Once Bitten

Chapter One

Dedicated to RockChicChiku for making the lovely cover c: 

The wolf charged. 

I jumped. 

The wolf was faster, grabbing me out of the air before I could even think of getting away. It pinned me down, paws planted firmly on both my shoulders. It's hot, wolfy breath ghosted down my neck, making me squirm. Piercing yellow eyes bore into my soft brown ones. I should have felt like I was standing at Death's door, but I didn't. I narrowed my eyes, giving a challenging smirk. This wasn't just any cut of the mill wolf, this was my brother. 

He let out a light 'wuf,' blowing his not-so-fresh breath in my face on purpose. I made a gagging noise, planting my hands on his chest and shoving him off me. Sitting back on his haunches, he cocked his head at me, his silver fur looking blue as the sun hit it. "Mutt," I grumbled, dusting myself off. A smile all too human graced his muzzle. 

You see, my brother is a werewolf, and I am his very much human sister. I never questioned why, or how I turned out human. I always assumed it was bad genetics. Maybe if I didn't have such a great life I'd question the fact. 

My brother pawed impatiently at my hand, butting me with his head. He barked, wagging his tail and jumping around. He looked a lot more like a puppy than a wolf. I imagine him smaller, rocketing around with an uncontrollable bladder. It made me snicker, my nose and eyes crinkling. He gave one particular hard nudge, making me stumble backwards. 

"Fine, Cort. You stubborn mutt." I bit out, launching into the air from my spot on the ground, hitting Cort square in the chest. He woofed happily, licking my face before he flipped me over. Then we were rolling, tugging at tails and limbs and biting. Cort was letting out feral growls, all too vicious sounding for the way he was fighting. I let out a laugh, punching his shoulder. 

"Aceline Eloise Vinson!" An angry voice called somewhere near the direction of our house. Cort's ears perked up as he got moved from where he pinned me down. 

"Cort Pascal Vinson!" Mom's voice came again. 

"Looks like you're on the chopping block with me." I smirked, gathering myself up and running towards the house. "Race ya!" I called over my shoulder, listening for the sound of Cort shifting back. But his wolf rocketed past me, letting out a little howl that could have passed as laughter. "Cheater!" I yelled, focusing all  my energy on running after him. Narrowing my eyes, I focused on my new target. The now bare, obviously human, back that was standing a couple yards in front of me. 

I caught up to Cort as soon as he pulled on his spare pair of shorts. I used my momentum to my advantage, hitting him with full force. I wrapped my arms around his top half from the back, trying in vain to throw him to the ground. He stayed in place like a brick wall, smirking over his shoulder at me. "Nice try, Ace. But trying to overpower a werewolf isn't working for you." Cort grinned wolfishly, flicking me in the nose. 

"Ow! That hur-" I began to complain, but stopped short as a menacing shadow loomed over us. One that carried the scent of old woman perfume and freshly baked apple turnovers. I flinched turning around, meeting the icy green gaze of the one woman that could strike fear into the heart of the bravest warrior; Mom. 

"Aceline, Cort," She met our gazes accordingly, "I think you know why you're here." Mom gave us a look of utmost displeasure. A look that sent a clear message; Answer the question correctly or face the fury. 

"Uh, is this about those water balloons I threw into the crazy cat lady's yard a week ago?" Cort asked, gaze shifting guiltily away from Mom's. He threw up his hands in defense before she could reprimand him, "She deserved it, I swear! It should be illegal to house that many cats!" I could tell Cort was holding back a growl of disgust, his lip was twitching furiously. He really did not like cats.

Mom gave him a unbelieving look, eyes wide, mouth falling open and eyebrows shooting to her hairline. "That's why Mrs. Penderwood has been avoiding me? Cort, you know better!" She huffed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. Sighing, she let her shoulders slump. "No, that's not why I'm angry. Ace, tell me your grade in English. Cort, tell me your Chemistry grade." Mom demanded, returning to her icy glare.

"Oh, um..You know...it's.." I balked, frowning. 

"Don't you lie to me, either." Mom pointed a finger at us accusingly.

"D minus.." I grumbled, scuffing the toe of my shoe in the dirt. 

"An F. But a high F!" Cort stated, looking hopeful when adding the 'high' part.

Mom gave us both a withering look, fishing one hand into her pocket. She pulled out two sheets of crumpled paper, unfolding them and smoothing them out the best she could. "Did you think I wouldn't see these?" She thrust the pieces of paper towards out faces for emphasis. 

Brow crinkling, I examined said piece of paper. Along the top of the paper read, 'Aceline Vinson; First Semester Report Card.' Whoops. I thought I threw that away. I looked over at Cort, taking in his devastated expression. Obviously, he had, too. 

"But I hid that thing where no one would look! Nobody dares to venture close to my gym shoes." Cort sounded defeated. He must have thought he was so smart hiding his report card there. Hell, he was! Why would Mom bother to look in his smelly gym shoes, anyways?

"We'll discuss this over dinner. Cort, get a freaking shirt on, son. Ace, make yourself look nice for once." Mom criticized. I opened my mouth to protest, but she stopped me, pointing to my hair. "Aceline, there's a twig in your hair. You can't argue with that." She said in contempt, shaking her head and turning on her heel, leaving Cort and me staring at each other dumbly. 

One dinner date with the mother Were from Hell, here I come.