Chapter Eighteen
A fter several more climaxes, we both curled up in each other’s arms and closed our eyes. Our night together reminded me of drinking honey wine; sweet but intoxicating, threatening to pull me into a stupor if I indulged too much.
But it felt good. So good.
At first, I was so blissfully content, so high on euphoria, I was certain I’d sleep like a newborn pup. But as the hours passed and my anxiety returned, that didn’t happen.
Rowena and I were still naked in her bed, with thick crocheted blankets draped over our bare bodies. Her head had returned to my breasts, using them as a pillow as she happily snoozed away. Her features looked even more delicate and enchanting when she was asleep.
I was exhausted, but my mind wouldn’t let me rest. How could I? In the morning, this beautiful night would be over, and Rowena and I would once again have to face reality. No matter how much I adored her, no matter how well we fit together, a true relationship would be incredibly difficult.
Either I would have to somehow be accepted in this town, as a werewolf, or Rowena would have to leave.
Both options seemed impossible. Wisteria Grove would likely throw me out the minute I was discovered, and I couldn’t bear the thought of tearing Rowena away from her beloved café.
But despite the odds stacked against us, I regretted nothing. No matter what happened, even if I never saw Rowena again after this, we’d always have this night.
These memories would live within me forever.
And no one could ever take them away.
I let out a silent sigh, pressing my head deeper into my pillow. With the passing hours and my post-orgasmic haze long gone, I’d been swimming in a sea of anxious worries and what-ifs.
I could tell the sky was lightening outside, which meant the early morning hours were already creeping over the horizon.
It was Monday, so the café was closed – thank the gods – but I didn’t know how I’d be able to handle the next few days.
If I’d be able to wake up, make the walk into town, and continue my work as the café baker after everything that had occurred.
There were too many unknowns. Rowena’s father could return and try to kidnap her again. I’d shifted in my wolf form to confront him the night before – what if someone other than him and Rowena saw me?
Even if nothing happened, and Rowena’s and my work at the café resumed as normal, it couldn’t stay that way for long.
Maybe if I could get control of my shifting… not having my ears and tail pop out all the time…
Then it might have been possible for me to stay. But with my nerves as frayed as they were, I was a ticking time bomb. Gods forbid my wolf ears appear while I was serving customers. There would be a mass exodus of witches fleeing the café, never to return.
Not even wearing my hood at all times could save me.
Being banished was something I could live with, as painful as it would be. But would Rowena get in trouble for harboring a werewolf? Even with her being ostracized, this was still her town. The café was her whole life, and I didn’t want her to lose it.
Rowena…
I let my head loll to the side, half my face pressed into the pillow as I studied her sleeping form.
She’d removed her head from my chest a while ago – likely due to me tossing and turning all night – and was curled up in a fetal position, her face across from mine, with the blankets pulled up to her chin.
Her nose twitched as she slept, and I resisted the urge to reach out and stroke her cheek.
Gods, how I wished I could tear the covers off her still-naked body and go for round two. Even after multiple orgasms and a night sleeping naked together, my body still ached for her touch.
I would never get enough of her.
Rowena shifted, her legs uncurling and her hands adjusting the blanket tucked under her chin. As she did so, our arms brushed, and the sensation made her startle. Her dark eyes fluttered open, and she blinked a few times, rousing herself back to reality.
“Goddess, this still feels like a dream,” Rowena cooed, reaching over and caressing my cheek. “I can’t believe you’re here. In my bed.”
I opened my mouth, ready to respond by telling her how beautiful and sexy and sweet she was, but all that came out was a yawn.
Rowena chuckled. “You haven’t slept well, have you?”
I shook my head. “Nerves. A lot of them.”
Rowena frowned, lifting her head off the pillow and sliding her body closer to mine. She tucked into me, her limbs wound through mine like swirling vines, and nuzzled her nose against my cheek.
But the sensation only made me feel worse. It reminded me of how much I had to lose.
“I’m sorry, Rowena,” I sighed. “As much as I love your beautiful naked body next to mine, I don’t think it’s enough to get rid of my anxiety. I’m scared of what the next few days will bring.”
“So am I,” Rowena replied. “But right now, there’s nothing we can do about it. So let’s just enjoy this time.”
She paused, tapping a purple-tipped finger to her chin. She looked deep in thought.
“Actually…” she continued. “You’ve never really seen the world beyond your island home, have you?”
