My Wolfy Wedding Read online

  My Wolfy Wedding

  Peculiar Mysteries Book 8

  Renee George

  Barkside of the Moon Press

  My Wolfy Wedding

  Peculiar Mysteries Book 8

  Copyright © Renee George 2018

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the copyright holder.

  Any trademarks, service marks, product names or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement from the author of this work.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and storylines in this book are inspired only by the author’s imagination. The characters are based solely in fiction and are in no relation inspired by anyone bearing the same name or names. Any similarities to real persons, situations, or incidents are purely coincidental.

  Cover Art: Renee George

  Acknowledgments

  I have to thank Robbin Clubb, the island of Bonaire where I finished writing the story, and my husband for not hassling me for turning our vacation into a work vacation.

  Chav and Billy Bob are finally getting the wedding they deserve and I can’t wait for you all to read it!

  I need to thank Renee’s Rebels for continuing to support my work, read it, promote it, and love it. You all are ROCK STARS!

  I also want to thank the town of Peculiar, whose name I borrowed then used my creative fiction license to relocated them from the north of Missouri to down south in the Ozarks, for giving me a kick ass place to start. Stay peculiar, Peculiar!

  And finally, I have to give many, many thanks to hot black coffee. You got me there!

  * * *

  .

  Contents

  Blurb

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Gone With The Minion - Chapter 1

  Paranormal Mysteries & Romances

  About the Author

  Billy Bob Smith and Chavvah Trimmel cordially request the honor of your presence on their happy (disastrous) day. To celebrate (survive) their union on Friday, the Twenty-First of December, Two Thousand Eighteen at Four-Twenty-Three p.m.

  Destination: Peculiar, Missouri.

  * * *

  The only thing Chavvah wants more than to marry Billy Bob is to have his baby, but since that ship has sailed thanks to prior trauma, she's happy just to get him down the aisle. The date is set for the Winter Solstice, marking the longest night of year, but a challenge from an unexpected guest, is turning her special day into a fight-club nightmare. And after having postponed the wedding twice already, Chav is starting to think fate hates her guts.

  * * *

  On top of that, there are almost forty werewolves camped out on Billy Bob's property, claiming that Chav and Billy Bob are their new leaders. But when Chav tries to get her spirit guide, Brother Wolf, to cough up answers, he ignores her. Even worse, the silent deity is sending her BFF Sunny visions that are taking a physical toll on her human friend's all too frail body.

  * * *

  Throw in Billy Bob's manipulative father, Chav's pushy mother, and other surprise guests, these two furry lovebirds may never make it to "I do!"

  For my husband,

  You have given me a lifetime of At Lasts,

  and I love you.

  Chapter One

  December 19th, Two days before my wedding date...

  “The weather man is calling for mild temperatures this entire week,” Sunny said. “High forties to mid fifties. It looks like you’re going to have an unseasonably warm winter nuptial, Chav. Isn't that good news?” She clapped her hands and danced around me. Dawn and Jude, my adorable nephew and niece, giggled at their mother’s antics.

  “I don’t need a white wedding,” I told her. Though I really wanted one. The idea of getting married under fairy lights in a blanket of snow, against the contrast of red roses and carnations made my inner princess squee. Doc had agreed to wear a white tux, but I’d had to suffer through a little razzing from all my friends about how girly I was getting. Frankly, I didn’t give a crap. I was marrying the wolf of my dreams in less than a week. Nothing and no one was going to put a damper on my great mood.

  My phone, sitting on the counter near the coffee pot, beeped. I walked over and looked down at the text.

  “No,” I said, unable to keep the horror from my tone.

  “What is it?” Sunny asked.

  I held up the phone for her to see. She gasped.

  I seconded that emotion.

  The text was from my mother, and it only contained three words. On my way. I cast an accusatory glance at Sunny. “Who told her?”

  “Not me.” Her expression mirrored my horror. “Your mother has a way of ruining a perfectly good wedding.”

  “You mean, she has a way of trying to put an end to a perfectly good wedding.” She wasn’t happy about my engagement to Billy Bob Smith, a pure lycanthrope, and the only one of his kind in this area. “She still thinks that werewolves are violent rogues who have no self-control.”

  Sunny snorted. “I've been in the other room when you two are having sex. I don’t think she’s wrong about that self-control thing.”

  I laughed. “Well, he’s certainly not violent.”

  Sunny nodded. “Not any more than anybody else in this town.”

  “Besides, I can shift into a wolf now, so I don’t understand what her deal is. We’re part-flippin-werewolf” Recently I’d discovered I could shift into either wolf or coyote depending on my mood. According to Billy Bob, I was one of a kind. I shook my head as I pictured my mother’s reaction to the news of my tri-nature, and how my ancestral heritage made all the lycanthrope bigotry complete and utter bullshit. “The family vendetta was a complete lie. Why can’t she just give it up?”

  “I’ve got no answers, Chav. I gave her two grandchildren, and, still, she barely tolerates me.”

  “Mom doesn’t hate you.”

  Sunny snorted again.

