Once Bitten Twice Smitten: BBW Werewolf Shifter Menage Romance by Ariana Hawkes

you that acted almost independently of your will was a bit like being a crazy person, but it sure was fun! She would go and find them, spend some time with them both, and try to figure out which of them was her destined mate. But how should she find them? A few days had passed since she’d seen them, and she instinctively knew they weren’t anywhere nearby.
    “Not going to see your wolfy friends?” her father asked as she headed out to her roller derby practice session.
    “Dad, you know as well as I do that they’re not here,” she replied sadly. His eyes lit up with a glimmer of hope.
    “Does this mean that you’re putting all of this behind you, and you’re going to stay here with us?” he asked. Aspen stood directly in front of her father.
    “Dad, look at me,” she said. “I know you think I’m beautiful, but a lot of guys don’t. I’ve been mocked all my life for being a big girl.” She stopped, her throat tightening. She’d never told her parents how much she’d been affected by teasing and name-calling, for fear of breaking their hearts. She saw pain and understanding in her father’s eyes, and she continued in a rush. “But now, I’ve met these two amazing guys, and they want to look after me, and they both really want to be with me. And, now that I’m a werewolf, they understand my needs. Can’t you be happy for me?” Aspen’s mother had appeared behind her father, and she had tears in her eyes.
    “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I guess we didn’t appreciate what a hard time you’d had, because you were our perfect little girl. And we put so much effort into protecting you from werewolves, that we didn’t notice there were other things around that could harm you as well,” her mother said, and they both enveloped her in a hug.
    “I guess there are worse young men out there,” her father said gruffly. “One of them seems to have manners, anyway.”
    “They’re both amazing. You’ll love them when you get to know them!” Aspen said.
    “What’s happened has happened. If you want to be with one of them, we won’t stand in your way,” her mother said. Aspen looked at them both.
    “You mean that?” she asked, her face lighting up. They both nodded and hugged her again.
    *
    “You look amazing, girl!” Debs yelled to Aspen, as soon as she saw her at practice. “What’s been going on with you?”
    “Ah, nothing much,” Aspen said, pulling her skates on with a grin. She wasn’t yet ready to tell her closest friends about the crazy events of the past few days.
    As soon as she started to skate, she realized that she’d have to tone things right down. Now she could move super fast, maybe four times as fast as before. No-one could come up behind her without her knowing, and she could dodge anyone to tried to block her during drills. She felt like a kid playing with figurines. She knew what everyone was going to do before they did it, and, while her teammates were red-faced and gasping by the end of the practice, she was fresh-faced, and felt like she could go ten more rounds.
    “Girl what have you been doing? You were flying out there!” Winona yelled, between pants, as she pulled her helmet off. “Have you been training?” She looked at Aspen’s legs suspiciously. “Your calves are ripped !”
    “I’ve been walking a lot, I guess,” Aspen said, with a shrug. Winona narrowed her eyes, not believing her, but unable to come up with another explanation.
    *
    Aspen awoke early the next day. It had to be today. She was worried that Brad and Chase would get sick of waiting for her, and then she’d never find them. But where was ‘the most real place’, which Brad had referred to before?
    It didn’t take her long to figure it out. She packed a couple of things in a bag, got into her beat-up car and drove to the hotel. Parking around the corner, so the nosy old guy who owned the hotel didn’t see her, she climbed over a fence that bordered the national forest and strode into it.