Page 8 of Bewitchingly Hers (Witches of Pleasant Grove #3)

CHAPTER SIX

barrett

I t was amazing how much better I felt after a hot shower after so many days trapped inside my wolf’s body.

I felt like a human again. I wasn’t sure how I’d shifted back in the middle of the night unconsciously, though it wasn’t unheard of. My guess was I’d felt comfortable in bed with my mate, and it had been an involuntary change.

Being wrapped around my mate when I woke up had been the best feeling of my life.

At least, until I realized that it wasn’t a dream, and I’d been two seconds from dipping my fingers under the waistband of her tiny panties.

I’d been harder than I’d ever been in my life, having her curves all pressed up against me, her sweet smell in my nose. I was losing it.

When I got out of the shower, I wrapped a towel around my waist, not bothering to look for the sweats she’d mentioned earlier.

Honestly, I just hoped that she found something that actually fit.

After I had clothes, I needed to find a way back to my things.

I needed to call Ezra and talk about what I’d found.

Though I didn’t fool myself into believing we were friends , I knew he had my back.

And I needed to know if he had experienced anything similar up in his neck of the woods.

The door to the bedroom opened, and then my mate was there, her little hedgehog curled on her shoulder as she carried in a large plastic bag.

Eryne. Yes, I liked the way her name sat on my tongue. I still couldn’t believe I’d found her. That she was mine. My wolf let out a grumble of appreciation as he watched her.

And she had no idea.

It had been clear when we’d woken up that she didn’t know we were mates. But she hadn’t completely freaked out, either, so maybe that was good? I wasn’t sure what the proper protocol was here. For shifters, when we found our mates, the second we locked eyes, the bond was there.

And we knew we were meant to be together.

Did witches not feel that? Was it possible this was completely one sided, and I was wrong about her being my mate? I hated that thought. It made my mouth taste fill with bile.

No, my wolf insisted. She is ours.

“Here,” Eryne said, handing me the bundle of clothes as she diverted her eyes. Our hands brushed, and sparks ran down my arm. “Hopefully there’s a few things in there that you can wear. I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I got a bunch. We can return the rest.”

“Thank you,” I said, truly taking this moment to look at her. I had earlier, but not like this. Not when I could appreciate how much smaller than me she was, how that ginger hair perfectly complimented her skin. “I’ll go change.”

She dipped her head, and then looked at the bathroom. “I’m going to shower now, and then after I’m finished, maybe we could go get something to eat? I’m starving, and this feels like a conversation we shouldn’t have on empty stomachs.”

I swallowed.

She was going to tell me to leave. I could see it in her eyes. She was kicking me out already.

My mate didn’t want me.

Well, what she didn’t know is that I would fight for her. No matter what it took, I wasn’t giving up—not yet.

The little diner in the middle of town was quaint. It was covered in halloween decorations—despite it still being almost a month away—but I supposed that was part of the charm. It felt like the entire town was here, crowded into booths and chatting at tables.

It also seemed like everyone was looking at us.

But maybe they were all just staring at the beauty across the table from me, who didn’t seem to realize just how gorgeous she was.

Her short copper hair had dried into loose waves, and she’d pulled on a pair of dark jeans with those boots she seemed to wear, along with a cream colored turtleneck.

Her earrings were a pair of shooting stars.

I’d stared at her collection in her room—she had dozens of pairs, all different dangly earrings, that she seemed to rotate her way through.

I wasn’t sure I’d seen her repeat a pair yet.

What did I look like, sitting across from her?

Luckily, the jeans and gray henley she’d found for me fit, and the coat, while on the larger side, wasn’t too shabby.

They didn’t smell quite right, but I was trying to ignore that fact, knowing my shifter senses were sharper than the average humans.

She hadn’t even attempted to find a pair of shoes, not wanting to guess my size, so we’d stopped at the secondhand store before heading into the diner.

I wiggled my toes in the pair of work boots I’d found, thankful they were decently broken in.

“What attacked you?” Eryne asked once again, after we’d ordered our food.

At least this time, we could have this conversation while fully clothed.

It had been hard to pay attention earlier. Waking up next to my mate, my body reacted, and it had been hard to control it. Even though I’d hated when she’d left, it had been the right call.

