CASSIE

Twenty-five years living on this planet and this is all I got to show for it…

I sighed as I continued to stare at the endless rows of vials, jars, and tubes filled with all kinds of witchy things that I couldn’t begin to pronounce, let alone know what they did. What they were even doing inside of a bakery was also beyond me.

Cookieville Bakery.

It was such a ridiculous name that it made me wonder if I had been plucked from the real world and dropped into some kind of cheesy holiday movie. Only instead of a happy ending, all I could look forward to was a boring life in the middle of nowhere.

With yet another sigh slipping past my lips, I straightened up and looked around the dusty shelves and even dustier counter. I couldn’t believe that I was back in Konowa after swearing that I would never come back so many years ago. It was bad enough that I had to leave Atlanta, but to come back to this backwoods shithole?

Ugh, the worst, I thought.

Then again, it wasn’t like I had much choice in the matter. Money — or rather, the lack of it — had played a cruel hand. In one fell swoop I had lost both my job and my relationship. My boss had been an egotistical jerk and my boyfriend — make that ex-boyfriend — was a cheating asshole who had been all too eager to hook up with any woman that caught his eye.

My wonderfully acceptable life had gone to total shit in a heartbeat.

Despite all that, I was fairly certain that I could have figured things out in Atlanta. I would have found another job and another place to live. Heck, I probably could have even gotten a scholarship to law school, assuming I had been able to get accepted.

But those plans had been nipped in the bud the second my aunt had been killed. She had named me as her only heir and as such I had inherited her beloved bakery and the boarding house just above it. Frankly, I wished she had mentioned it to me before she had signed me into her will.

My poor aunt… She had always been a kind and caring soul. She was all too happy to bend over backwards to help people. Though we hadn’t seen each other in years, she had always been there in my mind until one day she was just gone. Her good deeds had meant nothing in the face of her grisly death.

Casting my dark thoughts aside, I got to work dusting the shelves. As I did, I marveled at the sheer quantity of potions and spells my aunt had amassed over the years. I hadn’t even heard of most of them and I wondered what they could do.

The black cat, Lune, meowed at my feet. He was yet another responsibility that my aunt had left me.

Unlike her, witchcraft had never been my thing. It was too…out there. Though it was in my blood, it was not my forte. I preferred the legal world. Laws were simple to understand once you got past all the legalese. And the law was very black and white. Just how I liked it.

Hopefully, I could run the bakery and boarding house just long enough to save up the money I needed to move back to Atlanta. All I wanted to do was leave Konowa, study and become a lawyer. Once I had the money, I’d be gone.

The sooner, the better…

VON

The rumbling roar of the bike beneath me only added to the frenetic energy that I felt flowing through my veins.

It’s good to be home, I thought.

Though I had been dreading my return to Konowa, I was surprisingly happy to be back. I had been gone from the pack far too long and could no longer justify staying away.

The adrenaline from my latest kill was surging through me, making me feel powerful. The taste of blood still lingered on my tongue no matter how many times I spit into the wind as it rushed by.

I glanced at the spot on my black leather jacket where the bastard had managed to catch me. The wound stung even as it slowly healed itself shut. It would probably form yet another scar to add to my growing collection. No matter.

While I despised them greatly, even I had to admit that I had been unusually harsh in killing the feral werewolf. I relished the feel of ripping his throat out more than I should have. As his blood splattered all over the ground, I watched as the light had dimmed in his eyes until he was just another dead beast.

I had enjoyed it and worried that my enjoyment was only getting worse.

It had been five years since my mate had been killed by a feral werewolf. Since then, my hunger for revenge had taken on a life of its own. No number of kills could ever satisfy my lust for vengeance. No number of deaths could ever make up for the loss of my mate.

I could barely trust myself anymore. That was why I needed to see the old witch Maggie. Her potions helped to take the edge off and helped me forget Willow, if only for a little while. Her forgetfulness potions were the only thing keeping me from becoming some kind of monster obsessed with revenge.

Though there were plenty of witches selling such potions, Maggie was one of the few who didn’t ask questions. The nature of our relationship was purely transactional…exactly what I needed.

I gunned my engine, aware that the full moon was at its peak. The wolf within me growled, his needs insatiable. As the moon lit my path, I knew that it wouldn’t be long before I would have to kill again.

CASSIE

“Damn it…” I muttered as I wiped the sweat from my face.

I thought that the climate was supposed to be cooler in the pacific northwest. Feeling like I was about to suffocate in the cozy shop, I stepped outside to get some fresh air. Unfortunately, it was just as hot and almost as humid as it was inside.

As I tugged at the sweat-drenched blouse that kept sticking to my skin, I glanced up at the full moon. It was eerily bright and looked like it was closer than usual. I eyed it warily as my thoughts ran wild.

Is this why I’ve been desiring someone’s lips on mine?

For some reason, I always craved connection when the moon was full. Nothing I had Googled ever established a link between witches and full moons, yet there I was trying to think about anything other than finding someone.

Maybe the full moon was just an excuse. But, in all fairness, I couldn’t even remember the last time I had felt true connection. Towards the end, my cheating ex had been spending more and more time with other women than with me.

Fanning myself, I leaned against the wooden porch railing and listened to the sounds of nature. Or at least I tried to. It was eerily quiet. Were there any animals out there at all?

The woods surrounding the bakery were dark and more than a little creepy. The tops of the trees were visible in the moonlight and swayed ever so slightly as the barest bit of a breeze stirred them. It made me wonder why anyone would want to stay out there, surrounded by the vast blackness.

My Aunt Maggie had opened her doors to paranormal boarders who were down on their luck. They had nowhere else to go, which was surely the only reason why they would ever choose to stay there.

I laughed despite myself. Oh, the irony.

While I was the new owner, I was just another paranormal who was down on her luck and had no choice but to stay out there, surrounded by creepy woods and unending darkness.

The distant rumble of a motorcycle grabbed my attention. The faint glow of its headlight indicated that it was heading my way.

Shit.

Apart from the creepy woods, the bakery and boarding house was surrounded by biker gangs of werewolves and other shifters. And with the full moon no doubt stirring them up, I couldn’t take any chances.

Hurrying inside, I cast one of the few magic spells that I was good at and glamoured myself into an old, unattractive woman. I stooped over like an aged woman would and willed my heart to stop beating so fast.

The biker’s headlight swept into the store as he arrived. He cut the engine soon after and my heart pounded even harder as I heard his heavy footsteps approaching. The door swung open and a large man filled the entire door frame. He looked around, then fixed his menacing eyes on me.

“Who the hell are you?!” he roared.