I'm joining NaNoWriMo this year and here's a sample chapter from my latest story. This story takes place after Care Package Mate. (You can find a copy on Amazon)
I've got some recurring characters here that are from previous books. Argus "Gus" Urbane was screaming, nay, bulldozing his way into the pages. Enjoy!
Scene from Chapter 1
Gus had been in a bad mood for three weeks. Mad Mariah’s replacement was late. A week late. This new replacement said a storm had prevented her from getting here. The tent Gus pitched in the gallery had already been set up for a week. There were plenty of inquiries on who the new fortuneteller was.
He was proud of the tent. It was
fuchsia pink, Mariah’s favorite color. It had gold tassels and warm fairy
lights around. Inside, it was velvet lined, had mood lighting, thick carpeting
and had plush pillows.
Where in the world was she?
He turned around and was
marching to Markus’ office when he bumped into something extra bouncy.
“Ooof!”
“Pardon me,” he said when he was
unfazed yet the person who bumped him fell in a clatter of pillows, cards and
marbles. It was a lady underneath the fluff of fabric. She was cute and a bit
on the curvy side. She had no mask but had a face shield instead. Gus smiled
and stretched out a helping hand. He thought she was cute and definitely
edible.
“So sorry! I needed to get away
from—eek!” She jumped up on Gus.
Gus had no problem carrying her
generous weight. In his surprise, he let the lady literally climb on him. He
frowned when he saw little Goliath yipping and jumping around the lady. The
little dog was taking pleasure in jumping on the lady’s things. She even peed
on one of the embroidered pillows.
“Nooooo! Bad dog!” The lady was
horrified at her pillows being soiled. She jumped down from Gus and tried to
shake the pee away.
Goliath, a chubby Chihuahua
overly spoiled by her parents, grabbed one of the pillow’s ends and was
determined to snack on it. The lady tried to pull on the pillow and stuffing
and dried herbs exploded into the plaza. “My pillows!” The lady was in tears by
then.
Gus was horrified at such a
horrendous behavior from the little dog shifter. “Goliath,” he barked. The
little dog gave a growl, challenging the big Werewolf. Normally, it was cute
but nobody challenged Gus and lived to tell the tale. He may not be Markus’
Beta but he could still hold his own. Gus took her by the scruff of her neck
and held her eye to eye. “You challenging me, pup? You know I could eat you for
dinner.”
The little dog turned into a
naked little girl and stuck out her tongue. “Daddy won’t let you!”
“See if he can stop me!” He
growled.
“I’m gonna tell daddy!”
“Tell him all you want! I’ll
show him your pee stains after you become my midnight snack!” Gus bared his
teeth and roared. His head was turning wolf and was threatening to bite the
little imp.
Scared, the little girl screamed
and howled like a banshee. “Daddy! Mommy! Daddy!”
Seeing the exchange, the lady
who was busy trying to save her things from pee, fainted. Markus came running
towing a behemoth vampire behind him. Security must have called them. “Gus, let
her down and for heaven’s sake, someone get her some clothes!”
Argus let the naked girl go, unceremoniously
dumping her on the soiled pillow. She frowned at the wet feeling and started to
cry-howl.
His head turned back to human.
Only Werewolves and Eagle Shifters could partially shift their bodies to their
animal counterparts. Wolves also have the Half-form where they turned into the
humanoid wolf form of legends. “Vamp, I thought you’ve potty trained this
critter? Look at this mess! We can’t have her chasing guests and peeing on
their things.” Gus loved Goliath but she was acting so spoiled lately since she
was the youngest pup in the pack. Technically Caleb and his family didn’t
belong to the pack hierarchy but Markus sort of adopted Caleb and his family,
making them honorary pack members.
“Goliath, what did we talk
about? When you are in public places, you must be human and no peeing
anywhere.” Caleb used his sternest dad-voice. Goliath kept cry-howling. Unable
to resist her, Caleb enveloped her in a hug, partly to cover her nudity, partly
to comfort her. “Hush, let’s go upstairs and get some clothes.” He left with
her, giving an apologetic nod to Argus.
The maintenance crew came and
started to pick up the fallen items. Two pillows were a goner. One of them had
pee stains while the other had its insides ripped. Gus came over the fainted
lady and helped her up. She was unresponsive. He felt her head, trying to sense
if she had hit it on the floor. Markus came over to the fallen girl and Gus.
The lady was a little pale. Gus didn’t like that. If something happened to her,
they were liable. “There’s no lump on her head but she’s not coming to yet.”
“Take her to one of the rooms.
