Page 2 of Wishing for a Werewolf (Ferndale Falls Forever #2)

Rune

Magic, unlike any I’ve felt, sizzles along my nerves as I hold Autumn in my arms for the first time. It converges in the middle of my chest, buzzing with warmth and making my heart race.

She hangs tipped backward, caught mid-fall, as I lean over her. A goat nestles between us, as tiny and adorable as a young pup, but I’m unable to focus on anything but Autumn.

The witch’s bright-blue dress sets off her long red hair, making it gleam like fire, and I’m the moth captivated by its light.

Her soft curves press against me in the most distracting fashion, and my hand tightens on her waist, pulling her closer.

My nostrils flare, taking in her scent. Even in my fae form, my senses are keener than any human’s, and she smells of cinnamon and ginger with a touch of a flower I can’t name, the combination so sweet and spicy it makes my mouth water.

Her wide eyes meet mine, as green and lovely as the forest stirring to life in spring. Her lips part, tempting in their plumpness. I’ve never kissed before—the cu sith couldn’t shift into their fae forms until the doors of Faerie opened a few months ago. What will it feel like?

Pink darkens her cheeks, setting off the tiny brown dots scattered across her light skin.

They’re bewitching. Werewolves have nothing like them in our wolf forms. After seeing Autumn for the first time, I asked one of the other humans what to call the little dots so I could better name my obsession.

Freckles. They dust her cheeks, her nose, and the teasing glimpse the vee of her dress offers of the swell of her breasts.

Goddess, I long to know if she has freckles everywhere…

Then her eyes narrow. “What do you mean, what did I do?”

“What spell have you cast over me?” It had to be a spell of some sort. In all the weeks I’ve been on Earth, I’ve been able to keep my distance from her until today.

There I was, exploring the new property I purchased so my pack would have a place on Earth.

I’ve lived in one of the apartments in town for the past few weeks, and while I appreciate the proximity to so many excellent new cafés, a wolf belongs in the forest. Besides, I need extra room for when my niece and nephew visit—the pups are far too mischievous to let loose on Ferndale Falls at all hours.

The large Victorian mansion buried in the middle of several acres of woods is perfect.

Stumbling across the old well, I pulled out my small sketchpad and tried to capture its lines.

I initially started drawing to get used to having hands, since it requires a great deal of dexterity I never had to develop with paws.

Yet it soon turned into something I loved, and the well took shape with each stroke of the pencil.

I couldn’t read the human words decorating the sign, but as I traced their outlines, I remembered what the realtor told me. This is the town’s Wishing Well, granting each person three wishes.

Wishing isn’t a magic my people have, since our powers are tied to our ability to shift.

But I live on Earth now and am trying to learn what it means to walk in the form of a man.

So I closed my eyes and said, “For joy today, I wish to host the seasonal gourd cutting activity all of the townspeople keep talking about, so I can feel like a member of the community. For future happiness, I wish to start a security business in Ferndale Falls in order to establish a place for my pack on Earth.” Then I admitted my deepest wish.

“For my heart everlasting, I wish to find my fated mate.”

Only a few pairs of fated mates exist in my pack, but the old stories say many cu sith found their fated mates by traveling the realms of Faerie and Earth. With the doors of Faerie closed for most of my life, this was impossible, but now they’re open.

Is it fate that brought me to Ferndale Falls?

I faded into the trees the moment I heard footsteps and the soft metallic chimes of bracelets.

There’s only one woman who sounds like that—Autumn.

Too captivated to leave, I couldn’t help but watch as the redhead appeared and made her own wishes, though not even my excellent fae hearing could discern her heart wish.

Then her magic grabbed me, pulling me from the forest with an urgency I could not deny. I leaped, reaching to catch her the moment she swooned.

I hold her still, the two of us locked together in a dip.

“Spell? What makes you think I did a spell?” She shifts in my arms, trying to stand upright. “You’re the fae. You guys ooze magic from every pore.”

“Other types of fae have magic that can affect others, but not the cu sith.” I straighten and pull her to standing, where I tower over her by almost a foot.

Werewolves are never so short, even our women.

The witch’s small size is strangely alluring, filling me with a mixture of protectiveness and antsy anticipation, such as I get when I’ve scented prey during a hunt.

“So what can you do?”

Her green eyes hold a challenge I cannot ignore.

Without letting her go, I let my magic slip free to sing through my blood, a song of the night and the deep forest. Tingles rush through my body, and I barely control the shift, halting at my dual form so that I become a werewolf, halfway between man and wolf.

Control should eventually get easier. If Faerie had been whole, I would have grown up constantly shifting between all three of my forms, familiar with each.

Instead, I find myself almost thirty and learning new skills like a pup.

I do not like it. As one of my pack’s protectors, I never want to be anything less than fully capable.

Black fur coats my body, my werewolf size similar enough to the man’s to not destroy my clothing, even though it’s uncomfortable to have my tail trapped by the thick fabric.

The biggest change is to my head, which is now shaped like a wolf’s, with all of my senses increased.

