Glenda Peabody disarmed the alarm and she flipped over the closed sign to open. She hung up her coat and turned on the stores music system. Apparently the music left on from the night before  was Native American flute music. Glenda flipped the dial till it hit the Celtic station, and fiddle music started. She smiled widely and sighed. Fiddles, Bohrans and tin whistles were much better than wolf howls and chants in the morning. 

Glenda then noticed the window display and thought it was adorable. The fake fall leaves suspended on fishing line and tree branches holding jewelry was quite beautiful. Piety was upping her game she saw and liked that. The store had been Charity’s baby and Glenda hoped it would always be here in the years to come. 

She continued smiling at the fall morning and wondered how long it would be before Piety arrived. Sure they had had words yesterday but that was how family was. Whatever disagreements could always be worked out.

 Humming with the Irish music she started dusting the crystal clusters in the display. The bell on the door tinkled and Piety walked in with Finnegan on her heels. 

Piety said rapid fire with no pauses , “I know it’s my day off, but I need to talk to you about all the weirdness, and how the hell did I get assigned a werewolf? I accidentally shot him by-the-way. How did I not see my aunt do real magic?” Genda blinked sorting the verbal jumble.

 Piety pulled off her corduroy coat with a sigh and hung it next to Glenda’s . Piety was in faded blue jeans and a baseball t-shirt with a logo from the area high school on it. Her long auburn hair was up in a ponytail. It was a rush out the door look that Glenda guessed Piety had dressing in a hurry to get a handsome werewolf out of her hair. Glenda grinned , from the gossip she had heard handsome werewolves were not a bad thing to have hanging about in the early morning.

Finnigan the dog reported to his bed behind the counter gratified that Glenda had left a dog biscuit on it for him. He turned three times his tail wagging slowly and laid down to crunch his milk bone. Piety decided she had waiting long enough and said, “I asked you a question?”

Glenda set down her duster and said, “You asked two questions and a statement not that I should have kept track.” The older woman held up a hand to forestall anymore questions or statements and continued, “ What happened to Finnegan? He has a bandage on his neck?"

"He got bit by a werewolf." Piety said and cocking a hip and pointing at her friend  she continued , " Answer the question Glenda, why all the secretes?" 

"Your aunt was careful, she wanted to slowly reveal your heritage to you, she worried that your childhood with your mother’s religion would make a ... sudden revelation too shocking for you." Glenda paused considering her words and randomly picking up objects to dust. "She wanted very much for you to stay and apprentice to her as is our tradition. Unfortunately, she thought she had more time in this world than she really did.”

Glenda sighed and  returned to  the second shelf in the display , the dusting was just something for her hands to do have something to do as she spoke, “As to werewolf guardians I can only guess, but I bet Officer Riley was assigned to you by his alpha or leader.” Glenda paused to lift a large amethyst cluster of crystals and dust under and around it. Piety took the cluster from her to get the woman to stand still a moment. She set the Amethyst down and patted Glenda's arm. It was friendly and gesture to show Glenda , Piety wasn't angry. 

 “Glenda , I didn’t ask for or want this .” Piety said softly. 

Glenda tucked the duster under her arm and instead of replying to that statement she said“ So, when are we going to talk about this and start teaching you how to get a handle on who and what you are?”

“There isn’t much to talk about. I am not a witch I refuse to be involved in any of this.”Piety replied moving away to go behind the counter and pull out an Azure Green Catalog to do some ordering. If she was here she might as well work.

“Sticking your head in the sand will not make it less real, however I don’t feel like fighting about it right now.” The older woman looked out to the street through the glass of the shop door and saw a crow staring back at her. Glenda felt a chill, it was a bad omen. Piety interrupted her thoughts by interjecting

“Again why would any werewolf anybody assign anyone to me. Why would they care?”

Glenda gave her a pained look, “The answer is very long and would be a history lesson, let’s just say that there is an agreement in the paranormal community between its leaders and those under them to follow rules. There is also agreed to punishments when you break the rules.” 