  “Well, not as much as she hates Billy Bob.”

  “That’s probably true. She even tried to get me to side with her at Thanksgiving.”

  I raised my brow at her. “You ate Thanksgiving with me.”

  “On the phone,” she confessed.

  “Oh.”

  “Don’t worry. I totally had your back. I told her that there wasn’t enough BFF ju-ju in this world that could pry your legs from around that man’s waist.”

  “Sunny!” My face flamed with heat. “You didn’t.”

  She shrugged. “I might not have used those exact words, but something to that effect. As the saying goes, the va-jay-jay wants what the va-jay-jay wants.”

  “That’s not how the saying goes.” A knock at the door rescued me from the deteriorating conversation.

  Sunny smiled. “That’s probably her now.”

  I groaned. “Damn it.” I left Sunny, who wasn’t eager to see my mom either, in the kitchen as I walked through the living room to the front door. I braced myself for the ill-wind blowing in and opened the door just as another knock occurred.

  My mother was not on the others side of the door. Instead, an extremely tall, lanky gentleman with short silver hair, gray-blue eyes, and golden skin. There were fine lines around his eyes that marked him as an elder.

  “Can I help you?”

  “Is William home?”

  “Who?”

  The man looked surprised.
“William Smith.”

  “Billy Bob?”

  The guy nodded, his expression full of disapproval. “Yes, him.”

  “He’s not home right now.” Normally, Billy Bob worked at the clinic during the daytime hours. Today, however, he was getting fitted for his tux, along with his best men Brady Corman, Babe, and Ed Thompson. “Can I give him a message?”

  The man hemmed and hawed for a moment then finally said, “Yes.” He cast me a steely stare. “Tell him his father is in town, and I’d like to see him at his earliest convenience.”

  I returned a suspicious gaze. “Does he know how to contact you?”

  The man pulled his wallet from his back pocket and produced a card. William Robert Smith, Sr. Smith Contractors, LLC, and a business number along with a mobile phone number. Mister Smith handed me the card and said, “He can call me on my cell phone.”

  I took the card and saluted with it. “I’ll give him the message.”

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  I shrugged. “Sure.”

  “Who are you?”

  I knew enough not to be hurt that Billy Bob’s dad had no idea who I was or what I meant to his son. The doc told me once he hadn’t spoken to his father in over fifteen years. He hadn’t elaborated, and I hadn’t pried. Now, as I studied the man, who really didn’t look much like my mate at all, I kind of wished I would have—pried, that is. “I’m his...girlfriend,” I finally said. Not a lie, but not the whole truth. I didn’t know if Billy Bob wanted his dad crashing our festivities. I know I sure didn’t want my mom there.

  “Is this his house or yours?” he asked.

  “That’s two questions.” I smiled to soften my words.

  “It is,” he agreed. “My apologies. Please give the message to William. Tell him I don’t like to be kept waiting.”

  And Doc doesn’t like to be bossed. I crossed my arms as irritation replaced my curiosity. It was no wonder Billy Bob left home and never looked back.

  “Chav?” Sunny asked when she walked into the living room. “Are you okay?”

  William Smith turned his gaze to my friend. His eyes were that of a pure predator. “She’s human.” Even though he was staring at her, he addressed me. His accusation surprised me because there wasn’t any way to tell if someone was therian or human based on looking at them or even by scent. “I thought this place was a therianthrope haven.” The little growl in his voice raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

  His demeanor pushed my animal to the surface, and I think William was a surprised as me to find it was wolf, not coyote, who challenged him.

  “There are no other lycanthropes in this territory. What tribe are you from?” His interest had turned back to me and away from Sunny.

  I let out a slow breath forcing my wolf to retreat. “I’ll let the doc know you stopped by.” Since he still stood just outside on the porch, I took a step forward, my hand on the door, closing it between us. I turned to Sunny.

  She ran a hand through her short, blonde hair. “Looks like your mom isn’t the only parental wedding crasher. Mister Smith seems like a real sweetheart.”

  I walked over to window and peeked behind the curtain. A truck pulled back up then took off down the driveway toward the one road in and out of town.

  “I’ve got a bad feeling about that one.”

  Sunny put her hand on my shoulder. “Hey, you can’t have the psychic gig. It’s the only thing I got going for me. You know, aside from saggy milk sacks and crow’s feet.”

  “There’s always plastic surgery. I hear they’re doing amazing things with stem cell therapy. You don’t even have to go under a knife for that.”

  “Mean,” Sunny said. Her lower lip jutted in a fake pout. “Seriously though, does that stem cell stuff work, because...”

  “Oh, stop it. You’re beautiful. And I have it on good authority that your husband adores you just the way you are.”

  “I know. I’m just working on a contingency plan. You know, for the future.” Sunny wrapped her arms around me, and for a human, she gave the most spine crushing hugs of anyone I’d ever met.

  Frankly, it was just what I needed. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “Good thing you don’t have to. You’re stuck with me, darling.” She unclenched her arms from around me. “I better go though. Michele Thompson has a date tonight, and I promised I’d be home before four so she could get cleaned up for it.”

