Lights Camera Werewolf

  Lights Camera Werewolf

  Zoe Chant

  Copyright © 2021 Zoe Chant

  Lights Camera Werewolf

  by Zoe Chant

  A Shifter Bites Short Romance Novella

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  1. Louis

  2. Stephanie

  3. Louis

  4. Stephanie

  5. Louis

  6. Stephanie

  7. Louis

  8. Stephanie

  Epilogue: Stephanie

  A Note from Zoe Chant

  Also by Zoe Chant

  Preview: Ruffled Feathers

  1. Louis

  “Have you ever thought about acting?”

  Louis opened his beer bottle and frowned at Joshua’s question. “Have I what?”

  It was Joshua’s turn to play host this Friday evening. He’d texted Louis earlier that afternoon to come over as soon as possible. Louis had spent the rest of his shift at the local garage worrying something had happened at the bank where Joshua worked as a security guard.

  His friend was a bear shifter and could take care of himself even without shifting, but you never knew.

  Joshua put his own beer down to grab his phone. “Acting. There are auditions for a horror movie in a few weeks. Perfect for us. They’re filming in some nearby woods.”

  Louis took Joshua’s phone to read the ad. “They want a trained dog for a werewolf movie.” It took him a moment to realize what Joshua was getting at. “No. No way. This is why I had to rush over? I thought something had happened to you!”

  “I didn’t mean to worry you! But what do you think? It’s six hundred bucks for three evenings of work. A Friday and Saturday night, and then another night the following weekend. It’s not like you’re dating anyone, so why not?”

  Louis bristled at that, even though his friend was right. The only times he dated anyone was if Joshua had flirted with some nice woman and needed Louis for the resulting double date.

  We should look for a mate!

  His wolf had been quiet at work since cars were boring, but had perked up when they’d left work.

  It wasn’t the first time his wolf had yearned for a mate, but Louis didn’t share his wolf’s impatience. He was twenty-five. There was plenty of time to meet someone special.

  But he also knew he wouldn’t find that someone here in Bear Creek. He knew all the single women around his age because he’d grown up with them. If sparks were gonna fly, they’d have flown.

  “The least we can do is audition,” Joshua told him. “Just read the whole thing with an open mind.”

  “Fine.” Louis read while Joshua grabbed the pizza menu from his fridge. “They want a trained dog that looks like a wolf. Not is a wolf. They’re going to take one look at me and notice!”

  Joshua shook his head. “They’re a bunch of kids from some nearby college. If they turn us down at the audition, they turn us down. But if they don’t… easiest six hundred bucks we’ve ever made.”

  Louis hummed at that, still reading. Six hundred dollars for three nights of work was a good deal, even split between the two of them. And his washing machine was on its last legs.

  “Look, if it was a werebear movie, I’d be all over it.”

  Joshua would, but Louis and his wolf weren’t convinced. They were nothing like a dog. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  “Why not? You can pretend to be my trainer if they need a well-trained bear!”

  “You’re barely a well-trained human.” That got him a friendly punch in the shoulder.

  “Can we at least sign up to audition?” Joshua asked. “We can split the money fifty-fifty.”

  “I’d be doing all the work!” According to the ad, he’d have to be a convincingly terrifying wolf, and fake-attack human actors safely. “All the acting!”

  “I’d be acting too!” Joshua protested. “I’d be acting like your trainer. You know, taking care of you and giving you commands.”

  He pulled a face at having to obey Joshua. “So you’d go ‘play dead’ and I’d have to play dead?”

  No.

  Louis was inclined to agree with his wolf. The more he thought about it, the worse it sounded.

  Joshua grinned. “Exactly! Although since it’s a werewolf movie, it’ll probably be more like lots of snarling. What’s the big deal?”

