Page 31 of Werewolves Don't Howl
I studied the floral art that depicted a toucan made out of black and white roses surrounded by green moss. “Oh, yes. That will look magnificent in the pack hall. Maybe you can gift it to the Alta. That’ll teach him to mess with your weekend.”
“There you are,” Senator Silverton said, coming up with his warm politician smile. He held a hand out to shake Max’s and somehow got my arm to switch people in the exchange. He would be an excellent pickpocket. Mossy could give him lessons. Or he could give her lessons.
“And so are you. Now everything is in its proper order,” I said, smiling up at him.
The rest of the banquet was spent in the senator’s care. He manipulated every conversation to make certain that I got everything I needed, and no one got the chance to talk about my most recent controversial article.
We left directly after Silverton purchased a living scene of the woods in the moonlight, foliage specimens buried in the soil behind the frame so it would actually last longer than the month Max’s toucan would. They’d deliver it to the house shortly.
“Tell me about Loren,” he said once we were in the car, driving out the gates of the place.
I looked up from my laptop and peered at him through my glasses. I was going to write up some notes on the party while they were still fresh. “You overheard me talking to Max? You followed me?”
He didn’t look at me, just kept his focus on the road. “I’m your protector. Tell me about it.”
I did, starting at the beginning, and ending with the dumpster being in the wrong place.
“That’s strange, isn’t it? Why would someone move a dumpster? It must have been intentional with how precisely it was shifted.”
“We’ll check it now.” He made a U-turn at the next intersection and headed towards downtown instead of continuing to the outskirts of the city where his own house was located.
I liked how decisive he was, how he didn’t put off doing something he could do right that second. “What really bothers me is the kitten. If she was taken against her will, why wasn’t the cat? Was it left there by the person who took her? And the Lynx bit is weird, too.”
“Mm.”
I looked at him, because there was something off about his tone. “Have you heard of it?”
“I’ll look into it.”
“You’ll look into it? You’re not an investigative reporter.”
“But I am your protector. Be a good little female and stay safe.” He winked at me before I could get really worked up at the blatant disregard for my feminine strength, then I remembered that he’d seen my beast up close and personal.
I blew through my mouth and shook my head at him. “You almost got snacked.”
“Your beast wants to make me a pet. Not even beasts eat their pets.”
I pushed his arm while I fought the heat that wanted to rise in my cheeks. “I don’t think you took my warning with the seriousness I gave it.”
“If I’m your pet, would that make you my owner? In that case, you should probably buy me a pretty collar with a tag. You could be the master to my mister.”
I huffed and felt my cheeks heat up. “You’re definitely not taking this seriously.”
“But pretty elves should wear pretty collars. None of those glaring neon things.”
I wrinkled my nose at him. “Now I know what to get you for your birthday. It’ll be the most glaringly neon thing you’ve ever seen. Your eyes will burn out immediately.”
He flashed me an extremely attractive smile that made my heart twist uncomfortably. “I look forward to it. It’ll be worth the successive centuries of blindness, I’m sure, just to please my master, or would it be mistress?”
Why did that make me squirm so much? Was he being suggestive? He was, but why? He was an elf. They were so slow to approach any kind of intimacy. He was teasing me. He really didn’t take my wolf seriously.
I turned towards my window and opened my laptop. I had notes to take if he was going to be ridiculous.
In the alley, the garbage can was in its original position. Someone had moved it back, precisely two inches from where it had been.
I crouched there next to the side of the garbage can and stared at it. “Maybe it’s messing with us. Like, ‘let’s move this and then move it back just so they don’t notice that the sky is on fire.”
Silverton walked towards the wall, studying it before he brought up a hand and blew magic sparkles onto it. They hit the wall in a spray pattern that glowed like black-light, showing a line of dirt with various substances except for the area the garbage can had been covering, which was immaculate.
