“Blaine, I’m thinking about getting closer to the wolf shifters. There’s still a lot we don’t know about them,” Thea said, glancing to Sybil. “Think you can help me out?”
“Absolutely not! Thea, who do I look like?” Sybil asked her, batting her tail around angrily. “Does it look like I’m willing to risk my life and sneak around the wolf commune? No, I’m not doing any of that.”
“Fine, Sybil,” Thea replied, respecting her wishes. “I’ll go talk to them myself.”
“What? Thea, no,” Blaine said, shaking his head. “That’s not safe for you to do at all. Sybil already mentioned that she doesn’t want to risk her life going around them. Why are you so willing to risk yours?”
“Blaine, c’mon,” Thea responded in exasperation. She was getting tired of this. “I’m pretty sure I can handle doing things by myself.”
“You don’t understand,” he argued. “This isn’t some simple errand that you can run by yourself. You’re about to deal with some questionable people in an area of town that a lot of people don’t go to by themselves. Don’t you see the red flags here?”
“Why are you being so overprotective about this? You do realize that I’ve survived this long without you, right?” Thea asked. Blaine somewhat flinched at that. “You’re not my parent. I don’t like what you’re doing. It feels asphyxiating whenever you act like this.”
“I’m only doing it to protect you,” Blaine responded, following her towards the back room. She was heading towards one of the secluded exits of the shop, one that led to an alleyway. “Can you please listen to me? I want to talk about this.”
When she got him outside, she waited until he was a good distance away from the door before activating one of her practice wards. Her lessons with Aunt Tiegen were certainly paying off. Blaine wasn’t allowed to get back into the shop.
“What? Thea!” Blaine called out to her as she made her way back into the shop, leaving him behind.
She turned around to send him an unamused expression. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore, Blaine. Go back to work.”
Despite all the words he wanted to say to her, Blaine swallowed them down painfully. There was a lot of hurt in his eyes, as well as surprise. He would have never expected her to act like this.
Regardless, he shook his head in disappointment. “Fine. Just please... stay safe.”
“I will, thank you,” she replied with a forced smile. With that, she closed the door behind her and left him outside.
As she returned to her place behind the counter, Sybil and Jesse exchanged wide-eyed looks with one another. Neither of them had the nerve to ask if everything was okay. They turned the other way, continuing to mind their business.
However, they both knew that if it were possible, steam would be pouring out of Thea’s ears by then.
Chapter 13
It was a long time coming, and despite the objections from Blaine, she decided that it was for the best. She was going to talk to the wolf shifters.
Remembering the directions provided to her by Jesse on how to reach their commune, she headed off to confront them. A small knot formed in her stomach as it dawned on her that she was really going off alone. Pippa wasn’t around to help her like last time. Jesse and Blaine were not going to be with her, either.
She was all by herself.
“You’ve got this,” she muttered under her breath as she headed out of the town limits. “You’re a strong, capable witch. You’ll be okay.”
Inside, though, she couldn’t help wishing she’d done better at those warding and shielding spells Tiegen had tried to teach her.
Sure, she felt a bit frightened. But mostly she was sick of being treated as if she couldn’t do these things by herself. This was enough to fuel her path forward.
By the time she made it to the woods, she was filled with a sense of confidence.
“I’m going to figure things out,” she asserted. “I don’t need anyone to hold my hand along the way.”
As Thea trekked through the woods, she was mindful of the plants she passed by. Recalling Blaine’s close call with the poison ivy, she was on high alert with anything that brushed by her arms and legs.
Not to mention, she was on the lookout for any odd noises coming from her surroundings. Most of the time, it happened to be a small animal scurrying by. As she made her way deeper into the forest, she began to hear what sounded like various footsteps. They didn’t sound like human footsteps, however.
And they were headed straight towards her.
Before she realized what was going on, she was already surrounded. A quick look into the trees and foliage encapsulating her, she saw eyes staring at her from all directions. Wolf eyes. Her heart was pounding in her chest at a mile a minute.
A large, gray wolf made himself known by stepping forward. Within seconds, the wolf reverted forms to reveal an older, stoic man with balding hair and a cold blue gaze.
“Who are you?” he asked, eyes narrowed. “And why do you smell like a fox?”
“I don’t like her,” one of the other wolf shifters snarled out as they each reverted to form one by one. “She looks suspicious.”
“Quiet!” the man yelled to them. Immediately, their conversations ceased.
Whoever this was, it was clear that he commanded a lot of respect within their community.
“M-my name is Thea Beal,” she said, silently cursing at the way she fumbled her words. “I’ve been trying to figure out what happened to Tony. I wanted to hear both sides. I’ve already talked to Ada Davis about it....”
At the mention of the fox elder, the wolf shifters were quick to communicate their repulsion, gagging loudly and grimacing openly. Thea ignored them as she continued to stare at the man who kept squinting at her.
She frowned, realizing that he probably couldn’t see things clearly. Before moving forward, he would reach out and feel things with his hands. He probably needed glasses.
