Kissing the Werewolf - An Izzy Cooper Novel

By

Copyrigh
t
2015 Kendra Ashe

All Rights Reserved

Lavine Press 2015

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

Kissing the Werewolf

An Izzy Cooper Novel

By

Kendra Ashe

Blurb

What do you get when you mix a vampire hunter, who happens to be an FBI Agent, and my boss, a fallen angel, that's me, and a genius criminal profiler with secrets?

You get the Monster Squad! We hunt monsters and other whatnots.

Add to the mix an extra hot alpha wolf, a mysterious town with a serial killer on the loose, and you have total mayhem.

I’m Izzy Cooper and I’m sporting a pair of black wings. To earn redemption, I had to return to my life as a fallen angel, and work tirelessly to bring down bad guys.

It’s a good thing I have some help in the form of my guardian demon, who happens to be as hot as he is devious.

But that isn’t the only guy problem I have to deal with.

I have a new job with the Atypical Crimes Management Unit of the FBI, which happens to be based in my hometown of Storm Cove.

Returning to Storm Cove means facing Elias Moreland, who just happens to be my high school crush, and the sexiest guy I’ve ever met. Too bad he’s also a werewolf.

Saving my soul, while protecting my heart from an extra hot werewolf isn’t easy, when being wicked is a natural element of my nature.

WARNING
:  Izzy Cooper is a nice girl, but she can also be an opinionated bitch from Hell. After all, she is a fallen angel. On occasion, she likes to play with hot guys who have hotter than hell bodies. This story is not for the faint of heart, or those easily offended by sarcasm, dark mystery, and hot romance. You have been warned.

Chapter One

“What did it feel like when you died?”

I blinked, not quite sure if this was the real Aunt Mandy, or an imposter. No way could this be the same woman who wouldn’t let us watch friendly ghost cartoons when we were kids because she thought they were too dark.

Something had to be seriously bothering her to even mention the D word.

“I don’t know,” I lied. “If I’d really been dead, I wouldn’t be here for you to ask me about it. Clinical death isn’t really the
Rest in Peace
kind of dead.”

I was doing it again.

Recently, I’d developed a bad habit of reaching for those little white lies, so I wouldn’t have to tell someone what they really didn’t want to hear.

For me, death hadn’t been some warm and fuzzy glowing light. Not that it wasn’t that way for most people, it just hadn’t been that way for me.

But no way was I going to tell my auntie about it. She was already having problems getting over what happened to Uncle James.

Taking another sip of coffee, I studied Mandy over the rim of my cup. My aunt was in her mid forties, but still a nice looking woman, even if she was carrying around a few extra pounds. Her dark hair was long enough to touch her shoulders, and she liked to keep her bangs trimmed to where they were just covering her eyebrows.

Aunt Mandy is a soccer mom, and she dresses like one too.

“What’s wrong Auntie? Why so much doom and gloom?”

Mandy lowered her gaze to the salad she’d been fiddling with for the last fifteen minutes. “It’s just since James passed away … I keep thinking I hear things in the house, especially at night. I wonder if it might be him.”

Aunt Mandy is my father’s sister. If she’d been from my mother’s side of the family, she would know what the noises were, on account of the entire Osborne family being witches.

But that’s another story.

I didn’t have the heart to tell her that what she was hearing wasn’t my late Uncle James, but what I liked to call the munchers.

Munchers were mischievous spirits that would hang around sad depressed people so they could eat up all that negative energy.

“I don’t think it’s anything.”

I was saved by an incoming text, which was a good thing. Concocting explanations for things that go bump in the night wasn’t really one of my talents.

“Sorry, I have to get this.”

Meet me at the Smugglers Bay Lodge. ASAP.

It was a good bet the emergency probably had something to do with Aggie Wardwell. The old lady had been causing all kinds of havoc in town.

It was my theory that she was developing dementia, but as strange as Miss Wardwell was, it could be anything. It had only been a couple of weeks since she’d tried to poison Mel, the guy that ran the town’s only bakery.

Aggie claimed Mel shortchanged her on a dozen doughnuts. Maybe he had, but that wasn’t an excuse to brew up a potion that would melt his skin.

The old bitty was devious too. She’d waited outside the bakery until he came out, and then used a squirt gun to cover him in her poisonous brew.

“Sorry Auntie. I have to cut lunch short. My boss wants me back at work as soon as possible.”

Mandy smiled. “That isn’t so bad, is it? That boss of yours is hotter than hell.”

Again, I had to wonder if some alien life form, or possibly a restless spirit, had taken possession of my aunt’s body.

Not only was she talking about death, but she’d also said something naughty.

“Have you been skipping church services?” I asked, furrowing my brows.

“Of course not,” she replied with a shake of her head. “Why would you ask such a thing?”

“No reason.” I shrugged.

Downing the last of my coffee, I slid from the little booth. “I’ll let my boss know you think he’s hotter than hell.”

Mandy’s mouth dropped. “Don’t you dare!”

Mandy and Ayden became acquainted over a cup of eggnog last Christmas Eve at one of my grandmother’s parties. With Aunt Mandy not being a local, there was a lot she didn’t understand about my boss, and Mystique Island.

But I knew Ayden fairly well, and the truth was, hell would freeze over before I told Ayden Fontaine anything of the kind. He was hot, but he wouldn’t hear it from me. Ayden was a strictly, by the book kind of cop, and way too stuffy, not to mention a tad overdramatic.

