Page 58 of Fake It ’Til You Mate It

“What? No. It’s a dude. One of your dudes.”

“Riordan?”

“The cursed Beta? Your brother? If he ever lets himself off the chain, he won’t poison shifters in the dark, Sheriff. He’ll bulldoze the entire damn town.”

Hang on⁠—

I look over at my mate. “Riordan is cursed?”

Max’s expression is instantly full of guilt. Huh. Looks like we both have secrets… “I can explain later. But you, Roxy… you can explain now. How do you know that?”

An impish shrug. “Let’s just say that I don’t only deal in oddities and antiques at my store. I’m nosy. I like information. And when my sources tell me that the new witchy baker in town is on the chopping block, I’m going to get all the information I need to take them down.” Her yellow eyes gleam in the darkness of my bedroom. “No one messes with Honey but me.”

I’m touched. “Thanks, Roxy.”

“Don’t mention it. And to make it easier, I’ll tell you what this is. It’s an order form I found. Don’t ask me how. Don’t ask me where. It doesn’t matter. What does is that it ties Talia Winters to one of your wolves when it comes to a mass order of wolfsbane, silver, and nightroot powder… plus a witch fee for unlimited spells.”

“Who is Talia Winters?”

“She’s a witch.” Duh. “She also owns the apothecary.”

And she’s been selling wolfsbane, powdered silver, and nightroot powder to a wolf shifter.

Roxy tosses the scroll. Max doesn’t open it. Not yet.

All he says is, “Whose the wolf, Roxy?”

“Leo Holloway.”

Max snarls, and I just blink in surprise.

Leo Holloway.

Leo, the wolf who was in the bakery when I accidentally gave away the Can’t Resist Cupcakes. Leo, who works in law enforcement with Max and would’ve been at the pack meet where Declan brought my treats—and Max’s cupcake. Leo, the glorified meter-maid who was having a discussion with a witch about Abigail’s death when Roxy pushed her way into the conversation.

A witch…

How much do I want to bet that that was Talia Winters?

If he had a witch working with him, that would explain the blow-back spell. That’s strong witch magic, and she’s sold her services—and the poison ingredients—to one of Max’s high-ranked wolves.

But why?

All along, he thought I was the target. Same thing happened last night when the wolfsbane blew back on us. But when you think about the cupcake… what if it is Max?

I don’t know, but I’m all the more determined to end this. I’m sure Max is, too, though he hasn’t taken his Alpha stare off of Roxy just yet.

“Where did you get this?”

“Oh, Max… don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to.”

Welp. Considering Roxy is dressed all in black, with a black beanie covering her hair, and it’s three o’clock in the morning… it’s probably a good idea to drop that line of questioning.

Especially when she says, “And that’s not what you should be asking.”

Max scowls. “Then what should I be asking?”

Roxy jerks her chin at the scroll. “What you’re going to do about it.”