My eyesight and hearing sharpen as well as my sense of smell.

By the goddess! I want to howl as Autumn’s bewitching scent fills my nose.

A low growl rumbles through me, my fingers flexing.

She gasps as my claws press against her, and the worry I’ve hurt her makes me finally let her go.

“Are you all right?” My eyes search her side, relief filling me that her dress shows no damage—my claws didn’t hurt her.

Fae are far stronger than humans, and my werewolf form is even more powerful.

As a wolf, I know to the tiniest touch the amount of pressure I exert with my claws, but I’m not yet used to this form or its strength.

“I’m fine.” Her startled eyes put the lie to her words as they flicker over me. “You… you’re a werewolf!”

“Exactly. I’m no shadow fae or dragon, able to wield magic against others at a whim.” I let my magic fill me until it races through my body like fire. The shift takes more effort as I push further away from my wolf to once again become a man. “I’m a shifter.”

“So, the magic you felt earlier…” Autumn flaps a hand toward the well. “It was the Wishing Well’s?”

“It was yours.” I frown. How can she not know this? “What kind of spell was it?”

“No idea.” Her shoulders ripple in a shrug, then straighten as she lifts her chin. “I don’t know what kind of witch I am.”

“Ah, yes. I have a friend like that, one of the human women brought to Faerie several months ago. Grace didn’t understand her magic at first.”

“But she figured it out?” A note of longing enters the redhead’s voice.

“She did.” I tip my head.

“How did she—”

The goat snaps into motion, all four legs kicking its hooves as it twists its little body.

“Babybelle, no!”

But it’s too late. The goat slips from Autumn’s grip and drops to the ground. It zooms around the well to circle back to us, plowing forward with its little head lowered until it slams into my leg.

“Oh, god. Did she hurt you? I’m sorry!” Autumn springs forward, arms outstretched. “I’d love to say she’s not usually like this, but she’s always totally like this.”

“I’m unharmed. It was barely a tap.”

The tiny animal darts away from the witch with a playful hop, then bounces back over to headbutt my other calf. As she lets out a high bleat, amber eyes gaze up at me, full of a look I know well from years spent playing with my niece and nephew. Pure, unadulterated mischief.

A chuckle escapes me. “So you want to play, little one?”

Babybelle’s tail flicks, and she bleats a challenge as she races around the Wishing Well.

I take off after her, keeping my pace slow to prolong the chase.

We run around and around the well, and Autumn starts laughing, the throaty, rich noise bewitching. “You two look like a cartoon!”

“I don’t know what that is.” Speeding up, I lean over and scoop Babybelle from the air at the apex of one of her skipping hops. Her little heart pounds a quick flutter in her chest as my hand cradles her, racing from the run.

“It’s an animated TV show, usually for children,” Autumn says, as I stride toward her.

“I still don’t know what that is, but if it’s something pups like, I want to find out.”

“You have children?”

“Not of my own.” I shake my head and hand Babybelle to her. “I have a niece and nephew. Now that I’ve secured a house, they’ll visit soon.”

“Which house?”

“The one this property belongs to.”

“You bought the old Clemmons place? That makes us neighbors.” She hooks a thumb over her shoulder to point south. “The Ferndale Falls Goat Farm is right on the other side of the property line. That’s not going to be a problem, is it?”

A frown tugs at my lips. Does she dislike fae? No, I’ve seen her glance admiringly at the orc bartender in the town pub, so it can’t be that. Is it me she doesn’t like? A growl vibrates through me at the thought. “What do you mean?”

“You know. You’re a wolf.” Autumn flaps a hand toward me, then cups it around Babybelle’s head, pulling the animal closer in a protective gesture. “And we raise goats. Aren’t they your prey or something?”

“The cu sith do not hunt domesticated animals.” My lips peel back from my fangs. “There’s no honor in it.”

“Okay, okay, don’t get your panties in a twist.”

“I assure you I’m not wearing panties.”

“More of a boxers kind of guy?” Her lips curl at the corners, and she snaps her fingers and points at me. “Or no! I know! Boxer briefs. You seem like the athletic type.”

“Wrong on both counts.”

She shoots me an assessing gaze as if trying to see through my pants, and part of me wants to rip free of the restraining fabric. I’m not yet used to wearing clothing, but I’ve learned enough to know humans have some fairly odd nudity taboos.

“Well, then what is it? Because putting a good-looking guy like you in tighty whities should be a crime.”

“You find me good-looking?” I lean forward.

“Not the part of the sentence I wanted you to focus on,” she mutters under her breath.

“And yet it’s the part I find most fascinating.”

“You heard that?” she yelps, her eyes going wide.

I touch the pointed tip of one ear. “Fae, remember.”

“Damn,” she breathes. When she sees my lips twitch, she groans. “You heard that, too. Okay. That’s it. You owe me embarrassment points or something, so fess up. What kind of underwear do you have on?”

I lean even closer, pulled like a moth to her flame. Her hair is fire, my fire. I growl, “I don’t wear underwear.”