It was too soon to touch her.

She barely even knew what I was.

“I don’t know,” I said, even though I had my suspicions.

I wanted to protect her—the worst thing that could happen was her getting in the middle of it and getting hurt.

Plus, if I had to leave her soon, I didn’t want to leave my mate unprotected.

I’d been sent here for a reason, and I still had to finish my mission.

She raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know?”

I shook my head. “I told you, my memories of the night of the attack are all jumbled. It was unexpected.” I remembered her, her scent, her soothing voice. But the actual incident was nothing more than disjointed flashes of information.

“But…” her voice dropped to a whisper. “Those were teeth marks, weren’t they?”

My wounds ached at the thought of the being ripping into my skin. I’d seen things she couldn’t even imagine. I changed the subject, not wanting to talk about that feeling of cold, of emptiness. “You mentioned demons before, right? If you don’t know about shifters, how do you know about demons?”

I’d met a few demons in my time, and they were smart. Cunning. Capable of deceit on scales humans couldn’t even comprehend.

Eryne bit her lower lip. “My boss—Willow, the one who gave me the healing potions for you—she fell in love with a demon last year. His name is Damien. He’s not a bad demon though. He’s a good guy. Loves Willow. They’re expecting their first baby together.”

My eyes widened. “They are?” That was… something.

“They’re soul mates,” she offered, tapping her fingers on the table. “It’s hard to argue with fate, don’t you think?”

If only you knew.

“That still doesn’t answer my question about how you didn’t know shifters existed.”

Eryne pinched the spot between her eyebrow. “It’s like, you know, growing up, how your parents tell you tales about all the things that go bump in the night to scare you into being a good kid? Because they want you to be scared of the monsters under your bed so you don’t act out?”

“Sure.”

“We had stories. Legends. But they were just that. Until Damien and his brother showed up, this town has been a sanctuary for witches for the hundreds of years. The only people who can come here are witches, for our own safety. The wards were supposed to be impenetrable.” Eryne frowned at me. “How did you get through, anyway?”

I shrugged. “Must be weakening.” Though that was only part of my theory.

She furrowed her brow, but continued on.

“Our elders taught us that these other beings—demons, vampires, werewolves —were ghost stories. Things to be feared, sure, but not something any of us ever expected to come face to face with. I guess we just took it at face value since it seemed so far fetched. None of us had ever seen any of those things, so of course it wasn’t true. And yet…” She gestured towards me.

“And yet it is,” I concluded. “I’m not a werewolf, though. Just a shifter.”

My little healer scrunched up her nose. “What’s the difference, exactly?”

“Werewolves aren’t wolf or human. They’re something other.

Forced to change during each full moon, feral and rabid.

Shifters were… blessed, if the stories are true, by a coven of witches many millennia ago.

In exchange for use of our lands for their ceremonies, they gave us the ability to shape-shift into our wolves at will. No full moon needed.”

“If that’s true, why didn’t we know about you?”

I gave her a sad smile. “Maybe more things have been lost to time than either of us truly know.” I rested my hand over hers.

“But I think it’s our responsibility to figure it out.

To right the wrongs of our ancestors. We’re all being persecuted by humans.

Isn’t it better to have strength in numbers?

To have a town like this be a safe haven for all? ”

She scrunched up her nose. “That’s pretty deep for ten o’clock in the morning, Barrett…” She looked at me, a question in her eyes. “You know, I don’t even know your last name.”

“Lockwood,” I answered. “Barrett Lockwood.”

“Eryne Fowler,” she said in response, before holding out her hand. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, I guess.”

We shook, and something unfurled in my chest. I couldn’t explain why I instantly felt better, but I did.

“How old are you?” Eryne asked, studying my face. I looked scruffier than normal, in desperate need of a shave and a haircut, so it was a fair question.

I chuckled at her blatant perusal. “Twenty-seven. How old are you?”

She let out a breath. “Twenty-five. I thought you were going to say something crazy, like you were hundreds of years old.”

I ran my hands through my hair. “No. We age much in the same way that humans do—as witches do.”

Our lifespans were similar as well, though both of our species would outlive humans.

Our food came, and we were silent for a few minutes, taking bites of our food.