Page 4 of A Pack of Lies and a Big Bad Wolf

“Two roast beef sandwiches, two orders of fries, and two lemonades. Put it on the Shadowpine tab,” he instructs the woman behind the booth, and she scurries off to get his order.

“Please,” I interject.

He arches an eyebrow at me. “No need to say please. It won’t help. Either I’ll have our mages re-examine your brother’s case, or I won’t.”

Seriously?

I give him an exasperated look. “I’m not saying please to you. I am pointing out that you would traditionally say please when you make a request.”

“I would? You don’t know me very well.” He gestures at a picnic table. “Sit.”

This guy. “Should I also roll over and play dead?”

He arches an eyebrow, looking coolly amused. “Whatever you Mississippi shifters do to entertain yourselves is fine with me.”

I let out a low, rumbling growl as I march over to the table. My poor wolf is going crazy, running around in circles inside me, and I pray that I don’t spontaneously shift. If I do, I’m not sure if my wolf would bite his face off or hump him. And I’m not sure which would be worse.

The humping. Definitely the humping.

Minutes later, he’s sitting across from me and setting down a food tray. He shoves a sandwich and fries at me.

“For me? No thank you.” I’d assumed he double-ordered because he’s a big guy with a big appetite. And my fates, is he big. Those biceps – they’re begging for me to run my fingers over the curve of them. That broad chest is just – no.

I mentally slap myself upside the head. It’s the spell. There’s no way I’m actually attracted to this rude, arrogant, heartless, wolf-hole.

“Eat it, and then we’ll talk. Your blood sugar is low.” And he takes an enormous bite of his own sandwich.

He’s not wrong. Maybe that’s part of the reason why my hands are shaking. However, I’m in no mood to be told what to do.

“I’m not hungry,” I say stubbornly, ignoring my stomach’s low, rumbling growl. He sets his sandwich down and stares at me. It’s obvious that if I won’t eat, we won’t talk.

Reluctantly, I take a bite. The roast beef is succulent, the horseradish tangy. He picks up his own sandwich and starts eating again.

Still, I’d rather swallow a beehive than admit that he’s right. “If I’m shaky, it’s because of the spell that you cast on me.”

He looks at me questioningly. “Spell? What spell would I have cast on you?”

I take a swig of lemonade and inhale a fistful of French fries. So salty and greasy, so good. Okay, yes, I was hungry.

After I finish chewing, I lean in and lower my voice. “The lust spell that you cast on me because you wanted to mess with my head, you absolute dirtbag.”

“Lust spell.” His eyes are gleaming with amusement. “You think I cast a lust spell on you.”

“Well, obviously. I mean I…” My voice trails off. I mean…it has to be a spell, right? I’ve seen plenty of handsome men before. I’ve never reacted like this. I’m not a horny teenage boy, for heaven’s sake.

His mouth is curling up in a smile.

“You’re a mage,” I protest, flushing with embarrassment. “Obviously it’s a spell.”

“Do you know anything about mages?” Amusement drips from every word.

I frown. Mages tend to be rare. It’s a genetic mutation. The Shadowpine pack has an unusually high number of mages; I’m not sure why. “I mean…I’ve met truth mages and healing mages; those are the most common ones, and at a fair I saw a fire mage who could start fires with his mind, and I knew of a power mage who could drain power from magically charged healing runes, kind of a useless talent, really…” I’m babbling.

“Have you ever known a mage with more than one power?” he continues and shoves some fries in his mouth.

“Well…I’m no mage expert,” I say cautiously.

“No, you haven’t, because there is no such thing. We have one power. And my power, as you clearly just saw, is telekinesis. I’ve never known of a mage who could cast a lust spell. There might be a way for a talented herb mage to cause overwhelming lust by creating a potion and slipping it into your drink, but that would be highly illegal. Like death penalty illegal. You must know that. It’s illegal to cast any spells that control the free will of another shifter.”