Page 31 of Bewitched By the Werewolf
The following day my shoulder still smarts but a little less than yesterday, which is a good thing. If I need to contain any out of control or stray shifters on the eclipse, I would prefer to be at full strength when I do so. As long as I steer clear of Tess’s crosshairs, I should be fine. Staying out of her sights might be easy enough, but staying away from the female is more difficult. Not only because I have to keep an eye on her at all times to ensure she doesn’t find any evidence of non-humans, but because I can’t seem to keep away.
My obsession with her is becoming bothersome. I can’t focus on anything without thoughts of her invading and taking over completely. Everything I read or situation I find myself in, I manage to redirect to thoughts of her. Like eating breakfast atMorning Star, I end up wondering what her favorite breakfast food is and if she likes to be served it in bed. How she likes her coffee, and if I know how to make that coffee. My skills witha cappuccino machine are nonexistent. The only coffee I know how to make is regular, brewed in a pot.
It’s intrusive thoughts like this that continuously increase my frustration with her continued presence in town. If she would leave on her own, it would make things simpler. Put me out of my misery. Though, I’m not sure how long it would take for my desire for her to wane. It’s…disturbingly intense ever since I caught her true scent. It’s also maddeningly confusing.
This level of attraction and desire is what I would expect to feel in a mate pull, but once again I have to remind myself she is a human. Humans cannot be mates to shifters. It’s impossible. We can mate with half-breeds, but a mate bond has never been formed, or been known to form, with a person who wasn’t at least half non-human.
Not for the first time, I consider giving into my need and sate my desires with Tess. I may not have relationships with humans but that doesn’t mean I can’t have sex with one. Maybe then I’ll realize she’s just another human and I’m just abnormally horny because of the blood moon.
I sit in my brother’s office for our weekly meeting and all I can think about is Tess loose in town doing who knows what, speaking to god knows who, poking around searching for evidence of werewolves. That, and I want to inhale her scent again. That crisp spicy apple scent that elicits inappropriate thoughts.
Rolling my still aching shoulder, my knee bounces uncharacteristically as I sit impatiently waiting for Hunter to get this meeting over with so I can go find Tess.
This is ridiculous.I’mridiculous.
“Everything okay, Ryder?” Hunter asks, drawing my attention away from thoughts of Tess.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
“You seem on edge more than usual. Something wrong with your shoulder?”
I roll my injured shoulder again trying to act like it doesn’t hurt every time I lift my arm above my head. “Hurt it on a run over the weekend. It’s nothing. Already healing. Don’t worry about it,” I try to reassure my brother.
Hunter eyes me suspiciously, no doubt scenting my agitation. “Seems like more than that is bothering you. Anything I should know about? Maybe that girl you mentioned before? The one snooping about.”
Damn it. I was hoping he was too preoccupied with Lottie and Vincent to worry about Tess. I should have known he’d eventually ask about her. He’s a good alpha and brother, concerned with the safety of his pack and family. I growl in frustration thinking of Tess and everything about her that’s bothering me.
“I’m handling her. She’s more of a nuisance than I thought she would be, but nothing I can’t manage.”
“Who is she anyway? Why is she here? No one else seems to be talking about her, which is concerning with how gossip works in this town.”
He must be really distracted by Lottie to not have noticed her skulking around town. Lottie herself, however, seems to be creating quite a splash in town. Anyone would who was spending so much time with the alpha mayor. Hunter having a love interest is quite diverting for the local gossip mill. Either that or Tess has managed to somehow hide in plain sight. She walks through town, enters the stores, and eats at the restaurants, but even with her striking red hair and nosy questions she seems to not stir the pot enough to draw attention. I hadn’t realized how stealthily she was operating since she fills up my every waking thought.
Hunter continues to watch me, waiting for answers to his questions. I guess it is about time he knows what I’ve found out about Tess and her presence here.
“She’s an online blogger,” I pause, knowing he isn’t going to like the rest of the sentence. “A conspiracy theorist of sorts. The kind that believes in the paranormal and alien.”
Okay so maybe I fudged that last bit a little. He doesn’t need to know she’s here specifically for shifters. I can handle her just fine. If she gets out of hand, then I’ll bring him in on it. But situations like this are exactly what a beta is supposed to take care of, and I am more than capable of handling one smart mouthed redhead.
“And she’s here because?”
Well, isn’t he in a curious mood today?I think of an answer that’ll appease his curiosity but not instigate his need to get further involved. I can’t tell him some unknown source gave her coordinates that led her directly to Snowberry. I have Ginger working on finding the messages sent to Tess and tracking where they came from to see if we can figure out who sent her here. Tess in town is a small annoyance, someone out there sending gps coordinates to people and directing them here is a much larger problem. One that can wait until Ginger finds more information and the eclipse is over.
I decide to use Tess’s own lie about being in town. She told everyone she was here for the eclipse, so I’ll use that. For now.
“Heard rumors and theories about the eclipse. Nothing concrete. I think Ginger’s taken down her site a time or two.”
Letting him know Ginger is already aware of Tess’s website should be of some consolation. He knows I’m taking care of it and making sure it doesn’t happen again. He has plenty to focus on right now without worrying about something that is currently completely out of his or my control. Once I know who sent her here then we’ll form a plan to put a stop to it permanently.
“Well fairy dust her and get her out of town. We don’t need a nosy human with theories about the paranormal snooping around right now. With the eclipse and the elves, we have more than enough to deal with.”
A thought I also had in the beginning, until I realized how far down the rabbit hole she was. She’ll just keep coming back over and over searching for answers. Fairy dust would only erase the last week nothing before, and with an obsession and determination like hers she wouldn’t be gone long. Especially if someone is feeding her information. No, fairy dusting her memory away won’t work on her like it would a lost traveler.
I clear my throat and divert my gaze hoping he doesn’t scent or see my reluctance to do as he commands. Normally I would without question, but in this situation, he doesn’t know all the facts, and he doesn’t need to. Not yet. For now, he’ll just have to trust me.
“There are circumstances that may prevent the use of fairy dust in this situation.”
“Are you going to elaborate?”
