The Werewolf and the Twin

“I have found out there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them”

❦❦❦

“Practice today, Vanderwik.” Angelina said to me the week after at breakfast. I just nodded since my mouth was full of hash-browns. Pulling a Ron is not okay.

Things had gotten a bit more normal after last weeks confrontation. My bruises were gone, along with the curious and skeptical stares from my friends. Everything seemed to be back to how it was before, if a little awkward but I had faith it would dissipate soon.

There seemed to be more questions though…

“So Ariel, have you ever kissed a boy?” This came from Ginny, who was staring at me innocently as I choked on my once delicious, now deadly hash-browns. Everyone seemed a bit shocked at the question too and stared at Ginny like she was insane. I agreed.

“Where did this come from?” I asked, after I had cleared my airway of the dangerous break-fast chunks. She just shrugged non-committed, and pressed, “Have you?”

I actually had to think back a bit. There was a kiss on a cheek from a boy in my 3rd grade class on a dare. Once I got bitten though, I pulled away from everyone so there wasn’t anyone to kiss…

“No.” I said finally. She seemed a bit surprised.

“Why not?” she demanded.

Crap… Think fast, Ariel… “Uh- I didn’t like anyone?” That was true too. Besides the fact that there was no one there, the boys in my class never caught my attention.

Ginny didn’t seem satisfied but stayed silent as she frowned down at her breakfast.

Hermione spoke up next, though she said it quiet enough that just I heard “Do you like anyone now?”

I choked on my breakfast again and started to think that they were trying to kill me instead of learning more about me. Harry and Ron stared at me as I choked before looking to Hermione who was leaned in close.

“What she’d say?” Ron asked; Harry looked to be trying not to laugh.

I just shook my head, blushing. Ginny was watching me again, as if she knew what Hermione had asked. Glancing at Hermione, I saw she was watching me too, with a knowing look as she caught sight of my red cheeks.

Should I tell them that I was pretty sure I had a crush on Fred? Surely there wouldn’t be any harm in that… And I knew that both Ginny and Hermione were intuitive enough to figure it out sooner or later since I was damn sure that this crush wasn’t going to go away.
I opened my mouth to reply when two hands were put on my shoulder, startling me. Without even looking behind me, I could tell by the smell that it was Fred and George.

“Good morning, Ace.” They said in unison.

“Morning.” I replied.

“We have something very-”

“Gigantically-”

“life-changingly-”

“fantastic-”

“to ask you.”

I turned around on the seat and looked up at them expectantly, smiling at their verbal antics.

Glancing at each other, they grinned.

“There comes a time, several times actually, in every school year-” George began, wrapping an arm around Fred’s shoulder.

“that a treacherous voyage is taken.” continued Fred.

“Very treacherous, Fred.”

“How treacherous, George?”

“Oh, bloody treacherous, Fred. There be snow- four inches high!”

“And hidden dips that send your ankles a-spraining!”

“And rambunctious kiddies!”

“And teachers!” they said in unison.

“How horrid!” I played along, giggling. Hermione was chuckling a bit also, though she was rolling her eyes. They nodded seriously.

“Very horrid. But you mustn’t worry, fine lady.”

“For we will protect you from the four inch snow,”

“the hidden dips,” By this time, they were clutching their fists in the air and putting on tough faces.

“and the rambunctious kiddies. But not the teachers. You’ll have to fend for yourself on that one.” I gasped in mock outrage, but laughed a second later.

“We will protect you from all that, if you will honor us by letting yourself be escorted along this treacherous voyage by these handsome devils.” Pointing at each other, they winked at me and grinned in conclusion.

“Where will this treacherous voyage end us up at?” I asked, trying not to get distracted by Fred’s crooked “I-do-funny-things-to-your-insides” grin.

“A magical place called-” they started but were interrupted by Ron, who looked a bit irritated.

“Hogsmeade. They’re asking you to come with them to Hogshead.” Fred and George frowned at him.

“Ron,” Ginny abashed, “You ruined it.” Apparently, she was enjoying the Twin’s antics too. Ron just rolled his eyes.

“Sure. But don’t you need a permission slip to go?” I tapped my nose, thinking.

George and Fred looked at each other, “Yeah, you don’t have one?”

I just shook my head.

“We can fix that!” they smiled and grabbed one of my hands each, pulling me up from the seat.