  “Jo Jo?” I asked. Jo Jo Corman, a twenty-one-year-old coyote shifter who’d been working for Sunny and me at Sunny’s Outlook for nearly three years had a real thing for Michele. They’d dated before, but the girl could be fickle.

  “I didn’t ask, and she didn’t volunteer,” Sunny said. “But Jo Jo finally shaved the scruff off his face and got a new haircut yesterday.” She picked up her purse and gave me another quick hug. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  Chapter Two

  The uneasiness of William Smith’s visit hadn’t waned. Every time I thought about the smug, domineering wolf, my own wolf would surface. So, when Billy Bob walked through the door, another instinct all together took over me. I draped my arms around his neck and raised up on my toes to meet his lower face in a kiss that steamed the windows in the living room.

  Hot damn, that man curled my toes.

  His hands kneaded their way down my back until his palms cupped my ass, and he lifted me up. I crawled up his torso, locking my feet behind his thighs, and sunk deeper into the kiss.

  Billy Bob’s chest rumbled as he turned and pushed me up against the wall, his hands roaming like someone trying to find a light switch in the dark.

  “Yowza,” he growled. “Hello, beautiful.” He cupped the back of my neck. “I’ve missed you, too.” His gray eyes sparkled with dark desire.

  I tugged his shirt up and over his head. “Too many clothes,” I told him. The skin on his wide chest shivered under my fingertips. I tweaked his nipple and grinned.

  He smiled. “How’d I get so lucky?”

  “I’m the--” The doorbell chimed before I could finish my sentence, and a second later my mother pushed her way inside.

  “I texted you,” she said with a tone full of accusation.

  Cripes. Me up against the wall, riding my half-naked fiancé was not how I wanted to greet my mom. Frankly, not having to greet her at all would have been preferable.

  “I forgot,” I said, easing myself off of Billy Bob while he grabbed his shirt from the floor and quickly put it back on.

  “Hello, Celia,” my mate said with more courtesy than Mom deserved. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your company.”

  Mom took her jacket off and hung it on the coat rack to the right of the door. She placed her purse on the ground and tucked her gloves into one of the folds. She looked at me, her sour expression full of disapproval. After she made sure I got the message, she turned her gaze to Billy Bob. “My only daughter is getting married in two days. Did you really think I would stay away?”

  “Given your feelings about who I’m marrying, I’d hoped you would stay away,” I said. I crossed my arms over my chest partly to show my indignation, but mostly to hide my pre-coitus erect nipples.

  Billy Bob filled in the space next to me but didn’t try to mediate the tension between me and my contentious parent. I found that most men wanted to solve a woman’s problems, even when she didn’t ask for or want a solution. I loved Doc all the more for not trying to “fix” things.

  Mom sighed. “You don’t have to be so...”

  “Honest,” I said.

  She narrowed her brow at me. “I raised you to be polite.”

  I felt a twinge of something resembling guilt. God, I hated how my mom could turn me into the teenage version of myself. “Mom, why are you really here?”

  “I told you. I am here for your wedding.”

  “But you—”

  She held up a hand to silence me. “I’m not going to miss my only daughter’s walk down the aisle, and neither is your
father. He’ll be joining us Friday after he gets off work.”

  My dad was a safety specialist for a manufacturer in Kansas City. My whole life he’d worked at the same plant, eight to five, Monday through Friday, except for vacation weeks. “You can’t be here if you can’t be civil.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m going to stay with your brother.”

  I caught myself before the uptick at the corner of my mouth turned into a full-blown grin. “You’re going to torture Sunny instead of me? I couldn’t ask for a better wedding gift.”

  “Don’t be fresh, girl,” Mom snapped. “Pretty is as pretty does, and right now, you are not very attractive.”

  My stoic mate rumbled with a suppressed growl. I reached over and took his hand. “Wolves are very protective.” My comment was a childish dig on my mother’s prejudices. I’d been raised on a healthy diet of lycanthropy hate. “And loyal,” I added.

  “Yes, yes,” my mom said dismissively. “I get it. I was wrong. Werewolves are not the evil savages my mother taught me to believe, but you have to understand that I can’t undo eighty years of history overnight.”

  “Mom, what are you doing here? Really?”

  “I’m trying to make things right.” Her face was a reflection of the fight going on inside her, a weird combination of pride and remorse. “I’m trying to apologize.”

  “For the love of Pete.” I threw up my hands. “If you want to apologize then do it. It’s easy, just say, I’m sorry.”

  “I accept your apology,” she said.

  “Mom!”

  “I’m joking.” She flashed a smile my way.

  Billy Bob cross the room to Mom faster than I could stop him. I gasped as he raised his arms...and hugged her. What?

  My mother stiffened for a moment, her balled up fists clenched by her sides. I held my breath waiting for her head to explode.

  Then I heard it, a light tinkle of laughter. I let out a shaky exhalation and smiled as Mom’s arms rose up and wrapped Billy Bob’s waist. After a few seconds, they parted, both of them smiling.