Teaser

UnCONventional Twenty-Two Tales of Paranormal Gatherings Under the Guise of Conventions

With stories by:

Lou BergerVikki Ciaffone

Daniel A. CohenGordon DupuisAnthony FrancisJustine GraykinRandy O. GreenMelina Gunnett

Kate KaynakDanielle M. LeFevre

Kimberley Long-EwingLauren Marrero

Will MortonLS MurphyIra Nayman

KT PintoJennifer Allis Provost

Patricia PuckettKeshia Swaim

Sherry ThompsonPamela van Hylckama Vlieg

and Trisha J. Wooldridge

Edited by Kate Kaynak and Trisha J. Wooldridge

Coming January 2012 fromSpencer Hill Press

978-1-937053-00-0 (paper) 978-1-937053-01-7 (e-book)

UnCONventional

Beast In ShowKate KaynakGanzfield, New Hampshire

Werewolf Whisperer

“Kristen, I just hope you won’t start acting like one of those Manhattan bitches.”

I tossed Kelly a narrow-eyed look. Her chubby face paled as she shrank toward the window. I didn’t need to add a snarl—she might pee herself or something right here on the train—so I softened my gaze after a second. “I’ll do what I have to. I gotta get out of Jersey, and there’s no way my dad’s gonna spring for anyplace better than County College if I don’t get a scholarship.”

“But you know how the city weres can be. And The Show is a big deal to them. They’re not going to be very happy when we just wander in and try—”

“The Show is open to any pack member in the tri-state area. It’s tradition. They gotta respect tradition. And you know I’ve got a good shot at winning once the judges see me in coat.”

“Yeah, you’re so gorgeous.” Kelly’s smile turned worshipful, which was simultaneously reassuring and a little creepy. I’d rather drink a six-pack of silver nitrate than be as low in the pecking order as she was. Good thing I was high enough in the pack that my own obsequious need to please only came out with the alphas—who happened to be my dad and stepmom.

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And only when they were actually around. With her shyness, pudgy cheeks, and strawlike hair, Kelly

was practically the omega in the Morristown pack. But The Show rules said I needed a “handler,” and with her looks, at least she wouldn’t take any attention away from me in the ring. I felt a little guilty that I only hung out with her when the other pack girls were busy—or couldn’t be trusted not to blab. Kelly was loyal, and she’d been keeping my secrets since First Kill back when we were seven. Thinking of that deer we’d taken down on the pack hunting lands out in Dover made my stomach growl; I frowned and squirmed.

When I was on two legs I liked my meat a little less raw. We followed a wave of people onto the escalator out of Penn

Station and up to the street. The smells of spring in the City washed over us: people with questionable hygiene, car exhaust, and something warm and woody roasting—chestnuts? Pretzels?

Not important right now. I smoothed my black skirt and adjusted my hair as I put on

sunglasses. I then rolled my eyes and took them off, since we’d only had to go around the building to get to Madison Square Garden’s entrance. The marquee flashed “Cruftsminster Kennel Club Dog Show.” A little shiver of excitement trilled down my spine—if only the humans knew what we weres did at their fancy dog show each year.

Kelly and I both slowed, nostrils flaring, as we entered the main arena. Canine scents of all types filled the air, a vivid olfactory harmony—males, females, dominants, subordinates, all wrapped up in various chemical scents of disinfectant and dog shampoo. And underneath it all—like a low, pounding beat—was the scent of strange weres.

If I’d been in my fur, my hackles would’ve risen. I raised my chin as I started forward. Kelly fell in step behind

my right shoulder. I targeted a group of a half-dozen guys and girls about our age clustered in the seats, looking bored. At our approach, several sets of amber eyes turned. Jackpot. Eyebrows raised and nostrils flared. One of the guys gave me a smirking smile; another licked his lips.

The sleek blonde girl next to the smirker scowled as she moved to stand between him and me, and I caught the scent of

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jasmine mingled with her natural were-scent. She wrinkled her nose at us as she glared. “Ugh. What is that smell?”

I matched her glare; the bitch wasn’t going to make me cower. “See, Kelly? That’s what I love about coming into the City. Such charm.”

She snarked to her friend. “Ah, the stink of bridge-and-tunnel.”