“Wait- my breakfast!” I pulled back, trying to sit down again but The twins gripped tightened.

“We can get stuff from the kitchen after. You need to be able to come to Hogshead!” They said, pulling me towards the doors. I barely got out another protest before I was yanked through; my friends laughter following me.

They pulled me along, each holding one of my hands, though my left one was burning with sparks from Fred’s warm fingers. The contact was nice and made me smile faintly. George let go after a bit, but Fred held on for a while after.

“Where are we going?” I asked, since I was having trouble paying attention to the direction we were heading as my hand sparked. Apparently, me speaking was Fred’s queue to let go of my hand and I mourned the loss of delicious sparks.

George spoke, “McGonagall’s Office. We’re hoping she can sort this all out.” They were walking at a fast pace, that my shorter legs had trouble keeping up with. Damn them and their long legs.

I finally got fed up at having to jog to keep up. “Fred,” I pouted, sticking out my bottom lip and stopping where I was. He glanced behind and saw that I had stopped.

“What?” George now had stopped too. Wordlessly, I stuck out my arms, motioning what I wanted. He dramatically sighed, walked back over, and crouched a bit. Instantly, my pout disappeared and I clambered on, wrapping my arms around his neck loosely. His arms went back and wrapped under my thighs, palms resting on the bottom of them, hot on the bare skin.

The warmth sent goose-bumps up my body, along with a shiver. Nice. I rested my chin on his shoulder and tilted my head so that it leaned against his. I could see out of the corner of my eye bright orange hair that I liked so much. It was artfully messy today, identical to George’s but for some reason, so much more attractive and distracting. Not that George’s wasn’t cute but Fred’s… You understand.

I leaned back a bit and unwrapped one of my arms. Not even fighting the compulsion, I ran a hand through the orange strands. They were just as soft and amazing as I had imagined. The motion tickled my palm and I grinned. One hand wasn’t enough, so I unwrapped the other and tightened my thighs to compensate for it.

Taking both hands, I shifted through the strands, feeling and pulling softly. Fred’s head dropped forward and he sighed. I saw on the exposed skin of his neck, that goose bumps trailed down under his shirt collar. The sight made me laugh.

He cleared his throat, pulling his head back up and glancing back at me, “What are you doing?”

I didn’t stop my hands and didn’t take my eyes off the orange strands, “Have I ever told you that I love your hair?”

I heard him laugh, felt the rumble of it through his chest which my stomach rested on from the close proximity of being carried.

“No,” he said, “but you’re welcome to love it anytime you want from now on. This feels brilliant.” At his saying this, George looked over.

“Keep it PG.” He said dryly. I laughed and stuck my tongue out at him.

Fred, from the motion of his head I guessed, rolled his eyes. “You’re just jealous. I get to have a pretty girl hang all over me and get a massage.”

George stopped, looking shocked, “You’re right. Ariel, my turn.”

“No. Get your own bird.” Fred’s arms tightened on my legs and he picked up his pace.

“No fair!” George called, running to catch up with us. By that time, we were at McGonagall’s Office and I was smiling like an idiot.

Fred set me down as George knocked on the door. We heard a chair scrape from inside- or I guess, I heard the chair scrape since my senses were higher- before the door opened to show a disgruntled Professor McGonagall. She glared at us and I got the distinct impression that Umbridge was just by.

“Yes?” She said shortly, staring suspiciously at the Twins. They just grinned a Weasley Twin Grin, not at all deterred by the cold stare.

“Miss Vanderwik here would like to go to Hogsmeade but lacks a permission slip.” They said together, wrapping an arm around my shoulder each.

Her attention turned to me and I gave a small smile.

“I’ll get you a slip to send to your parents.” She said and turned around, leaving the door open.

“Uh- Professor?” She stopped and turned around. I cleared my throat, “I don’t have any parents…” Fred and George stiffened next to me. Professor McGonagall’s stare turned from irritation to a sadness that was uncomfortably close to pity. I stood up straighter.

“Go to Dumbledore and he’ll get it all sorted out.” She spoke finally, waving her wand at her desk. A sheet of paper flew from a drawer of her desk and into my hand. I nodded and turned to leave with the Twins.

“Miss Vanderwik,” she continued, “Pepper Imps.” And then closed the door. It was a cryptic message but I understood. It was the password to Dumbledore’s Office.

