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As the sun crept above the horizon, casting a soft golden glow on Blackwood Creek, I made my way to Lola Kipling’s office. I was practically skipping with excitement—we could potentially use magic to combat the odds stacked against us! Witches were scarce, and it was very possible that Lola might not have any usable magic at all, but this opportunity was too precious to squander. I was supposed to be helping Kyle train the other shifters, but in the overall scheme of things, if Lola had potential magic, then it would be a major game-changer in the war against the hunters.
“Morning, Tori.” Lola greeted me with a warm smile as she opened her door. “Come in.” Lola looked as eager as me this morning, her eyes gleaming as she grabbed a plate of lemon poppyseed muffins. “I couldn’t sleep, so I got up early and whipped these up.”
“Thank you.” I took one muffin as we sat, the sweet aroma making my mouth water. I took a bite and moaned. “Oh my god, these are delicious.” I immediately took another bite and scarfed the rest of the muffin in no time flat.
Lola laughed. “I’m glad you enjoy them. I love baking. No matter what I’m going through, whether happy or sad—or in this case, excited—I bake up a storm.”
“Well, don’t let me stop you. If you need a guinea pig, I volunteer.” I snagged another muffin, not ashamed to show off my gluttony, but I ate it a bit more like a civilized human.
“I appreciate that. I’ll call you when my kitchen’s overflowing.” Lola laughed and pushed the plate closer toward me as I smiled at her like a chipmunk with my cheeks full.
Chewing, I fought the temptation to take a third muffin, even though I hadn’t even started on the second. My gaze landed on the wolf’s claw knife on Lola’s shelf. It had been identified as the weapon that had killed Deputy Hill. It had made Ridge and Clawson assume Lola was the murderer since she owned the piece. Well, that and the fact that she had slept with him, not knowing Hill was dating Margo at the time. Sweet, gentle Lola had been mortified when Margo had walked in on them.
“Hey, your knife is back.” I pointed at the weapon.
“The sheriff returned it to me right after we had the shifter talk. I just displayed it last night,” Lola said, relief evident in her voice. “It’s been in my family for years, and I missed it. Strange, huh? But I’m glad everything worked out. I hated the idea of people thinking I murdered him.”
“So did I,” I said. I’d been so upset when her name had been put into the mix. I had been angrier about them thinking she had killed the deputy than thinking I had, which I didn’t even attempt to explain to Lola.
“So, about being a witch. What do you think?” I lifted a brow at her.
Lola hesitated, and she chewed on her lip. “I don’t know if I’m witchy or not, but the more I think about it, the more things seemed off when I came to town. It makes so much sense thatso many townspeople are shifters. I’ve been wondering, are the Greenthornes shifters?”
“They are.” Nodding, I took another big bite of my second muffin. Yeesh, I needed to slow down. I was already full, but Lola had a gift. I made a mental note to add more exercise to my daily tasks, or I wouldn’t fit into any of my clothes.
Lola shuddered. “Figures. They’re the only ones I ever thought of as animalistic.”
I laughed when I saw the amusement glittering in her eyes.
“Welcome to Blackwood Creek, where things are never as they seem.” I took another massive bite of the heavenly muffin. “Anyway, do you have any idea how to test if you might have magic?”
Lola pursed her lips. “Just because those capsules were glowing for me doesn’t mean I have any magic. I’m worried I’ll disappoint you.”
I swallowed and cleared my throat. “You can’t possibly do that, Lola. If you have no interest in finding out, I’m okay with it. It’s a gigantic step for anybody, and if you want to wait or never broach this subject again, I will understand. Better than most, believe me. We can just sit here, enjoy these amazing, heavenly, delicious muffins, and gossip about the Greenthornes.” I rolled my eyes in the back of my head for dramatic effect, though I didn’t have to exaggerate much.
Lola laughed. “No, I’d like to find out, but gossiping about the Greenthornes will be fun, too. I have to be careful, though. Doctor-patient confidentiality and all that.” I knew she’d never cross that line. “By the way…” She hesitated a little, keeping her eyes down. “Did you check on Zander this morning?”
I shook my head. “It was too early for non-family visitors.”
“When I got the call from the doctor, I was worried, and now that I know everything and spoke with him, I’m even more worried. Zander’s changed since losing his memories,” Lolacontinued, a blush creeping into her cheeks. “He’s really sweet to me, but even before his incident, he always went out of his way to talk to me, ask about my day, or make small talk when we ran into each other around town.”
The way Lola acted had me smiling.Clearly, Zander’s little crush on Lola wasn’t one-sided. Despite her professionalism, I didn’t miss the affection in her eyes when she spoke about him. It was no secret that I hadn’t been a big fan of Zander when I first came to town, but I found it sweet to imagine the drinking, trouble-making jerk going above and beyond to be nice to the town psychiatrist.
“Tell you what,” I said to Lola. “Let’s check in with Zander later, after he’s gotten more rest.”
Lola’s face grew serious. “I hope if I do have magic, it’ll help Zander get better, and any other shifters who were treated the same way.” She threw up her hands. “On the flip side, I’m worried about getting my hopes up and proving to be useless.”
“Lola.” I reached out and rested my hand on hers. “Don’t put this much pressure on yourself. You’re only just discovering this part of yourself and your ancestry. You don’t need to think it’s either everything or nothing. It’s not up to you to cure Zander and save the day this very second. Start with some research. Look into your ancestry and witches overall. You might find something that’s more fact than fiction. No matter the outcome, you’re not useless.”
Lola’s eyes shone, and a determined smile graced her lips. “You’re right. This is amazing. It’s always been a hobby of mine, and now I get to do it for real. I’ll do a deep dive into the books and journals I have. There are so many, I haven’t been able to read them all, so maybe there’s something there.”
With a warm hug and an overly full stomach, I declined the muffins she told me to take with me. I had zero willpower and would devour them all if I kept going now.
I left Lola’s place, ruminating. If she ended up having some power, it might come in handy when we faced hunters with a full-fledged dark witch on their side. As I walked toward the training area, I mused about how adorable it was that Lola and Zander might have struck up a cute little romance. Which wasn’t the most accurate term because, if anything, Lola’s professionalism wouldn’t let that happen. But the sparks were flying, and soon there might be something more. Between them, Clawson and Margo, and Audrey and Kyle, there was a lot of coupling going on despite the danger we faced.
The coupling situation wasn’t lost on me. Ridge and I had quickly paired up and fallen for each other. The only difference was that I had a hard time knowing for sure if my intense feelings for Ridge were natural or just fate pulling strings. I wanted to be by his side right now, but I had to keep a buffer between us until I figured out if my feelings were real or not.
As I entered the clearing, I spotted Kyle with a handful of shifters from Ridge’s pack. Their expressions were dubious, and if I had to guess, they were finding it difficult to trust a hunter, especially after Kyle’s demonstration with Clawson. There was a healthy fear among them that pounded against my skin as I walked toward them. However, once they noticed I was there, they eased up a bit. The shifters didn’t seem to realize Kyle was my brother; the Greenthornes hadn’t managed to drop that juicy tidbit at the pack meeting before Audrey shut them up. I was under no illusion that they’d be using it to feed the gossip train in town, though. No matter how concerned I was about the potential fallout if the other shifters found out, it wasn’t enough to risk them not knowing how to fight against hunters. They needed to know how to defend themselves, and if possible, take out any hunters along the way.