  Of course his friend didn’t see any problem with it. Joshua always had ideas like this and it was up to Louis to try and talk sense into him. “The big deal is that it’s an enormous risk. How many people are involved in that movie? Over a dozen? If anyone realizes I’m not behaving like a normal animal, there’ll be trouble. Maybe one of them will notice I’m a wolf. Or they have experience working with actual animal trainers, and they realize you’re not one. It’s not like either of us has any experience with movies.”

  Joshua shook his head. “These people aren’t that experienced either. I looked them up during my lunch break. Like I said, it’s some college kids who are making a horror movie. We can watch some of their shorts. Going by the ad, they’re looking for dog owners who think their dog can pose as a werewolf. I know it’s a risk, but what’s the harm in sending them an email and some pictures of you as a wolf?”

  Louis paused his scrolling. Maybe Joshua had a point. They could always audition and decide then. “We’ve got to watch those shorts, though.” He and Joshua watched terrible-but-entertaining horror and action movies regularly. Sometimes, after a long week, all he wanted was to turn off his brain and have fun, and watching dumb movies with Joshua was great for that.

  Joshua grinned. “You want to do that tonight?”

  “Why the rush?”

  “The deadline for applications is tomorrow.”

  Louis took a sip from his beer and clicked the link to the director’s website. “You checked out his website and you still want in? He made something called Big Red Bad Riding Wolf Strikes Back: Grandma’s Revenge.”

  Joshua laughed, then drank his beer. “We’re watching that first.”

  Louis found a longer description of the upcoming movie. “I’m not sure if I want to be in Dr. Werewolf, a tale of revenge and more revenge.”

  “Sounds like the guy’s got a theme,” Joshua replied. “Who’s getting revenge?”

  Louis leaned against the kitchen counter as he kept reading. “Dr. Kane Canis, our titular Dr. Werewolf.”

  “Subtle name,” Joshua said, laughing. “Surprised they didn’t go with Dr. Lupus.”

  Louis snorted at that. “Dr. Canis got expelled from the college he works at for his nefarious experiments into mind-controlling the local wolf pack!” He laughed before continuing. “When he injects himself with his mind-control serum, he gets bitten by one of the wolves and becomes Dr. Werewolf.”

  “Of course he does.” Joshua nodded along. “I bet it’s a radioactive mind-control serum.”

  “Dr. Werewolf and his pack terrorize the woods by night, threatening four college seniors on the camping party weekend of their lives… or deaths…” He handed the phone back to Joshua. “Why do college kids always go partying in woods that are being terrorized by monsters?”

  “Maybe the monsters just want to party with them, and the college kids never give them a chance?”

  “Poor, misunderstood monsters.”

  “You wanna watch these and order some pizza?” Joshua offered him the menu.

  “Sure.” He was curious now.

  Joshua nodded. “Gotta do some research before auditioning, right?”

  “I haven’t agreed yet.”

  We will not be in some human’s terrible movie! his wolf insisted. We are no one’s trained dog!

  Joshua smirked as he
drank his beer. “Give me time.”

  Louis clinked his bottle against Joshua’s. “I’ll reconsider it if you pay for pizza tonight.”

  ✽✽✽

  Louis woke up the next morning with a throbbing head. Shifters healed fast, but not from hangovers. He groaned when he sat up in bed, and his wolf radiated disapproval. “Yeah, I know. We’ll feel better after a shower and breakfast.”

  He checked his phone before going into the bathroom, and his eyes widened when he saw a message from Joshua with pictures of himself.

  As a wolf.

  Sitting neatly.

  Tilting his head adorably at the camera.

  Which one of these do you like for your head shot?

  Louis started laughing as memories of last night came flooding back. Joshua had kept bringing up the Dr. Werewolf movie as they watched the other shorts. They hadn’t been awful. Sure, they’d been bad, but entertainingly so. The actors weren’t always the most convincing, and the special effects were extremely low-budget, but the enthusiasm radiated off the screen. Joshua had talked him into shifting for the pictures while rambling about head shots. Louis had gone along with it, posing in ways he’d seen dogs do in photos.