“C’mon.” I said, pulling from the Twins arms and beginning to walk. When I didn’t hear them follow, I turned around and saw them staring at me.

“What?”

“We’re sorry.” George declared, wearing a serious expression that was identical to Fred’s, “We didn’t know and wouldn’t have pulled you here if we did.”

I laughed a bit, “Don’t be sorry. It’s not a big deal. So I don’t have parents. I was orphaned a long time ago.” I shrugged, blowing off the whole incident.

When they didn’t say anything I walked back to them and grabbed one of their hands each, pulling them forward, “Let’s go, I wanna go to Hogsmeade!”

Though seemingly very reluctant, they moved and soon, we were on our way to Dumbledore’s office. They were still quiet and I was vaguely irritated.

“Can you guys please go back to normal? Look, I lost my parents. Lots of people have. I’m fine now and there’s no reason to be weird about it.”

“Okay.” They said slowly. In unison, they squeezed my hand, before letting go, stepping up level to me, and wrapping an arm around my body. Georges was around my shoulders and Fred has his arm around my waist.

“Thank you. So what product are you guys working on currently?” Anything to get a decent conversation going. And it did. Before I knew it, they were talking over themselves in excitement to tell me all about their current experiment.

“Well take you to the Room of Requirement when we’re done here and show you. And we can spend the day there; since we know you love to spend time with us.” I laughed.

“I guess I’m just masochistic like that.”

We walked up to the Griffin statue right then and I gave the password.

“Pepper Imps.” With a lurch, the Griffin began twirling upwards and I stepped onto the appearing step. George and Fred stepped onto the next one. Looking up, they grinned.

“Wicked.” Finally the thick wooden door came into view and I knocked three times. It creaked open and Professor Dumbledore sat as his desk, looking as if he’d been waiting for us.

“Hello Professor.” We greeted.

“Good morning. What can I do for you?”

I walked forward and took a plush chair, sinking into it comfortably, feet no longing touching the ground but swinging vaguely childishly. Fred and George squished into the other one looking crumpled.

“I want to go to Hogsmeade but don’t have a permission slip filled out and since I don’t have parents, I don’t know what to do about it.”

Dumbledore ‘Hmm’ed and tapped his chin. “Well, you could send it to your Orphanage director.” I crinkled my nose. The Mistress who ran it wasn’t exactly the best caretaker. Dumbledore saw my expression and laughed.

“Obviously, the Director is a bit inadequate.”

“Professor, do you mind if I just sign it? I mean, I know I’m underage but I take care of myself really. The orphanage is just a place I live but really, I’m the one who is in charge of me.” I tried to explain but it was a bit hard unless you’ve done it yourself.

Dumbledore thought for a moment before waving his wand. The paper slipped from my fingers and settled in front of him at his desk. He grabbed a quill from nearby and scribbled along the signature line. He handed the paper back to me then, smiling, “Have a good time.”

“Thanks, Professor. I will.” Before I knew it, we were out of the Office and on our way to the Room of Requirement. I spent the next few hours in the company of Fred and George, laughing at their jokes and helping them with their projects. Not that I helped much.

I was decent at potions and could get a passable grade when Snape wasn’t dropping my samples but Fred and George blew me out of the water. When they put their minds to it, they could do anything.

…Don’t tell them I said that. They’re already cocky enough.

By the next weekend, I was all excited and riled up. I was finally going to Hogsmeade which I had heard so much about from my friends. Even though the day started off questionable.

Now, to be clear, we had the whole day to go to Hogsmeade and hang out and all that jazz so why Fred and George woke me up at the crack of freaking dawn, is beyond me. I’d woken up early once the whole time I’d been there and that was when it had snowed.

Don’t get me wrong, I was excited beyond reason so go to Hogsmeade but that didn’t mean that I wanted to wake up before every other person in the castle. And they scared the be-jeezues out of me too.

I woke up to their charming faces leaning over my bed and nearly pissed my pants. I’m not saying that Fred’s face (and I guess Georges too) wasn’t completely horrendous to see first thing you wake up, in fact it was quite fantastic, but that didn’t mean I was happy about it.

For one thing, my bladder hurt because it took everything in me not to pee myself and peeing my pants in front of two very hot teenage boys would probably keep my cheeks errantly pink.

Second, I was confused.