“Um, no?”
I didn’t know where she was going with this.
“Well, since you can’t sleep, and I’m an early riser anyway…” She pulled away from me, slipping out of bed and standing in front of her dresser. My heart fluttered and my stomach swirled at the sight of her naked body, no longer hidden by the blankets. “…why don’t we take a little trip?”
“A trip?”
“Yes,” Rowena rifled through her dresser, pulling out a pair of black leggings and a plum-colored dress with a layered skirt and long sleeves.
She really does love purple.
“Where are we going?”
Rowena craned her neck over her shoulder, a sly smile on her face. “It’s a surprise.”
“Rowena…”
“What? We’re not going far. We’ll be back shortly after sunrise.”
She pulled the dress over her head, spreading the skirt down to her knees, and my excitement at seeing her naked deflated like a balloon.
My eyes drifted over to her forearm, which was still wrapped in the muslin cloth. “You’re injured.”
Rowena lifted her arm, inspecting the long skein of cloth wrapped around it, and began to unravel the muslin.
I let out a faint yelp, but my panic softened when I noticed how much her arm had already healed. She’d be left with scars – there wasn’t much that witch magic could do for those – but the bite wounds looked like they’d been inflicted several weeks ago, not the night before.
“You really weren’t kidding about your healing abilities,” I noted. Rowena grinned in a smug ‘I-told-you-so’ manner as she re-wrapped the cloth.
“Trust me. I’ve never let a few scratches slow me down.”
“Well… alright,” I replied hesitantly. Calling her injuries “scratches” was a gross understatement, even with how much they’d healed overnight. “As long as we’re back within a few hours. And you don’t overexert yourself.”
“Deal.”
Once Rowena was fully clothed, she reached into her dresser and tossed me a pair of leggings and a loose, emerald-green dress with billowy sleeves.
“Do you like green?”
“Yes. It’s one of my favorite colors.”
“Excellent. Because I think you’ll look stunning in this.” Rowena tossed me the dress. It was made of a soft yet thick material, and the flowy skirt trailed all the way past my knees.
“We can worry about cleaning your other clothes later,” Rowena reassured me, placing a single kiss on my shoulder. “Now get dressed. I can’t wait to show you this place.”
“Rowena, I swear, we’ve been walking for miles . Where are you taking us?”
All we’d been surrounded by since we’d left Wisteria Grove was endless forest. And as much as I enjoyed trudging through leaves, hearing them crackle like a campfire under my boots while I admired the fiery fall foliage, I really wanted to know where we were headed.
I’d walked alongside Rowena for the first mile or so. I even held her hand, which made my heart swell with happiness for the few minutes it lasted.
But for most of the trip, Rowena had been several steps ahead of me, taking the lead and acting as a scout. I noticed she was on high alert, head swiveling in multiple directions, taking note of every cracking twig and rustling leaf in the never-ending forest.
“Wait,” I froze. “Are we still in werewolf territory?”
I couldn’t smell them anymore. At first, the scent was overpowering, which was troublesome because it instinctively goaded me to shift into my wolf form. But Rowena and I pressed on, fighting the urge to shift, praying the wolves wouldn’t notice our scent.
“Not anymore,” Rowena declared after a few moments of silence, and I let out a deep exhale, fingering the black tourmaline in my pocket.
Rowena’s scent was masked by her necklace, and while she swore its magic would mask mine too, she’d removed one of the black beads for me to store in my pocket just in case.
It was nestled next to the piece of black tourmaline that Juniper had given me, and the entire time we’d been walking, I’d kept one hand in my pocket, fingers wrapped tightly around both stones.
If we’d made it out of werewolf territory without them noticing us, then hopefully that meant the enchanted beads were working. Wherever Rowena was taking us, we had to get through the werewolves’ domain first, which encircled nearly the entire perimeter of Wisteria Grove.
But we passed it. We’d made it through.
“Alright,” Rowena announced, bracing herself with her fingers sprayed out wide. “You ready?”
I grinned. I could already feel it – claws, fur, and teeth, begging to be released.
“Yes.”
Shifting into my wolf form, after doing it so few times since I’d arrived in Wisteria Grove, felt like slipping on a cozy sweater on an icy winter’s day.
My fur coat was a much better insulator than my cloak, but it wasn’t just about the warmth.
My wolf form was also comfortable. Familiar. Peaceful.