Page 8 of Wishing for a Werewolf

“You fell?” Hannah asks, concern filling her voice.

“No, Rune caught me.”

“Oh, my god,” Skye gasps, stars in her eyes. “That’s so romantic!”

I tamp down my body’s memory of being held against his firm chest and focus on what happened after. “Yeah, well, it sure wasn’t romantic when he accused me of casting some kind of spell on him.”

“Did you?” Naomi asks.

“No!” I blurt, chopping at the air with my hand.

Kayla lifts an eyebrow. “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

“NiceHamletreference.” Skye offers Kayla a fist bump.

I huff and slump back against the couch. “Okay, maybe I did. But if so, it wasn’t on purpose.”

“Any idea what kind of spell it was?” Violeta asks.

“Zip. Zero. Zilch.” I take a big bite of cupcake, lettingthe sweet, sweet buttercream coat my tongue and take away my problems for a hot second.

“One of you needs to make some kind of magical-power detector.” Jasmine’s head swivels as she eyes everyone. “Just saying. Sure would be handy right about now.”

“It does feel like the fae should be able to do that,” Skye says. “You know, wave a crystal over us and see what color it turns or something.”

“Trust me, if the fae had a way to determine magical abilities, Severin would totally have done it for me.” Hannah gives a wry smile. “It would have made the bride trialssomuch easier.”

Because he’s a king, my bestie had to win a magical competition to prove she was “worthy” to marry her shadow daddy. She’s deliriously happy with Severin, but give me a working-class guy any day.

“Rune’s fae,” Skye says. “Couldn’t he tell what kind of spell it was?”

“He’s a shifter.” I shrug and take a sip of my drink, the fruity sweetness completely disguising the taste of the rum. “He says that’s the only kind of magic he has.”

Hannah grins and bumps her shoulder against mine. “Sounds like it’s your turn to go through magical bootcamp to figure out what your power is.”

I shoot her a mock glare and toss a crunch berry at her, which she catches and pops into her mouth with a triumphant chomp.

“I’ll get out all of the magical history books in the morning for a research sesh,” Naomi says.

“I made copies of the best interlibrary-loan books onwitches,” Skye adds.

“I can bring all the magic wands that Severin gathered from Faerie,” Hannah says.

Kayla pulls several out of the small backpack she wears as a purse. “And I’ve got some human-made ones.”

“It’s decided then. I’ll see you in the morning.” Naomi drinks the last of her cocktail and stands. “But for now, it’s time I got home to my husband. Close up the shop for me?” she asks Hannah.

“You know I will.”

After a quick round of hugs, Naomi blinks out of existence, teleporting north to the waterfall that gives the town its name. It’s also the location of the door to Faerie, where she lives in an adorable orc village with cottages made out of living trees. She might technically have the longest commute ever when it comes to distance, but her magical power makes it one of the fastest.

The rest of us linger a bit, finishing our cupcakes and cocktails more slowly. One by one, everyone says their goodbyes and leaves until it’s just me, Hannah, Skye, and Kayla.

The door opens, and Finn races in. The fox familiar runs straight for Hannah, talking in excited yips only she can understand.

“Yes, I saved you one.” She tosses a crunch berry toward him, and he snaps it out of the air.

“He wouldn’t leave me alone,” a deep voice says from the doorway, where Severin stands, all long flowing black hair and dark tattoos covering his pale skin. In black leather pants and a majorly unbuttoned shirt, the shadow fae looks like afantasy bad boy come to life. “Finn missed you.”