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“Sold,” he said, forcing himself to his feet. “I need to get me some of that potion. I don’t think I’ve felt this good in a long time.”

“I’ll write down the details for you,” I promised, holding the door open. He went to walk past me and I was hit with a wave of his sweet scent. Like my favorite candy. Sweet honey, a splash of vanilla, and buttery caramel.

Candy corn.

It was strong enough to make us both freeze. I wasn’t used to that reaction. My scent had been muted for years, my doctors assumed due to stress and it simply never came back.

“We’re mates,” he breathed out, eyes wide with hope.

“You can scent me?”

“Yes?” he drew his answer out into a question.

Something had shifted between meeting Rook, yesterday's magical outburst, and now.

“Usually, people can’t. It’s been muted but something triggered it again,” I said, worried this might be a curse at play. I made a mental note to ask Merrick later. He couldn’t scent me like I could him. He’d had no reaction to it at all.

While I was freaking out, my omega happily perked up again at finding another mate.

When I woke up this morning, I didn’t realize I would be running down the Main Street of our little cursed town, in the Mayor’s birthday suit. Nor that I would meet my mate.

She was a sweet omega that helped me without a second thought. I wasn’t used to that level of kindness.

Now, here I was, in my own skin, wishing I wouldn’t have to leave her side. Her smiles were as addictive as her caramel apple scent.

“Here, let's get you something to eat,” she said gently as she set me up in the break room of her antique shop. There was a shabby table and dusty couches. The whole room was a mismatched sitting room that could use a solid cleaning.

She flicked on a TV, an episode of Sabrina The Teenage Witch popping up.

“I’m a sucker for old sitcoms,” she admitted with a chuckle as the noise filled the quiet between us.

“Works for me,” I managed to say. It was hard to speak around her, the old worries creeping in as I waited for my curse to strike.

The little witch walked out of the room before returning a while later with two to-go boxes in hand. I recognized the logo of The Greasy Phantom on the lid and my stomach rumbled. I didn’t have time to eat this morning before disaster struck.

She slid a box over to me and grabbed a stack of napkins.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ve had my fair share of run-ins with the magistrate. In a town full of curses, we black sheep need to stick together,” she reassured me easily. She seemed to be sincere and I wasn’t sure what to do with that.

It was easy to see that she had her own struggles here. I hated that she also had a rough time, but was thankful that someone knew how I felt.

God, I was pathetic. Such simple reassurances and I was melting into a puddle, desperate to have a connection.

“It’s funny how strict they are here. I was sent here for my curse and you’re going to jail me because I was running naked with the Mayor’s skin on? Do they really think that it was my choice? There’s no way that I would wish that on anyone,” I told her as I picked at the fries on the plate. Shame burned in my chest. I hated this curse that affected my natural abilities. Shifting was my birthright, yet the curse made me resent it.

“They’re insane, I try not to let them get to me,” she said gently. “They like to look here first because they know damn well I’ll never stop experimenting to find a cure to these damn curses.”

“They don’t make you stop?” I asked. With how harsh the magistrate was, I was surprised.

“I mean… they tried. But what are they going to do to me other than throw me in jail? Which they are reluctant to do since that’s not even safe from my curse if it strikes.”

“What is your curse?” She had my full attention now.

She shrugged. “It’s hard to pin down. Magical outbursts, bad luck, hiccuping chickens.” Her eyes flickered away as she searched for a subject change. “Oh, I forgot to grab the condiments. Are you a ketchup person?”

“I am, but I hate tomatoes,” I confessed as she moved to the mini fridge on the counter.

“We’re two peas in a pod.” She beamed at me. It was really nice that someone finally saw me for me.