Page 45 of Werewolves and Witches AU

“I know my taste in partners is… questionable, but some confidence in my ability not to trip and fall on that—even after a bottle of Shiraz—would be nice from my best friend.”

“Okay.” I nod through a teary smile. “But jokes aside for a minute, on my little dreamscapade—”

“That’s not a word.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“What do you call the adventure you have when you’re astrally travelling, then?”

A long silence begets the slurp of his drink. “Yeah, you got me there. So, on your dreamscapade…”

“Yeah.” I nod again, smiling wide at my win. “Have you ever heard of an enchantment called the Luna del Lupo?”

Ray sucks in an audible breath. “What do you know about what happened at the coven today, Miles?”

“Only what you said earlier. I was on my way to see you actually, but then…” I cut myself off as the memory fills my mind of Rowan’s hazel eyes drifting over my face when he made me promise to keep him and the Dogs a secret else risk losing his protection. “I ran into an old friend and went for a coffee—lost track of time. You know me.”

Ray exhales a soft laugh. “So, I can’t say much because both the Witches Council and the Coven Leader want this kept quiet. But. Do you remember our Historian, Clara, and her human partner, Georgie?”

I chew on my bottom lip while I think; it’s been a few years, but yes, the name is familiar. I don’t think I ever met Georgie, but Clara wasn’t much older than me. Although, if I’m thinking of the right person, then she used to act like she was.

“The Luna del Lupo,” Ray explains. “Is a Roman-era hair pin that Georgie stole from our vault this morning and then tried to sell to a group of unidentified werewolves.”

My shocked gasp is genuine. Immediately, my mind turns to the Dogs. They’d grilled me all morning over what I knew about the Luna del Lupo, and not once did they mention they’d been inside my coven—former coven—right as Ray had also been there. Right when there’d been an explosion that had caused fatalities.

“We don’t know much more, because both Clara and Georgie are dead.”

Feeling suddenly light-headed, I stare down at my hand in the dark. Hands that Rowan’s bloodied ones had held only hours ago as that Scottish brogue had drawled, “Not my blood, Pup.”

“Did the wolves…” I can barely bring myself to form the words.

“That’s the thing we can’t understand—because no. We don’t think so. Georgie and Clara were both killed by blowback from a magical ward that carried Clara’s signature. By the time any of us could get through to the upstairs room, the werewolves had already gotten out through a hole in the roof.”

My body physically deflates with the confirmation that the Dogs weren’t directly involved in the death of a witch, and the plastic sheet beneath me rustles.

“Officially, the Witches Council have ruled Clara and Georgie’s deaths as a murder-suicide. And here’s the kicker—the werewolves didn’t even attempt to take the pin they’d apparently come for. It was still in Georgie’s hand, and the Witches Council confiscated it. More intriguing is that the hairpin isn’t even an artifact, just a heritage item from a strong Family Line that’s rumoured to have died out a couple of thousand years ago.”

“And the wolves?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Got away without leaving anything identifiable behind, as if they were never there.”

Relief, stark and profound, triggers a smile that can only be described as manic. The Dogs were telling the truth. They went there looking for the Luna del Lupo, and when they realised that the hairpin wasn’t it, they left. “Wow.”

Ray takes another sip of his drink. Wine, probably. “Yeah, pretty much sums it up. The Witches Council are looking for them of course, so I guess, Miles, that if you happen across any werewolves in Roanoke in the next couple of days, don’t engage. We don’t know what they were really looking for—but it obviously wasn’t a hair pin.”

I laugh, then Ray laughs. “Anyway, why were you asking about it?”

I’d hoped Ray would know what it is. Everyone is looking for it, apparently I have it, and while I do, I can’t return home. But I can’t tell Ray any of that, so I shrug. “I came across it while I was on my dreamscapade, but I wonder now if maybe I was picking up on what was happening at the coven?”

“Yeah, that makes sense. You’ve always had a keen intuition—as I learned when it guided you to the truth about Andrew.”

I snort another laugh, because yes, that’s exactly what had uncovered my boyfriend cheating on both of us. Which, in turn, had gifted me my best friend.

But despite my smile, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed—I’d hoped for more information than Ray has. Like, what’s the connection between me and this Luna del Lupo? How come Time Guy thinks I’m in possession of it? What even is it?

Ray stifles a yawn. “Miles, it’s been one hell of a day, so do you mind if we pick this up at the weekend? I’ve ordered takeout and it’s on its way, then I think I might sleep for the next two days.”