Big Bad Wolf (Uncollected Anthology: Beasties)

By Annie Reed

Carla hated blind dates.

Hard enough just living in the city and trying to fit in with a bunch of regular people who didn’t know she was a werewolf.

Why didn’t everyone believe her when she told them she liked being single? No attachments? No commitments? No one to accidentally disembowel when the moon was at its fullest and she wolfed out during a particularly vivid dream?

This particular blind date, though, might be too good to be true.

Right up until the lights go out, and everything goes to hell.

“One of the best writers I’ve come across in years.”
Kristine Kathryn Rusch

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thunder Valley Press
• Release date: Mar 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463410769

Annie Reed

Award-winning author and editor Kristine Kathryn Rusch calls Annie Reed “one of the best writers I’ve come across in years.”Annie’s won recognition for her stellar writing across multiple genres. Her story “The Color of Guilt” originally published in Fiction River: Hidden in Crime, was selected as one of The Best Crime and Mystery Stories 2016. Her story “One Sun, No Waiting” was one of the first science fiction stories honored with a literary fellowship award by the Nevada Arts Foundation, and her novel PRETTY LITTLE HORSES was among the finalists in the Best First Private Eye Novel sponsored by St. Martin’s Press and the Private Eye Writers of America.A frequent contributor to the Fiction River anthologies and Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, Annie’s recent work includes the superhero origin novel FASTER, the near-future science fiction short novel IN DREAMS, and UNBROKEN FAMILIAR, a gritty urban fantasy mystery short novel. Annie’s also one of the founding members of the innovative Uncollected Anthology, a quarterly series of themed urban fantasy stories written by some of the best writers working today.Annie’s mystery novels include the Abby Maxon private investigator novels PRETTY LITTLE HORSES and PAPER BULLETS, the Jill Jordan mystery A DEATH IN CUMBERLAND, and the suspense novel SHADOW LIFE, written under the name Kris Sparks, as well as numerous other projects she can’t wait to get to. For more information about Annie, including news about upcoming bundles and publications, go to www.annie-reed.com.

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BIG BAD

WOLF

ANNIE REED

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Copyright Information

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Big Bad Wolf

Copyright © 2019 by Annie Reed

Published by Thunder Valley Press

Cover and Layout copyright © 2019 Thunder Valley Press

Cover design by Allyson Longueira

Uncollected Anthology logo art © Tanya Borozenets/Dreamstime.com

Uncollected Anthology logo design © Stephanie Writt

Cover art copyright © [e-mail]

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Carla hated blind dates.

Hard enough just living in the city and trying to fit in with a bunch of regular people who didn’t know she was a werewolf.

Why didn’t everyone believe her when she told them she liked being single? No attachments? No commitments? No one to accidentally disembowel when the moon was at its fullest and she wolfed out during a particularly vivid dream?

This particular blind date, though, might be too good to be true.

Right up until the lights go out, and everything goes to hell.

One of the best writers I’ve come across in years.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch

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About the Uncollected Anthology

About the Author

Copyright Information

Full Table of Contents

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Big Bad Wolf

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Run far, run fast, little wolf.

Great advice when you’re six years old and just learning what your body can do. Back when the forest was your home, and the scent of tall pines and night creatures filled your head, and the moon—the far silver moon—bathed you in her strength-giving light.

But when you’re in your twenties and trying to fit in a world made up of people who didn’t have a werewolf for a father? Yeah, then that advice sucked.

And the other thing that sucked?

Blind dates.

Carla stood outside a trendy new restaurant in a trendy hipster neighborhood trying to talk herself into actually going inside to meet her date. He was the nephew or second cousin or casual acquaintance of a woman she worked with—Carla had zoned out on the details—and she’d only agreed to the date so the woman would leave her alone.

Why didn’t people believe her when she told them she liked being single? No attachments? No commitments? No one to accidentally disembowel when the moon was at its fullest and she wolfed out during a particularly vivid dream?

She’d left her jacket in her car in the parking lot across the street, so of course now it was starting to rain. Chunky rain, the kind that couldn’t decide whether it was going to be rain or snow when it grew up.

The dress she’d worn to work that day didn’t have sleeves, just a simple, day-job dress—not too sexy or too plain—perfect for meeting up for an early dinner after work, so she hadn’t gone home to