Page 101 of Wishing for a Werewolf
I laugh and wish her to the living room, and Rune and I join her. We start a fire and put on the nextMission Impossiblemovie, up to number five by now. We settle onto the couch and make it all the way through the first main action sequence by the time the oven chimes that the food isdone. Babybelle gets a bowl full of chopped veggies while we eat our shepherd’s pie, the sharp cheddar adding extra yum to the beef and mashed potato casserole. We finish things off with warm apple crisp topped with vanilla ice cream, with the mini-goat enjoying a couple of slices of uncooked apple for her dessert.
Afterward, she hops up onto the couch to press against my thigh in a little goat loaf, while I lean into Rune as we finish watching the movie, everything about our little family perfect. Once the gang on the TV saves the day, I give Babybelle one last cuddle and wish for her to join the rest of the herd in the goat barn.
While Rune cleans up the kitchen, I make hot cocoa from scratch, warming the milk slowly on the stovetop and mixing in both cocoa powder and melted chocolate until it’s rich and fragrant. We take our mugs back into the living room and sit on the rug in front of the fire.
At his first sip, Rune gives a happy grunt and takes a bigger gulp.
I smile, glad he likes it, and let the rich chocolatey goodness roll over my tongue.
We sit, easy with one another, drinking and watching the fire. I’ve never been able to just be with someone like this and have it feel so easy, so right. It’s better than the best yoga session ever.
Once we finish our last sips, I give a contented sigh. “I dreamed of being with you like this, you drinking your first hot cocoa in front of a fire.”
He leans over to growl in my ear, “Is thatallyou’ve dreamed about me?”
The heated promise in his words sets my entire body alight. “Nope.” I leap to my feet and trot across the room.
“Are you running from me, my mate?” His voice goes extra hoarse, his eyes flashing gold, claws starting to emerge from the tips of his fingers. “You remember what I promised I’d do to you.”
“Yep!”
Rune comes off the floor with a growl, shifting to his werewolf form.
I give a happy shriek and take off, running up the stairs and straight for the bedroom. It turns out I don’t mind running as long as I have proper incentive, and Rune offers the best incentive any girl could want. It might not be a long chase, but him catching me is every bit as thrilling as last time.
Later that week, I wave goodbye to Gwenfrie and leave Your Bubbly Charm for the evening, humming with happiness. The store’s doing well for a new business. Word’s getting out about the candles and crystals, and we’re getting alotof fae customers. It turns out shadow fae and dragons are the two strongest types of magic users in all of Faerie, so orcs, pixies, gnomes, etc, all want to purchase the candles and crystals. Some of her fae clients also buy my soaps when they visit, and non-magical humans shop for soap, none the wiser to what else is going on, just as we hoped.
The prolonged mildness of fall means my pumpkin spice latte soap continues to be a top seller, and the approaching Christmas season means my new peppermint candy cane soap is already set to be another hit.
I’m building a base of specialty soaps I’ll offer year round but already have plans to make more seasonal favorites, with Valentine’s the next one I want to tackle.
I even got Mom and Dad to agree to update the packaging on the farm’s soaps. They’re a really nice lavender and peppermint, even if they don’t have any dried herbs or colors added. It’s already helped sales enough that Mom hired a teenager part-time to take over some of the simpler tasks so that I have more time at the store.
“Young lady,” a fussy voice says from behind me, “if I may have a word.”
I spin to find Mrs. Greely standing on the sidewalk with her dog Max waiting patiently by her side. He’s used to his evening walks being broken up with lots of stops, since his owner is one of the town’s busiest gossips.
“Of course, Mrs. Greely.”
“You did a fine job with the hay maze this year.” She taps her cane against the sidewalk.
I grin, happy that breaking the wish swap means she finally recognizes who did what.
Her eyes flicker over my shoulder, and I know who she’s looking at without turning around, because the magic of the mate bond tingles in my heart, telling me Rune’s near.
“And you, young man, were good with the pumpkin carving competition,” she says. “I hope you’ll each apply to do the events for the next fall festival.”
“I imagine we’ll do them exactly the same way we did them this year,” Rune says, his voice a deep, warm rumble. He wraps an arm around my shoulders. “Together.”
I snuggle into his side, looking up to meet his happy smile with one of my own. “Together.”
As Mrs. Greely continues down Main Street, a clatter of hooves makes me spin around as Babybelle darts out of an alleyway and onto the sidewalk.
“Babybelle! What are you doing here?” I lean over and pick her up. “You’re supposed to be at the farm.” I don’t even mention the goat-proof fence. Why bother? It’s never going to live up to its name where my mischievous familiar is concerned.
“I missed you!” She gives my chin a lick.
“I missed you, too.” I rub her little forehead. “Want to come to work with me tomorrow? You’ll have to promise not to chew anything.”
