Page 38 of Bewitched by the Werewolf (The Bewitching Hour #5)

We lay curled together on top of the bed that used to smell like Hunter and Lottie, that now very much smells of me and Tess.

The way it should be. I don’t think I could have slept one night in this bed with it smelling like my brothers cum.

Thankfully, now I don’t have to, because it reeks of Tess’s spiced hot cider scent and our mixed essence of sex.

I hope it never dissipates. I guess that means I’ll just have to keep having sex with Tess in it.

Since she seems amiable to the idea that shouldn’t be a problem.

“You know, I wasn’t expecting you to be so excited about my knot,” I admit quietly as we lay there.

“Really? Why wouldn’t I be?”

“It’s not exactly normal anatomy.”

I feel her shrug, but she remains cuddled up against me. “I’ve read my fair share of omega-verse and werewolf romance novels. A knot always sounded amazing to me. And now I can officially say it’s way better than any human cock.”

I sigh-groan in contentment. Life like this would be perfect.

Spend my day patrolling town and ensuring everyone was safe and happy to come home to Tess and sate ourselves with one another’s bodies.

If she were to expose Snowberry though, it would make that life harder to achieve.

She has to know she can’t tell anyone about us, especially now.

Now that she’s nearly mine and the possible future we could have as mates is within reach.

Maybe if she knew my personal history and why this place means so much to me , she would understand better.

“Before when you asked me how often I shift, I wasn’t completely truthful.

” I can feel her shift a little to angle herself better to hear me, now more alert than before.

“I only shift when absolutely necessary and never around anyone else. I didn’t lie when I told you we aren’t monsters that eat people, but we are still beasts.

Some of us more than others. Our instinct takes over and can sometimes cause… problems.”

Now Tess does turn as much as possible to look up at me while my knot still locks us together. She doesn’t look angry but curious. Always so damn curious.

“My beast tends to be territorial and aggressive towards other males, not humans,” I clarify.

“But that doesn’t mean they can’t get caught in the middle sometimes.

There was a time, when fully shifted in my true form, I challenged two other males during a lunar eclipse.

There was a female involved, of course, and we all wanted to chase after her.

I was young and horny and thought I was better than the rest.

“We got into a fight and were too close to human civilization. They ran from me and I made chase, we went straight through a campground filled with humans. Luckily there weren’t many where we broke through, but they were still there.

Some got in the way and were injured. I had no intention of hurting them and didn’t want to.

As soon as I saw what I had done I fled, leaving the other males and returning to my human form as soon as I was far enough away. ”

I can’t look Tess in the eye as I tell her my story, it’s my greatest shame, the reason I became who I am today.

Probably the reason I was never meant to be alpha.

Tess twists more in my hold and carefully pulls free of my knot allowing her to fully face me.

She props herself up on one elbow, but my eyes remain fixed on her throat and collar bone.

On the long strands of red sticking to her sweat dampened skin.

“I never wanted to put another in danger from my beast again, so I moved back to Snowberry. I became my brother’s beta and town sheriff.

I shift alone and far away from others. Having this town kept secret and separate from the rest of the population allows me a safe place to live and shift without fear of accidentally harming anyone again. ”

When Tess remains silent, I finally look up to meet her gaze, needing to know how much I just fucked this all up.

But she had to know. If I lose her, I’ll always be missing a part of myself, but I can’t risk the others safety just for my pleasure.

The pack always has to come first. I’d do just about anything for Tess, everything but that.

They put their trust in me and my brother to protect them and as selfish as I have been in the past, I learned the hard way that doesn’t always turn out in the end.

Tess wears a perplexing expression. It’s not filled with disgust or anger as I imagined it might, but a startling confusion as her eyes shift back and forth between mine.

Her lips slightly parted as if trying to speak but unable to find the words.

She sits up and stutters for a moment trying to find her words.

Concerned, I sit up next to her and try to ignore her nakedness.

It’s hard to do, especially after being inside her so recently.

“What is it, Tess?”

I reach for her, and she allows it. For a moment I feared she would pull away from me, but she lets me wrap an arm around her waist and pull her into my lap.

The need to touch her and keep her close hasn’t waned.

