Page 19 of Wolf Unseen

“I didn’t like it there, Riley,” Mom whined. “The nurses were mean to me.” What she meant was they wouldn’t enable her by supplying the shit she wanted. “Besides, I feel fine now. Totally fine.” Hmm. She’d only been in there a few weeks. Long enough to be past the worst of the withdrawal symptoms but not enough to be clean.

“Where are you going to stay? Frank took the trailer back because we owed rent.”

Mom gasped. “What? I don’t owe a cent!”

“Are you sure? Frank isn’t a liar, Mom.” Frank was actually a nice guy, and he’d been way more lenient than most landlords would be under the circumstances.

“There must be a mistake.” Mom’s voice wobbled, and I sighed. “Can’t you talk to him? Persuade him to fix this?”

“I’m in Europe, Mom. I can’t fix anything right now.”

There was a long pause while she digested the unexpected news. “Okay, but you can still call him, right?”

Typical Mom, expecting me to fix her problems while showing no interest in me. My phone screen cracked as I squeezed the cheap handset a bit too hard. Goddess, give me strength.

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do, but in the meantime, can you call Felix and ask him to let you stay for a day?” I felt bad about involving Felix but what choice did I have? It wasn’t as if I could let her sleep under a bridge. “I have to go, but I’ll call you after my class.” Which I was now ten minutes late for. Wonderful.

“Oh, no need,” Mom said cheerily, even though she had literally just implied she had nowhere to go. I heard a male voice in the background. “My new friend says I can stay with him, so I’ll be fine!”

“Wait, Mom, who—” The line went dead. I stared at the now-cracked screen and questioned all my life choices up to this point. Perhaps Felix had been right when he warned me that embarking on a crazy quest to find Lorna was a mistake. In doing so, I’d abandoned my mother who, in the grand scheme of things, was even less equipped to handle life.

Yeah. No matter what I did, I was fucked.

12

Riley

After five days of being whispered about everywhere I went, I needed a break. Saturday dawned bright and clear, so I dragged my weary self out of bed at the ass crack of dawn and hopped on the first courtesy bus into the nearby town of Trinity Falls.

This was the sort of place that attracted human travel influencers desperately seeking cute content for their feeds. A snowcapped mountain backdrop, tons of characterful buildings, and a charming central plaza meant Trinity Falls was surprisingly busy for nine a.m. on a Saturday morning.

Most of the people ambling around were magicals, but I spotted a few human tourists clutching smartphones and gazing up at the mountains in wonderment. No wonder Lorna had landed here and stayed for the summer.

The place was a tourist magnet.

The courtesy bus dropped me and two yawning avian shifters next to a bookshop with an intriguing window display.

A stack of dark romance novels took pride of place among sex toys, handcuffs, and crucifixes. The store wasn’t open yet, but I couldn’t wait to check out the offerings once it was.

Religious kinks and trigger warnings? Sign me up.

The goddess knew I needed something to take the edge off my libido. Since arriving at Moonfall Academy, I’d experienced a great deal of frustration. Sadly, self-care was not meeting my needs right now, and I suspected that a hot, no-strings encounter with a sexy shifter was the only solution.

If I wasn’t masquerading as a male, there was at least one alpha wolf shifter I’d have hit up. And I suspected the experience would ruin me for all other males.

After dragging myself away from the Black Hearts Bookshop, I trotted over to the Buxom Bagels Bakery & Coffee Shop, where a small queue had already formed at the counter.

The smells of baked goods and fresh artisanal coffee was too good to resist, and even though I had no disposable income, I couldn’t resist ordering a venti double-shot mocha latte with vanilla, as well as a choco berry muffin and a bacon bagel.

“Take a seat, honey, and Sukie will bring your order over when it’s ready,” the smiling female with a witch vibe told me. Her purple hair sparkled as she passed my order to a small, winged female. Wood sprite?

I was desperate to quiz the witch about Lorna but took a seat at a small table near the window. It was better to wait until the early morning rush died down before asking questions. Besides, I wanted to enjoy my breakfast first.

These people might not appreciate me asking them about Lorna, especially if she owed them rent or left them in the lurch after vanishing.

The adorable little wood sprite duly brought my order over as I watched yawning tourists wander past the window, carrying backpacks and cameras.

“Enjoy!” she chirped before dancing away. Stars, this place was cute. Paintings with quirky frames hung haphazardly on pink walls, and the furniture in the café side of the bakery was a random assortment of mismatched chairs and tables decorated with jars of wildflowers.