Page 7 of Accidentally Wedded To A Werewolf

“You should go to the party,” Grandmother continued. “Everyone’s having fun. They’re good people.”

With that, she walked off down the hall toward the party.

Oliver took several deep breaths, like she’d taught him so long ago, and focused his hearing on the party. Thumping music. Endless chatter. Another peal of shrill laughter from one of his aunts, high and grating even through the multiple walls separating them.

Oliver took another deep breath. It didn’t calm him down. Nothing calmed him down nowadays—not his pack, not working on the stupid inn, not running. Hecouldn’t shift since the fire, so he didn’t even havethat. It would fix him, he was sure of it: his wolf running with his pack through the woods, being one with the forest and his family. He missed it like a phantom limb.

The water was reaching the top of the bucket. Oliver thought about doing something about it.

Instead, he turned and charged into the back rooms. Screw housewarmings, screw this inn, screw his family. A year ago, he would’ve been theperfectalpha. Now he was… what? Broken? Ruined? He couldn’t evenshift. What kind of adult wolf couldn’t even shift?

He bared his teeth as he ransacked the back room, searching for the bottle he’d glimpsed when he was sorting things earlier today. It must’ve been misplaced party supplies, maybe an offering from the townsfolk. The bottle looked old—no label, maybe homemade—and it definitely wasn’t supposed to be in the back room with all the inn’s paperwork.

Oliver pulled the cork out. It smelled familiar. The bottlelookedfamiliar, now that he had a proper look: slim and blue with a curled handle. It also stunk strongly of spirits. He’d been hoping for wine, something to ease him gently into drunkenness. But what the hell, he could cannonball into it instead. Better than going to the party and having to make small talk.

He tipped the bottle back and chugged. The bottle caught the fluorescent light. For a moment, the liquid almost looked like moonlight.

Three

It was a pretty ugly sign. The font was too small, the edges gilded with cheap, golden plastic. They didn’t even have a logo. Not that it mattered now, since it was broken in half and rapidly getting covered in snow.

Luna shivered, looking up at Musgrove Inn. It was, as the reviewer claimed, rough around the edges. The roof was crooked, the porch needed repainting, and it had a general air of disuse.

She stumbled through the snow, clutching her suitcase and cursing herself for wearing such thin clothing. Her skirt was already getting soaked, snow leaking into her boots every time she stepped in a fresh pile. Her jacket was cute, but not prepared for a snowstorm.

She struggled up the ramp and burst into an empty lobby.

“Hello,” she called, tugging her useless jacket tighter around her wet clothes. “Anybody here?”

No response. Luna dragged her damp suitcasetoward the front desk, eyeing a pair of buckets that were catching a steady stream of drips from the ceiling. One of them was overflowing.

“Not a great start,” she muttered as she stepped around the puddle. “Helloooo? Very cold, wet, and adorable woman here… I would love a hot towel!”

Nothing. Luna leaned over the front desk and rang the service bell. Then she rang it again. Then a few more times just for good measure. She didnotwant to go back out in that snow. Also, she had to tell the manager she broke their ugly sign.

She was about to start yelling again when a man stumbled out of the back room.

Whoa, Luna thought. She’d been expecting a minotaur or some sort of bird dude. As far as she could tell, this guy glaring at her was… just a guy. A grumpy, stupidly gorgeous guy with a too-tight shirt who was glaring at her like she’d kicked his puppy. Maybe he was a vampire. Or a shifter. Shifters looked human, right? Luna knew a couple of cat people in high school. They looked normal everywhere except that one time they got into a massive fight in the cafeteria and started growing whiskers and clawing each other.

“Hi,” Luna started, trying to stop her teeth from chattering. “Do you have a room available?”

The guy stared at her. He still looked annoyed, but mostly he looked confused. He looked down, and Luna realized with a start that he was holding a big fancy bottle and swaying slightly.

Luna let out an incredulous giggle. “Um, isthere a party? I’d love to join, but I’m kind of freezing my butt off, so… Can I have a room?” She looked pointedly back at the overflowing buckets. “And can I expect my room to be as well-maintained as the lobby?”

The guy’s eyes flashed gold. He bared his teeth, and Luna gasped as she saw a hint of fangs.

“You’re a werewolf.”

“We all are,” Hot Jackass said. He straightened, broad shoulders getting even wider. “Is that a problem?”

“No,” Luna said. She lifted her chin, trying to remember her Power Pose training. “Wait, the wholetownare werewolves?”

“What?” Hot Jackass scowled. “No. Just us. Figured Claw Haven needed some wolves.”

“I hope they’re just as friendly.” Luna gave him her cutest smile, curling a strand of hair around her finger. “So… Cards on the table. I crashed into your sign.”

Hot Jackass blinked. He had very long eyelashes.

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