“How did you get up here?” I spoke softly as not to wake up any of the other girls, once I could shift my focus from my bladder and racing heart to the fact that they were in the girls’ dormitories. They rolled their eyes in a very Weasely Twin way and looked at me as if I had just asked “Why don’t people like Snape?”

“We figured out how to get up here our second year.” George whispered.

“Honestly.” Fred said in a very, looking at me in such a way that gave me the impression that I should know this.

I rolled my eyes then rolled onto my stomach, desperately trying to go back to sleep. George and Fred apparently didn’t approve of this option. They ripped back my blanket, exposing my pajama clad body to the cold air. I made a noise of displeasure.

Now, it wasn’t that big of a deal but a strappy tank-top and sweats didn’t do much to keep you warm after going from a temperature of more that freezing to water-partials-in-the-air freeze cold.

It effectively brushed away the last of the sleepy cob-webs from the recesses of my brain but I stubbornly just pushed my face further into my delicious pillow.

Suddenly though, I felt a finger, warm and one that sent electricity curling in my stomach touch one of the streaks of scar tissue running down my back. The touch brought memories flooding to my mind.

A darkened, ransacked house.

The warm spray of blood, spattered onto my face.

The terror that blocked my throat as the too-large to be real shadow walked towards me, laughing, mocking…

Instantly, I shot up and out of the bed by way of the foot of it. Standing in the middle of the room, I yanked the hair-tie out of my hair, letting it cascade down my back and effectively covering the scars.

I clenched my eyes shut and refused to look at them. I heard their breathing, I heard the other girls’ breathing, and I heard my heart beat, too loud and too fast. It was thudding in my ears.

Swallowing with difficulty, I lifted my lids to look at the Twins, my expression betraying nothing.

“I’ll meet you downstairs.” My tone was clipped and short, leaving no room for discussion. They nodded and silently left the room.

I could handle the dreams the week of the full moon. I could get past them but just that. Anymore re-caps was too much for me to handle. Too much for me to deal with when I couldn’t preoccupy myself with worrying about the full moon.

God, I hated re-living what happened when my parents were killed every night during the full moon; I hated it even more when it could all come rushing back to me from a single touch.

And the Twins saw it too. They saw the scars and one of them even touched the marks. They knew about them- would more than likely ask about them and as much as I desperately wanted them, and every one of my other friends to know about what I was, I couldn’t go through with recounting the events to which I got the disease.

All of those flashes of pain and shadow and that terrible laughter smashed around in my brain and I felt weak, tiny again, sad. I wanted someone to hold me- I didn’t want to be strong.

But I couldn’t break down; I hadn’t for five years and I certainly wasn’t going to now just because I was faced with horrible memories. My past was not going to ruin my future any more that it already is.

So, with a deep breath and a straightening of my spine, I dug through my trunk for an outfit, suitable for such an occasion as walking to Hogsmeade.

I decided with my grey petticoat and a white long-sleeved shirt underneath, dark skinny jeans, my red hat and gloves and my turquoise boots with a double pair of socks. It was a simple process of throwing my hair up in a side-messy-bun to finish the look.

I grabbed my wand, some money, and took a minute to brush my teeth and pee before heading down the stairs and throwing a smile on my face, determined to force the conversation away from the scar incident.

I found the two sitting on the couch in front of the fire and among the few people in the Common Room that early on a weekend. And if you’re wondering what time it was, it was around 9:00 and about three hours earlier than I would’ve gotten up normally.

They were talking with their heads close together, whispering, obviously conversing something that they didn’t want anyone else to hear.

“It’s impolite to whisper in front of people.” I admonished, smiling. They’re head shot towards me and fell into an easy, probably habit induced grin.

“Since when have we ever been polite, Ace?” They asked simultaneously, tilting their heads and quirking an eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes, “Your mother must be so proud.” I plopped between them, glad that the atmosphere still felt comfortable after the awkward morning.

“Is there a reason you woke me up this early?” I yawned, dropping my head onto Fred’s shoulder and shutting my eyes. I may have been startled awake this morning but if anything that made me even more tired- the Twins seemed wide-awake.

“We have a lot planned today so we need the most time we could reasonably get. We figured that nine was a safe enough time to wake you up without you hexing us into unidentifiable blobs. Not that you, the oh-so level-headed one who never looses her temper, would ever do that.”

I snorted.

“Right ‘cause this girl didn’t punch Malfoy on her first day here.”