  Louis wondered how they had convinced someone’s grandmother to star in Big Red Bad Riding Wolf Strikes Back: Grandma’s Revenge. Maybe it was the director’s own grandmother? But whoever she was, the elderly lady had a ball fighting the guy in a terrible werewolf costume with her knitting needles. The scene where she explained they were silver knitting needles right before stabbing a very fake eye had been Louis’s favorite. The old lady had stabbed that jello eye with gusto.

  He was about to reply that the third one made him look the friendliest, but his fingers hesitated.

  They were taking an enormous risk. What if someone at the auditions realized he was an actual wolf?

  Joshua sent him another message. I know you’ve read my message! I’m gonna send the form in five minutes if you don’t pick. The second one looks best.

  He rang Joshua. “Just because we’re sending in an application doesn’t mean we’ll take the job if it’s offered to us.”

  “When it’s offered to us. You’re obviously going to be the most convincing one there,” Joshua told him.

  “Either way, we can still turn it down, right? If something feels off.”

  “That’s true. We definitely need to meet the director first. But you’re worrying over nothing.”

  “One of us has to,” Louis muttered. “Send the third picture. The second one makes me look ridiculous.” He had his tongue lolling out while raising one paw as if to shake hands. The third one, with the head tilt and all paws on the ground, was much better.

  “This is going to be awesome,” Joshua promised him.

  His wolf sulked inside of him. This is going to be undignified.

  ✽✽✽

  The auditions were in the woods nearby, on the campsite where they’d be filming. From what Joshua had told him, the owners had closed down most of the vacation park for renovations. The film crew had rented a few old cabins while renovations were taking place on the other side of the campsite.

  Louis parked about a hundred yards away from the set, in case anyone saw them come walking up. Now that they were here, his stomach squirmed with nerves.

  Joshua gestured at him with the neon-orange dog harness he’d brought along. “Go on, shift. Our appointment is in ten minutes.”

  No! We will not be on a leash!

  Joshua had explained in the car how important it was that they look convincing, and the dog harness and leash were part of that.

  His wolf didn’t get the appeal of three hundred dollars, and Louis sighed. “I hate everything about this.”

  “You think I’m enjoying this?” Joshua gestured meaningfully with the harness. “Can you shift already? I still need to get this on you.”

  “I should get four hundred just for that.” He nodded at the neon-orange monstrosity. “And I’ll be doing most of the work.”

  “Assuming you get the job.” Joshua grinned.

  The only thing worse than wearing that harness and pretending Joshua was his handler for money, was doing all that and not getting any money. “Watch me.”

  He was going to be the best damn wolf pretending to be a dog pretending to be a wolf ever.

  He double-checked his pockets, handing Joshua some spare change before taking off his shoes. His clothing shifted along with him, but keeping his shoes on while shifting always felt awkward.

  Joshua put his sneakers in the car, dropping the change in them, and turned around expectantly. “I’m waiting.”

  Louis eyed the dog harness and thought of the money. His wolf growled inside of him, but he let the change come and landed on four paws. He stood still as Joshua put the harness on him and adjusted the straps, making sure it was as comfortable as possible.

  “You okay?”

  Louis huffed and set off towards the set. The straps pulled against his chest when he got too far from Joshua, and he growled again.

  We are trapped!

  “Slow down,” Joshua told him, following along. “If you want this job, you need to look relaxed.”

  By the time they reached the set, which was a collection of camper vans, tents and three old log cabins, Louis had himself under control. The different people and smells piqued his wolf’s curiosity.

  Louis stuck by Joshua’s side as they entered the cabin that had a paper sheet with OFFICE on the door. The other two cabins were also labeled, one with CATERING and the other with WARDROBE/MAKEUP.

  A man and a woman sat around a coffee table, sheets of paper scattered across it while they peered at a laptop. The man was the first to notice them. “Oh!” His eyes widened when he saw Louis. “Oh, wow.”

  That made the woman turn around in her chair. Her hair was short and purple, and she grinned when she saw Louis. “Perfect! What kind of dog is he? She?”

