Page 65 of Big Bad Wolf

“Ha! No, I wish. Just a regular old human, sadly.” He licked the ice cream from his spoon and smiled at Callie. “But every time we do it, the sun comes out, so that’s pretty cool.”

“Sawyer!” Callie covered her face, but Rafe snorted a laugh.

“That is pretty cool, actually,” Ruby said, and Callie lifted her hands.

“Really?” Callie asked.

“Of course! My best friend is a witch. Very cool. Can we hex people? Because Trina has been really pissing me off lately.”

Callie laughed. “No, sorry. It’s pretty limited to very localized weather patterns, but if you ever want a day off, I can probably get a good snowstorm going.”

“Incredible. We’ll circle back to that for sure, but what about Lena?”

“Right. That’s why I wanted to tell you all this. I was thinking maybe my grandmother could help. I mean, she might have some tips anyway.”

Tears sprung to Ruby’s eyes. “Yes, perfect. Thank you, Cal.”

“I told you, I got your back.” Callie wrapped her arms around her and Ruby caught a glimpse of Rafe’s face over her shoulder with a very I told you so look.

But Ruby didn’t mind at all.

She was glad he was right.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“I told you, I feel fine.” Lena glared at her over the top of her book. Dark circles hung below her eyes today, her skin sallow in the morning sun shining through the kitchen window. The charming sister was gone again. This sister, the sullen, exhausted one, the one she didn’t know, was back.

Ruby sat across from her picking at her breakfast, still thinking about what Lena had said last night and what it might mean. Rafe was outside, sniffing around the perimeter in human form, checking to make sure all was safe. A chill ran down Ruby’s spine at the thought of what he might find, or worse—what he might do if he found something.

But what scared her the most was watching her sister waste away before her eyes.

Rafe had said she was a seer, but what did that even mean? What were they supposed to do now? Whatever this thing was, it seemed to be eating her from the inside out.

Lena nudged her foot under the table. “What are you thinking about? Your face has gone all scrunchy.”

Ruby let out a laugh. She still hadn’t told Lena the truth about Rafe or about his seer theory. Or about Callie, for that matter. She felt guilty for not being honest with her sister, for treating her like a child that needed protecting, but she didn’t know what else to do. “Nothing. Just thinking about running some errands today.”

“Sounds good.” Lena stood and shuffled to the sink to rinse her plate. “I think I’ll go practice my Spanish.”

Ruby nodded and watched her go. Learning Spanish was just one of the many things Lena had tried out during her weeks at home. But Ruby knew it wouldn’t be long before she dozed off up there. Many times she’d found her sister sound asleep with the language learning app still spouting out phrases or a book open on her chest or a cross stitch tossed aside. As much as Lena was trying to stay her old self, it wasn’t working. Ruby sighed.

But Rafe’s idea had sparked hope in Ruby. Maybe Lena wasn’t sick at all. Maybe Lena had a gift. Maybe she just needed to figure out how to use it.

“You okay?” Rafe’s voice startled her out of her musings. She hadn’t heard the back door open or his light footsteps into the kitchen.

“Yeah. Just worried about Lena.”

Rafe nodded, pouring himself some coffee and lowering gingerly into the chair across from her. Ruby watched him, thinking about how strange it was that he’d made himself at home here over the last few days. She’d never even lived with a boyfriend before and now this big, broody werewolf was drinking coffee in her kitchen like it was a perfectly normal Saturday.

And it shocked her how perfectly normal it felt.

“What time are we meeting Callie and Sawyer?” he asked.

“Around ten.” They were going to chat with Callie’s grandmother today and hopefully get some useful information.

“Are you sure you don’t want to bring Lena?”

“I’m sure.”