The Wolf's Bite: A Bite of Magic Saga, #0.5

By Lucille Yates

Some secrets you can't keep buried. When the truth comes out, will Isaiah stand beside Tamera, or will the secret she's kept destroy any future they may have had?

 

After graduation, Isaiah takes a hiking trip before joining the work force, only a wild animal attack changes his life forever. Two months later, his soul mate walks into his world with a secret that could end their relationship before it starts.

 

In the span of two days, Tamera moves to Savannah for college, joins a new wolf pack, and meets her soul mate. But she's not prepared to share her mistakes, especially if it means letting go of true love.

 

When the truth comes out, will Isaiah stand beside Tamera, or will the secret she's kept destroy their future together?

 

The Wolf's Bite is a standalone prequel for the Bite of Magic Saga.

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+18 This novella contains sex and profanity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kitty Hex Press
• Release date: May 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781736969748

Lucille Yates

Lucille Yates writes paranormal romance and urban fantasy stories. They feature strong women, complicated men, and sizzling chemistry. Lucille enjoys writing the stories that are constantly playing like a movie in her head. She is excited that others will now enjoy them as much as she does. When she is not writing, she is reading, playing with her six-year-old son, watching videos, or playing games. She lives outside of Savannah, GA with her husband, son, and four cats.

Book preview

Present Day

Isaiah

Isaiah walked into the office of his boss and friend, Alan. After a long day in the bays at Massey and Sons Automotive Shop, it was almost time to go home. But this was the ritual between them. Isaiah always sat in Alan’s office at quitting time to talk about their day.

Today, Alan sat back in his chair with his feet up on the wooden desk, the walls covered in old ads for car parts. A stack of papers covered the keyboard of the old computer he used. The clunky monitor took up a quarter of the desk. The ancient machine needed to be replaced, but Alan could be stubborn.

Isaiah sat down, put his feet on the desk, and winked at him. What’s on your mind, boss? Alan wasn’t fond of being called ‘boss’ by his oldest friend.

Chuck came to see me today. Alan rubbed his chin. He found out about magic. So, I filled him in a little. Gray hair stuck to his sweaty forehead. Being the boss didn’t mean he didn’t pull his weight out in the shop.

Isaiah nodded. Alan’s son, Chuck, worked as a detective in town. As a kid, Chuck saw the world as black and white. Things were always good or bad. He carried that with him into the force. He was good at his job, but Isaiah knew Alan worried it could compel him to go after the supernatural should he find out about it.

Isaiah wasn’t as worried. Chuck grew into his job as a cop and detective. Chuck saw more gray in the world than Alan realized. And Isaiah would know. He was a werewolf and as gray as they get. He smiled at his own joke.

It’s about time. Isaiah nodded. How’d he take it?

Alan smirked. Better than I thought. I think it helps when you find out from a pretty woman.

Oh, who told him? Isaiah cocked an eyebrow.

One of Oblena’s girls. Alan motioned in the general direction of the witch’s shop. He said her name is Jesi Osman.

I’ve met her. She is pretty and relatively new to her powers, if the rumors are true.

I told him I’d tell him the story of how I found out one day. You remember?

Isaiah laughed at the memory. How could I forget?

We used to live such dangerous lives. Alan’s boisterous laugh echoed in the small room.

Yeah, one dangerous adventure and suddenly, you think our entire lives were dangerous. Isaiah rolled his eyes with a laugh and thought back to the time when he became a werewolf.

40 Years Ago ~ 1980

Isaiah

Isaiah hiked down the mountain through the trees. They were only half a mile away from the waterfall. His friend, Alan, and he were hiking Cloudland Canyon at the beginning of summer. He looked around at the tall trees surrounding them on the path. It would be a beautiful sight of a lush green forest if he wasn’t dying from the heat. The sounds of birds chirping and fluttering around the canopy pissed him off. Nothing should be happy in this place.

The clothes he wore stuck to him due to sweat and humidity. He felt sticky all over, and the experience was worse than he’d imagined. Being from Savannah, he thought he knew humidity. He just never experienced it while hiking down a mountain. At sea level, the only hills in Savannah were the bridges over rivers.

Sweat poured down his back and Alan, ahead of him, sweated just as much under his Atlanta Braves hat, but Alan was in better shape than Isaiah. Alan played football throughout high school, on the team’s starting lineup. Isaiah played from the bench. But that was behind him now. They graduated a few weeks earlier, and it was time to celebrate.

They’d been best friends since the 3rd grade. Isaiah practically lived at Alan’s house during the summers and Alan’s dad took them both under his wing, teaching them how to fix cars. Now, at 18 and graduated, they both worked full time at the auto shop Alan’s dad owned. The pair changed oil, radiator fluid, tires, and filters. And cleaned up. They mostly cleaned for now. Next week, they will be upgraded to spark plugs and brakes.

