Page 122 of The Wolves of Forest Grove

Forest Grove had hardly changed in the four years since I’d moved to pack camp.

There were still groups of teenagers hanging out around the entrance to the corner shop, sipping slurpees and sneaking cigarettes.

The restaurant down the block was still somehow open even though I’d never seen a soul go inside, and the old couple who walked arm in arm every afternoon through the town were just taking their break on a park bench near the intersection.

They weren’t the reason I came to this part of town, though. The windows of Jacqueline’s bookshop reflected the afternoon sunlight in an almost blinding square of gold as I walked up, pausing when a strange scent drifted by on the summer breeze.

Through the small oval window in the door, I could see Jacqueline waving at me to come in and shucked off the distraction. The sweet, musky smell of old books welcomed me as I entered the shop, and I sighed. Wednesday’s had to be one of my favorite days.

“Right on schedule,” Jacqueline called with a grin from the register. “Your special order came in about an hour ago, and the newest Tate James arrived with yesterday’s shipment.”

“You’re a saint.”

I’d been waiting for that book for months, and I couldn’t wait to devour it, but… “I’m just going to have a quick peek at the shelves before I check out.”

“Don’t you always?”

I let the serenity of the shop wash over me as I took my time browsing the stacks, finding two more books to add to my pile. I passed over what used to be my favorite section when I worked here four years ago, gaze slipping past bright blues and purples with shining silver fonts.

Paranormal romance was my go-to through all the years of middle and high school.

Until Devin took away my mortality, and with it, my ignorance.

For a solid year, I hardly read anything at all.

Half because I’d lost interest in my favorite genre, and half because I’d been too afraid to come back to Jackie’s shop.

The way I had to leave wasn’t the greatest. I’d basically forced her into letting me go and replacing me with her niece.

Not even able to come in in person and talk to her about why I had to do it.

But time mended a lot of things, and when I came in a few years back to get a copy of a new release, she was genuinely glad to see me.

I’d come in every Wednesday since. Books from Jackie’s shop were pretty much the only thing I spent my share of the pack’s earnings on.

I lifted a new urban fantasy she had prominently displayed and flipped to the back cover. Yellow eyes stared back at me, and the first line promised the reader magic and mayhem. With a shudder, I placed it back on the shelf, turning to the contemporary area.

Once, I’d have snapped up a book like that in a heartbeat. Eager to escape my mundane life into worlds of the supernatural. Now, I needed to escape my supernatural life by reading about normal people and normal problems.

How ironic.

“You know this one is a reverse harem, right?” Jackie asked as I made my way to the front counter as an older couple entered the shop to browse.

Flushing, I nodded, watching her scan my special ordered reverse harem book along with the others and pop them into a bag.

She clearly hadn’t realized that three out of the four books I was buying today had similar romantic partnerings.

At first, I started reading them to feel more normal.

Mating to two shifters made me an anomaly among my race, but in these books, it was commonplace.

Plus, if I were being honest, they were super addictive.

I cleared my throat. “They’re really good,” I said, trying for nonchalance. She was the one who’d taught me never to judge a reader’s tastes. “You should try one.”

She lifted a thin brow and smirked. “Maybe I should,” she agreed with a wink. “For...research.”

I laughed as I took the bag from her, shuffling away from the counter to let the older couple pay for their purchases. “See you next week!”

There wasn’t a whole lot of time for reading, being the alpha of one of the largest packs in the eastern United States, but I made time. Usually up all hours of the night, binging until one of my mates wrestled the pages from my fingers to force me to get some sleep.

I pulled out the newest book in the darker series I’d been waiting for and anxiously flipped to the first page like an addict looking for a fix. There was no way I could wait until tonight to figure out if the hero were still alive.

The strange smell from before distracted me, and it was too late for me to stop when I looked up from my book before running headlong into the man standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

My book flew from my hands, and like an idiot, I used my supernatural speed and ability to launch five feet to the right and catch it before it could fall into the oily puddle at the side of the road.

Dammit.

I flashed a quick smile at the man I ran into, trying to blind him with it. “Sorry,” I said. “Didn’t see you there.”

“No harm done,” he replied brusquely, brushing his palms over his pressed jacket as though my touch had somehow tainted it. Jackass.