“I don’t know if you even remember this, but... my father was once part of your commune. At least, he was for a time. His name is Alistair,” Thea said, hoping that this would begin to break down the sky high walls they had up when it came to outsiders.
At that, the man loosened up. “Alistair?”
“He lived with you, or so I’m told,” Thea replied.
One of the wolf shifters stepped up from the shadows. “You’re not actually going to believe her, right, Gregory? What if she’s just a spy for the foxes?”
“Hush,” he said, holding out his hand in the direction of the outspoken wolf shifter. They backed down immediately. Still squinting at Thea, he beckoned her to follow. “Come along. We can talk about this back at the camp.”
While the rest of the shifters were unimpressed by his passivity with Thea, they said nothing all the same. Accompanied by the group, Thea followed them back to the wolf commune. Gregory called for a meeting, gathering everyone around the campfire to hear what they were about to discuss.
“What happened to Tony was a disgrace,” Gregory announced. A murmur of agreement spread throughout the shifters. “We know that one of those fox shifters was involved with his murder. They’re manipulative liars and they’ll use everyone around them for their own materialistic gain.”
One of the wolf shifters raised a cup in agreement. “You’ve got that right.”
“You tell it how it is, Gregory!” another one exclaimed.
“We also heard that there’s been rumors of a romance between a fox shifter and a wolf shifter,” Gregory continued.
Thea scratched at the area behind her ear, watching as the wolf shifters exploded in an episode of disgust at Gregory’s comment. Her eyes drifted towards a familiar face at the other side of the campfire.
Max. He was seated next to an older man, who Thea assumed to be his father. While the wolf shifters began talking about how sickened they were at the possibility of a wolf and a fox coming together, Max stayed quiet. Thea already knew why.
Gregory raised a ha
nd to silence them all. “I’m not surprised that things had to end in violence. It always does whenever one of those foxes are involved.”
“Do you still believe that Mira Paulson is responsible for Tony’s death?” Thea asked softly, fiddling with her hands.
At her question, Gregory let out a dry laugh. “Of course I do. In fact, we all do. The fact that the police decided that there was no solid case against her is one of the most disrespectful things I have ever seen. We will not stop until Tony gets the justice he deserved!”
The wolf shifters clamored boisterously at his statement, rising up out of their seats in wholehearted agreement. As Thea observed the unruly scene around her, she couldn’t help but glance at Max throughout the entire thing. While his father joined in at the condemnation against the fox shifters, Max continued to sit there with a blank expression. He made no effort to agree with them.
Her mind continued to swirl with a bunch of theories and thoughts about the entire situation. For now, nothing seemed clear. Everything surrounding Tony’s death was still obscured by a foggy haze, one that she didn’t know how to navigate just yet.
Chapter 14
“So what happened at the wolf shifter meeting?” Pippa asked.
Pippa, Jesse, and Sybil gathered around Thea as she stood behind the counter of A Stitch in Time. After hearing that she had managed to talk to the wolf elder as well as spend some time in their commune, they were curious to hear what she found out. Besides, not many people spent their time around the wolf shifters and their camp anyway. This was uncharted territory for all of them.
“Well...” Thea began, taking things slow since she was unsure of how to word things correctly, especially with Pippa present. “They’re all convinced that Mira had something to do with Tony’s death. They’re angry because the police decided to drop the case against her, but Gregory said they weren’t going to stop until they found justice.”
Pippa slammed her palm against the counter in frustration. “You can’t be serious. If the police decided to leave my little sister alone, it’s obviously for a reason. They shouldn’t be fixated on the idea that she had something to do with this!”
“I know, Pippa. And you’re right,” Thea responded gently, sympathizing with her friend’s concern. “But they’re really hellbent on the idea that Mira was with Tony that night. Everyone was blaming her, except...”
Jesse raised his eyebrows, beckoning her to continue. “Except who?”
“Max,” Thea admitted. “Tony’s little brother. I mean, I’m going off a limb here, but I think that Mira and Max had something more serious going on than a simple acquaintanceship.”
“Oh no,” Pippa mumbled, rubbing her hand into her eyes. “Not this.”
“Hmm... do you think Max could have killed his own brother?” Sybil offered, glancing from Pippa to Thea. “Out of a fit of jealousy maybe?”
“What about that fox elder woman? Ada?” Jesse added on. “You already mentioned that she really doesn’t like the wolf shifters. What if she was trying to get some vengeance on Tony because of the wolves’ attack on her? He was involved in that, wasn’t he?”
“I assume so,” Thea said. “The case against the Lopez family was dropped, so Ada never got her justice, either.”
Pippa shook her head, straightening herself up. “I have to go. The fox shifters are having an important meeting today. I can’t stick around for long.”
“Be safe, Pippa,” Thea called out to her as they watched her exit the shop hastily.
Pippa sent them a halfhearted wave before departing. The sight was heartbreaking. The case was really getting to her and Thea felt like she was getting torn to pieces seeing her best friend become consumed with worry.
“I think I’m going to need to talk to Mira again soon,” Thea announced to Jesse and Sybil. “I have a weird feeling about her relationship with Max. I want to learn more.”