“One of the many reasons why we’re trying to make this day so special- that kind of event needs commemorating properly done, not just a mob in the Common Room.”

I leaned back to peer up at Fred, a bit caught off guard by just how blue his eyes were this close.

“Since when have you two ever been opposed to mobs?” They laughed at that before tugging me up.

“Now c’mon, we have fun to have!” And with that, albeit loud, declaration, I was yanked through the Portal Door and out of the castle. Outside the air was sharp and tinted my nose and cheeks a bright red. It was like breathing in snow and smelled clean.

It had snowed a little overnight, erasing all of yesterday’s action. I looked back and saw a trail of three sets of footprints emitting from behind us. Fred and George hooked one of my arms each as we walked, talking and laughing and joking.

We came upon a little village with one main street that branched off into about half a dozen other, smaller ones. Hardly anyone was out this early in the morning but the shop windows were bright and welcoming, glowing with a holiday feel, even if those were long gone.

They pointed out their favorite shops, among them being Zonko’s, a store infamous among our group. They lead me towards a place called Three Broomsticks first and we settled into the warm pub at a cozy corner table. George left to get us drink, leaving me with Fred whom was sprawled out on the bench with his head in my lap.

Unconsciously, I ran my hand through his hair, loving the contrast between my skin and his strands; my gloves had been off since we got in.

“Why do you like doing that so much?” he asked, seemingly honestly curious. I thought for a moment.

“Because it feels nice.” I shrugged my shoulder, turning my attention from him to George who was walking back, expertly holding three golden mugs with foam at the top.

“One for the fair maiden.” He winked as he settled one of the glasses in front of me, “and one for the pompous buffoon.” Fred snorted and sat up. The drink was warm and delicious and I quickly drank a good third of it.

We sat and talked for a while, Fred and George laying out their plan of attack for the day. After we got up to leave, seemingly haven spoken in their mind, the Twins each pulled out half of the money owed.

“I can pay for it guys.” I protested, separating what my cost was from what they put down. I pushed it back at them before reaching in my own pocket and pulling out the money. Fred and George rolled their eyes.

“Then we get to buy you something.” I shook my head.

“I’m fine. Honest. I don’t need anything and something happens to catch my eye, I can buy it myself.” They didn’t say anything and we just made our way out of the warm building. Outside, the cold was a slap in the face so we quickly hurried our butts over to the first shop on the agenda.

Gladrags Wizardware was one of those shops were you felt like you were on a treasure hunt; digging through chests and racks of clothing, drawers and cabinets of sparkly jewelry. Unsurprisingly, I spent most of my time digging through the sparkly stuff than looking at clothing.

Most of the time we spent at Gladrags, I watched and laughed as Fred and George modeled various articles of clothing for me, ranging from tuxes to chicken costumes. And yes, there was a dress or two. Note, Fred looks delicious in a tux. DELICIOUS.

I ended up getting a new jacket, a navy blue military style one and feathered headband with peacock feathers. Fred and George spent the time that I was buying my clothing finding the ugliest pair of socks they could for each other.

While they were buying their pairs of socks, I wandered over (again) to the sparkly jewelry. I think it was something about the veela in me but I couldn’t help myself. Digging through the cold bits of metal and jewels, I came across a ring that was a solid thick silver band that had tiny, intricate etchings of vines. It was simple but gorgeous and fit perfectly on my thumb.

I thought about buying it but I didn’t want to spend all my money in one place so I put it back and walked back up to the Twins who were waiting patiently for me. Well, their type of patiently.

Our next shop was Scrivenshaft’s Quill Shop were we spent most of the time attacking George with the feathers since he was the most ticklish of all of us. We ended up knocking over a stand and chased out of the store. Needless to say, none of us bought anything from there.

Fred and George then tugged me to Honeydukes Sweetshop. Now there was a store I could spend my life in.

I about made myself sick on all of the samples, ended up turning my tongue a charming shade of parry-winkle, and made both of the Twins blush when I left a kiss shaped coating of sprinkles on their cheeks.

One incident I remember the most from visiting Honeydukes with the Twins was when Fred ate a hiccupping Humbug and fell to the floor laughing and hiccupping, his face turning pink from lack of air.

I had only a few Galleons left when we finally got to Zonko’s Joke Shop. I only bought one or two things there and spent the time watching Fred and George drool over the pranks and toys and excitedly “twin-speak” to each other. It consisted something of something like this:

“Did you see that Fred?”

