Page 60 of Bewitched By the Werewolf
“So, this is what I stole from you before that you were so mad about? Fairy dust?”
“Yup. Which is why I had to get it back from you. If you were to accidentally use it without knowing, it could have been bad.”
“A human can use fairy dust?”
He nods and pulls the bag back, tying it shut. “Yes. Anyone can use it. That’s why it’s so important and regulated. Fairies don’t just give their dust to anyone.”
“But you’re special? Because you’re the sheriff?” I ask.
“And because I’m the beta to Hunter who is the alpha. There’s always an alpha shifter in towns and cities with large populations, or even small ones, of non-humans. We’re considered the protectors of the non-human community. The guards and first line of defense. We’re usually strong, protective by nature, and like to remain in packs. Our ability to shift and blend makes us well suited for it and we use our true beast form to defend from other threats.”
Makes sense I guess, in a world filled with mythical creatures.
“This is a large part of why I can’t let you tell anyone about Snowberry. It’s not just shifters here. Nearly ninety percent of the population are non-humans. They have families, jobs, lives. You wouldn’t just be exposing a few strays but entire families. If Snowberry were revealed to the world, what do you think would happen?”
We’re both quiet for a moment as he lets his words sink in. If people—humans—were to discover their existence, it wouldn’t be pretty. There would be scientists, journalists, military and who knows who else. They would become experiments, treated like animals. I picture the kids I saw playing at the lake the other day being chained and caged, needles sticking into them from all angles. Their parents and family stolen away from them and captured or worse.
The endless negative possibilities stack up in my mind and my face falls knowing he’s right. This isn’t just about a few infected and mutated werewolves. If it were, it would be different, but it’s not.
“Exactly,” Ryder says sadly, understanding all the internal distress currently playing out in my head. “Entire families could be displaced or ruined or worse. I could have used the dust to make you forget about me, about shifters, possibly even about Snowberry, but I didn’t. I knew someone like you would keep searching until you revealed the truth. I decided you needed to know the truth, but the real truth. From one of us and not from some human who doesn’t know what the hell they’re talking about.”
I stare down at my nearly empty coffee mug in my hands and run my finger along the rim, wiping away a drop of cold coffee.
“If you’re still concerned about shifters being violent monsters, let me take you to the blood moon celebration my brother is holding at his house and prove to you they aren’t.”
My head jerks up and I watch Ryder. His face set in a soft determination, pleading with me to agree and believe him. At this point I would be the monster if I were to reveal Snowberry and its residents, if what he says is true. But there’s still a tiny part of me that needs to see it. To see them with my own eyes and not just trust in what Ryder tells me. Plus, I still really want to see him shift.
He said his beast is aggressive and wild, but I don’t believe it. How can someone as controlled and collected as Ryder, not be able to control himself in his true form? He just lacks confidence in himself. After one unforeseen event that ended in an innocent bystander’s injury, he blames himself and lost trust in his instincts. I think he needs to gain it back. Just as I judged all shifters on that one experience, he judged himself just as harshly. In the end we were both wrong.
“Okay,” I agree. “I would love to come to the blood moon with you.”
Chapter 33: Ryder
Although Tess wants to go and meet as many non-humans as possible immediately, I keep her in my cabin all of Sunday, talking and explaining things as much as I can without completely revealing all of our secrets. I know she has easily accepted what I’ve told her, but I need to ensure she understands what she’s getting herself into, while also protecting everyone in town. Just in case things go badly with Tess, I still have to ensure Snowberry’s safety and secrecy. I may believe her to be my mate but until she accepts it and all of this, I have to be safe.
We also have to decide what we’re going to tell others about her. Obviously, not that she’s a werewolf hunter sent here by a mysterious online source seeking to find proof of our existence and expose us to the entire world. Especially not now that she doesn’t seem to want to do that anymore. At least I hope she doesn’t want to. We also can’t continue on with her lie about knowing Georgia’s nephew Sam, and him telling her about Snowberry. Instead, we settle on the story that she overheard someone talking about Snowberry and its remote location. She had no idea non-humans were here and did just come to get away and view the blood moon. We can explain away her overhearing people talk about Snowberry as shifters who hadbeen here before to celebrate the eclipse. So there’s no concern regarding humans knowing about us or others showing up.
It’s a skill I’ve had to learn over the years, lying convincingly, even to other non-humans. The less they know the better. If everyone knew every single time someone blogged or posted about us online and how many posts, threads or videos Ginger had to remove, they would all freak out constantly. The only way for them to live a somewhat normal happy life is if they don’t know every minutia of detail that goes on to keep non-humans safe and hidden. As such that sometimes requires lying to them, for their own good. This is one of those times. It’s not only for their good but for Tess’s.
We spend Sunday at my cabin and when we’re done talking, we learn more about each other on a physical level. I’d be lying if I said keeping her all to myself for the day wasn’t mostly a selfish act. But now that it’s a new day she’s persistent I show her some of what I’ve told her about.
First, we go to her trailer so she can change. I had no problem with her wearing my clothes, but she was not having it.
“I do not need to be doing the two-day walk of shame all around town wearing your shirt and looking obviously well fucked,” she argues, sitting with her arms crossed over her chest in my passenger seat as I drive us to her trailer.
“What about it shameful? You should be proud of how well fucked you are,” I counter.
“Oh, I’m proud of it alright, but not everyone needs to know about our sexual activities just from looking at me.”
I bite my cheek and try not to laugh. “They’re going to know about them anyway.”
“How? Are you going to go around telling everyone?”
I would absolutely go around telling everyone, only so they knew she is mine. But I won’t have to.
“No, but they’ll all be able to smell it on you. I won’t have to tell them anything.”
“Smell it on me?” Tess’s nose wrinkles in disgust. “What will they smell on me? I took a shower.” She lifts her arm and sniffs her armpit like that’s what they’re going to be smelling.
