10. Katrina

CHAPTER 10

KATRINA

I have no idea what came over me.

One second, I was on the verge of a panic attack, thinking about what happened the night of the full moon and losing control of my racing, panicked mind. Then the next thing I knew, I was grabbing that annoying guy from the bar and begging him to fuck me harder in a cold, dank alley.

What was wrong with me?

I’d never done anything like that before.

There was just something about the way he was looking at me. Coming off the heels of turning into a literal monster, Rory was staring at me in the alley like I was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen. In the heat of the moment, all I wanted was to hang onto that feeling, to strengthen it. The kiss—and everything that came afterward—was my attempt at reminding myself I was still human. I could still feel all the same things that I’d felt before I experienced the first transformation. But still, in hindsight, I knew it was a mistake to cross that line with him. I couldn’t let it happen again.

When I got back behind the bar, I was glad to see that the room was even more crowded and there were no open seats. At least that meant Rory couldn't come around and bother me again. I threw myself back into the job and didn’t allow myself any time to overanalyze what just happened. Drink order after drink order, refill after refill, I went through the rest of my shift in a kind of post-sex haze that I thankfully carried with me all the way until I got into bed that night.

If Rory had stuck around after we hooked up, I didn’t see him. Hopefully, he understood what I meant when I told him not to talk. What happened tonight was a delicious distraction that I clearly needed, but nothing more. I still didn’t want him to know anything about me, nor was I interested in seeing him again.

It didn’t matter that it was by far the best sex of my life.

That’s still all it was—sex.

And now that I’d gotten my attraction to him out of my system, I was pretty sure I’d be able to focus on the thing that really required my attention.

The fact that I had somehow been transformed into a mother-fucking werewolf.

The next day was the first one I had off since I started working at the bar. I slept in late, then made myself a full pot of coffee, and promptly sat down at the little kitchen table in the apartment and logged into Al’s Wi-Fi. The signal wasn’t very strong, seeing as his house was a good hundred feet away or so, but it was enough for me to conduct at least some research. The fortune teller in town had warned me against doing my own online research, saying that I was only going to confuse myself further, but he couldn’t possibly expect me to follow that advice. Not when something this life-shattering was happening to me.

After a couple of failed search attempts, I finally came up with the right wording, which prompted search results that weren’t from amateurish websites or costume shops.

I sifted through various websites and blogs claiming to have proof of the existence of werewolves, and while some of these people sounded extremely convincing, none of the information was all that helpful. Half of it sounded completely made-up—stories of people getting bit by actual wolves and then turning into a creature like something out of a comic book—and the other half was information on something called ‘shifters.’ As far as I could tell, whatever a ‘shifter’ was, I wasn’t one of them. If I hadn’t had my own transformation experience so recently, I probably wouldn’t have even believed a word I read about said individuals. Whether they were real or not, I couldn’t say for certain, but my mind had been opened pretty wide as of late, so I wasn’t going to rule it out.

Shifters, as one website explained, had the ability to turn into a wolf at any point in time. They could then turn back into a human whenever they wanted. These transformations seemed to have nothing to do with the full moon, and shifters were supposedly in control of themselves even when they were in wolf form.

I, on the other hand, didn’t have any choice in the matter when I turned into a wolf, and considering the fact that I couldn’t even remember anything that happened the night I turned, it was safe to say that I also didn’t have control over what I did during the full moon. It hardly seemed fair.

“That’s just great!” I said, locking my phone and sliding it across the table in frustration. “Why couldn’t I have gotten hit with a spell that would turn me into one of these shifters instead? Being able to turn into a wolf at a whim sounds like a gift, not a curse. I’d be like a superhero or something!”

I sipped from my coffee mug, but it was still too hot. I burned my tongue, and with that fiery sensation came a memory that I wasn’t prepared to relive.

I was young but old enough to know better when it came to hot food. I was sharing a pizza with my sisters. I took a huge bite out of one slice, and the molten hot cheese came off the crust and stuck to the top of my mouth. I screamed in pain and spat my food out on my plate. My parents scolded me for having such horrible manners, but my sisters howled with laughter. Their glee made the pain ease just a little bit, and even though tears formed in my eyes, I laughed along as well.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed as hard as I did that day.

Maybe that was the last time.

This uninvited memory made me feel very vulnerable suddenly, even though I’d been the only one privy to it. I took the mug over to the sink and poured all the coffee down the drain. Just the smell of it was suddenly making me feel sick. I heard voices coming from the grassy area between the bar and Al’s house, and even though it was against my policy to interact with people in the morning hours, I decided to go outside and see who was around. The alternative was to spend my entire morning sitting inside, flipping back and forth between worrying about the wolf inside me and reliving memories from childhood that only broke my heart.

Al and that woman he met at the bar, Missy, were sitting on his back patio, laughing at a joke I must’ve just missed. I hadn’t realized Al and this woman were seeing each other, but then again, maybe this was the first time she’d stayed over. Either way, I was happy to see the big smile on his face.

