Page 27 of Bewitched by the Werewolf (The Bewitching Hour #5)

I want to follow Tess into Sticky Buns but stop myself before I even cross the street. I’m still the sheriff in town and if I go barreling into the bakery and drag her out by her tight ponytail, people will start asking questions. The entire point is to stop the questions, not generate more.

Not long after Tess enters the shop, I spot my brother and Lottie entering. I thought he was going to stay with her at the cabin? I guess they changed their minds. He isn’t in there long though. As soon as he catches me pacing across the street, he exits the shop and heads straight for me. Great.

I stop pacing and try to calm myself before he arrives. It works, sort of.

“What are you doing out here?” he asks, looking between me and the bakery. “Is that redhead Tess?”

“Yes, that’s Tess.”

“And you’re out here watching her because?”

I growl and roll my head back on my neck, unable to remain still and calm any longer waving my arm in her direction inside the bakery.

“Because I caught her talking with Roman asking about werewolves, she called me daddy, smells like apples, and will not listen to anything I say.” The words come out in a frustrated tumble, and I huff a breath once I’m done venting.

Hunter eyes me as if he’s never seen me before. I stop fidgeting and rest my hands on my hips. “What?”

“Nothing. I just don’t think I’ve ever seen you this animated about…anything. Especially a female. I thought you said you had her handled?”

“I do, I just—there’s just something about her that gets under my skin.”

“I can see that,” he chuckles.

I’m surprised. I would have thought he would be upset that Tess is still here, but he just shakes his head at me as if it’s no big deal.

This casually dressed, laid back, non-styled hair male standing in front of me is not the same person I grew up with.

Hell, he’s not the same person from a couple weeks ago when he was so stressed about things going wrong at the blood moon, that he didn’t sleep for three days trying to plan out every possible thing that could go wrong, and how he would deal with them in three different ways.

Being with Lottie has changed him. He found his mate and all of a sudden, he’s more calm, relaxed and happy.

Whereas I’ve become a raging ball of frustration.

There’s no way Tess could be my mate if this is how I react to her. If I’m supposed to be all lovey dovey like Hunter, then there’s no way we’re mates. She’s just a frustratingly vexing female.

“Don’t worry about me or her. She hasn’t posted anything online about us or the blood moon. Ginger and I are making sure of it,” I reassure him.

Strangely I don’t feel like he needs reassurance, but I want to anyway. I want him to know I’m not slaking on my beta responsibilities, thought I may be shirking some of my sheriff duties off on Logan while I’ve been stalking Tess and obsessing over her and her scent. I should give him a bonus.

“I’m not worried. I know you can handle it, I have no doubt. What I am concerned about is you. You’ve always been so controlled and disciplined. It’s strange to see you so frazzled.”

“Don’t get used to it. I don’t plan on letting her affect me for much longer.”

Hunter reaches out and slaps a hand on my uninjured shoulder. The injured one is better, but still not one hundred percent yet. It’s definitely going to leave a scar.

“I have faith in you Ryder. I know you’ll do what’s best for the town.”

And I will. Even if that means forcing her out of town. The thought twists at my stomach. I don’t want her to leave, yet I know she may have to. Tess is the most confusing and tempting female I’ve ever met. Every thought I have of her is conflicting.

“I have to get back to Lottie. I’ll talk with you later, okay?”

I nod and Hunter immediately jogs back across the street and into Sticky Buns , eager to return to his mate.

A strong desire to do the same burns through me and I almost follow him.

But I don’t. Instead, I begin pacing again, mentally preparing for my next round with Tess.

I’m going to have to keep a closer eye on her now that she’s purposely seeking out others to ask her ridiculous questions about werewolves.

I know she’s just doing it to irritate me intentionally now.

Sensing her eyes on me, I stop and turn to face the bakery, where I instantly lock eyes with Tess.

She holds a pastry in one hand and wiggles her fingers in a wave at me with the other, then promptly sticks out her tongue.

She intends it to be teasing but it only ignites the part of me that’s confused on how I feel about her.

Right now, attraction and desire are winning.

I want to suck on that stubborn pink tongue until she’s whimpering beneath me.

My body goes rigid, and I can sense my muscles growing and expanding. The need to chase and claim clouds my thoughts. She would make for an exciting and challenging chase. She wouldn’t submit easily. She would make me work for it, and it would make catching her that much sweeter.

I can practically see myself chasing her again through the forest, this time I wouldn’t divert away.

I would prowl and stalk her until I caught her under me.

I would take her in the woods on the soft dirt forest floor, like many before me have.

The chase is a primal need we all have. The desire to hunt and catch engrained in our DNA.

To have to work for our prize only makes it that much more coveted.

But if what she mentioned about cameras is true, that would give her exactly what she wants.

Me in my beast form on camera, proof that her werewolves are real.

I’ll just have to find and remove all her cameras first. The first time I met her she was in the forest in a tree, supposedly bird watching.

Now I realize she must have been installing these cameras.

At least I’ll know where to start when I go and rip them all out.

I want to go find them right now, but with Tess in the mood she’s in I can’t leave her alone. I’ll just have to wait until later when she’s back in her trailer and I can go search for them.

My phone rings in my pocket and I answer it after seeing Logan’s name on the screen.

“Yeah?”

“Hey boss. Sorry to bother you but I’m gonna need some help on this one.”

“What’s going on?” I ask still watching Tess eat her pastry and lick her fingers through the window across the street. I almost don’t hear Logan’s response because I’m so focused on her tongue and lips.

“Genevieve is gardening naked again and won’t listen to anyone. She always listens to you for some reason. Would you mind coming over and convincing her to put on some clothes?”

Genevieve is an older fairy who has a penchant for nudity.

Both in her true form and with her glamour, so even the humans without the ability to see non-humans get to partake in her nakedness.

She believes clothes are a social construct that we should shuck, quite literally.

Which, they are, but public nudity is not allowed in town.

I sigh and resign myself to leaving Tess to her own devices. “Sure. I’ll be over there as quick as I can.”

I hang up with Logan and take one more long look at Tess.

She’s watching me now too. No longer taunting me with her tongue or waving at me.

Instead, she watches me carefully, a hint of concern on her usually stern face.

I give her a week smile and shrug my shoulders.

Somehow, I know she’ll understand my meaning.

I’ll catch you later Red.