I snorted, putting my book back in my bag. “You’re right on schedule.”

I glanced up, wondering who the man was talking to now as I stepped away but there was no one else, and he was staring straight at me. That’s when I noticed it.

The odd smell—it was coming from him.

There was an otherworldliness to him I hadn’t noticed at first, but it was there. An air of power and knowledge that shouldn’t have belonged to a man who looked barely older than thirty.

He isn’t human. “What did you say?”

“You must be Alison. I was told I might find you here.”

“Allie,” I corrected him sharply, hands clenching into fists.

The smell, a smoky odor with an undercurrent of something tangy tugged at a distant memory. But what? My brows rose as I realized where I knew it from. Stella’s house. She was a witch who lived just outside Forest Grove and had helped us a time or two.

“You’re a witch.”

“We prefer alchemist, but yes.” The man dipped his head in a formal sort of greeting, and I took in his stature, measuring him up. He wasn’t very large. A few inches below six feet tall with a clean shaven face and dark brown eyes. “Gregory.”

Something he’d said before returned, and I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling my inner wolf surface. I tampered her with a steadying breath and straightened my spine. “You said I was right on schedule. Were you waiting for me?”

His lips twitched into a sly grin as he swept an arm toward the coffee shop next door. “Join me for a coffee?”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Heat skittered up my spine and this time when my wolf strained against the confines of my human body, I let him see it. I let him see her in the glow of my eyes.

His smile vanished. “If you’ll join me, I’ll be happy to explain.”

“Hard pass.”

Jared and Clay would kill me if they found out I went off with some witch to have a private chat, even if it were in public.

“If you have something to say to me, you can do it right here.”

I lowered my voice as a few teenagers strolled past, reeking of tobacco and minty chewing gum.

The man, Gregory, dragged his tongue across his teeth, a look of disgust on his face as he considered something. “You’ve...how should I put this...you’ve piqued the interest of the Arcane Council. My superior would like a meeting with you to discuss your deformity.”

My upper lip curled back, and I could barely contain it as a low growl reverberated in my chest. “You can tell your superior that I have no interest in meeting with him. And you—”

“That’s too bad,” he interrupted. “He doesn’t like to be refused.”

A thinly veiled threat in his reply put my teeth on edge. Sweat beaded at my brow, and it had nothing to do with the heat.

“And I don’t like being stalked by witches in my town,” I retorted, meeting him blow for blow with a threat of my own. “If I see you on my streets again, I’ll remove you myself.”

Surprise flashed quickly in his eyes before his expression settled back to the haughty disdain of a moment before, and he tucked his hands into his pockets.

“Well then,” he said with a smirk squirming at the edge of his mouth. “Goodbye for now, little wolf. I’ll be seeing you.”

“You better hope you don’t.”

I walked seven blocks, taking the longest possible route back to where I’d parked the Chevelle, needing the time to calm my rattled nerves.

Why were the witches interested in me now?

Nothing had changed. I’d been the same Allie Grace— the twin soul wolf—for the last four years. Either they hadn’t known about me until now, or they didn’t care until now. I assumed the former, but if the latter, what changed to make them curious all of a sudden?

I viscously shoved the thoughts away, locked them up for later inspection. I’d told Clay I’d stop by Grove’s End while I was in town, and if I didn’t calm my racing heart and break up the mosh pit of worried thoughts in my mind, he would sense there was something up.

No need to worry him. I’d already sent the alchemist prick away, and if he knew what was good for him, he wouldn’t come back.

I sighed as I unlocked the door and slid into the seat of my baby, accepting her hug as her leather seats formed to my curves.

She’d been a gift from my mates and my two best friends when I turned eighteen.

She’d been a wreck then. All rusted out and falling apart.

Not anymore. It’d taken almost three years, but she was a sexy thing now.

All polished chrome and conditioned leathers and pristine glossy black paint.

It was too bad I only got to drive her on Wednesdays. There wasn’t much use for a car on pack land, there being no roads leading in or out. Being able to run faster than a car also sort of made the use of one a moot point.

“Let’s go see Clay,” I muttered to her, easing out onto the road, my hands tense on the wheel.