Page 12 of Isabel and the Werewolf Beast

I closed the book, tucked it under my arm, and stepped so close to her that my toes almost touched hers.

“I’m no baby and I’ll prove it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Men and their masculine egos. You don’t even comprehend anything about being a werewolf, do you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re walking around under the light of the full moon in your werewolf state, but you’re wearing pants.”

I scowled.

“Who made your pants this size, anyway?”

“An old man. I killed him. See, I’m not so innocent either.”

Guilt flickered through my heart. The man had been so kind to me and yet when I’d changed and he’d been too close, I’d inadvertently killed him.

Her astute eyes flickered over my face.

“Why do you have a masquerade mask on now?” I asked, changing the subject before she asked me about who I’d killed.

“The curse.”

“You don’t leave footprints in the dust, but I did. Let me guess the curse?”

She walked over to a chair and sat, fluffing her gown around her legs. She sat on the furniture. How did that work? I settled in a chair opposite her and placed the book in my lap.

“How old are you?”

“A woman never admits her age.”

“How long have you been cursed?”

Her ruby-red lips firmed into a thin line.

“You don’t know, do you?”

Her fangs popped out over her bottom lip. They were white and shiny. Different from mine, but no less menacing. I almost smiled at her attempt to scare me from asking more questions, but from where I sat, she appeared a gorgeous woman. If not for the fangs and the translucent thing, then I wouldn’t think otherwise.

“Too many questions again?” I flicked open the book carefully, so my claws didn’t rip the pages. “I might be able to help you lift the curse if I understand a little more about it and you.”

“You don’t even realize who you are.”

Her words hit too close to home. I knew nothing about my parents. Where they’d gone. Why they’d left us alone. At least I had Asher. The only one I could count on. My only family. I was his big brother. That was theonly certainty in my life. This beautiful woman, vampire, apparition, whatever she was, smirked at me, knowledge hovered in her icy blue eyes. Knowledge that was within my grasp to understand this new form of myself. The werewolf. The beast.

“Tell me then, since you seem to comprehend so much.”

Chapter seven

Isabel

This was another turn of advents I’d never have predicted. A werewolf asking a vampire to tell them about themselves. If my vampire friends in the ballroom saw me now, they’d shake their heads in bemusement the same as I was tempted to do, but then they’d kill the werewolf without answering his question, such was the long-standing feud between our species. The longer I spent with Dante, the less I was inclined to do so. He was… amusing… for want of a better word. When was the last time a person or vampire surprised me? I honestly couldn’t remember. Time stretched when you were an immortal. Past friends faded into the distance.I recalled the feelings of joy I’d experienced as a human with human friends, but it was so long ago it was more like a memory of a dream.

Shaking off my thoughts, I said, “Did you realize you have three forms?”

He set the book back on his lap, his large hands making the pages seem small, inconsequential. The tips of his claws hovered away from the delicate paper as though he was afraid to tear the precious work inside. His brown eyes lifted to my face, and the questions swirled in the depths of his desire to learn more about himself.

“Your human form, your werewolf form, and your wolf form.”

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