Page 26 of Charmed and Dangerous

He’d have to apologize to Saul Grimsbane, the alpha-heir to the bear clan in town. He had clearly staked his claim and Wolfe moved in on his mate anyway, something he would have never done unless he was under the affect of magic. And then, after the festival, he’d done something even more contemptible.

How could she ever forgive him?

The moon sang in his blood, calling to him, pleading with him to shift to his wolf half and run wild through the forests of Grimm Mawr but he knew he must resist. If he shifted, his wolf would only go in the direction of his mate and would not be dissuaded. She had to have a choice. She had to be given options.

But if she came to him…

A banging on his front door interrupted the darkness that surrounded him. “Wolfe? I know you’re in there. Despite the full moon, you haven’t left on your run with your pack. Open the door. We need to talk.”

No! She couldn’t have followed him. He was trying to protect her. Didn’t she understand?

“Go away, Sabine. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

The pounding only continued, reverberating with the throbbing in his skull. He cradled his head in his hands and hunched over on his couch, ignoring her.

“I’m not going away, Wolfe. Open the door.”

Damn it. She asked for it.

He stalked to the door and flung it open. Sabine stumbled back, her fist in the air to pound on the door again. He grabbed her arm and yanked her against his body until she was plastered fully against him.

“You never know when to stop pushing, do you, Sabine? I’m not a lapdog. I’m a wolf. And we bite.”

“Maybe I like your bite.”

Fuck him.

The Dupree sistersgathered in their basement, ignoring the wreckage of their lab from all of their experimentation. Tempestwas furiously pacing back and forth, while Fleur was filing her nails.

“I don’t see what the big deal was. So Phoebe told Maeve what was in the potion. I mean, we probably shouldn’t have given it to her before the last test anyway,” Fleur said, sounding utterly bored by their oldest sister’s ranting.

Tempest whirled around and glared at Fleur. “That’s not the point. We agreed to keep the grimoire secret. Telling Maeve could expose the existence of the grimoire, which was supposed to have been destroyed ages ago, and that we’re using it. We could get into trouble with the coven.”

“Maybe we should have thought about that before we used it,” Phoebe pointed out.

Tempest turned her ire towards her. “And lose to the Rathbones? I don’t think so.”

Phoebe shrugged. “We lost anyway and got censured by the town. We could lose our license, Tempest. This is a big deal.”

Tempest waved her hand, seemingly unconcerned with the threat. “I’ll handle the mayor. Don’t worry about him. Just remember, let’s keep the potion and grimoire under wraps.”

Phoebe sighed. “We have a bigger problem, Tempest. Maeve and Saul weren’t the only ones affected by our potion. Everyone who tested it at the festival was affected. We have a lot of people in town acting under the influence of our love potion, and regular antidotes don’t work. I had to tell Maeve. Maybe she could find an antidote that could work.”

Tempest got a cagey look on her face. “No one knows the potion is affecting people. Not yet. We keep our mouths shut and work on finding it ourselves. Then we solve the problem. Quietly. Got it, sisters? We have to do this to save our reputation and our shoppe. We must find the antidote.”

Epilogue Two

Elwyn Norwood groaned and rested his balding head in his hands. This was a disaster. The BrewFest had always been Whynot’s biggest attraction for witches and warlocks across the magical community far and wide. They came from all over to enter and showcase their talents and win the prize. Not just money, but the prestige of being the best at potion making. Now, it appeared there was sabotage or dastardly deeds at work.

Did one of the contestants screw up their own potion? Did they sabotage another contestant to ensure a win? Was it sheer bad luck? No one knew but their fail-safe measures had actually failed and now, their testers were infected with potions when they should have been able to drink the antidote and be returned to normal when the festival was over. Love potions. Luck potions. Laughing potions. Crying potions. Plants were growing at an alarming rate in the town center from the harvest potion. People were being extra polite everywhere, creating more confusion about whether to greet someone or when it was polite to leave.

The town was in utter chaos. And it all started with the Dupree sisters and their damned love potion. It seems to have worked out okay for Maeve Whisper and Saul Grimsbane,though it could have gone wrong. No one needed a pissed off grizzly bear in Grimm Mawr.

“Are you upset, Uncle Elwyn?”

And then there was his idiot nephew, with his love of stating the obvious. Dilwyn Norwood, his sister’s dumbass son who barely passed the magical academy. She had begged him to hire her son when he got fired from every other job. After all, why not use the perks of being mayor for a little nepotism here and there? He hired a nymph as his secretary and not because of her typing skills, which were atrocious. But she offered some value while Dilwyn was beyond utterly useless.

“What gave it away, Dilwyn?”

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