I’ll send for a doctor,” Markus said. Gus nodded. “If she still isn’t awake,
we’ll have to call for an ambulance.” Lucky for Wolves, they had an in-house
doctor, nutritionist, nurse and dentist. Markus insisted each Wolves Resort to
have one set in-house. He claimed a fortune teller told him that. The
prediction paid-off. Many emergencies were quelled because they had competent
in-house staff ready for action.
“Oh, please be careful with her,
Gus. Meet our new fortuneteller. She’s Mad Mariah’s replacement.”
***
Rousella Jean Silvio came to and
blinked, trying to remember why she was in an unfamiliar environment. It was so
comfortable in the bed. The sheets smelled like fabric softeners. The pillows
were fluffy and not well-worn like hers. She sat up and blinked. All she saw
was a scruffy face who blocked her sunlight. Was she in the beach? Everything
beyond his face seemed bright.
“Good morning, starshine. Do you
need anything? I’ve taken the liberty of ordering food. Don’t worry. It’s on my
tab,” the hulking giant said standing at the front of the light said.
Whatever he said, didn’t make
sense to her. She turned her head to look around. Where was she? Did she faint?
This didn’t look like a hospital room. It looked like a… hotel room, something
she’d only seen in movies. She’s never actually been in a hotel room before.
This definitely looked like the ads. It even smelled like what she’d imagined
it to smell like, fabric softened and cleanliness. The man was standing in
front of the floor to ceiling glass window. The sun was high above and it
streamed through, nearly blinding her.
He moved closer. Scared, she
rolled away, getting away from him. The bed was so big that she only rolled to
the center of it.
“Please, starshine, eat. I’m not
here to hurt you, just feed you. I hope you’re not on a diet. I like a woman
with meat on the bones.”
Rousella, or Rose to her family,
eyed him. He was a big man, foreign, carried himself well and dressed in a
light-colored suit. Beneath the suit was one hundred percent pure muscles and
the seams began to strain when he flexed.
“My name is Rousella,” she
finally said. “Not starshine.”
“Forgive me, starshine, you were
ever so radiant that I was nearly blinded. Please, come and join me. You’ll
need breakfast, Rousella.”
There was something in the way
he pronounced her name that made her shiver. Was it the accent? Or was it
because she instinctively knew he was not human.
“Rooozeyliaaah,” he said once
again as he made his way to the couches to the other end of the room.
“Um, Rose, would do.” She hopped
over to the floor, trying to wrestle with her long skirts. She loved long and
voluminous skirts but it was a bit cumbersome at the moment.
When she finally reached the
floor, she wobbled before reaching the back of the couches. That’s when she saw
a huge coffee table the size of a conference table. It wasn’t a light snack
before her. It was a buffet.
The layout of the room was quite
unique. There was a whole living room in front of the giant bed. One side of
the room were wall-to-ceiling windows overlooking the resort. Rose glanced and
saw her tiny tent for her card reading.
“Coffee, tea or milk tea?” They
had all kinds of drinks in the resort, even four branded milk tea chains to
choose from.
“I take warm milk tea, no sugar,
extra pearls,” she said.
“Got it!” The behemoth went to
the e-tablet mounted on the wall. He punched a few buttons for room service. He
ordered her warm milk tea while asking for orange juice and black coffee for
himself.
Rose sat on the single-seater
couch on one side of the buffet. Was this food for a week? She loved eating but
lately, money’s been tight. She had to forgo having weekly milk tea, specialty
lattes and food binges. This temptation in front of her was not being helped by
the temptation that was standing near the e-tablet.
Normally, Rose liked them big.
She thought a small guy would probably get squished by her. This supernatural
before her was big, huge. But he wasn’t fat. No, he was a hundred percent
muscle underneath the suit. She could stare at him the whole day. She probably
was because he smiled at her and sauntered over. With the grace of a tiger, he
jumped from behind the couch to just right in front of her. Rose gasped. He was
fast.
The man sat on the adjacent
couch. How many couches does one room need? This was an odd layout but it was
clearly meant for someone who entertained a lot.
He scooped what looked like
Scampi pasta into a large bowl. “Try this.”
Rose accepted the bowl. The food
smelled delicious. Everything smelled so good. “Who are you?”
“Oh, pardon me, starshine. My
name is Argus Urbane. Gus for short,” he said as he scooped pasta and ribs on
his own bowl.
He was eating food so that ruled
out Vampires, she thought. Perhaps he was a shifter. It was his grace and how
he jumped. Then, there was a glow behind his eyes. He was definitely not human.
