Page 9 of Enemy Wolf

But would this dragon know?

My arm continued to ache and throb, a constant reminder of last night. Not like I needed the reminder, that horrible scene kept playing over and over in my head.

“Fuck.” I let the back of my head hit the headboard. There was truly no way out of this that I could see. Not one that wasn’t too risky.

The sound of beating wings outside my window sent my heart racing. Sweet moon, he was back already?

I scrambled to the corner of the wall, hissing at the pain of my arm scraping against the bed sheets. Still, I pulled the blankets up to my chin and tried to make myself as small as possible.

“Hey Shiloh, you up?” called a familiar voice. “I got my hands full, can’t knock.”

I sagged with relief and almost laughed at myself. Of course, those were the feathered wings of an angel beating outside my door. Not the scales and skin of a dragon.

“Give me a minute, Kaz!” I yelled before climbing out of bed.

It took a lot of gritting my teeth and fighting back tears to pull a blouse on over the mark. Then I hunted in my bathroom for something to wrap around my arm, because regular ol’ band-aids weren’t going to do it. I settled for just wrapping my arm in gauze for the time being, again biting against the pain of the fabric pressing on the mark.

When I opened the front door, Kaz was still hovering in mid-air, his wings keeping a steady beat to stay elevated. It was impressive, considering he was holding a keg in each hand, presumably full of beer.

“You never get tired of showing off, do you?” I grinned, leaning against the jamb.

He shrugged, another impressive feat with the weight on each of his hands. “It’s a good wing workout.”

“Uh-huh.” I started down the stairs while he steadily dropped in altitude to keep up with me.

The kegs touched the ground when I did, and then Kaz’s booted feet followed. He rolled his wrists, the veins popping in his tattooed forearms. His rust-colored wings tucked in closer to his back now that they were no longer in use.

“Gonna feel light as a feather when I fly home,” he said, stretching his arms above his head.

“I bet.” I leaned over to inspect the kegs. “So what do you got for me?”

“A gruit, which I believe your witch clientèle would like.” He touched one finger to the first keg’s cap, then the other. “And my favorite. A red ale, for the autumnal season coming up.”

“Great, I’ll put it on during the equinox,” I said, heading for my cold storage. “I got clean empties for you.”

Just when I started to think about how nice it was to be distracted by regular work talk, Kaz asked, “Are you okay, Shiloh?”

“Yeah, of course!” I said, making my voice more chipper while avoiding eye contact as I unlocked things. “Why do you ask?”

“You just seem a little on edge, that’s all.”

Damn angels and their empathic abilities to sense emotions.

“Just a long night.” I held up my bandaged arm for a second before returning it close to my body. “Little accident with a broken glass, that’s all.”

“Oh shit. Well, don’t move that stuff. I got it.” Kaz darted into my cold box, effectively blocking me from going in with that wingspan of his. In the work of a moment, he removed my empty kegs and brought in the two new ones he just flew over.

“Thanks,” I muttered.

To say angels were chivalrous by nature was an understatement. Some believed their old-fashioned ways were misogynistic, and in some practices, that might have been true. I heard that female angels were put on a pedestal, quite literally. They were revered as precious, almost sacred beings, but that came with a lot of archaic restrictions such as never being able to leave the territory without a male escort.

Those were the rumors, at least. Despite working with Kaz’s brewery since my bar opened, I’d never spent much time in Helios City, the angel territory which was also a huge, sprawling metropolis. I preferred the wildness of Vargmore. Every rock, animal, and blade of grass here was a sponge, absorbing the moon’s magic. The same magic that beat through me and awoke the beasts of the werewolves.

In the few times I visited Helios City, I felt cut off from my magic. I might as well have my sense of taste or smell removed. So, my visits to the angel territory were few and far between. Usually they were business trips to Kaz’s brewery, so it wasn’t all bad.

“There you go, all set.” Kaz closed everything back up with a warm smile. He was a rare kind of angel, one who didn’t mind physical labor and getting his hands dirty. That was probably why he ran the only brewery in Helios City. Good thing he was a masterful brewer as well.

“Thank you, Kaz. You didn’t have to—”

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