Glenda paused gathering her thoughts, “Jack’s alpha would assign him your safety as a courtesy since the man is a cop and a high ranking wolf. We don’t know what killed that poor Amish man and if it might want to eliminate you. After all your aunt was the Sheriff so to speak of the magical community and traditionally it would be her daughter or close family who would inherit the job.”

“Aunt Charity has been gone for a little over a year, who has been doing the metaphysical cop duties now?”

“Me” replied Glenda with a tired sound, “Truth be told it’s like being a star high school quarter back trying to fill in for an NFL Pro. In terms of power and knowledge your aunt was unmatched in this neck of the woods.” 

The older woman looked wistful and sad in those moments as if she wanted to elaborate further. Glenda knew she was not the equal of her old friend and the evidence of that was now being seen in blatant attack. No one would have tried this with Charity in charge .

“So…” Piety started interrupting Glenda’s thoughts and was cut off by her door opening the bell tinkling merrily the person who rushed in was Iris, her eyes were red and puffy she had obviously been crying. Mrs. Peabody rushed over, “My dear what is wrong.” She took the girls hand and Finnegan left his dog bed to whine and lick Iris's hand.

“There was another murder, it was Clarissa’s boyfriend.” Iris’s voice quavered and she allowed herself to be enveloped into Glenda’s motherly embrace. Muffled in the hug Iris said, “Clarissa saw the medical examiners working under tarps. She was riding to school with her mom and saw her boyfriends car." More tears fell and Iris in a shaky voice said, " Clarissa jumped out of her moms car at the stop sign and saw it. She saw...Parts of..." Iris stopped with a sob.

Glenda made sympathetic sounds letting the girl cry. Then in a small voice Iris said, " Marcus was my friend too, and someone did horrible things.” The girl started with tears anew and sobbed into Glenda and with a cold feeling Piety locked eyes with Glenda and the older woman all but said in that glance, “You are in this world my dear, I’m sorry.” 

Jack parked his truck and decided that Piety was a pain in his ass, under that cute exterior was sneaky little bitch. She had ditched him, and he had now had to waste his gas to drive up to her store in Pulaski to patiently explain to her that she could very well be endangered.

Except he had stumbled on to the murder scene and chatted up the responding officers. This current murder was less than a mile from her home. She would have to be moved and maybe a second wolf called in to protect her. Glancing at his cell phone that Jack had left in the glove box of his truck he saw multiple calls and a message. Listening to the message it was from Melody, “Hello, Jack we missed you at the fun run last night, but I know you had to work. Call me back.” The pack never left messages that weren’t coded. it was in case someone other than recipient of the message intercepted it. Paranoia is what had kept the pack alive even in the times when witch hunts had occasionally veered to include werewolves too.

Jack thumbed her number on auto dial she picked up and said with no preamble “ There is another murder Jack. It’s more violent and not far from Piety’s home did you see or hear anything? “

“ I know I ran into it this morning when she ditched me.”

Melody chuckled , “ Well she is Charity’s niece  and stubborn has to run in that family. So, you heard nothing? I would have thought you would have watched over her …” She trailed off, there must be a human near who shouldn’t hear her say “ as a wolf”

No, it was pretty quiet till she shot me” Jack replied peevishly

“ WHAT?” Melody said her voice rising a bit. 

“I’m ok, but are you sure she needs protecting?” he said rubbing the bridge of his nose, “She didn’t pause for a second to blast me.” He could hear Melody moving, most likely to an unused office in her husband’s business so she could talk freely.

“Well Charity was a friend of the pack and while Piety seems to astonishingly know nothing of our world her blood line is old and influential.We will want to keep her safe. I can see that Peabody is old and tired she will be giving away the title. Keeping Piety alive benefits us.”

“How very mercenary of you, Mel.” Jack replied with a quirk of his lip.

“I’m a werewolf alpha’s mate, not a girl scout. Besides you know how witches are about blood lines and inherited titles. Peabody is old, she will want Piety to take up Charity’s work before someone decides to challenge her for it. At any rate you get back to looking after her, nose about the murder scene as a wolf see if there is something the humans missed.”

