“Well, I’m never doing the OnlyStans thing again, so you could always start a cooking channel.”
“Aww, for real? We got a lot of followers. You really wanna let ‘em all down?”
“Absolutely,” I muttered while walking out of the kitchen. Adam was now scrolling on his phone, but instead of ignoring me, he smiled and looked up.
“We can still put that plan into motion.”
“You just want to have sex with him.”
“Well, yes. But I’ll be saving you at the same time. I can multitask,” he said, swiping through his phone again before going silent.
I let out an annoyed hiss and made the dreaded walk down the hallway toward the back door. As I stepped outside, a cool breeze washed over me, carrying hints of tobacco smoke. Mosavi sat still on one of our chairs, staring into the woods.
“You may as well not draw it out,” I said, sitting across from him. “I’ll pack my things.”
His ears pressed firmly against his head, but he didn’t respond. He wouldn’t even look in my direction.
“Nothing? Not going to yell at me like you did last night?”
It took him a moment, but he finally turned back around.
“I may have let my anger get a bit out of control.”
The chilly breeze picked up again, the piles of dead leaves tousled by short-lived whirlwinds as they danced through the yard. Mosavi took another puff of his cigar before exhaling loudly, his eyes half closed.
“What made you change your mind about those two?”
“That is a personal matter. Plus, it seems I don’t need to keep them in jail as punishment.”
“Yeah, I’m going to eventually need what you locked away, so maybe we can work out community service or something.”
He reached into his pocket and dangled a pair of keys in front of me.
“I’ll have these delivered to you in a few days. I think you’ll find your werewolves a little less unruly now. You will need to use the vironoct for the tall one, by the way. I’m putting that in your hands.”
“I still don’t understand what happened last night. What did you do to me?”
“That was you, not me. All I did was guide you along until something stopped me.” He paused and eyed my pants. “What’s in your pocket?”
“Your lighter.”
“Your other pocket.”
I was confused at first, but when I reached in, my fingers were met with the smooth opal-like stone.
“Damn. When did this get in there?” I pulled it out and handed it to Mosavi. “I was going to bring this up because you’re the only person who probably knows what this is, but…”
Mosavi examined the shiny stone, his nose wrinkling in disgust before he handed it back.
“Well, the damage has been done,” he said with a growl. “As soon as I am allowed back home, I will rub this revelation in her face.”
“Ahhh,” I said slyly as the elder werewolf’s ears folded back. “You’re in the doghouse.”
“I would choose my words a little more carefully.”
“Sorry,” I corrected, clearing my throat. “So, what is this thing?”
“I am not sure, but it is Whashan, which means you should get rid of it immediately.”
