VON

As my fingers gripped the old woman’s throat, I was startled by my aggression.

It was like my body acted out of its own volition, but I knew my sudden attack had something to do with the witch, Cassandra. She was keeping something from me and my wolf knew it.

Then again, maybe she was just frightened of me. Her heart had been beating a mile a minute long before I walked into the shop, and she had dropped more than half of the vials she had pulled out since I had asked her for the potion.

She struggled in my grip as it got harder and harder for her to breathe. Instead of letting go, I marveled at how delicate her neck felt against my fingers. Her skin didn’t feel like the leathery neck of an old crone. It felt soft and warm. Cassandra’s neck had the skin of a much younger woman.

And I could snap it as easily as a dry twig.

My wolf gnawed at me, not because he wanted to punish the witch for her incompetence, but to punish me for threatening her and adding to her fear of me.

Fighting against my growing aggression, I finally let go of her. Cassandra fell to the ground, clutching her neck and gasping for breath.

Shit, I cursed myself.

That was exactly why I needed the damn potion. It never failed to soothe me, even during a full moon. The longer I went without it, the harder it was to keep myself in check. A part of me wondered how long it take before I went feral myself…

I took a step back to appear less menacing. I wanted to give the witch some space so she could breathe, both figuratively and literally. As she continued to take deep breaths on the ground, however, I reconsidered and stepped closer to offer my hand to her.

The sooner she got back to her feet, the sooner she could get me what I needed. At least, that’s what I told myself. I was also curious to see if her hand would also feel at odds with the rest of her like her neck did.

The old witch ignored my helping hand in favor of glaring at me with all of the rage that she could muster. There was a burst of fire in her beautiful blue eyes that nearly made me lose my breath. It was yet another anomaly.

Her eyes were too bright, too blue and too damn beautiful for someone who was seventy years old.

Who is this woman? I wondered.

I watched as the supposedly old woman staggered to her feet and braced herself on the counter while warily glaring at me. As she did, I felt my wolf burning inside of me. He wanted her.

What the hell?!

She was an old, weathered witch who could make even the mightiest desire shrivel up and run for cover. Yet there I was thinking of how I would have loved to hold her in my arms and—no. The full moon was playing tricks on my wolf and confusing him. That was the only explanation I could think of.

I needed to get that forgetfulness potion as quickly as possible and get the hell out of that shop before I lost all control.

CASSIE

Despite the near-death experience, my inner voice didn’t waste the opportunity to tell me told you so. One minute I was lusting after the stranger and the next he was damn near killing me.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, he was clearly not going to leave me the hell alone until I gave him what he wanted.

Being once burned — well, once strangled — I was afraid to turn my back and face away from him. If he was willing to strangle me while my eyes were on him, I could only imagine what he would be tempted to do when I was facing the other way.

Unfortunately, all of the potions were directly behind me and there was no way I could grab them without turning around.

Slowly, warily, I turned around as I placed a hand around my throat where he had clutched me. It burned, but not with pain. With heat. With desire. The memory of his hand stirred me more than it should have as I remembered how it felt wrapped around my throat. It was rough, callous and powerful.

I should have been terrified, but my body clearly had other thoughts.

The feel of his hand wrapped tightly around my throat had made me want to see more of what was teasing me beneath his leather jacket. It made me want to feel both of his hands all over my body.

Shit…

I wanted to know what his body would feel like pressed against mine. I wanted to—

“Maggie always had it ready.”

His gruff voice interrupted my heated thoughts before I did away with my glamour and jumped his bones right then and there. I was both relieved and annoyed by the interruption.

I turned around and met his eyes dead on. “I’m not Maggie.”

The man’s eyes narrowed before he gave me a hint of a smile. The slight quirk of his lips made butterflies erupt inside of my belly. His smile was…alarming. And it was too much.

I turned back around, unable to handle the way he watched me. Desperate to get him out of the shop, I scoured the shelves for my aunt’s spell book until I finally found it. I searched through it as he kept his eyes on me.

He was the hunter. I was his prey.

The thought should have disturbed me, but it only made my heart race faster. What would he do to me if he knew what I really looked like?

With a slight shake of my head, I thumbed through the book until I found a section on forgetfulness potions. I hear the floorboards bend and creak as the werewolf paced impatiently. Finally, I put the book down and hurriedly found the vial that I could only hope held the right potion inside.

With shaky hands, I slid it across the counter towards him hoping to avoid making any further contact with his calloused, thick and strong fingers.

“Here,” I said.

I took a step back as the werewolf eyed the potion suspiciously. The longer he stared, the more I wondered if he was going to take it or throw it at me. He didn’t trust me, and the feeling was mutual.

But more than that, I didn’t trust myself around him.

Why was I having so many wild, sexy thoughts about a man who had literally tried to kill me only a few minutes ago? I should have thrown all the vials at him and run screaming from the shop. Instead, I stood behind the counter trying to undress him with my eyes.

You need to get your head checked, girl, I thought.

The man picked up the vial, held it up to the light and studied it for a long, tense moment.

Then he popped off the top and gulped it down as if to extinguish some fire deep within him. I watched, both intrigued and worried about what the potion would do to him. I had no idea what to expect.

The man suddenly growled and grimaced as if in pain. He pressed a large hand against his stomach like the potion was burning a path all the way down.

Worried, I wondered if I needed to turn and run. Clearly, I had fucked up and he knew it.

As I eyed the door, I knew I didn’t stand a chance. If I tried to run, he would pounce on me and rip me to shreds before I made it outside.

Why the hell did I come back to Konowa?

While I made peace with my imminent death, the man suddenly straightened up. The grimace faded from his face, and he moved his hand from his stomach. He nodded and wiped his mouth with a tattooed hand.

“How much?” he asked.

Obviously, I had no idea how much to charge him.

“What did Maggie usually charge you?” I asked.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. “Here.”

I reached for the money and our fingers touched for an electric moment. A frisson ran between us and triggered a flustered memory of how his hand had felt on my neck.

The man pulled back as if in shock, then quickly removed any expression from his face. He stared at me for a long, intense moment. His gaze made me shift on my feet as the warmth on my cheeks felt like they had caught fire.

The front door rattled, and a man entered, though I hardly registered the interruption. The man paused at the door and looked at us.

“I need a room,” he said.

The man who held me captive with his gaze wrapped his hand around mine, crushing the bills he had just given me. My breath caught as he leaned in close to whisper in my ear.

“Be careful who you take in.”