“Wait. Did you say vegan?”
“I did. They aren’t common, but we have one right here in Ravenstone. I’m sure you’ll meet him if you stay around. His name is Mellgren. Just don’t ask him too many questions about it. It’s a sore subject. Also, you know you can use the word vampire, right?”
“Okay, I have so many questions. But not right now. Right now, I need to focus on Elwood. So, self-defense is out. Howabout someone finding out and thinking killing a vampire was a noble thing to do? I mean, people have hunted those… uh…vampiresfor centuries, right?”
He was so cute.
“First off, I didn’t say self-defense was out, just that it wouldn’t be because he tried to bite them. Second of all, you’ve watched way too many horror movies. Ravenstone is a safe haven for people like Winston, so no one here would stake him for being a vampire.”
“Wait a minute. Ravenstone is a safe haven forthem? Really?”
“Vampires and other such creatures.” Maybe if I used the word vampire enough, it’d normalize it for him. “I think you need to talk to your grandfather about that. I’m sure he’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.”
“Hold on, he called Tulip a mermaid. Is she actually a mermaid? Like, a for-real mermaid?”
“Yes, she is.”
“Wow. That explains so much. All these years he’s been talking about all these different mythical creatures and types of magic. None of us believed him. My mom called him eccentric, and my dad said he was off his rocker, but no one thought he was serious.”
“I can see why you would think that if you didn’t know.”
“It all just seemed like a story he was making up. He talked about a hedge witch who ran a flower shop and a Fae who ran a café. He laughed about that one because he said they always tell you not to take food from the Fae, but how her personal code forbids magical manipulation of her customers.” His eyes widened, and he licked his lips nervously. “And a werewolf who owned the pub next door. That’s you, right? That’s why you said you had an above-average sense of smell.”
I could tell he was trying to decide whether he should stay or run. He picked up the napkin he’d been folding earlier and twisted it in his hands.
I nodded. “Yes, Declan, that’s me. But I’m a wolf shifter, not a werewolf.”
“What’s the difference?” He stared at my mouth like he was trying to gauge the size of my canines.
“Well, wolf shifters are real, and werewolves are stories humans made up to try to explain what they didn’t understand. When in their animal forms, shifters aren’t mindless animals. They’re still themselves for the most part, just in a different form. Also, shifters don’t feel compelled to shift on the full moon, although it’s one of their favorite times to run in their animal forms.”
“You saytheyandwelike that doesn’t apply to you.” Now he was looking me in the eye. Of course he was, because he was confronting me with something I’d hoped he hadn’t noticed.
I winced and blew out a breath. I never liked talking about my failures, but I really didn’t want to reveal my failures to Declan. I wasn’t sure why, but I wanted him to see me as strong and capable—not weak and pathetic, the way my family saw me.
“I don’t have the ability to shift.” I shrugged. “Most wolf shifters shift for the first time when they go through puberty, but I didn’t. I can feel my wolf. He’s in there, and he wants out—badly. Always has. For some unknown reason, it doesn’t happen.”
I fought back memories of that horrible night. Thankfully, I only remembered part of it. We’d always known there was a problem with my wolf. Most shifters had their first shift as a young child, but not me. I was fourteen before my wolf came forward. The feeling of my bones cracking and my body growing and growing. The pain had been excruciating as my body tried to rearrange itself to allow my form to shift and my wolf tosurface. One glorious moment where everything was more vivid—the smells, the colors, the sounds… and then nothing. I had no memory of what else happened that night.
My parents hadn’t been there, but they said our alpha told them I hadn’t been able to complete the shift. That I’d gone almost feral in a half-shifted state, and the healers had been forced to use their magic to force me back to my human state. They’d been so disappointed—not that they said so, but I could tell.
Everything I’d told him was true. I wasn’t able to shift forms, and shifters didn’t feel compelled by the moon, but I didn’t tell him that, for some reason, I would swear I could feel my wolf right near the surface, like he might burst free every single full moon, almost like the legends of old did hold weight of some kind. Of course they didn’t, and my wolf had never been able to complete the shift.
“That must be terrible for you,” Declan said, his voice so sincere it pulled me back to the present, away from the past.
“It’s bad for me. It’s horrible for my wolf. Anyway, let’s get back to the murder.” Maybe he wasn’t the only one who had to deal with denial.
I didn’t know if it was the shock of learning that his grandfather had been telling the truth all along, if he could tell I didn’t want to talk about my wolf, or if he just wanted to get back on track, but he didn’t push for me to talk about it any further.
“Okay. No one was surprised Winston was a vampire so that means it must’ve been his winning personality that got him killed. So, the question is… who wanted him dead?”
Chapter Seven
Questioning the hypocrite (aka my prime suspect)
Declan
While I’d been talking to Gideon, people started filling up the pub. I supposed that made sense. It was lunchtime. Hushed conversations rose up all around us, at least they had been until I’d asked who would want Winston dead.