“Do you think she did it?” Jesse asked quietly, acknowledging that this was Pippa’s kid sister they were talking about.
Thea shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. That’s why I have to talk with her directly and figure out what was going on between her and the Lopez brothers.”
Jesse nodded at that. Staring absentmindedly at the front door of the shop, he leaned his chin on his hand and sighed.
“Do you think Pippa is doing okay?” he mumbled out.
“Why didn’t you just ask her yourself?” Thea asked. “She was right here, you know.”
“I know, but...” Jesse sighed. “I get nervous around her. Sometimes, I don’t even know how to talk right. I do want to talk to her and ask her about her life, but I just get scared.”
After hearing his explanation, Thea let out a small hum of understanding. She could sort of relate to that feeling. It was akin to how she acted around her grade school crushes whenever they got too close to her. In fact, she sometimes felt the same around Blaine, even though they were already dating.
“I just want her to be happy, you know?” Jesse continued as Sybil rubbed her head along his arm to try and comfort him. “But I just feel a little awkward about asking her if she’s okay. I can obviously see that there’s a lot on her plate, so I don’t want to make it seem as if I’m oblivious to what she’s going through–”
“Jesse,” Thea said, interjecting his ramblings. “I can promise you that asking her how she’s doing will not be taken in a bad way. Trust me.”
“I just get scared, Thea. You can’t blame me for that.”
“Look, do you want to get closer to her or not? Answer me honestly, Jesse.”
He balked at her words. “Of course I want to get closer to her. I care about her. I learned so much about the fox shifter community just for her.”
“Alright, you’re going to have to show her that you care,” Thea reasoned. “The best way to do so is by talking to her. You’re capable of that, right?”
“Right,” Jesse whispered.
“And I agree with you. She does have a lot on her plate right now. She doesn’t have that same happy glow in her eyes thanks to everything that’s been happening between the wolf shifters and her sister. It’s been difficult, so I doubt she’d be interested in any sort of romantic intentions from anyone.”
Jesse nodded, acknowledging that Thea was making some solid points.
“After all of this is said and done, you should really talk to her more if you like her that much. Ask her out for a cup of coffee or spend some time at the library together.” Thea suggested, smiling at the idea of her two friends going on a date together. “I’m sure she would love that.”
“You think so?” Jesse asked sheepishly.
“She would. I know how she is,” she responded. “And I know how you are, too. It’s normal to feel nervous or scared before any first date. Trust me, I was clamming up badly when I first went out with Blaine.”
He chuckled, scratching his head. “So I shouldn’t be too worried about making a fool of myself, right?”
“You won’t,” Thea reassured him. “And even if you do, Pippa is kind. She would laugh with you, not at you. That’s a big difference.”
Chapter 15
As she swept throughout the store, Thea didn’t even hear when the front door of A Stitch in Time opened. A breeze passed her by as a figure hurried past her into one of the aisles. Glancing up, she recognized the lanky boy instantly. She wasn’t going to forget that stone-faced expression anytime soon.
“Max?” Thea called out, which startled him. “Do you think we can talk for a minute?”
His movements were jittery as he made his way over, but he obliged all the same. “Sure. What’s going on?”
“How have you been? I can only imagine how difficult it is for you right now. I mean, you lost your older brother.”
“Yeah,” Max said, averting his gaze. “It’s been rough, you know. I’m just taking things day by day. It’s kind of hard to think about anything else when the rest of the shifters are talking about it constantly.”
“Uh... I mean, I wouldn’t....” He shook his head, scratching the back of his head. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t talk to her much.”
She hummed. “What about Mira and Tony? Did you know anything about their relationship? Mira’s bracelet was found in one of his pockets at the scene of the crime. It seems like they were close.”
“How did you–” Max stopped himself, clenching his jaw. “I don’t know anything about that. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“But why did Tony have her bracelet, then? That’s weird, don’t you think?”
The boy’s nostrils flared as Thea continued to toss questions his way. He didn’t want to answer anything, she knew that. However, she didn’t miss the flash of anger that passed through his gaze when she mentioned his older brother.
She wondered if something was straining their relationship. Did this wedge between them have something to do with Mira?
When she realized that he wasn’t going to fess up, she decided to reveal what she knew. Otherwise, he was going to continue to ignore her questions.
“Max, do you really think I don’t know what’s been going on between you and Mira?” Thea asked him, leaning in to try and catch his gaze. “It was obvious back at camp. While everyone else was excited to condemn that poor girl, you were the only one who didn’t want to. You and Mira are dating, aren’t you?”
“Look, I don’t have time for this,” Max grumbled, dropping the items he was holding. He was just about to pass by Thea again, but she grabbed him by the forearm and stopped him from getting away.
“What was Mira doing with Tony on the night he died?” she pressed. “You probably know if you’re her boyfriend. And he was your brother. Don’t you want to find out who killed him?”
Grimacing, Max wrenched his arm away from her grasp and stormed out of the shop. He refused to answer any of her questions, but that was to be expected. Thea realized that both Max and Mira were really difficult to get through.
Adventure Magic (Tabby Kitten Mystery Book 3) Page 5
