Moon Struck: When Were & Howl Book 1

by Jeanette Raleigh

We drove to Seattle that weekend to meet the hedge witch Dirk recommended. Her name was Gisele Madison. I'm not exactly sure what involves being a hedge witch, which is probably just as well. Rob carried my collar in his laptop case now, because I couldn't stand to wear it.

  The drive was long and tedious. As a human, I loved car trips. As a wolf they were intolerable. The motion of the car made my stomach queasy. And it was boring. I couldn't converse, and Rob wasn't talking either. Ali would have understood and kept me company with stories, but she had to work.

  After we got out of town and were driving through the rolling hills, Rob rolled the window down. I stuck my head out and felt free, like I could breath again. With my new wolfy nostrils, I smelled the different types of grasses and the little animals in their burrows. And the wind ruffled my fur in just the right way. From that point, the trip was much better.

  The hedge witch lived along I90 near Issaquah. Her house was rather non-descript, at least from a wolf's perspective, but the garden was lovely and wrapped all the way around the house.

  Sultry voice or not, I expected a frumpy little woman with gray frizzy hair tied back in a kerchief. What I got was an incredibly tall woman in a smart grey pant suit with a genuine grace in her movements. She wasn't just pretty. She was gorgeous, the kind of woman men dream of being with. The blonde highlights in her hair looked natural, and her smile was just a little too cheerful for me to be happy about it. She also smelled good.

  After inviting us in, she took the seat next to Rob and flirted shamelessly with him, as if I didn't exist. My heart hurt to watch. It took all of my will power not to growl at her. When she put a hand on his arm and started to make her move, I didn't snap off her wrist. Instead I put my head on Rob's lap, right under other his hand and gave my best territorial glare.

  “Oh.” Gisele raised a manicured eyebrow and tilted her head just that little bit. “I'm afraid your friend hasn't been given appropriate lessons in manners for a werewolf.”

  That time I growled.

  Rob used the tip of his finger to scratch the silky part of my nose. It felt surprisingly good and soothing. “I asked her to accompany me on the next full moon. I believe she sees you as a threat.”

  I could have died of embarrassment right then. Rob certainly had a lofty opinion of himself. It surprised me that his brutal honesty worked. Gisele removed her hand and we went back to business. “The amulet. Did you bring it with you?”

  Rob handed her the collar. “When she changed into a wolf, the amulet disappeared, but she was wearing this.”

  Gisele hissed when she took the collar into her hands. “Powerful magic. Dark. Very dark. Three wolves lost their power when this amulet was made. Three cats lost their lives.”

  She wasn't talking about regular cats. These were were-cats. I just wanted to know how to stop the spell. My stomach felt queasy knowing people died to make it, and I wanted to rip the thing off. Rob must have read my mind. “How do we turn Jen back and return the wolves' power?”

  As she looked me over, Gisele wore a haughty expression. “You must find all three wolves. When they put on the amulet and say a spell, their power will return to them. I will write down the exact words for you. The amulet should disappear with the third wolf and Jen will turn back into a human.”

  I didn't like Gisele. It wasn't just because she was tall and perfect or even because she thought she was better than me. She just had this way of making me feel small. Even as a wolf, I felt like a mouse in her presence, which technically I was, but I shouldn't be made to feel it. But she was a predator, in a way that a mouse like me did not appreciate. I watched her watch Rob, and I realized that she was interested in him.

  Running to the door, I turned and looked over my shoulder at Rob. He laughed. That's what I like best about him. He's charming even when I'm not.

  “Wait. I know you don't like me, Mouse. You will stay the night here. The maker of the amulet is hunting for it. I'll help you hide. I'll create a potion that helps you hide. One night is all I need.” Her smile was false. As a wolf, I could read her scent, her being. She wanted Rob. Wait, what did she say?

  She called me Mouse. My soul roared at the indignity. It was what I was. She named me truly. And now Rob would know. And we wouldn't ever go on the moon tryst date. Not that I planned on going, but I wanted to.

  “Jen?”

  I felt as if I couldn't win. We needed Gisele's protection. Dirk's description of her power and her willingness to help meant that we needed to stay the night. I dipped my head. It was the best I could do. Gisele slid closer to Rob. I watched while she leaned forward and whispered in his ear, and I heard exactly what she said, “Are you sure she's the one? You could always save that date with her for another month. We could have a glorious time.”

  Rob was listening to her words, but looking in my eyes. With a shake of his head, he said, “I've made my choice. Wolves stay firm you know, when testing for a mate. I'm going to test her next.”

  Wow, that made me feel special, like a tube in a laboratory filled with disease. Testing the girlfriend. It was a good thing Andrea explained this to me in detail or I would have slipped out the door with my tail slinking below my legs and run so far away that I never saw Rob again. But I knew that it meant he wanted me. He wanted to see if we were mates, and only because he thought we could be.

  So I just sat there and pretended I couldn't hear what they were saying as they whispered back and forth, as he took her hand and removed it from his leg.

  “Whatever you say, Sweetie.” Gisele stood abruptly. “Well, let me show you to your rooms.”