  “He’s a wolf hybrid,” Joshua replied, since that was the safest option. “Through one of his grandparents, and the rest is a mix of German Shepherd and Siberian Husky. Might be some Alaskan Malamute in there, we’re not entirely sure.”

  “Well, I’m sure that he looks the part.” The man walked over to shake Joshua’s hand. “I’m Paul Moore, the director of Dr. Werewolf.”

  Louis, figuring he should act like a dog, sniffed at Paul’s trousers and picked up various forest scents.

  “I’m Kat, the producer.” The woman stood up to shake Joshua’s hand as well, keeping some distance from Louis. “You’re Joshua and Louis, right? Our one o’clock?” She smiled down at Louis. “Is it okay to pet him? He’s trained, right?”

  Louis sat neatly next to Joshua. He wasn’t a fan of being petted, but if it helped his chances…

  Joshua nodded. “Sure.”

  Kat moved closer to offer him her hand. “What a gorgeous boy you are!”

  Louis sniffed her hand, wondering how long dogs usually sniffed hands, then sat back. His wolf settled inside him, still grumpy over the harness.

  Kat tentatively stroked his head a few times. “He looks perfect.”

  “He does.” Paul scribbled something down on a notepad. “But can he act the part?”

  “Of course!” Joshua told them. “What do you want us to do?”

  “Well, normally we’d go over previous acting experience, but you mentioned in your form that you don’t have any. What made you decide to try out?” Paul asked.

  “I saw the ad and that you guys were filming nearby. We’re from Bear Creek,” Joshua explained. “I figured we may as well try.”

  “Ah, right. We’ve only been to Elmworth so far for shopping,” Kat told them. “Any good hardware stores in Bear Creek?”

  Joshua frowned. “Why?”

  “As producer, my job is to make all his weird ideas reality.” She nodded at Paul. “I like knowing what stores are in the area in case we need supplies.”

  “We’ve pretty much got the same sto
res as Elmworth,” Joshua hedged.

  Louis couldn’t blame him. Elmworth was a small town about half an hour from Bear Creek, and the only difference between the two was that Bear Creek was a shifter town that didn’t want to draw attention to itself.

  “I figured.” Kat turned to Paul. “You want to run through the audition scenes?”

  “Yeah, and we can try some basic commands,” Paul replied. “You know, come here. Stay. Sit. Drop it.”

  “As you can tell, he knows sit,” Joshua said, and Paul laughed as he headed outside.

  “We can go for a brief walk.” Kat headed with them to the other side of the clearing. “We’ll see how obedient he is before running some scenes.”

  Paul looked over his shoulder as they walked. “He’ll pretend-attack the actors, so I want to make sure he can do that safely for everyone involved. Oh, how is he with makeup?”

  “Makeup? He’s a—he’s a dog. Dogs don’t wear makeup.”

  Louis was glad Joshua asked, because he was also puzzled.

  “Oh, it’s fake blood. Nothing to worry about, Stephanie has different kinds. We double checked which kinds of food coloring aren’t poisonous to dogs,” Paul told them.

  So far, things were going well. He walked next to Joshua, and as long as Louis stuck close, he could pretend he was free.

  His wolf had stopped grumbling over harnesses and leashes and being petted, focusing instead on the various scents outside.

  Among the flowers and trees, one tantalizing scent stood out, and Louis was desperate to investigate. Because whatever it was, it was mouth-wateringly delicious. He sniffed the ground as they walked, pleased when the sweet scent drifted closer.

  “Ah, Stephanie, you’re back!”

  Louis looked up at the newcomer, a young woman with her strawberry blonde hair tied back, a few strands framing her pretty face. She carried a cardboard box from a bakery, but one look at her and Louis knew that wasn’t why she smelled so good.

  Our mate! A rush of joy shot through him, and Louis ran forward without thinking.

  He yelped when the harness and Joshua’s firm tug on the leash pulled him back.