Moon Struck: When Were & Howl Book 1 Read online

  Chapter 9

  There is nothing more annoying than an alarm going off, that is, except an alarm that you have no way of shutting up. I awoke to shrill beeping in wolf form and rubbed my head against the buttons trying to move on to off all the while my ears aching with the sound. I had a new respect for dogs.

  I’m a smart woman and I know all about the hazards of electrocution; however, even I have my limits. I took the cord in my mouth and praying that I didn’t chew through and kill myself, yanked it out of the wall. With the strength of my tug, the table fell over with the lamp following suit, breaking the bulb. And suddenly I felt a little more compassion for Rob and the utter destruction of his office. Overall, the relief of silence outweighed any guilt or distress over a broken lightbulb.

  Jumping up on the bed, I curled up face to tail. Hmmmm…my tail smelled good. Was that normal? I sniffed a few more times and smiled, falling back to sleep, my bladder still aching, and hoping that the day would pass quickly and Ali would show up to help me out of this mess.

  The ringing phone woke me the second time. I jumped off the bed and padded to the purse. Snuffling inside, I snapped at the phone, trying to grab it with my teeth and pull it out of the bag and discovered that as dexterity went, I preferred mice to wolves. Sure, a wolf’s paws were bigger, but a mouse’s paws were almost hand-like in comparison.

  I never did get the phone out of the purse. Once it stopped ringing the smell of the incredibly strong peppermints in my purse was too much to bear.

  Padding around the room, I sniffed everything. It was almost like a sixth sense, like being psychic or something. Wolves have 3D nostrils. It’s the only way the whole symphony of smells can be explained. Plastic, ick. Wood, hmmmm. Rob’s choice in furniture makes more sense now. His desk was real wood, and only sported one claw scratch. Only his receptionists and his girlfriends, if you can call them that, would ever know how that happened.

  My need to pee increased painfully with every circle around the house and I started to wish that my apartment was on the first floor, because at that moment, I was ready to jump through a window.

  Doorknobs are not made for animals. How did dogs stand it? The changing-closet in the bedroom was closed, and the woodchips and newspapers were made for much smaller puddles, anyway.

  I thought of how my parents had handled lock-ups when my siblings were young, and the repeated admonishment to go to the bathroom before a change, kind of like they would before a car trip is a familiar memory, as are the accidents my brother had as a young wolf. I guess when we were young, I did a fair amount of my own teasing. Maybe he’s never gotten over my calling him pee-pup. I couldn’t lose my bladder now, and if I ever did, Todd could NEVER find out.

  Plunking my furry butt on the bathroom floor, I waited. The smells of the bathroom were odd. The water in the toilet smelled exceptionally good. Saliva started to drip along my jowls, even while I wondered if I could jump up with my paws on the lid to go. Would falling in the toilet be better than watering the floor? Some questions were never meant to be asked, much less answered. This is what I get for impatience and lack of research.

  The growing desperation was silenced by a knock on the door.

  “Jen? Jen? Are you in there?”

  Thank God! Rob found me. Maybe he could call Ali and figure out how to turn me back. I ran out of the bathroom, barking and yipping. I threw my paws up on the door and yapped, hoping he would somehow know wolf-speak in human form.

  “Hey, puppy, is your mistress home?” Rob called through the door.

  I started whining and scratching the door. It gave me a new respect for four-legged creatures. As a mouse, I never really felt the need to communicate, except once with Ali when I was spinning in circles on a ceiling fan. We mime to each other in animal form. And to this day, I’m convinced Ali knew what I meant when I begged her to turn the fan off. She was in human form, having put me on the fan to see if it would feel like a merry-go-round. It did, but I almost slid off, even with the little handle bars we attached to the top.

  I yowled some more and Rob started pounding on the door. “Jen? Are you okay?”

  Suddenly I heard blows on the door. Rob was trying to force his way in. Just as quickly, the noise stopped. I whimpered, trying to get him to keep going. The door could be fixed. I just wanted out.

  Hearing Rob’s footsteps on the stairs, my ecstasy at being rescued fell to despair. Sighing, I snuffled a little and went back to the bathroom to wait for that defining moment—the moment when I couldn’t hold it anymore.