The more he ate, the more she
tried to guess what kind of shifter he was. In less than ten minutes he cleared
a fourth of the entire spread. She was just finishing her pasta.
“Try the surf and turf. It’s to
die for!”
Before she could respond, he
began to pile her bowl with pieces of steak and shrimps. When she hesitated, he
forked a crispy shrimp to her lips. It was dripping in butter garlic sauce. She
couldn’t help but bite into it. It was indeed so good.
“So, who are you?” She asked
again. Knowing his name was not helping her connect the dots. Why was she in a
hotel room with a stranger who was feeding her so much food?
“I just told you. Name’s Gus,”
he said as he piled on more food. He poured gravy and butter garlic over his
surf and turf.
“That doesn’t answer anything.”
He passed the butter garlic sauce and she accepted it. Did he think she was so
desperate for food that she’d accept it from a random stranger? She didn’t want
to seem rude.
“I happened to carry you from
the plaza to here. Surf and Turf is one of the best-sellers of The Cavern. You
should try it. We have our annual employees’ Christmas parties there.”
With food this good, it was
definitely an incentive to stay. Apart from pasta and surf and turf, there were
baked clams drowned in cheese, a fondue set, a chocolate fountain, exotic
salads, a fruit plate and a gigantic slice of cheesecake.
“Cheesecake,” the word escaped
her buttery lips before she censored herself. Cheesecake was her one weakness.
She blew her money away when she saw cheesecake. She liked all types of them:
Oreo cheesecake, matcha cheesecake, blueberry cheesecake, Raspberry cheesecake,
New York cheesecake, chocolate cheesecake and more. The newer the flavor, the
more she wanted to taste it.
“Ah, yeah, they only had a slice
left from the buffet last night. Unfortunately, the chef de patisserie
reported sick today. We can’t let her back until she’s fine and has a COVID
test.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” she said,
never taking her eyes off the cheesecake. “I’m going to have to taste it, make
sure it’s safe to eat.”
Sensing her intent, he lunged
towards the cheesecake. Rose, being closest to the cheesecake, grabbed the
delicacy with her bare hands.
“That cheesecake is mine!” His
eyes glowed bright golden.
“Not fast enough.” She started
to bite into the cake. It was so firm yet had the right flavors. It wasn’t the
cheap kind where they mixed in half a pint of cream more than the cheese and
added gelatin to set it. This was the real-deal. It was a New York Cheesecake.
The cheesecake was so divine,
she was devouring it at an alarming rate. “Oh no you don’t!” Gus grabbed her
hands. The remnants of the cheesecake were still there. He began to lick it
clean.
Rose was frozen in place at such
a carnal act. Was he going to eat the rest of her too? Is that why he was
feeding her? No doubt he was a supernatural person. What if he was a dragon
shifter? What if his intent was to eat her? She needed to find Markus Simeon
and get started on working before she became his midnight snack.
The door burst open and two big
men came in. “Ha! I told you she’d have Gus eating at the palm of her hands!
Pay up,” the man in light colored suit said but she doubted if he was human.
“I didn’t think it was literal,”
the behemoth in pinstripes muttered. He handed his friend a plastic card.
“Well, Ms. Silvio, it seems you are awake and have tamed young Gus.”
She pulled her hands away and
wiped them on a napkin. “Um, hi. Who are you?” Her space was suddenly invaded
by big hulking men.
Gus frowned. “I think she’s hit
her head harder than we thought. She kept asking me who I am. I already told
her my name twice.”
Rose frowned. “Yes, you said
your name but I still don’t know who you are.”
“I think proper introductions
are in order. I’m Markus Simeon, proprietor and predator.” The man in
pinstripes had a gallant way about him that didn’t fit with what she saw on the
internet as Werewolf. This Werewolf was sophisticated.
“W-werewolf?”
“Yes, and this is Caleb, he owns
the gym and some of the restaurants here at Wolves. He co-owns the casinos.
That’s Gus. He likes to eat and was hoping you’d read his palm. He’s also the
head of construction and maintenance here at Wolves.” Markus pointed to the
other two men, introducing them.
“Rose would do. I don’t read
palms. I read oracle cards and aura,” she admitted. “So, everyone’s a
Werewolf?” that explained the size.
Before he could answer, a team
of waiters came and cleared the used dishes. They replenished the buffet and
provided plates for Markus and Caleb.
They all sat around the table
and began to eat. “I’m a Vampire,” Caleb said.
“But you’re eating!” Rose’s eyes
were bulging when she saw him bite into a well-done rib.
