Page 7 of Night Owl Books

The werewolf stepped out from the bookcases. He and the raptor nodded and then turned away from each other.

Another SUV came up the hill. What the hell was going on? A man and a woman got out of the first SUV but waited for the second one to park. This one I knew. It was the officer from last night. All three climbed the stairs and came in together.

“What areyoudoing here?” the wolf asked the woman.

“This one brought me,” she said, tipping her head at the tall and very broad-shouldered Black man standing behind her. She was crazy beautiful, even in paint-spattered overalls. She had long curly hair in an amazing mix of brown, red, black, and gold. Her bright green eyes surveyed the bookstore before landing on me. “Hi.”

My gaze moved back and forth between all of them. “Hello.” Wary of five supernaturals all appearing at the same time in my home, I took a step toward the back door. The Native guy sneered at my retreat, which made me want to swipe him with my talons.

The woman moved between the Native guy and me. She held up a gloved hand to him and said, “Stop it.” She turned to me.“Sorry. Clearly no one told you we were coming. Please excuse us for invading your space.”

The officer from last night held out his hand to the woman. “I’m Nick Garra. You work with my cousin.” He gestured to the other Black man.

I saw the resemblance now.

The woman glanced down at his hand. “I mean no disrespect, but I’d prefer not. Even with the gloves, things can slip through.”

The officer looked between the woman and his cousin and said, “Of course. I forgot. Sorry about that.”

The officer turned to me. “Orla, I tried to call earlier, but you didn’t pick up.”

I checked my phone and shook my head. “Service is spotty here.”

“Oh, okay,” he said. “Let’s start with introductions and then I’ll explain.” He pointed to the Native man. “That’s Kaknu. He’s Ohlone and a falcon shifter.” He turned to the werewolf who had arrived first. “Declan?”

The wolf nodded. “I’m Declan, Alpha of the Big Sur pack.”

Officer Garra held out his hand. “You’re the one who defeated Logan.”

Declan nodded again and they shook.

“Good,” Garra said. “That guy was a dick.”

His cousin cleared his throat and the cop shrugged. “He was. He rarely showed up. When he did, he complained he was missing a hot date. And it was impossible to keep the guy off his phone.”

“You won’t have that trouble with the new Alpha,” the woman said. “I’m his hot date and I have to be here too.” She waved at me. “I’m Arwyn. I’m a wicche and the representative of the Corey Council. My mom had the gig, but once I joined the council, she pawned it off on me.” She glanced at the men. “No offense.”

The man still standing by the door stepped forward. “And I’m Arthur Osso, Nick’s cousin. I’m a detective with the Monterey Police Department and a black bear shifter.”

Nick turned back to me. “I’m black bear on my mom’s side—Arthur’s aunt—and grizzly on my dad’s.” He glanced around and said, “And this is Orla. She’s an Eurasian eagle-owl shifter and owner of Night Owl Books.”

He turned back to me and I made the mistake of looking straight at him. Shit. I looked down at the table and moved my book closer to my tablet.

“We can’t send human police officers after supernaturals,” he explained. “So, when we find—like last night—that we have a supernatural preying either on humans or our own kind, we’re the ones who track him and put him down.”

“Or her,” Arwyn said.

“Right,” Nick agreed. “You seemed to enjoy investigating last night, so we wanted to see if you’d like to work with us.”

“And you have a great meeting place here,” Arwyn said. “Let’s not pretend that didn’t play a role in this invitation.”

Arthur moved forward and stood beside his cousin. They shared a certain family resemblance, but where Arthur looked stern and forbidding, Nick was, well, charming and open.

“Nick and I discussed the incident last night,” Arthur said. “He said he was impressed with your insights. We always need help, and having a large meeting place like this that’s open all night is ideal. Neighbors aren’t too close and everyone is used to vehicles showing up at all hours of the night.”

They were offering me a place on the investigative team. I’d be a part of thewe. I’d worked hard to build this quiet little life. I was content. I didn’t need new complications. In the back of my head, though, I heard my mom telling me to get out and live a little. “What would I need to do?”

“The kind of thing we did last night,” Nick replied. “We investigate crimes—or the threat of crimes. Predators with gifts like ours are too deadly to go unchecked.”

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