A dark-haired girl with a pierced nose gave a snort as she moved to stand behind the blonde, mirroring Kelly’s position behind me. “I think it’s all the hairspray. Or maybe toxic waste clinging to them.”

One of the guys laughed, and our two adversaries both stood a little taller with the affirmation.

I dug my fingernails into my palms to keep from phasing claws and ripping the spoiled little pouts from their faces. A quick glance showed that the humans were out-of-earshot, but a werewolf ripping out of her clothes and mauling someone would probably draw a little too much of the wrong kind of attention. Part of the mystique of The Show was having it right under the noses of the unknowing humans. Doing anything to mess that up would bring shame, disqualification… and a call to my dad.

“V, knock it off. You too, Jess.” A third girl—dark-complexioned and willowy—stood with

the languid grace of a dancer. She seemed only a few years older than the rest of us—college-age, probably. Her amber irises flared bright yellow as she gave the other two a glance of hard disapproval. The eyes of the rest of her packmates followed her movements.

The Alpha—or at least the dominant female of this group. My jaw tightened as I met her gaze. Behind me, Kelly gave a

tiny whimper. After a few seconds, she tipped her head and gave a small,

knowing smile. “You here to take part, or just to watch?” I started breathing again. “I’m entering.” Blondie snickered but stopped when the dominant-girl

frowned at her. “Registration’s up in one of the party suites.” She gestured

into the rafters of the enormous room. “The finalists will have their interviews up there afterwards, too. Bane?” A tall, muscled guy with the metro-styled dark hair and the chiseled cheekbones

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of a Norse god jerked his head up at the sound of his name. “Why don’t you show them the way?”

Blondie’s lips pulled back from her teeth a little, and she put a hand on Bane’s arm.

I snorted and raised my eyebrows as I gave her hand a pointed look. “Geez, why don’t you just pee on him already?”

Blondie turned pink and released her grip. Bane reddened, as well, when the rest started to laugh. The alpha girl gave me a little nod of approval, though.

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UnCONventional Available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble,

Book Depository, and many other fine retailers.

Copyright © 2012

Sale of the paperback edition of this book without its cover is unauthorized.

Spencer Hill Press

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance

to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

Contact: Spencer Hill Press, PO Box 247, Contoocook, NH 03229, USAPlease visit our website at www.spencerhillpress.com

First Edition: January 2012.

Kaynak, Kate and Wooldridge, Trisha J. (editors)UnCONventional : a short story anthology– 1st ed.

p. cm.Summary:

Anthology of short stories in which the convention or other social gathering is just a cover for something paranormal.

The authors acknowledge the copyrighted or trademarked status and the copyright and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in these works of fiction: Advil, AFP, Alienware, Android, Arisia, Atari, Austin Powers, Backpacker Magazine, BAFTA, Bedazzler, Capitol Hotel, Chevy, CNN, Corolla, Community, Consumer Reports, Cool Ranch Doritos, Cosmopolitan/Cosmo, Doctor Who, The Democratic Party, Diet Coke, Dodge, Dragon*Con, Dreamworks, Dungeons & Dragons, eBay, Facebook, Food Network Magazine, The Golden Globe Awards, Google, GWAR, Hacky Sack, Hicklebee’s, Headquarters Mall, Hershey, Hilton, Hyatt, IMDB, Indiana Jones, iPad, Jersey Shore, La-Z-Boy, Linux, Lord of the Rings, Lycra, Magic the Gathering, Marriot, Microsoft, MileHiCon, MIT, M&M’s, Mountain Dew, Myst, The Never-Ending Story, Nike, Nikon, Pictionary, Porche, PowerPoint, Ramen Noodles, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Romancing the Stone, Rubik’s Cube, Rutgers, Starbucks, Star Trek, Star Wars, Styrofoam, Swarovski, Technicolor, TerraCon, Tiffany’s, Vaseline, VW, War of the Worlds, Westcon, WhoCon, Wiki/Wikipedia, Wile E. Coyote and Acme Corporation of Looney Toons/Warner Brothers, Wiscon,

World of Warcraft, Ziploc, and Willy’s Mexicana Grill

Cover design by Gary McCluskey

ISBN 978-1-937053-00-0 : (paperback)ISBN 978-1-937053-01-7 : (e-book)

Printed in the United States of America

No Ents were harmed in the making of this book.