“Of course! I get hungry too,
you know. Also, I have to build muscle mass,” Caleb said as he bit into prime
ribs.
“Don’t mind Caleb. He’s becoming
more animal than Vampire these days,” Markus said as he fixed coffee for
himself.
Caleb threw a piece of French
fry at his friend. “You are the animals I hang with.”
Markus caught the fry and ate
it. “My point exactly. We’re all predators here. Vampires are supposed to be
the sophisticated kind.” When he said sophisticated, he flourished is spoon in
the air. “You’re running around uncivilized. Your wife might object.”
“She loves me so she puts up
with me being more animal than sophistication.” Caleb grabbed a handful
of shrimps from the surf and turf tray and ate it in one bite. “I’ll bring her
over once you’ve set up your tent,” he told Rose.
“I’ve already set it up,” Gus
declared. “I’ve even decorated it until your imp peed on it.”
Caleb winced. “My apologies,” he
said to Rose. “That was my daughter. She’s only ten and she’s only found her
human legs recently.”
Rose didn’t quite understand
that scenario. She knew there was a backstory to a Vampire with a dog shifter
for a daughter who lost and found her legs. For now, she decided to listen.
These people were who she’d be working for and working with.
Markus fixed himself a plate of
pancakes and topped it with beef stroganoff. Compared to Caleb, he used a fork
and knife. “Great! Ms. Silvio can put her finishing touches and start right
away. These days, fortune tellers are a rare commodity, you know. While
everyone’s here, we can talk. I just need a copy of the signed contract and you
can have the tent.”
“I don’t have a printer,” Rose
admitted.
“Not a problem.” Markus typed
something on his phone. “My secretary will print it. Any concern on the
particulars?”
“No, sir. It’s actually a pretty
good deal. Thanks for the one-year free gym membership.” The contract for her
tent in the plaza was pretty straight forward. She would give forty percent of
her income to Wolves in exchange for the tent, lunch and dinner in the
employees’ mess hall, medical insurance, free room and buffet for her birthday
and invitations to Wolves Employee Events. Caleb gave her a one-year free gym
membership as a welcoming gift. Technically, she was not an employee but a
tenant. There were stipulations in her contract that states that all Wolves
employees get a twenty percent off discount in her readings and Pack Members
and immediate family gets forty percent off.
Rose sipped her warm milk tea.
She liked it warm instead of cold. It was relaxing. She indulged herself in the
spread in front of her. Who knew when she could eat like this? She piled on the
surf and turf and tried the fish curry next. She let the conversation flow
around her. There was something easy to get along with about these three men
around her. They were big and all predators but hey treated her well and even
told her of the state of the city. Minutes later, there was a knock on the
door.
“Ah, there’s the pup and he’s
towed another pup.” Markus called for the man to enter. His nose already told
him who was at the door. “This is Ryan, my secretary. He’s the one who’s
emailing you.”
“Good morning! Ryan Urbane, at
your service.” The man was relatively younger than Markus and Gus. He was not
as muscled but he was getting there. He was a foreigner and definitely a
Werewolf. His suit had more color than the other two. Ryan wore a maroon suit
over a navy shirt. He had a golden name tag on his left breast pocket.
“Urbane? You are brothers?” She
looked at Gus, noting there was little resemblance between the purple-haired
boy and the burly redhead.
Gus, Ryan and Markus laughed.
“It is a Werewolf custom that members of the pack take on as Surname the name
of the pack.”
“Oh, how interesting! But what
about you? How come your name is different?”
Markus sipped his coffee. “My
late father’s request to keep his name but I don’t run with the Simeon Pack.
From my father, my eldest brother inherited the mantle of leadership. I chose
to create my own pack, a business pack. One that’s not bound by land
territory.”
“Boss, this little imp wants to
say something,” Ryan inclined his head indicating the little monster who clung
to his pants. They had all but forgotten Goliath, the little dog shifter who
wreaked havoc on Rose’s pillows.
Caleb sighed. “Lia, are you here
to say sorry?”
There was a squeak behind Ryan.
“This was the little animal who
attacked your things and peed on your pillow. She’s also my adopted daughter,”
Caleb explained. “We call her Goliath but Markus is trying to train her to
respond to Lia as her human name. My wife raised her for the past ten years not
knowing she was a shifter. Lia, come out here. What will you tell Ms. Rose?”
“I’m sowwy,” the little girl
mumbled, still clutching Ryan’s pants tight.
“And?”