The pull tugging strongly at my chest to keep her close and soothe whatever ache I may have caused.

Tess settles in my lap and finally looks up to me with those emerald eyes and finds the words she was seeking.

“When I was ten years old, I saw my first shifter. I was with my family, and we were camping.”

Her eyes brighten with resolve as she watches me, her arms wrapping around my neck, fingers playing mindlessly in the ends of my hair at the base of my neck. It’s almost too distracting to follow our conversation.

Again, she looks up at me knowingly, like I’m supposed to understand her meaning. “It was about twenty years ago. Three ‘werewolves’ burst through the campgrounds. Two people were injured.” Her tone becomes more coercing, and I finally make the connection.

Twenty years ago, three shifters and a campground. I was the shifter she saw.

“I think you were the shifter I saw that day. It was because of that day that I became obsessed with werewolves. No one in my family saw you and never believed me, which only made things worse. They thought I was crazy and…and put me in a facility for the less than sane.”

“Tess, I...”

I try to soothe her, running a hand down her spine and hoping this story has a good ending. I don’t think it’s heading in a good direction, and I internally brace myself for her rejection. For her hatred and disgust at me being the source of her lifelong pain and suffering.

“No, it’s okay Ryder. I was released and moved on.

I’m not on the best terms with my family because of it and might have an unorthodox life because of it but…

but I always assumed what I saw were monsters.

Beasts who attacked humans on purpose. Who were dangerous, and people needed to be warned about.

But now…” She sighs and looks up at me with sad eyes, her shoulders dropping.

“Now everything is different. Meeting you and learning about shifters had already started to sway my beliefs.

Knowing that you were that shifter I saw so long ago, and everything was a random accident?

That you had no ill intention towards humans, and it was a fluke? It changes things.

“I had always operated under the assumption werewolves were bad evil creatures lurking in the dark just waiting for their opportunity to strike. Everything I believed was wrong and…honestly, I feel stupid for believing such things for so long without ever considering an alternative. It’s all so confusing now. ”

Her forehead falls to my chest, and she lets out a deep exhale.

I wrap her safely in my arms and hold her close.

She’s not the only one confused. However, with every passing day we spend together my mind clears.

I still have no idea how to confirm if Tess is my mate or not, short of attempting to bond with her and finding out if it worked or not.

I’m also caring less and less about proving it and caring more about being with her.

Shifters constantly function off of instinct, and mine keeps telling me this is right. Tess is right, and I will do anything short of exposing Snowberry to be with her.

Leaning back against the headboard I pull the quilt from under us and wrap us both in it. I’m not particularly picky about being nude but I know humans can be and Tess’s skin has begun to cool.

“What do I do now?” she mumbles against my chest.

“For now, we’ll sleep. Maybe have sex again when I can’t resist you any longer, and then I’ll show you everything you haven’t seen of Snowberry. And after much persuading of the sexual and flirtatious kind, you’ll realize how amazing Snowberry is and decide you want to keep it our secret.”

Sliding my hand around her neck, I splay my fingers through her hair at the base of her skull and stroke my thumb along her jaw and pulse. Unable to resist, I lean down and place a lingering kiss to her lips, savoring her whimper of pleasure.

“Then maybe I can persuade you to stay longer,” I admit against her lips.

“Weren’t you the one just days ago demanding I leave town immediately?” I can feel her smile against mine and know she’s teasing. She knows I don’t want her to leave.

“That was before, this is now. Things change.”

Her smile falters and she closes her eyes, leaning into my hand and sighing. “Yes, they do.”

What she doesn’t realize is just how much more they’re going to change. I wanted to tell her all about the other non-humans beyond shifters, but with the revelation of our intertwined pasts, I feel it’s better to wait until after a good night’s sleep and maybe a few more orgasms.

Tomorrow Tess is going to wake up in an entirely different town than the one she knew today. I just hope it won’t be the thing to finally push her over the edge and away from me.

“Wait,” Tess pops up from her reclined position on my chest and stares at me wildly. “I saw you twenty years ago when I was ten. There’s no way you were also ten at the time. How old are you?”

I chuckle and press her head back down to my chest. “Remember how I told you shifters live longer?”