Page 11 of Wolves Always Bite

“No.”Gagescowled, obviously hating that we couldn’t go in and grab her now. “Toomany mundanes.Andwe don’t know who she had arranged to meet.Shemight have allies close.Thereare too many risks.”

“Okay.I’llfollow you,”Icalled over my shoulder asIreturned to my truck.

Jeremywas still in the cab.Hiseyes darted from me to the motorhome to whereBabettehad disappeared between the parked vehicles, but he still hadn’t run off.Yet.Isettled behind the steering wheel.Itook my time to check the mirrors and put on my seatbelt.Jeremydidn’t take the chance to jump out and run screaming away, soIfigured he was good to go.

“Areyou ready to head out?”

“Afterall that, that’s what you say?”

StillJeremystayed where he was.Withoutsaying anything more,Istarted the truck.Whenit purred to life, some of my tension uncoiled.Iwas sureBabettewould have taken the opportunity to mess something up while she was rolling around under my truck.Sofar so good, though, so maybe she hadn’t thought of it.Assoon as she’d feltGage’spresence, she’d probably decided it was best not to stick around.

“We’lltalk,”Isaid. “Butwe really need to leave now.Okay?”

“Fine.”Jeremyslumped in his seat. “Butyouwillanswer my questions.”

ChapterFour

JEREMY

"Fastenyour seatbelt,"Adriansaid.

WasAdrianeven his name?Hewas obviously not a regular guy and “Adrian” was a regular guy kind of name.Hehad to be a werewolf.Itdidn’t make sense, but at the same time it was the only thing thatdidmake sense.Itwas all very confusing and exciting as hell.

Icouldn’t wait to tellAshabout this.Ipulled out my phone.

Me:Doyou think paranormal creatures are real?

MyAmazingBFF:Why?

Me:Noreason…

Ishouldn’t have texted him.Thiswasn’t something you revealed via text message.Ineeded to break the news to him gently, in a way that he wouldn’t thinkIwas crazy…UnlessIwas crazy.

I’dnever hallucinated before, but there was always a first time for everything.Ipinched my arm.Wait, did that work in hallucinations or was it only used in dreams?

Ihunted around for clues this might be a hallucination brought on by heat exhaustion.Itwas pretty hot today after all.Theupholstery under my hand felt real.Thescent ofAdrian’sblood smelled real.Therumble of the engine sounded real.

Whatwas thatSherlockHolmesquote?Somethingabout if everything else had been eliminated, whatever remained had to be the truth.Soyeah.Thiswas real… and werewolves were real too.Butwho in the world named their werewolf sonAdrian?Heshould beFenrirorWolfgangor something equally momentous.Although, were there manyWolfgangsout there anymore?Wasit more of aEuropeanname?Orhad it hit its peak in the 18th century whenMozartwas around?

And…NowIhad “RockMeAmadeus” going through my head.Mymom had done her best to indoctrinate us with her unfortunate and everlasting obsession with ‘80s music.Andit had worked.Thesongs were always there, waiting to haunt me, even when my mind should be fully and completely distracted by the thought of werewolves.Because…Holyshit, there were werewolves in the world!HowhadInot known that?

ImeanI’dalways hoped, but…

Adrian—who was a freaking werewolf—stared at me with his pretty hazel eyes.Hisdark blond hair was long on top, flopping over his forehead in an adorable swoop.Itwas too perfect; he must have styled it that way.Mygaze leisurely explored the rest of his face.Hehad the strong jawline of anA-listHollywoodheartthrob and surprisingly plump lips.Lipsthat were currently kicking up on one side, like he found me amusing.Hewas still staring at me, like he was waiting for something.

Heeyed my phone.Right.Icouldn’t believeI’dtextedAshwhenAdrianwas waiting for me.Thiswhole supernatural discovery was messing with me.Mythoughts were spinning in a thousand different directions.Butwhy was he looking at me like that?

Oh, right.Seatbelts.

Itugged the seatbelt across my hips and chest and snapped it in place.Although, after today, the threat of motor vehicle accidents didn’t scare me much anymore, not when my boss turned out to be some kind of savage green monkey creature.Irubbed my forehead.Thiswas the strangest day ever.

Andthe moreIthought about it, the moreIknew that was all kinds of amazing.Whyhadn'tIpulled out my notebook and taken notes?Whata missed opportunity.Ishould have taken a few sketches or tried to catch a picture or something on my ancient and broken phone.

Itsucked about my job, though.Ineeded that money.

Whatwas the likelihood of her sending the money she owed me?Yeah,Iprobably shouldn’t hold my breath on that, as my father liked to say.Hell,I’dbe lucky if she didn’t call the cops on me.Like, had she not seen the thousand bucks?Ohwell, it was a crappy job anyway.Andfinding out about werewolves was so much better.

Because,werewolves.