  Her house wasn't overly large. There were exactly three rooms. The master bedroom on one side of the kitchen and the two smaller bedrooms across the house next to the living room. Those two bedrooms shared a bathroom. What concerned me was that she gave me the master bedroom...and worse, it looked like a guest room for a dog, with doggy furniture and a rather large pet blanket. And she gave Rob the bedroom next to hers. This lady was trouble.

  We both had overnight bags, with hopes to do a few tourist stops once I had turned back to a human. Neither of us anticipated a long drawn out problem with the amulet. After taking a moment outside to do my business, I followed Rob into his bedroom.

  “I'm sorry. I don't allow animals in that room or in my room. I'm sure you understand.” Oh, I understood. Rob with his handsome smile and chiseled werewolf body could stay next to the witch. This was a total set up.

  I stopped at the threshold of his room and sat down, putting my tail just at the edge of the door, but not a hair over.

  “That's okay. There's plenty of room in the master for both of us.” Rob leaned down and patted my shoulder.

  Gisele's mouth fell open. To say she looked shocked was an understatement. “I'll just be downstairs finishing the masking spell.”

  For my part I hoped it worked. She was somewhat upset to be foiled in her pursuit, and I wouldn't put it past her to mess up the spell now that her fun was ruined. Also, it felt a little too convenient that she knew exactly what had to be done to reverse the amulet. How would a witch know that? Unless she'd made amulets before.

  Rob wasn't one to be pursued. It's probably why he wanted me. It's not like I've been easy for him to get to know, even after months working together. I was surprised when he accompanied me to the pet room.

  The pet beds were new. Perfect for a were-anything, the room didn't work for a human. After Gisele went downstairs, he slipped outside to grab his sleeping bag.

  I went into the pet bathroom and discovered a huge tub with buttons on the bottom, specially built to a wolf's needs. I pressed the button and water filled the tub. It was just the right temperature, which for a wolf was a little cooler. As the tub filled with water, another tube squirted bubble bath in from another angle. I love bubble baths.

  I was busy splashing in the tub, rolling upside down. There were some really cool things about being a wolf. The water smelled so fr
esh. Not exactly like water, but like something else, something more, something better.

  I'd left the door open. It's not as if I could have closed it anyway with paws, but it didn't matter because I wore fur which in the wolf world was as good as clothes. Rob chuckled when he saw me in the tub. And then he pulled out his cell phone and took a picture. I hoped it was a good one because he sure as heck wouldn't get another tub picture of me again.

  “Jen, would you mind if I shut the door for a minute? I'm going to change.” Rob looked a bit awkward and I realized that we were going to spend the night alone together. Hmm...I'd imagined it several times before, but never quite like this. I barked what I hoped would be a cheerful response. He laughed and our eyes met, then he closed the door gently while I went back to my bubble chasing pursuits. After that, I had the tub to myself.

  He opened the door a moment later, looking good in a blue t-shirt and shorts, and I found myself wondering what he looked like as a wolf. Maybe I could run with him on the moon as a wolf, if we didn't resolve the amulet situation.

  I went into the corner of the bathroom and shook from head to tail. Rob pulled a hair dryer out of my bag, “You'd best get dried off before sleep.”

  Now that I faced a hair dryer as an animal, I discovered something. They are loud. My ears were far too sensitive now. But we managed and I felt clean and refreshed when Rob lay down in his sleeping bag. I longed to lie down next to him...or at least at the foot where a regular pet would lie.

  But I felt shy. And I didn't know if he wanted me there. So, I curled up on the doggy couch with my head tucked over my butt.

  Pretending to be asleep, I stared into the dark, but of course I was awake. My ears heard whispers in the dark of things I could not place. Rob experienced the same discontent and shifted back and forth in his sleeping bag. By morning, we were both tired and cranky. Coffee sounded good. The witch poured milk in my metal bowl. I sniffed it a few times. It actually smelled okay. So no coffee. At least she wasn't trying to poison me...yet.

  I drank the milk without complaint, feeling grateful that Rob looked worse than I did. He had hair sticking up on the side of his head and wore a grumbly expression from all that tossing and turning.

  There is no etiquette for licking milk out of a bowl. I felt awkward and very much on display, probably because Gisele watched me carefully while I drank. I sniffed the bowl again for good measure, then looked under and around just to make sure that there wasn't some witchy thing attached. All clear.

  She handed Rob a bag of herbs on a leather thong. “Wear this around your neck.”

  She attached a similar bag to the amulet collar and reached for me. I side-stepped and growled.

  “Fine.” She handed Rob the collar. “Make sure she wears this. I've spelled it to make it more comfortable. If your moon tryst doesn't turn out, look me up.” She smiled and it was genuine and soft, and she looked too good for having stayed up all night, much too good. But we never had to see her again. So I finished my milk and thumped my tail on the linoleum floor when Rob finished making pleasantries. He knelt down at my side and his hands on my neck felt right even while the collar felt oh so wrong.

  He watered his hair down in the bathroom before we carried our stuff out to the car, ran a comb through his hair, and suddenly it was as if he'd never lost any sleep.

  It was like magic. I loved watching him.