?

  That was why he had come back! Something bad had happened to him. Was he hurt? Had he been robbed? Maybe he had gotten into an accident! The poor man had stumbled his way back to her inn, looking for help, and what was she doing? Nothing, just standing there, gaping at her door. God! The poor, poor man!

  “Mr Randall!” she cried, unlocking the door frantically. “What happened? Are you okay?”

  She wrenched the door open and stood face to face with Mr Randall.

  The smell was much stronger now. The terrible odor slammed into her like a blow and she had to stop herself from staggering back.

  Darren woke up and his little body jerked in her arms. Christine clung to her son as Mr Randall filled the doorway and advanced towards them.

  “Mr Randall?” she stuttered, backing away.

  “Yessss.”

  Christine made a strangled sound as she stared at Mr Randall. He looked...different. In the dark, silhouetted against the doorway, he looked taller, thinner, more sinister.

  “What do you want?” she whispered, clutching her baby tightly to her.

  “Yessss...”

  Christine shook her head. “No. No, you're not Mr Randall. You're not Randall,” she wheezed.


  This man...no, it wasn't a man. It was...something else, something not human.

  “Who are you? What are you! What have you done with Mr Randall!” she screamed.

  The creature grunted and his face twisted grotesquely. Christine watched in horror as Mr Randall's face melted away. Christine stared at the red eyes and gaping mouth. But she wasn't staring at a face. She was staring at a nightmare.

  Christine let out a cry of pain and terror. In that instant, she knew without a doubt that Mr Randall was dead. Mr Randall, who had urged her to eat, shared his food with her, shown so much kindness to her and her son, and who reminded her so much of her own father, had been killed by this...this monster!

  “Get out!” she screamed, scrambling towards the back of the inn. “Get away from us! Get away!”

  The creature snarled and Christine gagged at the terrible stench of death and decay. The monster kept moving towards her, and she saw long, deadly claws curving from its fingers and toes. It was humanoid in shape, but it wasn't remotely human. Its skin was gray, almost translucent, and Christine could see its bones and ribs.

  It was gnarled and skeletal, but it was unnaturally strong. It picked up the couch with one hand and threw it against the wall as if it weighed no more than a basketball.

  Christine skirted round the kitchen table and ran to the back door. Fumbling with the locks, she cried desperately, “Help! Please, someone, help me!”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Scott slowed his car and peered at The Happy Inn in the distance. He knew that Mr and Mrs Nolan had sold their inn a few months ago and moved away. But he hadn't met the new owner yet.

  The Happy Inn was tucked away at the very outer corner of Wolves Hollow. Mr and Mrs Nolan had been friendly but they hadn't really wanted to stop and talk to anyone when they came to the town center to do their weekly shopping. In fact, they seemed in a great hurry to get back to their inn most of the time.

  Scott understood that some of the humans in Wolves Hollow weren't comfortable around shifters. Some of their human neighbors had gotten used to the bloody fights and clashes among the packs. Some who were bold and foolish enough even came out to watch the fights and bet on the outcome. The more cautious ones made a conscious effort to have as little contact as possible with the shifters.

  The Happy Inn was well-maintained despite its age. The Nolans had given it a new coat of paint and fixed it up nicely before selling the inn.

  Scott parked a little distance away from the inn and got out of the car. He froze when he sniffed the air.

  The scent was all wrong.

  It was horrid, foul and evil.

  A scream rang out.

  Scott broke into a run, charging towards the inn. The stench was stronger now, and he almost gagged.

  It wasn't just the stench of decay. It was the smell of decay and decomposition, corruption, death and evil all rolled together.

  Another cry. It was a baby's cry.

  Scott swore and exploded through the opened door of the inn. He saw the overturned couch at the corner. A table and some broken chairs littered the floor. He followed the trail of destruction to the kitchen.

  He shouted, but there was no reply. The inn was empty and he saw broken plates on the kitchen floor. The back door flapped open, banging against the wall as the wind blew through the kitchen.

  He heard the baby's deafening wail. The little fellow sure had powerful lungs.

  Scott ran out the back door and saw a tall, skeletal figure snatching an infant from his mother's arms. The brave woman lunged at the monster, kicking and clawing fiercely at the creature to save her baby.

  “Give me my baby!” she screamed. “Don't touch him!”

  Scott rushed at the monster, shifting into his wolf form as he charged.

  The monster turned and Scott jerked in shock.

  What in hell was that?

  The monster's red eyes glared at Scott with hate and hunger. The gaping hole in its face held rows of yellowed, jagged teeth. Its body was gaunt and sunken, with ribs protruding from its chest.

  But its belly was swollen and distended. The claws curving from its fingers and toes weren't animal claws at all.

  Scott had never, ever seen a creature like that. It wasn't a shifter, that was for sure.

