Page 18 of Real Fake Hauntings

“Oh, for the love of God,” Hutton muttered.

The woman’s mouth twitched with amusement. “Hello. I’m Madeleine.”

“Like the cakes?”

Her smile showed a lot of teeth. “And just as sweet.”

I laughed at that. We were going to get along just fine. “Feel free to come to the Tea Cauldron any time. First drink on me.”

“Stop trying to drag my people into your shop,” Hutton said.

“I can’t help it if they love my teas and potions.” I made a what can you do gesture.

More and more shifters had become regular patrons of the shop. The cozy interior aligned with their sensitivities, even with the Wicca and occultism parts.

“I’ll make sure to drop by,” Madeleine said. “Thank you, Hope. I like your getup, by the way. Great branding.” Her face registered sudden recognition. “Oh, you’re Cavalier’s mate.”

“Cavalier’s mate?” That was news to me. Mate and girlfriend were two different things in the shifter world. My attention snapped to Hutton, but he didn’t appear shocked or interested or anything other than impatient to get on with his day.

“Yeah. You’re kind of famous in the pack. We heard that—” She sent Hutton a nervous glance. “Uh, never mind.”

Hutton rolled his eyes. “They heard you were at the challenge.”

A memory that still haunted my nightmares. I shivered at the reminder. “I was there.”

Madeleine brightened with interest but hesitated. She wasn’t about to ask questions in front of her alpha.

I should’ve been happy she would likely visit to talk about it later, but my brain was still trying to wrap itself around the mate thing.

“What do you mean Cavalier’s mate?” I asked.

Hutton grunted. “The man hasn’t dated in years. You arrive and two weeks later you two are involved? C’mon.”

“But…” I glanced at Madeleine, but she only looked curious. “But mates only happen between shifters, don’t they?”

Hutton snorted.

“What does that mean?” I demanded when he didn’t elaborate. As far as I knew, mating for shifters was a serious thing. Maybe they used the term interchangeably with dating in Olmeda? Yes, I assured myself. That must be it, because as much as I loved spending time with Ian, mating was on a whole other galaxy. The galaxy of forever and ever and no matter how my heart jumped at the notion, that was scary far away.

I swallowed the knot that had lodged in my throat and pulled my brain back to the things that mattered. Forcing a sly note in my voice, I asked, “So you’ve kept tabs on Ian, huh? Like a good brother would.”

Hutton bared his teeth. Very white, very impressive, with a bit of green sticking to one of his canines. “He’s a bounty hunter. I need to take care of the safety of my pack.”

“Sure, sure.” I turned toward the pentagram to avoid the full blast of his glare. “Do you know if any witches have arrived in town lately?”

“No. Madeleine?”

“None that I know of,” she answered.

“Oh, really?” I asked, hands on my hips. “Then who put all these extra wards for Halloween?”

“They’ve been here forever,” Madeleine said. “We just need to recharge them. We can do that ourselves.”

“Hmph.” I wasn’t completely convinced.

Hutton smirked. “Can we move on now?”

“Yes.” I took a few more photos of the pentagram. “I’ll come cleanse the wall after you clean it up.”

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