“Yeah, George! What if we-“

“Totally! And if-“

“Brilliant! Especially-“

“Agreed. We start-“

“Makes sense.”

It made me shake my head in wonderment, not knowing how either of them knew what was crossing through the others mind so easily. I just settled it with “They’re the Twins.”

The boys spent most of their money at Zonko’s unsurprisingly and we exited into the cold outside, laughing and grinning.

All of a sudden though, George took my bags from me and dropped them onto a bench before grabbing my hands and twirling me around.

He pulled me along in circles, apparently dancing with me and humming an irregular tune for us to dance to. I just laughed and went along, ducking under his arm and twirling when he motioned. He even dipped me before pulling me back up, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist and spinning me.

He spun on his heels and balls of his feet multiple times, going faster than my eyes could keep up with. We ended up spilling into the snow, laughing and dizzy. It took a minute before we were able to get to our feet and brush the snow off.

Noticing that I didn’t see Fred, I looked around and spotted him on the bench where my stuff was placed, looking amused and accomplished. Weird…

Anyway, we gathered up our stuff and I ended up holding nothing because neither Fred or George let me carry my stuff back by myself. By that time, it was 3:52 and the sun was beginning to dip down into the hills, making the snow glow golden.

We had just come in sight of the castle when we ran into Harry, Ron, and Hermione walking towards Hogsmeade.

“Hey Ariel!” Harry greeted, “How was your first trip to Hogsmeade?”

I grinned, “Fantastic. Fred and George even got me my first butterbeer, which was absolutely delicious.”

“They are pretty amazing.” Ron agreed, looking wistful.

“You guys better head along before Ron ends up dying from withdrawals.” They laughed and trudged ahead.

“Ariel- wait!” Fred and George stopped as I turned around and saw Hermione race towards me, something in her hand.

“This came for you at breakfast.” It was a letter. From Remus Lupin. Right, I wrote to him a while ago.

“Thanks.” I said, smiling.

Hermione hesitated before leaning in and whispering so the Twins couldn’t hear, “I need to talk to you later, okay? Meet me in the Library at eight tonight.” Then she turned and was back to the boys before I could say good-bye.

“What was that about?” George asked as I tucked the letter into my jacket.

“Nothing- she just wants to talk to me.” I shrugged before laughing a bit and wrapping an arm around each of the Twins’ waists. “Now let’s see if we can’t wreck some havoc within those stone walls!”

The next few hours were hilarious and perfect. I ate blue steak and green mashed potatoes for dinner thanks to the Twins and they now had bright purple hair which wasn’t reversible unless I did so.

I’d like to think I had the better half of the deal.

When eight rolled around, I got up from my game of Exploding Snap with the Twins and ran up to the girls’ dormitories to grab my boots which I had left up there when I had dropped off my purchases. There on my nightstand though, next to my wand was the silver ring, glinting in the moonlight.

It was just as gorgeous as I remembered and for a moment I was struck speechless at the surprise of seeing it there. Then I smiled like an idiot because I knew exactly where it had come from.

Fred.

That’s why George danced with me and I saw him with that accomplished look on his face. Wasting no more time, I quickly slipped the cool ring onto my finger before gasping as it emitted sparkles for a second, warming up rapidly against my skin.

Then it was back to normal, no sparkles, but no longer cold. I shook my head in wonderment. I raced down the stairs and tackled Fred as he was a second from placing a card onto a shaking pile.

“Woah- Ace?” I kissed him solidly on the cheek, albeit closer to the mouth than I have other times, but I digress.

“Thanks.” Was all I said and he smiled, because he knew what I was talking about. I got up and walked to the Portrait Hole.

“By the way, I’d go for the pile next to it.” And then I was gone.

Practically floating to the Library, I found Hermione in a deserted back corner, sitting in one of the plush armchairs but with no book in her lap. She seemed preoccupied.

“Hey Hermione.” I greeted and took a seat on the table in front of her, smile still on my face.

She shifted her gaze from the window to me and in that split glance, I knew something was up. The smile dropped and I frowned.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, concerned. She just shook her head and stood up. I did so too, my nerves starting to scream for flight- though I couldn’t say why.

Staring straight at me, her brown eyes not concerned but… committed. She opened her mouth,

“I know you’re a werewolf.”