Beautiful Creatures Series

Aspen Colorado…

Katelyn shuffled along as her fiancé Nigel walked her through the house he had bought them. He had wanted it to be a surprise, and this was the first time she saw it. He had secured the mortgage and furnished it with all new furnishings before even telling her he had bought it. They had been dating since she was eighteen and engaged for the last year. She had been living at home with her parents until now. Nigel insisted they move in together.

He had landed a new job as the head manager of the most prestigious hotel in town. He was now making money hand over fist, and he had promised to finally give her the lifestyle she deserved. Of course, this new responsibility meant his work schedule was heavy, but he promised her she would adjust to it.

Nigel had blindfolded Katelyn when he picked her up. She got in the car, and he had instantly covered her eyes. They had driven some distance, so she was pretty sure they were out of town. Living out of town was fine with her. Aspen was far too touristy for her liking anyway. Plus, she was a wildlife photographer. She sold her pictures to various stock photo websites and collected them when someone leased one of her images. Living out of town would give her ample stomping grounds to explore and photograph.

Nigel held on to her arm as he coaxed her to follow him. They had gone up a few steps, and through a door, she suspected they now stood inside the house. “Ok, you can take the blindfold off,” he told her as he stood behind her.

Katelyn took off her blindfold, and she looked around. Her brow furrowed as she looked around. There was some furniture which was mostly covered in dust covers. There were workbenches and tools, along with various stacks of supplies. To her left was the kitchen table, and to her right… no kitchen. The cupboards were off the wall, and the granite counter was leaning against a wall. The drywall was missing, there were no appliances, and the kitchen sink was still in a box.

Katelyn went silent as she looked around. “Now I know it doesn’t look like much,” Nigel said, coming around her when he saw the horrified look on her face. “The kitchen was seriously dated, and I had to gut it,” he explained. Katelyn turned and walked into the living room. It was all covered to protect it from the dust from the construction. “The guy is going to gut the bathroom and the laundry room also, and…” He said, jumping in front of her. “I’m going to have him build you a walk-in closet,” she nodded, not as stoked about their new home as he was. “It is only going to take a few months. I promise Kate when this place is finished. It is going to be the house of our dreams.”

“You want me to live here during construction?”

“It is not that bad. The guy will just work around you,” she was not impressed. Nigel took her hand and dragged her to a set of glass sliding doors. He slid the door open and dragged Katelyn out onto the deck. “Look at this view.”

Katelyn looked around. They were surrounded by trees and wilderness. Down in the middle of the yard was a huge water feature which she had to admit was very pretty. She supposed the place had potential. “Only a few months?” She asked.

Nigel grinned. “Five tops,” she scowled. “But, I’ll offer him a bonus if he completes the job sooner,” he promised. Katelyn looked at his hopeful boyish grin and the light in his dark eyes. Nigel was a good-looking, clean-cut business type. He was almost always in a suit, and he spent more time primping in the mirror than she did. Always making sure his dark hair was just right, and his shaving job was perfection. She supposed it was what made him so successful.

Kate rolled her eyes and gave in. “Ok, I suppose I can tough it out for a few months. Did you at least research this contractor before you hired him? Is he reliable? Competent?”

“He came highly recommended.”

“Where did you find him? Website? Phonebook? Sign on a bus?”

“No, I was talking about the job at work, and one of the desk clerks said that he had worked on her house and that he was very good. I contacted him and, of course, checked his references. Everyone had rave revues.”

Nigel went silent

supposed she could just go with it. At this point,

“Alright,” she sighed.

her cheek. “Perfect. Now I’m going to shower, and we will have dinner. But it is

***

Feral Colorado…

and pushed off a large boulder with his hind legs as he rounded the tree, his prey mere feet ahead of him. The deer had given him a workout, but the buck was growing tired, and Darrell was closing in. He nipped at the buck’s heels but missed. Darrell pushed harder and jumped into the

of his massive body dragged the deer down. It struggled at first, but Darrell gave it a violent shake breaking the animal’s neck effectively, putting it down. His pulse was pounding as Darrell took a step back and relaxed as the rest of the hunting party joined him. The moonlight filtered through the branches of the canopy above. The wolves circled their kill with a few snapping at one another still worked up

squabbling. Darrell was a young would-be alpha wolf among omegas wolves. He did not run the pack yet, but he was next in line. But even now, the pack followed his lead, and as the future alpha, he had first picks of everything. With his blood still burning from the rush of the chase, Darrell howled

were members of the Night Stalkers. Lycanthropes. Mystical beings that could change shape at will. From man to beast. Like wolves, they stood four feet tall and nearly six feet from snout to tail. With the exception of the polar bear, they were the largest land predators in the

bay. When the moon was full, they slaked their bloodlust. In the

Lycanthropes lived in small numbers. One or two scattered all over the world, but just outside Aspen, Colorado, they congregated in a large pack. There had not been a den of this magnitude in four hundred years. They lived together in an old off-road community they had

outsiders, and given they had limited services, not too many outsiders would visit. Hell, they

over the years, Lycanthropes all over the world immigrated to Feral to find others like themselves. Darrell and his sister Charlotte were some of them. After the death of their father six years ago, Darrell and his sister had moved from Texas to Colorado in search of other

be comfortable and live without hiding. Where they could nurture their cubs and teach them to master their powers without the fear of being discovered, outsiders were not welcomed, and those that did stumble on their property were runoff and, in some extreme cases (if they were Lycanthrope hunters), killed to

leadership and the day Darrell would takeover. Still, a lot of the younger

when he had changed for the hunt. He was zipping up the fly when Charlotte held out his broken-in tanned hat with a smile. “Welcome back,” his sister said, glancing over at the dead deer and the

gave me a hell of a chase,” Darrell said, tucking his t-shirt into his belt. It was a hot summer’s night, and after

even with short brown hair and a nose that looked like a beak, which led his friends to call him Vulture when they were teasing him… how he hated that. He was a thin man but wiry and fast, and he had a thing for Charlotte, but that romance

snapped back. She was a pretty little thing with long blond hair and a curvy figure. She was very popular with

but he was tough. He was a brunette with fine features. He had stolen Darrell’s girlfriend from him last year. Darrell did not hold grudges. He had only been playing with her anyway, so when she left him for Kenneth, he had been fairly ok with it. Besides, he liked single

You clean it,” Darrell

as he stalked over to Kenneth and lifted the buck up over his shoulders. Stanton was a big brute with an abrasive personality. He was not friendly by any means, but despite his many faults, he and Darrell were friends. Stanton was not

“When you are done with that, let’s go into the city. I feel like dancing,” Darrell said, taking Charlotte in

playful grin, Charlotte extracted herself from her brother’s arms, and they started to walk away from the hunting party. “The Mausoleum?” Charlotte suggested as they strolled

He

Charlotte said,