Page 10 of Werewolves Don't Howl
The two studied me, waiting, listening with an intensity I wasn’t used to people giving me. I listened. Others talked. He already knew, but it needed to be made as clear as possible. “Can I have both of you promise to keep what I say confidential?” I asked, hesitantly.
Libby nodded quickly. “I swear it. Cross never tells anyone anything. Most elves are like that, closed-mouthed, but he’s more. Getting things out of him is like prying a dead dwarf’s hands off his rubies.”
That was an image. I spoke quickly, shooting a sidelong glance at the man who already knew. “I’m a turned werewolf, but I don’t want that to become public knowledge. As a turned wolf, legally, I’m supposed to have a mate and protector, but Max has let me do my thing for years. I’m so grateful to him, but now, with Ridley stirring things up, he’s given me an ultimatum.”
“Marry someone or be exposed?” Senator Silverton asked, eyes narrowing in disapproval.
“How barbaric,” Libby said with a curled lip.
I shrugged. “It makes sense.” I glanced over at Silverton, not having to look hard to see his judgment of these archaic werewolf laws. Maybe also the wolves. He still didn’t shift his position away from me or look at me as if I was a pariah. Instead, he opened the book on the top of the stack he carried.
“I am such a fool to bring an exciting case to you before you’ve done my taxes,” Libby said, sighing heavily.
He didn’t look up from the book, but he did move to the nearest table with a chair, and sat down, putting the books on the table, and taking the individual book into his lap, dark hair bent over the thing.
Libby grabbed my arm. “And with that, he’s off. He’ll solve the problem if it can be solved by loopholes, and if it can’t be solved by that, he’ll come up with something else, less legal, but just as effective.”
“I heard that,” he said without looking up.
“Good. I’m going to take Delphi to tour the pool house. Okay?”
“Mm. Manny will tell you when dinner’s ready.”
“Does he cook?”
“Mm.” He turned a page and grabbed a long notebook from the side table, and wrote a few things down, completely absorbed with his thoughts and the legal tangle at hand. He really was like my dad when he found a tantalizing subject to research. It made me want to plonk on his lap and distract him with something. How would the protector handle rambunctious gnomish children swarming all over him? The image that filled my head of Senator Silverton in a domestic setting with our children was a shock. I wasn’t daydreaming about playing house with the man. He was involved in things I had no interest in. I was a fluff reporter while he needed to change the world.
“Shall we?” Libby’s warm smile was infectious.
I let her lead me out of the library while my stomach twisted uneasily. I’d told them I was a werewolf, and nothing horrible had happened. “You really won’t tell anyone?” I asked.
“That you’re a werewolf? I give my word as a librarian. Also, I wouldn’t talk about someone else, anyway. Except for Manny. He’s Cross’s bodyguard, and he’s an ogre, so I’d be careful about eating whatever he cooked. Then again, as a wolf, you’re supposed to have an iron stomach. Nothing about you looks very tough.”
“Senator Silverton hired an ogre?” That was surprising. Maybe he really was comfortable around the infernal, or he liked to live dangerously. Inviting a werewolf to live with you was very dangerous. What if I never left? I could eat him out of house and home. And get possessive of him and start stalking him and his delicious violet eyes. I really needed to watch that. Fantasizing about what his children would be like was completely off the table.
“Absolutely. You know that they’re the best bodyguards, and Cross always has the best. Like his personal assistant, Henrick. He’s a goblin, and terrifyingly competent. He’s the spin doctor of Cross’s life. Henrick keeps Cross’s image immaculate. He’ll probably use you for something, maybe make people think you’re dating if it helps Cross’s campaign. If not, he’ll keep you out of it. You should be aware that it’s a danger. Cross is basically a pure perfectionist who would never take advantage of you, but Henrick has no such scruples. That’s why Cross hired him. He’s always aware of his own weaknesses and makes sure that others cover for him.”
“Oh.” That was a lot of information. “Is Senator Silverton aware that’s a danger? People will think there’s something romantic going on if it comes out that I’m staying here. Particularly if he doesn’t admit that I’m just a werewolf he took mercy on.”
“He’s aware. And he won’t ever let anyone think anything you don’t want them to think, even if he has to make you his distant cousin. Or Henrick, I guess, if the idea of dating him bothers you. I noticed that you didn’t immediately swoon when you saw him, almost like you don’t adore him.”
I cheered up. Really? I gave the impression of not automatically thinking he was the most beautiful thing in the world? How wonderful! “It’s not that I dislike him, but when we met, he wasn’t very polite.”
She turned her head, giving me her full attention, which was extremely heavy and uncomfortable. “Cross wasn’t polite to a pretty member of the media? That’s interesting. Have you met before?”
“I did see him at the library on the day you…But I didn’t speak to him.”
“That’s unlike him. Maybe he was coming down with the flu or something.”
“I think he was trying to get me upset so he could see how I reacted. Maybe he’s looking to hire a speech writer.”
“Maybe.” She threw open the French double doors at the end of the hall dramatically. “Behold, the pool house.”
The small building was on the other side of the enormous pool, which was a sinuous thing, the edges covered in plants that made it look like a natural haven. The pool house itself was small, cozy, and painted a cheerful pink that didn’t quite go with the elegance of everything else.
“Come on.” She skipped outside, onto the large deck, then headed to the right, where the pool narrowed and an elegant bridge spanned the water. It didn’t take long to get to the building, and when I did, I realized it wasn’t as tiny as it looked, but it was just as bright.
“It’s pink,” I said, putting my hand against the stucco.