“Yes, Mel” he said in mock subservience

“Don’t you take that tone with me buddy boy. “she replied with an unmistakable humor to her tone.

“So, how long do I babysit this reluctant witch?” he replied

“Till we figure out who is doing this murdering. When do you go back to work? David thinks I should be shadowing her when you’re not available.”

“Be careful, the damn woman shoots first and asks questions later.”

Melody laughed and hung up.

Iris held the mug and absently petted the dog. Glenda looked at the teen in her short skirt and terrible frosted eyeliner smiled. There was a time she and Charity had awful fashion sense and apparently the current generation was hellbent on revising the worst of the 1980’s. Glenda held the tea pot to poor a bit more into the girl’s mug. She knew Jack was out there but hadn’t said anything she could only deal with one crisis at a time. She knew that Piety would get her back up if she knew the wolf had followed her to the shop. Then again, the woman should get it through her head that wolves don’t give up easily.

Iris sipped her tea and was hot and soothing she knew that no one made tea like Mrs. Peabody. Many a high school drama had been resolved at the shop with Charity and Glenda making tea and listening. The tears had stopped, and Iris felt steadier and answered the questions and told what she knew. Piety marveled at how well the older woman had distracted the girl with Finnegan and tea. Finnegan settled in to being petted and even though he looked somewhat fearsome if you didn’t know him. She looked at his neck with the bandage , "Poor dogie" she said , " Get into it with a coyote?"

Finn gave her a doggy grin and of course said nothing. Piety replied with a false smile, " Something like that." and there was an unnatural silence in the room.

Glenda broke the silence with some questions and soothing words. Then the older woman bid the girl to finish the tea. When the mug was empty Glenda took it from Iris and said, “Now you need to go back and finish the school day. Be a good friend and be there for Clarissa and if you hear from her, you call me. I want to know what she says. Now repeat that too me.” Glenda urged

“I need to go back to school and finish the day and be a good friend. If I find out anything new, I should call you.” The girl said in a passive voice

“Very good, now scoot.”

Piet stood with her arms folded, “What the fuck, Glenda?”

The girl got up and walked out almost bumping into Jack as he entered the store. Jack gave her a look as the girl was red eyed and seemed to be walking like she was in a dream. He glared at Piety and said, “You ditched me!”

“I don’t need you following me around, Jack.” Piety was surprised at his civilian clothes she didn’t know quite what she had expected but the distressed brown leather jacket and jeans only seemed to enhance his height and wide shoulders. She noticed the stare and looked to Glenda who was smiling enigmatically.

“Tough, did you know that within a mile of your home there was another attack?”

“Yeah, Glenda here apparently puts truth serum and mind control in the Lipton tea. It was Iris’s friend Clarissa whose boyfriend was torn up last night.” Piety snapped annoyed at Glenda’s casual use of magic on a school kid. Glenda rolled her eyes, “I refuse to drink Lipton tea , thank you very much.”

“From what I have heard “torn up” is an understatement.” replied Jack in an even tone eyeing Finnegan who was trying to be deceptive with his tongue lolling in a doggy grin. Jack thought, “Oh no buddy I am on to you, I refuse to get bit on the ass by you again.”

“ I gave the girl chamomile tea and whammied her with magic. I need to figure out what we are dealing with. I wanted Iris compelled to call me if there is any new information.”

“I need to be in the loop also.” Jack commented and Piety felt her ire rising. They were talking around her like she was furniture.

“You get info through the police department I can’t get, so as they say, you show me yours and I will show you mine.” Glenda retorted saluting him with her mug.

Piety had enough of being talked around she patted her leg and Finnegan got up and went to her side. She said nothing and walked out the door. Jack was right behind her, “Hey, where you going?”

“Home! I figure you two can map out my life and form a detective murder club without me.” Piety snapped

He caught her arm, “Look, I’m sorry this is coming at you fast but Piety, what’s out there doesn’t care that you never learned about your heritage or you have no interest in tracking it down. It will know you smell like a witch and you radiate power. Please don’t run off on me I really do want to keep you safe while we figure out who or what this is.”