Page 33 of Bewitched by the Werewolf (The Bewitching Hour #5)

Last night went as well as it could have, I suppose.

Tess didn’t tell me she wasn’t going to reveal shifters to the world, but she also didn’t say she was.

After revealing the presence of more shifters in town, she became quiet and pensive.

It is a lot to take in. When she let me give her an innocent kiss good night without dispute and even reciprocated it, I took that as a good sign that we’re moving in the right direction.

She’s still not completely on board with keeping everything a secret yet, but she will be.

I start the day with optimism, which is quickly doused when Hunter calls me and informs me that Vincent is sending paparazzi after Lottie.

When I ask why that matters, he admits who she really is.

This Alexandria pop star Tess told me about.

Apparently, she was right. Doesn’t matter to me either way.

Hunter believes Lottie is his mate and she’s being threatened, which means we need to take action against those threatening her.

Hunter tells me to meet him at my office, he wants to see if we can pinpoint Vincent’s location. Checking in with Logan and Edith to see if either have heard where he’s staying is our first course of action. We know it’s not at the motel or anyone’s home in town, he must be lurking about somewhere.

Sliding out of my truck I spot Hunter approaching Town Hall, where both our offices are and join him entering the building.

We’re about to turn right into my office when we both spot—and smell—the elves lingering in his office to the left.

My brother doesn’t even need to say anything.

I follow dutifully as we enter his office.

Levi approaches and apologizes to Hunter about the males filling his lobby then informs us there are more waiting in his office.

When none of the males in the lobby make a move toward us or to follow us, I let them be.

We need to find Vincent, not his lackeys.

They mean nothing to us. Luckily, we find the male we’re looking for inspecting a family photo hanging on the wall inside Hunter’s office.

Vincent doesn’t look at all concerned, making himself right at home in our territory.

There’s only one other male in the room with him.

A nymph with, what appear to be, dear ears protruding from his muddy brown hair.

They twitch and swivel in the direction of any noise in the room, which currently is us.

He doesn’t turn his head though, focused on Hunter’s empty desk.

So, I’m focused on him as Hunter zeroes in on Vincent.

I don’t hear everything they say, mostly Vincent trying to blackmail Hunter into giving up our land, again , in exchange for the photos he took.

Which of course Hunter adamantly denies.

No matter what Vincent threatens, Hunter will never willingly give our land over to an elf, especially Vincent.

His threats are weak and easily usurped by Ginger and a few strokes on her keyboard. Hunter knows as much as well.

For a minute, I think the meeting is going to end quietly and Vincent is just going to leave unharmed.

Shame really, I was looking forward to knocking out a few teeth.

Luckily my disappointment is short lived when Vincent says something he shouldn’t about Lottie and Hunter lunges for him.

I’m immediately in action less than a half second later intercepting the nymph bodyguard who rises to protect Vincent. He doesn’t get very far.

I let my beast out, just a little, just enough to infuse my body with inhuman strength and speed.

Grabbing the nymph by the arm I dig my claws in and latch on, pulling him back and away from my brother who already has Vincent pinned to the wall.

Using his momentum and my strength, I pull back my elbow, fist my hand and land a punch square on the male’s nose causing him to reel backwards and stumble.

There’s enough space between him and Hunter behind me that I can easily fend off his attack were he so inclined to try again.

He takes a step forward like he’s about to but stops when he hears Vincent’s garbled laughter behind me.

It’s cut off abruptly. I sidestep and turn to see Hunter with his forearm against Vincent’s throat.

Both of them stare unwaveringly at each other.

Vincent’s murky grey skin flushed from the lack of oxygen.

I believe in me and my brothers’ abilities as much as the next shifter but we are outnumbered in this situation.

With Levi and Donna on the other side of the door as possible collateral, I’m not willing to risk it.

I’m surprised Hunter is. He’s usually much more diplomatic and careful about situations like this.

Reaching out I place a hand on Hunter’s shoulder when I realize he’s not letting up. I would love nothing more than to watch Vincent chocked to death but not here, not now.

Hunter releases the elf, and he falls to the ground gracelessly, coughing and rubbing at his throat.

A spark of retribution glittering in his dark eyes.

He doesn’t say anything else as he leads his men out of Hunter’s office.

It’s not how I expected to start my Friday, but this won’t be the last we see of Vincent.

Something needs to be done to permanently remove him from our town, whether that be by magic or death, I don’t care.

I don’t get a chance to talk to Hunter about it though because he leaves almost as immediately as the elves did.

I don’t follow, he’s probably going back to Lottie at our house to check on her.

He left her there this morning after the event with the male taking their pictures outside the Ugly Mug.

He needs time alone with her, so I give it to them.

You never come between a shifter and his mate, not unless you want to lose a limb.

With the elf situation temporarily dealt with, I decide to pay Ginger a visit. Maybe get more information on Lottie’s identity, anything the elves might have posted online and an update on Tess and this anonymous tipster.

Ginger answers the door immediately after I knock, already waiting for my arrival after I texted her I was on my way.

“Hey, come on in. I was just running some searches.”

I enter her apartment and cross to her bank of computers. Many of which appear to be running programs with progress bars and scrolling text.

“Find anything?”

“Eh, nothing much from the elves. Hunter said they took some photos of him and Lottie in town, but I haven’t seen any online anywhere yet. So far, they seem to be telling the truth about no one having them yet. Celebrity gossip like that would be top billing for the gossip rags.”

Ginger gracefully sits in her rolling chair and begins typing on her keyboard, sorting through the mass amounts of data on her screens. I don’t know how she keeps track of it all. I’m getting a headache just staring at it.

“Did you always know she was a celebrity?” I ask, because apparently, I’m the only one who didn’t know, which seems silly because I’m the sheriff. That’s something I should have known.

