Page 43 of Wicked Witch of the Wolf

“She’s not in the pack and doesn’t know any rats in town. Gods help us all, you two will be the first.”

“We’ll take good care of her.” Kale immediately shifted. A brown rat poked out of the shorts and scampered onto my coffee table.

“Hang on, Denzel,” I said, when he appeared ready to do the same. “I need to explain a couple of things.” I gave them a brief rundown of Maya’s situation. I needed to hammer in the danger of allowing her to leave the protection of the park grounds.

Denzel nodded at all the right parts then said, “No whiskers, huh? That really makes it tough. We’ll be extra careful with her, right, Kale?”

The rat stood on his hind feet and nodded.

“Inside the park grounds only. Watch out for witches,” I repeated.

“Got it.”

“Okay, Maya,” I called over my shoulder, “you can come out now.”

A pink nose appeared around the bathroom door. Slowly, cautiously, the small white rat made her way into the living room.

Kale’s rat brought his tiny hands to his mouth in a comical look of surprise.

Denzel gasped. “H-hello.”

Maya climbed onto the coffee table and touched noses with Kale, who continued looking stunned.

“Maya, this is Kale and Denzel. Guys, this is Maya. Please keep her safe. She’s important to me.”

Denzel was nodding before I’d finished speaking. “We will.” He ducked his head. “Nice to meet you, Omega.”

“Omega?” I’d heard some talk in the shifter world about omegas, but I had no idea what they were. “I’d heard white rats were good luck, but what’s an omega?”

“Her color doesn’t matter. It’s her presence.” Denzel smiled. His shoulders dropped, and the lines in his face smoothed. “An omega isa peacemaker. The presence of an omega in a pack is a gift. Why didn’t we know you were in Smokethorn?”

“She mentioned not being allowed to shift for a long time.”

“I’m sorry.” His mouth drooped and his voice softened. “That must’ve been awful.”

Maya lowered her head.

“Will you let us out, Betty?” Denzel asked. “I’m going to shift now.”

“Of course.”

His rat was a little darker brown than Kale’s, but they were similar in size. About the length of a woman’s size eight shoe.

All three made a fast dash to the door. I gathered up their clothing and let them out, showed them how to get into the garden room to change when they were finished running around, and watched as they scampered off.

I set to work puttering around the garden room. It was nearly eleven, but the interior had plenty of illumination from the sparkling fairy lights I’d strung up. I loved this room at night. It looked as magical as it was.

And yet, even my beautiful, peaceful room couldn’t stop my brain from spinning in circles.

There was nothing wrong. Not really.

Our rescue plan had gone off without a hitch. Well, one Floyd-sized hitch, but that had ended without anyone dead, so I considered it a win.

Maya was safe. I’d alerted Bronwyn and Margaux through an anonymous text message on a burner phone. Desmond hadn’t shown up on my doorstep to kill me, and we hadn’t brought any hexes home. The protection spell would’ve alerted me.

The problem was, I was dying to know what Maya had in that paper bag she’d brought from the house. What was so important to Desmond that she’d risked going back into a place she was terrified of being trapped inside? I was insanelycurious.

And yet…

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