  The creature looked thin and pallid, but Scott didn't make the mistake of underestimating it.

  This was a monster who could tear a full-grown adult from limb to limb and rip the head cleanly from the body. It had eaten the entrails of its victims and strewn the leftovers around the headless body.

  Scott snarled as the monster held the defenseless human infant in its clawed hands and prepared to rip the baby in half.

  In a burst of speed and fury, Scott flew at the monster. The monster tried to swat Scott away but Scott managed to bite down on a hard, gnarled hand. The monster let out a guttural sound and flung the baby away.

  The woman screamed and flew forward. She caught her baby in her hands as she fell among some thorny weeds. Sobbing, she hugged her baby to her, ignoring the cuts on her arms and legs.

  Scott released the monster and shook his head hard. The terrible stench was making his head swim. He had fought a zombie werewolf before. He had clamped his jaws over the zombie's leg so that Grayson could deliver the killing blow. It had taken him a damn long time to get the taste of decaying flesh out of his mouth. But even a zombie werewolf didn't taste and smell as bad as this creature.

  This wasn't a zombie, Scott was sure of it. A zombie was an animated corpse, but you could recognize it. The zombie still looked like the person he had been when he was alive

  But this...this creature didn't look like anyone, or anything.

  It didn't look human at all. It wasn't animal either.

  Scott wasn't even sure if it was dead or alive.

  Scott attacked this monstrous, nightmarish creature relentlessly, trying to drive it away from the woman and her child. The monster stabbed its claws into Scott's body and tore his side open.

  Despite the excruciating pain, Scott twisted round and bit the monster when it tried to slash at him again.

  A red haze was descending over his eyes but Scott kept attacking.

  He couldn't even see anything beyond the red mist but he kept charging, trying to keep the monster away.

  He would not let that foul, evil thing near the human woman and her baby.

  Scott bit down and tried to tear the monster's arm off. But the monster simply swung its arm and threw Scott to the ground.

  Scott felt his head slam into a rock and when he tried to get up, the world tilted and spun away from him.

  He managed to stagger to his feet, and he saw the monster running towards the forest.

  Scott roared and tried to give chase. But his feet wouldn't cooperate.

  As he crashed to the ground, he felt his body convulse and he slammed his hands down to break his fall.

  He blinked.

  Hands.

  He was stronger in wolf form, but his injuries had forced his wolf to recede.

  He had shifted involuntarily back to human form.

  “Bloody hell,” Scott mumbled, his eyes closing.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Christine hid among the tall grasses and watched the monster lurch towards the woods. After she was sure that the monster wasn't coming back, she ran to the man lying on the ground.

  She gasped when she saw the deep wound in his side. The man was a wolf shifter, and she knew that shifters were stronger, much stronger than humans, but they weren't indestructible. And a wound this deep would destroy anyone.

  She put a trembling hand on the man's shoulder. His shirt hung in shreds on his body, and his jeans were ripped. The man looked young, in his early thirties at most. He had short, black hair and a ruggedly handsome face.

  His eyes fluttered open at her touch. A pair of stormy gray eyes held her gaze. “Hey,” he murmured.

  Darren pulled his thumb out of his mouth and touched the man's cheek. “
Hey, little hero,” the man said, cracking a smile before grimacing.

  “I'll get help,” Christine said desperately. “You need immediate medical attention. I...”

  His hand shot up and grabbed her wrist. “I'm okay.”

  “No you're not!” she cried in distress.

  “I will be,” he said, struggling to push himself up.

  Christine helped him up with one arm as she balanced Darren on her other arm. “You...the new owner?” the man asked, looking towards the inn.

  “Yes. I'm Christine Reyes. This is my son, Darren,” she said, as she helped him towards the inn.

  “I'm Scott. Scott Lucas.”

  Christine nodded and stumbled through the back door with Scott. Her kitchen was a mess. She had thrown plates, pots, cutlery, anything she could get her hands on at the monster while she tried to escape with Darren. She had even stabbed a knife into the monster's belly but the monster didn't even slow down.

  “Be careful,” Scott said, frowning at the floor. “There's broken glass. Don't hurt yourself.”

  Christine let out a strange-sounding laugh. The man had a gaping wound in his side, and was covered with blood, and he was worried about her getting cut by broken glass.

  “Just park me here,” Scott said.

  Christine righted one of the kitchen chairs and helped him into it. She flicked on the lights and winced at the sight of Scott's injuries.

  “Let me call a doctor,” she said, going to the phone.

  “No. Please. I heal fast, really fast.”

  “I know you're a wolf shifter, but...”

  “I'm the Beta of the Sentinels.”

  Christine nodded sharply. “Okay. I'll contact your pack members. Give me the number to call. The Sentinels will send someone, a medic...”

  “Christine,” he sighed.