I’m panting heavily by the time I reach Marv, who gives me a cheeky grin; I get the sense this big guy can’t wait to repay me for getting arrested. I’ve managed to best every werewolf up until this point, but my cuts have re-opened on my hands and knees, and the lastwerewolf landed a punch to my gut that’s left me nauseous.
Our eyes lock, and Marv starts to look away, but it’s a feint; he charges sideways, slamming into me and sending me skidding across the polished wooden boards.
“Oof!” I mutter, scrambling to my feet. We lock arms in a semi-crouch and spin ourselves around, each of us trying to hook a foot around the other guy’s leg to trip him.
Marv taunts me through his snout, “Wittle Wolf-fy, what’z wro-ng-g?” Then he breaks free, jams his head into my stomach, and sends me reeling backward onto the floor. He pins me down, and I glance away to indicate he’s won.
We slowly rise from the floor, and he nods at me before accepting a towel from one of the women… but I’m not done yet. I still have to face the pack beta and alpha.
When I look into Rob’s eyes, he wrinkles his nose and folds his arms across his chest, never breaking eye contact. Confused, I cock my head to the side. Wrong move; Rob spins around, landing a flying kick to my stomach, and I drop like a stone. When he kneels over me, I avert my gaze, and he gives me a hand up.
I turn toward Jake and stare into the golden flecks in his irises; by now I’m bruised, bloody, and wheezing. Jake takes two steps, throws a right hook that catches me in the jaw, and I crumple to my knees. Jake flips me onto the floor, pins my shoulders, and I close my eyes; it’s finally over.
All that remains is for the Bay Howlers to decide ifthey’ll accept me into their pack. Rob helps me up and guides me into the locker room. Dropping my clothes onto one of the benches, he barks at me in wolf-speak, “Fir-rst aid-d kit… Bath-R-room. Shift-t. Wash-sh. Dr-r-ress. Wait-t.”
After he leaves, I lean one hand wearily against a locker, grimace at the bloody pawprint I’ve left on it, and head into the shower.
Thirty minutes later I’m bandaged, dressed, and standing in front of Jake, who’s flanked by his pack on either side of him; they form a semicircle around me. Someone’s cleaned up the blood stains on the floor, which smells of fresh lemon oil.
Everyone has shifted back into their human forms and clothes, but they look so solemn and serious that I can’t read the room. I swallow nervously, figuring I must have failed to win their approval. Then Jake grins and shouts, “Let’s welcome our newest pack member, Teddy Barker!”
After nearly dying in a fight with my last pack beta three years ago and wondering whether I’d ever fit in elsewhere, it’s finally happened—I belong to a pack again!
The room erupts in cheers and applause, and suddenly men and women are pumping my hand and clapping me on the back. I feel my eyes growing moist with gratitude, but I inhale a shaky breath, stuffing down my emotions.
There’s only one thing that would make this night perfect, and that’s having Sophie by my side.
Unfortunately, she has other plans for this evening.
I choose to ignore the pang in my chest when I think of Sophie out with someone else tonight. Instead, I follow Jake, Rob, and the rest of the pack downstairs for a celebratory brew, or in my case, root beer.
Tomorrow is soon enough for me to begin planning my campaign to win over Sophie Spellman Brownlee, my somewhat disheveled but undeniably delectable faerie boss.
Chapter 18
Sunset Cruise
SOPHIE
Later, June 24
It’s nearly three; I’m staring out the kitchen window, thinking about clipped wings and pack meetings, when my smoke detector starts blaring. Zosia shrieks, “Pah!” and tears out of the kitchen as I dash over to the oven and pull open the door. Dang! I just burned the batch of almond-crunch cookies I was planning on bringing tonight.
I grab a pair of oven mitts, pull out the offending tray of singed cookies, and put them on the stove to cool before dumping them. Then I climb up on one of my kitchen chairs, twist off the smoke detector’s cover, pull out the battery, and pitch in in the trash.
I’m sure Teddy would lecture me about fire safety if he saw me, but I’m so frustrated with him and Jake for their mysterious “werewolf business” that I feel likestomping right over to the fire station and demanding an explanation. And then there’s Granny Catbeam, who utterly humiliated me by binding my magicforhalf a year!That’s practically barbaric! Auntie Dragonfly’s magic was only bound for one lunar cycle, according to the archives.
Frowning, I’m surprised to discover I’m just as upset about Teddy’s weird departure as I am about my missing magic… which is a revelation I’ll need to ponder when I have more time.
Staring at my pan of ruined cookies, I realize it’s time for me to choke down my pride and beg my mom for a tray of her caramel-fudge brownies; I can’t turn up empty-handed at the boat, and I don’t know anyone who can resist Phoebe Spellman’s brownies.
The last of the café’s customers have just left when I slip through the back entrance. I poke my head inside my dad’s shiny, stainless steel kitchen; he’s whistling as he wipes down the counters, but he glances up when he hears me enter. Then he opens his arms and wraps me in a bear hug that makes my eyes water.
“How are you holding up, honey?” My dad’s a huge, baldheaded, bearded Irish kitchen faerie, commonly referred to as a brownie; he’s also a big softy, and I absolutely adore him. Since it’s after hours, he’s dropped his glamour. Dad’s wings are tightly furled against his back to prevent any feathers from catching fire; his dark eyebrows slant upward, and his faerie ears rise into points.
“I’m alright,” I sniffle. “I don’t have any choice butto carry on.”
“If you need any… er…” Dad lowers his voice. “Help of a magical nature, let me know. Just between us.”
