Page 9 of Accidentally Wedded to a Werewolf (Claw Haven #1)

Luna shivered as she walked down the sidewalk with her shopping bags. She was bundled up, but the cold in her chest had spread to her fingertips. She hoped Oliver was having fun in his stupid ripped jeans. Why wasn’t he affected by the weird cold that kicked in whenever they were apart?

She pulled her jacket tighter, focusing on the town around her.

It was a lot cuter when she wasn’t battling through a snowstorm.

Someone had already plowed the main roads, so Luna had been able to cruise slowly down the street without worrying about skidding.

The middle of town was small enough that she could park in one spot and walk around, getting everything she needed without tiring herself out.

It was nice. She loved LA, but it was annoying having to get into a car every time she wanted to go somewhere.

If the weather was better, she could’ve walked into town from the inn.

Admired the mountains on one side of town, the ocean glittering on the other.

Sure, there wasn’t a lot to do here, but it was pretty damn beautiful.

Luna paused in the middle of the sidewalk.

Shopping bags dangled from her arms as she wrestled her phone out, snapping a picture of the snowy scenery.

She still didn’t have much data on her phone, but her laptop worked fine if she sat on the side of the room closest to the inn’s router.

She could post the photo to her Instagram later.

She turned back and instantly bumped into a huge orc carrying an armful of flour.

“Crap,” Luna said, barely managing not to spill her bags of clothes all over the cold bricks. “Sorry!”

She shrank back from the orc with a wince. He was huge, all bulging muscles and oil stains on the tight shirt he had on under his winter coat. Then he opened his mouth, and his flustered tone made it clear she had nothing to stress about.

“Shit, that’s on me,” the orc said distractedly, steadying her with the hand that wasn’t locked around his giant flour bag. “Are you good?” He shuffled the bag around, then paused. “Oh shit! You’re that human from the Musgrove Inn.”

Luna recognized him, now that she looked closer—he’d had engine oil smudged on his shirt back at the inn, too. He’d been the second one to come in and gape at the hole in the roof.

“Everyone’s talking about you,” the orc continued.

Luna sighed. “Everyone?”

“Well, not everyone. Just the bored ones. So yeah, actually. Everyone.” The orc gave her a rakish grin. “Not a lot to do in Claw Haven but shoot the shit. I’m Nick, by the way. Nick Wicker.”

“Luna Stack,” Luna said. She held out a cautious hand for a handshake and then paused to look at the flour bag in his arms. “Are you baking something?”

“What?” Nick looked at the flour he was carrying and balked, letting out a strange laugh. “Me? No. I can’t bake for shit! This is just…for lifting weights. Bye.”

He ignored her outstretched hand and bustled off, clutching the flour bag to his chest like he was trying to hide it.

Luna had to stop herself from staring after him—first because that was a weird reaction to have about a bag of flour, but mostly because there were so many monsters out for a morning walk: people covered in wings or feathers or scales, nodding at each other or stopping in the middle of the street to chat.

If you stopped in the middle of a bustling LA street, you’d get yelled at.

She readjusted the bags on her arms. She had everything she’d come into town for, plus a few extras. Time to get out of the cold. Hopefully, the ache in her chest would die down when she was under the same roof as that jerk.

She turned back toward her rental car and paused. There was a chocolate shop across the street. Prickles, the sign declared. A chocolate cartoon hedgehog curled up next to the word, smiling out at the street.

Luna headed into the shop. A bell rang over the door, and Luna felt a strange thrill. I’m in a little chocolate store in a little town that has a little bell over the door. This is the most whimsical thing that’s ever happened to me.

Maybe, she considered, there was something to do in Claw Haven. But only if you were a tourist. She would never want to live here.

The store smelled like sea salt and dark cocoa.

Luna took a hearty sniff as the hedgehog woman behind the counter whirled around, her spikes skimming the scratched-up chalkboard behind her.

Luna couldn’t help but feel sorry for the woman—werewolves could present as human.

But monsters like this woman, or the dragon back on the inn roof, couldn’t hide even if they wanted to.

It would make dealing with prejudiced jerks much harder.

At least this monster looked cute, with her twitching muzzle and her big black eyes, even if the spikes bursting out of her back looked annoying, her apron clipped around them.

“Oops,” said the hedgehog woman, eyes wide. “Hi! Hello! Can I get you anything? We have samples.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Luna said happily. She stepped toward the bowl that the woman was holding out and paused. She recognized those little wolves. “Oh, hey! These are yours? I had one this morning, and they were delish.”

“Oh,” the hedgehog woman said, flushing all down her muzzle. “Thank you so much! They’re a new recipe.”

Luna popped a chocolate wolf into her mouth and gestured around the empty store. “New business?”

The woman toyed nervously with her apron. “We’re still getting the word out.”

“Yeah? Newsletters, ads, sponsorships…?” Luna watched as the woman’s eyes got wider and wider.

“Um,” the woman said. “Kind of just…posters. We’re not a very touristy town.”

Luna frowned. “You could be. You guys have mountains and seaside and forest. And that whole monster wonderland going on, for people who are into that kind of thing. You could do a lot with it.”

The woman nodded. Luna got the feeling she would’ve nodded at anything Luna said. She seemed the type.

“I’m Luna,” Luna said.

“Beth.” The woman’s tiny hedgehog hands twisted tighter in her apron. “I’m sorry, but are you the human staying at Musgrove Inn? Everybody’s talking about it.”

“Great,” Luna muttered and pulled up a sunny smile. “That’s me!”

“Oh.” Beth’s shoulders hunched. “Where’s Oliver? Is he not with you?”

Luna laughed. Beth must not have the whole story if she thought Luna’s accidental husband would want to tag along into town with her.

“No, he’s back at the inn. Hopefully not falling off the roof.”

“Oh,” Beth said again. Her brow furrowed. “I hope he’s alright. I had werewolf friends who got bonded in college, and they couldn’t be on the other side of the house before the pain set in.”

Luna waited for that baffling sentence to make sense. When seconds passed with nothing becoming clear, she asked, “Excuse me? Pain?”

“It’s a side effect of the new bond,” Beth explained hesitantly, as if afraid she was being tested. “Did—did he not tell you that?”

Luna thought back to Oliver up on that roof, hammering down a tarp and not looking at her once. Of the cold in her chest, spreading to her fingers and making it hard to hold her bags. Of Sabine saying, It won’t be as powerful since you’re not a wolf.

“No,” she said icily. “He didn’t.”