Page 6 of Wolves Always Bite

Iopened my senses as much asIcould, which unfortunately weren’t as strong as ifIwas fully shifted, but they were better than nothing.Cloyingperfumes, rancid body odor, and the cacophony of too many people speaking all at once clattered over me.Inarrowed my hearing, zeroing in on the next booth, the one smelling of magic.Asteady heartbeat.Thecreak of a lawn chair shifting under someone’s weight.And… was that?Yes… a small voice.Itwas barely a mumble, but it was there.Muffled.Almostlost under everything else.That, along with the smell of magic, hinted that not all was what it seemed.

Ipulled out my phone and fired off another text toGagewith the booth number.Nothingmore.He’dknow what it meant.

Afew minutes later, knowing thatGagewould have someone in position to oversee my location—whether it was our illustrious leader himself or one of my teammates—Iedged toward the booth.

Behindthe table, a young man was reading under the sweltering sun, just outside the shade offered by the white canopy.Thelawn chair he sat on groaned under his weight as he lifted a water bottle to his mouth.Theguy’s eyes never left his book, giving me the opportunity to study him for a moment.Smallpale freckles covered his high cheek bones.Hisdark hair with its sandy colored highlights obscured his eyes from this angle.Hissoft-looking lips glistened with a touch of lip gloss.Andhis body—Icast my gaze over him—it was perfect.Hewas taller than most humans but still slender, just the right body to be easily manhandled into interesting positions without worrying he might break.

Inother words, he was exactly my type.

Well, except for the whole peddling magic thing.

Wasthe beautiful body a disguise?Aruse?Iinhaled again.Underthe chemical and artificial coconut smell of his sunscreen was his scent.Ianalyzed it for signs it was something other than what it seemed, but, in the end,Ididn’t detect any magic coming from him.Iwas sure the guy was a regular human.Butthat didn’t mean he didn’t know about magic or that he wasn’t well aware of what he was hawking.

Istepped up to the booth, watching the man from the corner of my eye.Ilightly caressed the items on display, working my way from an old metal toy car at one end of the table to a sequined handbag at the other end.Icouldn’t detect any magic.WhateverIsensed wasn’t displayed with these mundane human goods.Ofcourse, my hunt wouldn’t be so easy.Theman flipped a page in his book but didn’t look up.

Icleared my throat.

Ina flash, a scowl of irritation furrowed the man’s brow, but it was quickly washed away as he blinked and became aware of where he was.Ifhis reaction wasn’t an act, that book must have been pretty good.Theguy put his finger between the pages to hold his place.

“Hello.”Ismiled.

Allsupes had a natural camouflaging magic called a glamour that helped us blend in with humans andIwas no different.Itwas gifted to us by theEternalMagicherself.Withoutthe glamour, my features were too sharp, my canine teeth too long, and my eyes too wild to appear fully human.Butwith my glamour, everything softened.I’dbeen told more than once thatIwas unnaturally good-looking, whichIsupposed was better than appearing too wolfish amongst humans.

Mylooks were one of my best assets andIdidn’t shy away from using them.Infact, my smile was usually allIneeded to get information from regular humans.Basedon the way the man’s face lit up in obvious delight and he leaned forward in his chair, it was working again.Hepushed a bookmark between the pages of his book and dropped it to the ground without looking where it landed beside a water bottle and an empty disposable coffee cup.Hisbright green eyes never left mine.

“HowcanIhelp you, handsome?”

Nothingsuggested this human or this booth was otherworldly except for the faint scent of magic, soItrusted my gut and decided on a direct approach.

“Youhave quite an eclectic assortment,”Istarted. “Iam searching for something a little unusual and wondered if you have anything else that isn’t displayed.Somethingstrange.Ilike to give weird shit to my friends.Youknow, make them wonder what the hellIwas thinking whenIbought it.It’sbecome something of a running joke with us.Nowthey do it too.”

Theman’s gaze dropped to something under the table before darting back up to meet mine again. “Uh…”

“Youaren’t sure?”

Heshrugged. “Myboss left a little while ago and hasn’t come back yet.”

“Soyou don’t know anything about your product?”

“ImeanIknow about this stuff.”Hewaved at the goods displayed on the table. “Sortof.Okay.Ihaven’t been at the job that long, but my boss puts a lot of information on her price tags.Age.Origins.Thatkind of thing.”

Themuffled voiceIhad heard earlier was louder now.Thewords still weren’t distinct, but there was an urgency and desperation to the tone.

“Ihad such a good feeling about your booth,”Isaid. “Areyou sure you don’t have anything else?”

“Youknow what…”Hisgaze darted down again. “Thereare a couple of boxes.I’veonly peeked in the one, but, yeah, it’s full of weird things.Idon’t see whyBabettewould have taken them out of the van if they weren’t for sale.Shedidn’t tell me they weren’t.Althoughshewasa little distracted this morning.”

“I’dlove to see what you have,”Isaid.Ifthe guy was talking about the sameBabetteI’dknown years ago, whatever was under the table was exactly whatIwanted.We’dbeen trying to stop that goblin for years. “I’mAdrian, by the way.”

“Jeremy.”Theguy’s smile widened upon learning my name.Hisface seemed bright and guileless, andIhoped he wasn’t deceiving me.Hebent to slide a box out from under the table, then hoisted it onto the lawn chair that sat beside the one he’d been using. “Here, why don’t you come around the table so you can see inside the boxes better?Idon’t have anywhere to put them on the table.”

Ihesitated for a moment before joiningJeremybehind the table.Unlessthe guy was less human than he smelled and appeared, it should be safe enough.Butentering someone’s private territory, even if it was a temporary booth at a market, was always a risk.Myteam would be close, though.IfIneeded backup, they’d help.

“Wow, you look even bigger up close,”Jeremysaid, licking his glossy lips.Hisgaze scampered down my body and back up again.Hetilted his head back as his eyes caught on mine.Thetop of his head came up to my nose, which meant he was tall for a human.Mosthuman men only came up to my shoulders.

Mycheeks heated.Itwasn’t the first time someone had flirted with me; in fact,Idepended on my looks to get me answers, so flirting was to be expected.Butthe eagerness inJeremy’seyes triggered an unexpected and lust-filled response in me.Itfelt almost primal, animalistic.Visionsof howIcould bendJeremyover the table and take him right there flooded my head.Shit.Lusthad never hit so hard or fast before.Andmy attraction to another person was never so vivid or instantaneous.Iblinked and tried to remember whatIwas doing.

“Boxes?”Icroaked out, sounding like an idiot.