Page 31 of Enemy Wolf

Sawyer laughed and gestured to the werewolves at the table. “That was probably one of our fathers.”

“My uncle, maybe,” Fallon said. “He didn’t like humans.”

I knew for a fact it wasn’t my father. But I chose to keep that to myself.

“My mom was living in Ireland.” The human man rubbed his wife’s upper back. “Lots of people believed in the fae folk back then, all kinds of magical tricksters, monsters, and bogeymen, you know. They had these ancient ritual sites, giant stone circles that were said to be portals to the fairy realms. Well, my grandma was a rebel for her time. So she and her friends decided to visit one of the stone circles on the night of a full moon.”

“That’s not a recipe for hijinks at all.” Sawyer chuckled.

“So they go out there. They’re drinking whiskey and smoking cigars they stole from their fathers. Mom thought she must have passed out. The next thing she knew, she woke up and it was daylight.” The human cast a conspiring glance across the table. “And you can probably guess what happened next.”

Aria’s eyes flashed. “A growling wolf in her face?”

“A whole pack of ‘em!”

The table burst into laughter and declarations like, “Oh shit!”

“I’m just glad we can all sit at a table and eat together now.” Riley clasped her hand in Sawyer’s, whose eyes never left his mate’s face.

“Times have changed for the better,” he agreed with a low murmur.

When he brought her hand up to his lips to kiss the back of her palm, that was when my dumb mouth decided to open itself. “Fuck, Sawyer. Where’d you get that?”

I hadn’t noticed before that Sawyer had a long black mark running down the back of his hand, from the knuckle of his middle finger to his wrist. The skin was raised and cracked like the bark of a burnt tree.

The other wolf shot me a casual smile despite the whole table looking concerned. “Ah, this is nothing,” he said. “Just burnt myself on the barbecue. It looks worse than it is.”

“Might want to clean your barbecue,” Fallon said, his eyes rapt on Sawyer’s mark. Looks like you got a bunch of soot embedded in that burn.”

“It’s really no big deal.” Sawyer’s voice went lower, serious and cold as he met Fallon’s stare. “I can handle a little burn.”

“I hope you can.”

The two of them were speaking in some coded language. Everyone’s eyes except Riley’s bounced between the two wolves like spectators at a ping-pong match. Sawyer’s mate just hugged both arms around his bicep, leaning her head on his shoulder. A show of support, if even protection.

A pair of doors burst open right then, and a line of people emerged from the kitchen, all carrying platters of food. Bodhi, the man who greeted us at the door, led the procession carrying a massive carved turkey. Derric followed right behind him with the crown roast. A human woman followed behind him with a honey-glazed ham.

“Vargmore friends, I hope you’re all ready to eat!” Bodhi laughed jovially as he set the turkey down at the main table.

Once the main dishes were set, more people streamed out of the kitchen with sides. There were casseroles, salads, root vegetables, and every type of grain dish you could imagine.

Bodhi bustled around the smaller tables as the dishes were set out, encouraging people to get started. “Please, don’t wait for us. Help yourselves and find a seat. There’s plenty enough for everyone!”

I stood up when our small table got moving, everyone encouraging the pregnant human woman to fill her plate first. It was only dawning on me then how important this holiday was to the humans. The main table, stretching nearly as long as the entire room, was filled with candles and matching table settings for each person. And people were still bringing out dishes.

Something citrusy with a hint of spice hit my nose, and I stifled a groan. Whoever cooked something with the exact same scent profile I’d been trying to avoid was fucking cruel. My wolf whined under my skin. He missed that scent so damn much.

I took a seat at the big table next to Sawyer, who was engaged in conversation with Riley on his other side. The benches filled up quickly as the kitchen volunteers finished up behind the double doors and came to eat. I was mid-swallow on a beer that I promptly choked on when the last of the kitchen staff came to the table and that incredible scent hit me so hard, I could have been taking a bite out of the fruit itself.

No, it can’t be.

I didn’t want to look but the pull of her was so strong, my resistance was laughable.

Shiloh’s eyes darted away the moment they met mine, her face carefully blank as she found a seat that was thankfully not in my field of vision.

Fucking moon, why is she here?

The answer was obvious in hindsight. The witches of Vargmore were closely tied to the human community. Of the non-shifters at this feast, the split was probably fifty-fifty human and witch. A better question was, why the fuck did it not occur to me that she would be here?

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