“Not always. I realized it somewhere in between family dinner and karaoke. I told Hunter about it then too. I hadn’t intended to, because I thought he might shun her, but he kind of saw her picture on my phone.”

“And why did no one think to tell me till today?”

She shrugs and makes a who cares face I’m sure all big brothers have seen on their little sisters. “Didn’t seem necessary.”

“A famous celebrity hiding from the paparazzi and her own manager in a hidden town filled with non-humans, didn’t seem like a necessary thing to tell the sheriff?” I ask sarcastically.

“Nope,” she says casually, while popping the p and ignoring me. Freaking little sisters . I roll my eyes, which of course she doesn’t see. I can scent her amusement and let it go. She’s getting a kick out of irritating me, so I won’t let her.

“Fine. What about the anonymous tipster from Tess’s website?” I ask, changing the subject.

Ginger clicks on a few things and brings up new screens of text that make no sense to me. It’s a good thing we have Ginger for things like this, because if it were up to me to handle, we’d all be doomed.

“I’m getting closer but haven’t been able to pinpoint an actual person yet.

I’ve got it narrowed down to a city and state.

It was expertly routed through proxy servers shooting all around the world.

Whoever sent her the coordinates to Snowberry didn’t want to be found, just as much as us.

” I’m about to ask if she’ll still be able to find them, but she interrupts me with a raised finger and stubborn expression.

“Don’t worry, that doesn’t mean I can’t find them.

It just means it’s going to take me a little longer. ”

“Good. We need to know who sent that message so we can find them and make sure they don’t send anymore.”

Ginger nods in agreement and swivels in her chair to face me, abandoning her screens momentarily.

“How are things going with Tess? I heard you took her to movie night last night. Getting cozy with the enemy, are we?” Her tone rises into something teasing as she swivels back and forth in her chair.

I raise an eyebrow at her and cross my arms over my chest. “Tess is not the enemy. She knows what we are, at least about shifters—”

“What?! How the hell did that happen?” Ginger shrieks and stands from her seat, abandoning her taunting. She’s tall and can easily glare at me without having to crane her neck like most. She hasn’t been able to best me in a fight since we were pups, so I’m not worried.

“Doesn’t matter. What does matter, is that she hasn’t told anyone yet, and if I have anything to do with it, she never will.”

“And why didn’t you just dust her after she found out? We might not be able to completely erase all her memories of “werewolves” but you could have at least protected the truth of shifters.” She scolds with practically choreographed eye rolls, air quotes and hands on her hips.

She has a right to be mad, it’s not just my safety and future on the line, it’s all of ours.

Especially since I told Tess my entire family are shifters and there are more than just us in town.

But I truly believe, that with a little bit of time and convincing, she won’t reveal our secrets.

There’s also that little possibility that she could be my mate.

My reaction to Jared flirting with her at the movie last night should be a strong indicator that she’s definitely something more to me.

When she let me hold her hand without complaint in front of him, was even more indication that she believes there’s something between us as well.

“It’s not that simple Ginger. If she needs to be dusted I will, that’s my call. Until then I’m handling her.”

A defensive and little aggressive growl resonates in Ginger’s throat.

I may not be alpha, but I am the beta, and I still demand respect and compliance.

I growl right back at her, louder and with more dominance.

We stand like this for a long minute glaring at one another, neither backing down.

I can’t force her to comply like Hunter could with his alpha power, but I will not falter either.

Tess is my problem to handle, and even if it weren’t Tess but someone else, it’s my call on how to deal with them, not hers.

Finally, Ginger drops her eyes and backs down like I knew she would.

She doesn’t whimper in submission or ask forgiveness.

A female like Ginger wouldn’t. She’s strong both in body and mind and I love her for it.

This just happens to be a matter in which I will not budge.

My protective instinct over Tess won’t let me.

I can already feel it growing and demanding satisfaction. Among other things.

“Fine,” she relents with hands thrown in the air. “Deal with her however you want. But if it comes back to bite you in your ass, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she pouts, plopping back down into her chair that spins with the force.

“I think I’ll survive,” I state flatly. “Maybe if you met Tess you would like her more. You like Lottie just fine and her being here comes with almost as much possible exposure as Tess. What is it about Tess that bothers you?”

For a while I don’t think Ginger is going to answer. She’s pulled the silent treatment before. Which if we’re being honest, with Ginger, is not so much of a punishment and a reprieve. Eventually she huffs and does answer though.

“It’s not Tess personally I don’t like, it’s people like her.

Ones that think werewolves are real mindless beasts that like to attack and eat people.

All those stupid stories and myths are the reason we had to go into hiding in the first place.

Did anyone ever stop to think why shifters were attacking humans?

Maybe, because they attacked us first and threatened our pups and forced us out of our homes and called us monsters?

” Her voice goes a little shrill and she gets winded from her impassioned speech.

She’s not wrong, that did happen. But that’s not Tess.

That’s not why she is so obsessed with finding shifters and proving their existence.

I don’t know all the specific details, but I do know she witnessed something as a child that stuck with her and all she wants is the truth.

Once I show it to her, she’ll no longer be a threat.

“Tess isn’t like that Ginger. You’ll see.

She already knows shifters are real and hasn’t told anyone yet.

That has to be worth something.” Uncrossing my arms I step close to Ginger and place a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

She sighs dramatically. “The real threat is the person who told her about Snowberry. Find that person and we can take out all your wrath on them.”

She grins wide and a bit sadistically at that. “Oh, I plan on it.”

With renewed fervor her fingers fly over her keyboard and the data on her screens shifts faster than before. I don’t interrupt her as I leave and let her hunt down her prey. I have my own prey to catch.