Page 64 of Wishing for a Werewolf

“They can play, but you can’t,” Rune says. “If you could shift, we wouldn’t need the leashes…” He lifts an eyebrow.

A pulse of magic flares through the air, and Astrid shifts from a wolf pup into a two-foot-tall werewolf. She leaps to her feet, arms thrown out for balance, like a surfer cresting a large wave. “Whoa, this feels so weird!”

“I want to feel weird!” Agnar protests, and another jolt of magic sizzles through the air. The new mini-werewolf jumps up and joins his sister.

Riselda shifts to her werewolf form, drops to her knees, and wraps an arm around each of her children in a tight hug. “Oh, my little ones! I’m so proud of you.”

Then Astrid and Agnar throw themselves at Rune, who laughs and catches them in his strong arms.

Someone shrieks, “Are those kids naked?”

“Picnic accident!” I yell the lie, strip off my jacket, and throw it over Agnar. Then I whisper-yell, “The non-magical humans aren’t seeing werewolves, they’re seeing naked kids. We need clothes—now!”

Skye pulls off her cardigan and wraps it around Astrid, and I unbuckle the leashes to avoid the awkwardness of any non-magical humans asking us about those.

Rune races toward Haute & Bothered and returns with one of the shadow fae dressmakers. She takes one look at the twins and flicks her fingers. Magic ripples through the air, and jeans, long-sleeved T-shirts, and sneakers appear on them. Instead of being trapped, their tails extend behind them, wagging with happiness.

“Thank you,” Rune says.

“Happy to help the town protector,” the tall graceful woman says to me, the wish swap still confusing my job with Rune’s.

“Can you also bespell our clothes to allow our tails to be free in our werewolf forms?” Riselda asks.

“Of course.” The shadow fae flicks her fingers toward Riselda and Rune, emitting another wave of magic.

The werepuppies trot over to the tulips. “Let’s play!”

“Sure, but be careful with them. They’re not as tough as you guys.”

“Me too!” Babybelle bleats, kicking her legs to be put down.

“Do you promise to be good?” I makemy tone stern. “This time there can’t be any mistakes like there were with the house shoes. The tulips are alive, and hurting them is serious.”

Babybelle stills and falls quiet, her eyes losing their usual mischievous gleam. “I really promise this time.”

I nod. “Okay. I love you, and I’m going to trust you, so make me proud.”

“I will!” As soon as I set her down, she goes over to the tulip she tried to nibble on and offers it a little lick of a goat kiss. “I’m sorry.”

Then the puppies start running, and the pumpkins tip onto their sides and give chase, rolling across the grass, their little faces flashing by in a blur. Babybelle gallops after them in the middle of the herd of tulips.

“That’s sure not something you see every day,” Kayla says, watching all of them play together.

Skye nods. “I love it.”

“Me too.” A grin stretches my cheeks.

“They finally shifted.” Riselda looks close to tears as she watches her children run about.

“They did.” Rune wraps an arm around her shoulders in a sideways hug, then looks at me. “Thank you.”

So much emotion fills his eyes, it takes my breath away.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Autumn

By the time the pumpkin carving contest begins at six that evening, we have everything set up on the town green. Lloyd’s pumpkin stand waits off to one side, ready to sell pumpkins to last-minute shoppers. The judging table sits in the middle, flanked on either side by tables set up as carving stations.