  I heard a keylock in the door and raced to the front of the house. The landlord and Rob were talking about me.

  “Thank you so much. This really isn’t like her. I just hope she’s okay.”

  I thought, If you’d open the door, I’d be fine. Pet deposit be damned. No one ever mentions the pet deposits. Weres pay a bit more down than the average human. As a mouse, I managed to be convincingly human and skip the pet/were deposits. I ran through the door the minute Rob pushed it open, springing a leak at the second set of stairs. Here I was dribbling down the stairs while Rob and the land lady stared. Not my finest moment.

  Yelling behind me, Rob hurried down the stairs. He could see I was a wolf, but I don’t think he believed it was me. Wolves are more constrained with the ability to change than most weres. Size seems to be a factor since the bears and large cats have the same trouble. Werewolves only change on the full moon.

  I ran to the back of the complex, hoping for a bit of privacy while I piddled. No such luck. I was mid-stream when Rob turned the corner and as embarrassed as I was, there was no stopping my body. Still, Rob had no idea the wolf watering the lawn in front of him was his receptionist.

  “Jen doesn’t have a dog.” The landlady was a middle aged woman, pleasantly plump, with deep brown hair that had a natural curl to it. She wore rectangle glasses a bit small for her face.

  Rob smell really good, better than he did when I was just human. “She’s never mentioned it. This one’s a wolf though. Doesn’t smell normal either, almost as if she’s a wolf that is not a wolf.” Did I mention that some of our traits carry from form to form? Human werewolves have a great sense of smell.

  “Maybe one of her friends dropped by for a visit. Jen’s a good tenant, so if this is temporary thing, I’ll forget I’ve seen it.”

  I love my land lady. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You’ll never know how much…really. I felt practically giddy. Maybe it was the wolf form.

  “I’m sure Jen will appreciate that.” Rob grinned. “Can you do a quick check of her place? I don’t think she’s diabetic, but Jen’s closed off sometimes and doesn’t really talk much about personal stuff. Something is definitely wrong. It’s not like her to miss work.”

  “What?” I think it came out more as a whine or maybe a howl. I really didn’t mean to say anything. I am not closed off. I'm not.

  “We’ll check and make sure she’s okay. Hey, little pup, wanna go back inside?” My landlady smiled at me and knelt on the ground putting her hand out. No, please, the indignity.

  I barked and ran up the stairs to my apartment, without even looking back to see if I was being followed. The door was closed and I tried to push with my paws. No such luck. So I sat down and waited. People walk slow.

  Rob waited outside while my landlord checked the place. I guess he was afraid he’d find me passed out on the floor naked or something. Baying the way dogs do for ambulances, I walked toward Rob and then walked backwards and then forwards again, trying to tell him it was okay to come in.

  Rob gave me a thinking look and tilted his head to the side. Like I said, some traits carry between forms. “Jen?”

  I did one of those rowlfs that dogs do and put my head on my paws, nodding. Rob called out to the landlady, stepping into my apartment. “Looks like we found her.”

  “Even if she is, Jen’s not in human form, I can’t let you stay. I mean, in case it’s not her.” The landlady wa
tched me, looking for any indication of who I might be.

  “I’ll take her to the office. Can you grab a change of clothes out of the drawer.” When he saw the look of doubt, Rob said, “I’ll explain everything if you have any trouble with her.”

  “Trouble with me?” Well, that was annoying. Everything I tried to say came out in a jumble, like a howling yawn.

  Rob took charge. “Okay, Jen, get into the bedroom and change back to human or we’re going to the office with you as a wolf.”

  Change form? Nope. As much as I'd love to. I ran to the coffee table and picked up my keys in my mouth. Ewww. I tasted dirt, metal, rubber, and plastic. After running to the door and looking back for good measure, I sat on my haunches while Rob took the sweatshirt and sweatpants from her hands. Really? Sweatpants?

  Oh, Oh, God! I wanted to hide under the bed. She grabbed my flaming bright pink granny panties. He is my boss you know. And good looking, which is totally beside the point. I didn’t even try to say it. I knew my landlord wouldn’t understand a thing I said, and from the way things were going, I just might die of humiliation before ever changing back anyway.

  A random through crossed my mind. He knows I peed on the steps.