Page 11 of Midlife Shifter Unexpected

“I’m a werewolf,” I gasped, choking the words out in a hushed rush. My jaw dropped open as I turned to gape at Mae. “And you shoot…lightning? Out of your hands?” I felt completely hopeless as I said the words. My friends were definitely going to call the lunatic asylum and have me locked up.

“I’m not sure living on my own is such a good idea,” I murmured. “Ever since my son moved out, I seem to be hallucinating.”

“You’ve hallucinated other times?” Mae asked.

I took a deep breath. This was not something I had ever told anyone before in my entire life. How I’d dreamt about being a wolf and how I would close my eyes and feel myself running in the dark. I remembered feeling myself tearing into a raw piece of meat, before waking up in a cold sweat. It had only happened in the last couple of years, since Dante had left for college. I’d put it down to being single, living alone and being around dogs all the time, that maybe my subconscious was starting to think it was one. I looked up at Mae, completely drained of any resistance.

“I’ve dreamt of being a wolf since Dante left,” I said. “I’ve been feeling more... I don’t know the best way to describe it, but feral is only word I can think of.”

Mae peered at me, but she didn’t seem surprised or shocked in the slightest. She was looking at me with calm compassion which was exactly the opposite of how I was feeling. I wanted to scream and rage and…get help.

“Mae, was that real, what I saw last night?”

With a single confidant nod of her head, Mae completely changed my world.

I sucked air in deep, rapid gasps, trying to get a handle on my reality. If what happened last night was real, I was a freaking werewolf. And Mae already knew.

“Are you one?” I looked at her hopefully.

She shook her head, biting her lower lip. “I’ve never even met one before.”

“What are you?”

“I’m a witch.” She leaned forward, holding out her hands to keep me calm, knowing the information she was giving me was not only going to freak me out, but it was also going to blow my mind.

She was a witch.

“Of course, you are,” I waved my hand dismissively.

“I’m a good witch.” Mae added, a frown creasing her forehead. “I don’t actually know if there are bad witches. I only just found out I’m a witch.”

I stared at her blankly. This wasn’t going well. “Can you un-werewolf me?”

Mae clasped her hands in front of her, tapping her index fingers together. “The coven isn’t sure yet.”

I gulped back air. “You have to. I mean, I have a kid. I have a business. I have a job. I live locally. I can’t be the local werewolf.”

“Calm down,” she encouraged, but I was already pacing the floor and rubbing my hands against my arms. I had seen werewolf movies before, they never turned out well.

“What if I kill people?” The thought sank a chill through my skin and into my bones.

“You aren’t going to kill people.” Mae shook her head.

“You don’t know that.” I said. “Just because I’m nice and coherent now doesn’t mean I will be later.”

“I can protect you,” Mae said.

“What are you going to do, blast people who come at me with purple and green lightning magic?”

“I can do that.” Mae shrugged as if it was a normal thing to say. Yeah, sure, no problem. Let me blast these people out of your way.

“If I’m turning into a werewolf and you’re blasting people with purple and green magic, we kind of have a problem with the sheriff.” I spelled it out for her as she clearly didn’t get it.

“We have words that can make things invisible and wipe people’s memories,” Mae said.

“We?” I asked in complete shock. “Of course, there’s a ‘we’ now?”

“I am the High Priestess of Cougar Creek Coven.” Mae delivered this information as if it was a perfectly normal thing anyone might say.

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