“I’m sowwy I barked at you and
I’m sowwy I peed on your piwwows and ate them.” The little girl poked her head
out to look at Rose. “I thot I kill’t you.”
“The excitement has gotten to
me. You are forgiven as long as you promise not to do it again.” Rose’s pillows
wouldn’t survive a washing.
“I pwomise!”
“That’s a good girl. Come to
daddy.” Caleb patted the cushion beside him. The little girl ran from behind
Ryan and jumped in the air landing on the couch. Caleb put a plate of pancakes
in front of her. The chubby little girl ate as much as her daddy.
Gus poured her some more milk
tea. “It’s not the excitement. Doctor came. Gave you all kinds of tests. Did a
rapid test too, just in case. You’re COVID-free. He said you were dehydrated
and your blood sugar was way, way low.” He then put a serving of ice cream in
front of her and put crushed pineapples and cherries. Not satisfied, he put
chocolate syrup on top. “You should eat more.”
“I’m trying to cut down.”
“You aren’t on a diet, are you?
Those don’t work, you know. Look, thin people ain’t happy. Trust me. I’ve dated
a lot of them. Happy people are happy because they aren’t hungry.”
That was the strangest analogy
she has ever heard. Although the truth of her dieting was two-fold. “I’ll keep
that in mind but with the amount of chocolate syrup you put, I’m headed for
diabetes.” The bowl was big, with three scoops of ice cream. He had put
generously the topics.
Markus laughed. “Ease up, Gus!”
To Rose, he said, “not to worry, Rose. As part of our medical package, you have
access to our nutritionist. She’ll work a healthy plan out for you.”
“That would be wonderful.” Rose
was so happy. They were very generous with her.
Ryan handed her the contract.
She signed them and handed them back. Ryan had Markus sign as well.
“Ryan will have this notarized
then send you a copy,” Markus said. Ryan nodded and left.
Gus was looking at her, excited
and happy. “Ready to start? I can’t wait already!”
“Whoa, boy! Let her finish her
food.” The alpha reigned in Gus. The wolf could be very enthusiastic and as
Alpha, he didn’t want that to scare the pack’s new fortuneteller.
More food was passed around.
Rose loved to eat. She didn’t get the size she was at for nothing. Eating was
her comfort and joy but she had no idea Werewolves could eat so much. They
nearly devoured the tablecloth when they were cleaning their plates up. This
was no mindless eating. They were enjoying the spread.
Then, Caleb complained that it
lacked variety. Markus commented that it was supposed to be a midmorning snack
and not brunch. It was getting late already. They all had work to do. Markus
stood and made his excuses to go. Caleb dragged his little girl and apologized
once more to Rose. He promised to send a voucher to replace the pillows that
Lia ruined. The two men bid Rose goodbye and went to work.
“They’ll have brunch in an hour.
Want to join them? They’ll be dining at The Needle Point. It’s at the rooftop
restaurant of the Simeon,” Gus said. He called for waiters to clean up the
dishes.
She didn’t think she could eat
until Midnight. “Is this typical of the super sets?”
“What? Live in hotels or welcome
guests with breakfast?”
“Um, eating a lot.” She came
from a culture of welcoming guests with food. If these Werewolves came to town,
she wouldn’t know where to get the amount of food they consumed. And it was
just ten in the morning!
“Oh, yeah, that. You see,
Werewolves burn a lot of calories especially when they expend energy. We have
to eat a lot. Markus actually didn’t eat a lot since he’s stuck in his desk
most days.” That wasn’t a lot? The man ate five plates’ worth, she observed.
“What about you? You don’t look
like the type of wolf to be stuck behind the desk.” She noted his bulging
muscles and calloused hands.
“Me behind a desk?” He laughed
heartily. “I like hard work. My specialty is in construction. I’ve a degree in
engineering and am now studying architecture online.”
“A wolf of many talents.”
He beamed a smile at her. Gus
was charming. Too bad, she thought, she couldn’t have him or someone like him. “This
morning was interesting. So, about eating a lot,” she prompted when they exited
the hall. Gus led her to the elevator.
“Breakfast, midmorning snack if
you’re peckish, brunch if you’re in a hurry, lunch, snack, coffee break,
appetizers before dinner, dinner, dessert, nighttime coffee break, midnight snack,
sleep. That’s basically a Werewolf’s life.”
She was amazed at the amount of
food and the frequency they ate. Her food schedule was usually just breakfast,
lunch and dinner with a bag of junk food in between. Finally, they arrived at
the plaza. The plaza was in the middle of the resort. Gus promised to check in
on her later.
