"Canine," Morgana called out before I could even see her. "Is that Sterling Luna?"
The word I muttered under my breath would make my mom wash my mouth out with soap and I was in my mid-twenties. I let out a little sigh. "Yes, Morgana."
"Well, well, well," she crowed. “I never thought I'd see you back here. I figured you were a little too scared to come back." I still couldn't see her and that shit was major creeping me out.
"I'm not scared of anything," I said on a growl, but I honestly felt like I was about to pee myself a little.
I heard her tongue cluck. "I'd tell that to your quaking bladder, Sterling," she said and laughed her wicked laugh.
My friends were behind me cowering like a couple of old ladies at their doctor's appointments. Neither one of them had said a word yet. "I have friends here with me," I said and grunted when one of them punched me hard in the back.
"Oh, I know," Morgana said, "but there's plenty of time to play."
I rounded the corner in her constantly rearranged shop and stopped dead. The damned woman was barely dressed. She grinned at me and hopped off the counter before sauntering over to me. She wore a yellow spaghetti strap cotton dress that didn't conceal much of anything but showed off almost every tattoo she owned. I had no idea she had quite that many. Her black lace bra was showing. Of course it was black, wasn't that the color of her soul? She wore black combat boots with bright blue socks and her hair was tied up in an elaborate style with multicolored ribbons threading in and out of it. Morgana pierced me with her deep eyes and smiled her supermodel smile.
I wanted to run out of her store and never return. My cowardly friends were still behind me, but Morgana didn't seem to care. Her eyes were only on me. "So how can I help the independent werewolf clan today?" she asked, stopping just inside my personal space. She smelled like mint and a bunch of other herbs I couldn't identify. It wasn't unpleasant, just... odd. She snapped her fingers. "Let me guess. Someone..." she peered around my shoulder, "is in trouble." A delighted grin lit her face. "Oooh.Bigtrouble. The life and death kind." She sucked on her teeth for a moment. "That's my favorite kind of trouble." Morgana spun on her heel and beckoned me forward with a crooked finger. "And you're here for my help. The ribbons in her hair swayed as she walked, almost hypnotizing me. What was up with this woman? Part of me felt like writing to Portia to ask her to please for the love of all that was good and right in this world to hook her up with someone. Someone she preferably wouldn't murder within the first week.
"That's going to cost you," she said.
I could hear my friends shuffling behind me and I turned to shoot a glare their way. "Cowards," I hissed. "This wasn't even my idea.”
"That makes it all the more delightful," Morgana said in her throaty voice. "I love people who come here against their will." She turned back around to face me. "It makes bargaining all the more delicious."
Jeremy finally had the balls to speak up. "How do you know my situation?" he asked quietly.
"I know a lot of things. I could tell you, but you'd have to pay for it," she said, giving my friend the most unnerving stare. "Are you prepared for that price?"
Jeremy was definitely not prepared and so he erred on the side of caution and shut his damned mouth.
"I thought not. Come back to me when you are."
I could practically feel Jeremy shudder behind me, though I did notice Morgana said when he was ready and not if. I wasn't going to touch that one with a ten foot pole.
"So you already know what we need?" I asked her.
She studied me with that unnerving stare. "Oh I know what you need, Mr. Luna. But I also know what you're here for."
This woman made me want to snarl. "I'm not here for clever word games, Morgana."
Morgana let out a throaty laugh. "So happy you think I'm clever." She waved her hand. "I heard you've tangled with the clairvoyant. Even the dumbest of us know what a mistake that is. Never brush too close to one unless you want to know the day you die, eh?" She winked at Jeremy. "And our little tree barker here seems to have made that mistake. Though you're lucky it was Grace. She's as sweet as apple pie. She just has some trouble controlling her visions, that's all."
"She didn't seem like apple pie when she threatened to cut my balls off," Jeremy muttered.
"That's because Grace is pregnant and you threatened her territory. That had nothing to do with being clairvoyant and everything with being a mother." Morgana rolled her eyes. "But listen, I'm in a good mood today and I hope to bargain quickly to get you out of here. I know what I want."
"You didn't ask for a budget," I said.
Morgana snorted with amusement. "For this particular case, I'm not interested in your money. I want something... different."
"I am not having bondage sex with you, Morgana."
Her eyes widened in surprise before she burst out laughing. "Good one, Sterling, though you flatter yourself." She came into my space again. "I'm into so much more than bondage. I'm afraid your weak little wolf heart couldn't handle it." Morgana stilled for a moment, inhaled, and stiffened. "Oh," she whispered. "Oh my. How delightful. You've gone and gotten yourself a soulmate haven't you, Sterling?"
I froze. "Excuse me?"
"You have the scent of the bond all over you." A puzzled frown lit her face. "I thought you could..." She stopped talking abruptly and a genuine smile landed on her face. It was breathtaking. Even though it seemed to be at my expense. "This going to be wonderfully wicked," she said mostly to herself. "You're going to have a troubling few weeks it seems, Mr. Luna."
I didn't even want to know. "Don't care," I said, dismissing it immediately. So Cherry was my soulmate. I wasn't sure how I felt about it. But what was strange was I couldn't sense the bond. Werewolves knew immediately when a bond was formed. It allowed us to access the clan or pack's magic. It was still pretty early with us. Morgana must just be sensing it early. "What do you want from us to make the protective charm for Jeremy's tree?"