On top of all that, I was sure Fontaine had secrets.

Leaning down, I gave Aunt Mandy a hug. “Next week then,”

Mandy pushed her salad away. “I love these lunch dates of ours. You’re such a sweet girl to waste so much time on your old auntie.”

“Don’t be silly. I wouldn’t miss our lunches.”

I meant it too. Mandy had always been my favorite aunt, and since Uncle James passed away, I’d tried to have lunch with her at least once a week. Not only did it give her something to do, but it also got her out of the house.

The trek from the mainland to the island took well over an hour by ferry, so for Mandy, lunch turned into a major outing. She needed that about right now. It took her mind off other things.

Besides, I was hoping to one day talk her into moving to Mystique Island. She loved it here, but wasn’t quite ready to make the leap just yet.

That could change if the munchers kept spooking her at home.

I almost got out of there without having to address her dilemma, but then I heard the bell on the door jingle and Elias Moreland walked in.

To say I was in shock would be an understatement, but I wasn’t the only one. Every soul in the diner stopped to stare at Elias, though I was probably the only one who felt as if they’d just been hit with a hot flash.

Elias had been my first kiss, and it was a kiss I’d never forgotten.

But that was when we were kids. Elias didn’t associate with the townspeople, and I couldn’t blame him. They’d snubbed him his whole life, like they did all the people from Roseland.

Roseland was a Gypsy settlement on the west side of the island. They kept to themselves mostly, and this stirred suspicion in the rest of the islanders.

But damn was he still hot!

He had the most gorgeous chocolate brown eyes I’d ever seen, and that dark - wavy hair of his was to die for. I also knew that beneath his tight T-shirt and leather vest, he had some rippling abs that could easily seduce even the nicest girl to sinful thoughts.

Elias looked right at me, which did a number on my stomach. All the sudden it felt as if there were dozens of butterflies fluttering away in there.

For a split second, I thought I saw some recognition there, but then it was gone and he looked away.

Suddenly it dawned on me that something was wrong.

Elias Moreland wouldn’t be in the Bayside Grill without a damn good reason.

“Anyone see a big guy around … a really big guy?” he asked, holding his hand above his head to demonstrate how big the guy was. Since Elias was well over six feet, the guy he was searching for had to be huge.

The only answer he got was a few shaking heads.

He jerked his head in what passed for a nod. “Thanks anyway,” he said, a bitter tone to his voice.

As quick as that, he was gone. A few seconds later, I heard a motorcycle roar to life.

Since my return to the island, every once in a while I’d see Elias riding his
Harley
chopper, but this was the first time I’d gotten close enough for him to see me.

Mandy cleared her throat. “You were saying?”

What was I saying?

“What about the sounds?” she reminded me. “Do you think they are anything to worry about?”

I was quick to recover my composure, but it wasn’t easy.

“It’s probably just mice,” I reassured her. “Maybe you should call pest control.”

“You’re probably right,” she nodded.

I felt a little guilty keeping the truth from my aunt, but it was for the best.

Although the supernatural had always been a part of my life, six months ago I might have been able to convince myself it really was mice, but that was before I died. Death has a funny way of giving you an entirely different perspective on life, as strange as that sounds.

But my mind was no longer on my auntie’s strange sounds and she knew it. Reaching over, Mandy placed her hand on mine.

“Isabelle, don’t you think it’s about time you found you a man?” She was sympathetic, but straightforward.

“Well if I find an extra one of those hanging around, I’ll be sure to snatch him up,” I told her, making light of the situation.

There was no sense in telling my aunt that I’d just as soon walk on a bed of coals than get into another relationship.

“I mean look at you,” she motioned with her hand. “You don’t even look the part of hot and ready. How are you supposed to find you a man?”

Hot and ready?

The blood rushed to my face. I was more convinced than ever that Aunt Mandy might need an exorcism.

Tossing her an angry scowl, I retorted, “There’s nothing wrong with the way I look.”

“Really?” Mandy rolled her eyes. “Take a look in that mirror behind me. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were on your way to a football game. You don’t highlight your assets at all.”

My eyes strayed to the large mirror with fishing net hanging from it. My long dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and there was no makeup to highlight my hazel eyes. The black reaper hat I was wearing further marred my femininity, at least I was sure Mandy thought so.

Although I was wearing blue jeans instead of a skirt, they were a little tight. Not that I was purposely wearing tight pants to show off my backside. Nope, I figured my tight pants could be blamed on the entire pizza I’d eaten last Saturday night while watching rerun marathons.

Okay, so I had to admit, my attire was a little drab, except for my T-shirt. I really liked my shirt. It was a nice shade of pastel pink, and with big white letters was the warning not to push my bitch button, or I might turn into a demon bitch from Hell, literally.

Of course that part wasn’t on the shirt.

“I think you forget what kind of job I have. It’s not a good idea to go around chasing bad guys while wearing Stilettos,” I reminded her.

“Still, you should get dolled up and go out once in a while. Nothing wrong with that.”

Forcing a smile, I leaned over and gave her a hug. “Thanks for being concerned, but I’m fine.”

Now it was time to get the hell out of there before she decided to set me up with someone. Just the thought of a blind date, with who knows what, sent my imagination into the nightmare zone.

But Aunt Mandy was right about one thing. A lot had changed. In fact, everything about my life had changed.