Page 4 of Bewitched By the Werewolf
“Next time, please tell me even if you already informed Hunter.”
I stand and place cash on the counter for my meal and a tip for Becca. I don’t even need the check to know the amount; I purchase it enough I know how much it costs.
“Of course. I’ll be better next time.”
Now I feel bad for snapping and growling at her. Not that she’s afraid of me, but still. It was rude and uncalled for.
“Sorry about snapping at you Dottie.”
The tiny, but strong female, waves me off and gives me a reassuring grin. “It’s okay big guy, it was my fault for assuming. You’ll get every piece of news from now on.”
Fuck. Well, that’s my own fault. Now she’s going to tell me even the shit she thinks is mundane and usually omits from her rants. I may have to avoid Dottie for a few days until she forgets about this conversation. I’m sure there’ll be enough gossip to fill her attention. I hope.
I give her a nod and a pinched expression, knowing I did this to myself. But right now, I have an elf to seek out and have a chat with.
Chapter 2: Ryder
I could kill something right about now. Although my impromptu meeting with the elf Dottie told me about, Roman, was uneventful, his presence alone and what it signifies has me fuming. It was clear Roman works for Victor and is in town to try and make a mess of things to force Hunter to sell. Even though Hunter and I know nothing he does will work, that doesn’t mean his presence in town won’t be a disturbance. Especially with the blood moon approaching. Having a snooping elf around with dozens of shifters dealing with the force of the blood moon isn’t ideal.
For most full moons, shifters are not compelled to shift at all. If one wants to form a mate bond or have some fun, let off some steam, sure it’s a perfect night for it. But there’s nothing like the force of the blood moon, a full lunar eclipse that turns the color of the moon, well, blood red. There’s something about it that gets under our skin and in our blood making us desire to shift and unable to deny it. We can still control it but only to the extent that we’re not mindless beasts shifting in the middle of town and terrorizing humans like they portray in their movies.
That doesn’t mean we haven’t had our own mishaps, like the last blood moon. It compels us to shift but it does more, specifically with our hormones. We like to fuck. It’s as plain asthat. We shift, we chase, we fuck. To a human with no knowledge of our world or kind it can appear scary, when really, we’re just horny beasts.
Mixing that with elves is not a good combination. It usually ends bloody. The sooner we get Roman out of town the better. Unfortunately, we can’t force him without cause, so I’m left waiting for him to do something before carrying him by the throat between my fangs out of town.
I could use that run more than I anticipated.
The sheriff’s office—my office—is fairly quiet when I return. Edith, our receptionist, sits at the front desk tapping away on her keyboard. For a female of nearly two hundred she doesn’t look a day over fifty. As a mere she has the ability to shift between forms like shifters do, except she only has two forms; human and mere. As such even to my eye she appears human with lightly greying brown hair and bright green eyes set behind colorful polka-dotted glasses, one’s that I know aren’t prescription and she only wears because she likes the accessory to make her appear more human. I’m pretty sure she has a hundred pairs at home since they change daily.
“Everything good in town?” she asks, not realizing the can of worms she’s about to open.
“Sort of,” I answer vaguely.
“What do you mean,sort of?” my deputy, Logan chimes in from his desk behind Edith’s.
Logan is a human but knows all about non-humans. He was born in Snowberry to a family related by marriage to non-humans. He’s known all about us since he was a kid. Having a human as deputy helps especially with the humans who have no clue what’s really going on. He was given the ability to see our true selves, even with our glamours, when he was a teenager. So thankfully, I don’t have to worry about him getting confused.
Both watch me with concern and questions but wait for me to elaborate. They both know how little I like to talk and have learned to wait for me to say what I need to.
“There’s an elf in town, and I don’t think he’s on vacation.”
“One of Victor’s?” Logan asks standing from his desk and circling to meet me.
“Undoubtedly. He won’t admit it of course.”
“Of course he wouldn’t, he’s an elf. They’re all liars and swindlers,” Edith interjects.
There aren’t many non-humans who care for elves. The whole lot of them are criminals, crooks, liars and cheats. They may be well dressed and have large bank accounts but that doesn’t detract from their choice in profession and slimy personalities. Victor just so happens to be one of the slimiest. A criminal mob boss within the non-human and human world, specializing in magic infused drugs. I’ve heard stories of his cruelty towards sprites and fairies to exploit their magic and use it to make his drugs. Hunter and I have made sure to keep any of those drugs, and drugs in general, out of Snowberry. This town is quiet and special. If drugs were to make their way in they would ruin everything the previous generation, and many still around, worked for and built so we could have a safe space to live.
I grunt in acknowledgment at Edith, my face beginning to hurt from all the scowling I’ve done in the last hour.
“We’re going to need to keep an eye on him. He’s staying at the motel, room three. Probably driving the obvious black SUV parked out front.”
“Do I need to tail him?”
“Not yet, just keep an eye out for him. If we need to, call in an extra deputy, until either he leaves or after the blood moon that’s fine.”
Logan nods and pulls his phone from his back pocket, probably checking with our alternates to see who’s available.He’s not as large as a shifter male in human form but for a human he’s tall with close cropped brown hair, blue eyes and physically fit. It’s necessary when working in a town filled with shifters who can out run, out weigh, out muscle and out do him in basically every way. He may not be able to take down a shifter in their beast form but he sure as hell can take them down in human form, I’ve seen him do it. But there are still things he can’t do on his own. There are things I can’t do on my own and having back up never hurts. We may be protective by nature but we’re not arrogant.
