Page 7 of The Return
“Very good. Pine needles and pine wood are used in the crafting of the tea. It’s one of the more unique blends I’ve found.”
“It’s remarkable,” I assured him. “Thank you for picking it out for me.”
He waved a hand. “Nope. The tea chooses the drinker, not the other way around.”
“That’s very… Zen of you.”
He shrugged. “I try to stay chill. After you left, I had to adapt.”
Andbam, right in the heart. “Corey, I—”
“Water under the bridge, right? You don’t owe me any explanation.”
“I owe you everything. Please, sit down.”
He averted his gaze. “I have a lot to do.”
“Yeah, I can see that. Look, you said you’d give me an hour, and I expect that you’ll keep that promise.”
His scowl could have curdled milk. “Fine. So we’re clear, you have forty-eight minutes left.”
“What? You can’t count the time you were in there making the tea!”
“Might be your game, but it’s my rules. Now, get on with it.”
“This isn’t something I can just—”
“Forty-seven minutes.”
“Goddamn it, Corey! I want to explain, but it’s not easy. I’ve got to say some things, and they might freak you out. I never want to do that.”
He pinned me with a stare. “Does this have something to do with you all being werewolves?”
I swear to God, if he had hit me in the face with a sledgehammer, I would not have been more shocked. “I’m sorry, what?”
He sucked in a breath and flapped his hands in front of him. “Wait! Is that a bad term? I mean, when I looked it up, I found others. Lycanthrope? Loup Garou? Wolfman? Well, person, since some of you are women? I’ve got a list, but it’s at home. Help me out here. What should I be calling you all?”
We’d worked so hard to keep Corey and his family from learning about us. “W-what makes you say that?”
He smirked, and it was the most adorable thing ever.
“I wondered what you’d say.” He blew over the surface of his coffee, then took a draw. “You do know I’m not stupid, right?”
“I never said you were!”
“Well, no, but everyone in town apparently thought so. How did you think you could hide something like this? I mean, really. Boys literally sniffing after girls in school was odd, but I didn’t think twice about it. But then I started to notice other things, like the fact that you never came over on nights when the moon was full. Or that nearly everyone in town mysteriously vanished, only to show up again the next morning with wide smiles on their faces.” He leaned closer. “They got laid, didn’t they?”
Of course they had. Our monthly runs were bacchanals of the highest order. Married men went into the woods with their wives, sometimes allowing others to join them. The single people met in the clearing and went at it until they swore their privates would fall off.
“Corey, I—”
“Except you.”
“What? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You were always on edge, so no way did you get laid.”
“And what do you know about getting laid?” I challenged, praying that my father was right and that Corey hadn’t been with anyone else. Though I was more in control than before, I couldn’t promise I wouldn’t resort to violence if the need arose, especially if I found out someone was touching what everyone knew was mine.