But it was summer, June, and this was their graduation trip. Hiking in the northwest corner of Georgia. Just a weekend trip and they’d be back at work on Monday. They wanted to have fun before work took over their lives. At least it sounded like fun when Alan pitched the idea. Here he was, in the woods, sweating. His mamma said he had no business camping while black.

Come on, man. Alan looked over his shoulder. He had that blonde hair and blue eyes that all the girls loved. Even Isaiah’s sister was enamored. Alan and Isaiah looked so different, Isaiah being black with tight black curls, but everyone said they acted just alike.

We shouldn’t have set out so late in the day. Isaiah was over it and didn’t care if it sounded like he was whining. It’s going to be dark on the way back.

Stop worrying, Alan said. It will be fine. I have a flashlight and it’s a full moon tomorrow. It should be nice and bright.

Jesus, I should have stayed home. He kicked at a rock, picking up his pace to keep up.

Tamera

Exhausted, Tamera parked her car. She sat and stared at the forest in front of her. She’d been on the road all day. A lady named Selma started coming around her house a few days ago, telling her she wanted to talk. She seemed nice at first, but then she started talking about someone had infected her.

Infected? She was crazy. So, some kid at the park bit her the week before. She was babysitting and all the kids there were playing chase until it turned into a fight. She intervened and some little shit bit her. No big deal. It barely bled. The wound healed in a day, and didn’t look infected.

But Selma didn’t go away. She came back with other people each day and talked about magic and werewolves and changing three nights a month. It was ridiculous. They started following her, stalking her. And they scared her. That’s when she decided she needed to skip town for a while. It was summer and she’d just graduated, so no one would miss her much. She packed some camping gear in her car and drove north. She just needed to get away for a few days. That’s what she told herself. It would work out. She’d be home Monday, and they’d disappear. It was better than staying home alone.

Her parents were visiting family in the next state over and she’d weaseled out of going because of work at the local grocery store. They didn’t need to know that this was her weekend off. She planned to spend a nice quiet weekend alone or with friends until the looney squad showed up. If only her friends weren’t working, they could go camping with her.

She ate at some roadside Mom and Pop diner near Cloudland Canyon before she drove to the entrance. It was a long way from Macon, so they wouldn’t find her here. The thought calmed her as she made her way into the canyon and parked. She picked a secluded campsite, walked her gear there, and set up the old tent she found in the garage.

It didn’t take her long to set up everything. When she finished, she sat in front of the small fire she built. The sweat rolled down her back and almost didn’t build a fire, but she didn’t need to be blind in the dark. The air was damp in the mountains, so she was glad she wore cutoff jeans and a tank top. It was the outfit she only wore when it was too hot for anything else. The tree coverage should be enough that she wouldn’t get sunburnt. The one thing she forgot was a hair tie, so her long light brown hair hung loose down her back. Despite the humidity, it was nice to bask in the quiet of the woods.

Laying on the ground, she thought of all the times her dad took her camping. He was in the Air Force and stationed at Robins Air Force Base a few years ago. He stayed in the Macon area after he retired and worked for the base as a civilian contractor. He loved to camp, and his love rubbed off on her. Now, she was out here alone, waiting out the crazies that kept bothering her, then she could go back home.

She watched the sunset behind the trees, the beautiful reds and pinks cascaded around the leaves. The crickets sang out around her. The squirrels and other small animals scampered up the trees to their homes. Her shoulders sank away from her neck, and a smile played on her lips. She breathed in the fresh air, full of the scent of pines and oaks, and relaxed. What a perfect evening. Standing up from her spot on the ground, she dusted herself off and opened up her tent to crawl into bed. Before she crawled in, she felt a pang in her stomach.

Ugh. What is that? she thought. Her mind wandered back to the food she ate at the diner. That cheeseburger was churning in her stomach now. Great, she thought, I get food poisoning alone in the woods. At least no one is around. She zipped her tent back up and looked for the public toilets. Of course, by choosing the campsite furthest away from everyone, she was also furthest from the toilets. She rummaged in her bag, pulled out her flashlight, and made her way toward the bathroom. Or, at least, the direction she believed it to be. The more she walked, the more her stomach churned. She walked and stopped, then hunched over and tried to walk further. The cramps increased and spread from her stomach outward. First, into her lower abdomen and then, down into her limbs. Gross moans escaped her mouth. Her flashlight dropped to the ground, followed by her. On all fours, she heaved and groaned. Everything hurt. Sweat poured down her face and onto the ground.

A light shone upon her from the side. She looked up at a couple that stopped.

"Are you