“Morning,” I said with a wave.

“Good morning, Katrina!” Al waved me over once he noticed me. “I’m so glad you’re awake. I was just about to go inside and make some more coffee. Do you want some?”

“That’s okay. I just had some.”

“At least come sit with us for a bit,” Missy suggested. “Al and I were actually just talking about you earlier this morning. He said you were new in town! Just like me.”

“Oh, you’re new to Solara Bay as well? I didn’t know that.”

“Yes indeed,” she said with a bright smile. “I used to live on the West Coast but have always been fascinated with the East Coast.”

“What part of the West Coast?”

“Northern Pacific,” she said. “A small town not far from Portland. Why? Do you know the area?”

“Nope. Just curious.”

“Oh, well, as beautiful as my hometown was, I’m really happy to be living here now. I couldn’t have picked a better place to retire.”

“You’re retired?” I asked. “What did you used to do?”

“You know, a little of this, a little of that.”

“Missy was an antiques and rarities dealer,” Al said. “She’s trying to be modest by not getting into it, but the truth is, she was very good at her job. Sold priceless items to some very well-known and influential people.”

“Oh, stop,” she said, shaking her head. “You’re making me sound a lot more impressive than I actually was. I’m just one of those people who has a good eye, that’s all. I’m good at noticing when something is worth more than others think it is.”

“Hmm. That sounds interesting.”

“It was,” she agreed.

“Do you ever miss it?”

“All the time.” She smiled. “But the nice thing about being in that line of work is that I can always dip my toe in the waters if I want to. I go antiquing nearly every time I travel, looking for hidden treasures.” She looked at Al. “Who would’ve thought that the hidden treasure I found here in Solara Bay was going to be you.”

He blushed and looked away, sipping his coffee.

“Anyway, enough about me,” she said, glancing my way. “Tell me about you! How have you enjoyed living here so far?” She patted the open chair next to hers, and I sat down.

“I like it,” I said. “Everyone is pretty nice, and I like how quiet it is. Very different from some of the places I’ve lived before.”

“Is that so?” Missy asked. “Where else have you lived?”

“Big cities mostly,” I said, trying to keep things vague. “This is the first small town I’ve been in for a long, long time. But I’m happy to be here, and I mean, c’mon, you can’t beat the views. Solara Bay is absolutely stunning.” As much as I typically hated making small talk, it actually felt good to chat casually about something that wasn’t life or death.

“I agree,” said Missy. “The view is something else, and this is one of those beach towns where I thought maybe people would be really stuffy and stuck up, but they’re not. At least, not all of them are.”

“Right?” I laughed. “When I first got here, and Al told me it was illegal to sleep on the beach, I was afraid I might have chosen the wrong place to settle down, but now I’m starting to feel like maybe I was just judging the place prematurely.”

“You were going to sleep on the beach?”

“I thought about it.”

Missy looked at Al, who merely shrugged. Suddenly feeling a little put on the spot, I cleared my throat and tried to get back to the subject at hand.

“But yeah, I’m pretty happy here,” I said.

“Does that mean you see yourself staying for a long time?”

“I don’t have any reason to leave.” That’s how I chose to answer without giving too much away.

“Me neither,” Missy said, beaming. “This place really is magical. And I’m not just saying that because of all the strange rumors people say about this area.”

I frowned. “Rumors?”

“You haven’t heard them?” She smiled at Al. “Do you want to tell, or shall I?”

He shook his head. “Before the night we met in the bar, I didn’t even know about the rumors myself,” he said. “I really hadn’t heard anyone talking about Solara Bay the way you did before you came here.”

“Yes, well, to be fair, you don’t leave town very often. People outside of a five-mile radius have some things to say about this area.”

Al put his hands up in the air. “That’s true. You’ve got me there. But that’s why you should tell her, not me.”

Missy turned her attention back to me. “People think this town is, I don’t know, like haunted or something? There are a bunch of stories about the fisheries, and then there are all those abandoned factories on the outskirts of Solara Bay. They’re creepy buildings where kids dare each other to go inside after dark, which is some true classic horror movie stuff. It just lends itself to a lot of ghost stories and the like. When I got here, I definitely felt like there was something going on, something in the air. I don’t know if it’s ghosts or not, but there’s… something.”

I raised a brow. “You think it’s magic? That’s the word you used before.”

She shrugged. “Could be. Something like that.”

“Huh. Well, I haven’t seen anything that would make me think the town is haunted, but I’ll keep my eyes out for sure.”

“You should,” she said. “And let me know if you see anything. I would be so curious to hear if there’s any truth to the stories.” She grinned. “I’m not just a collector of rare antiques. I’m also a collector of rare tales and oddities of all kinds. If you happen upon something you think I’d find interesting, please keep me in the loop.”

“... Will do.”

Missy had a strangely gleeful look in her eye when she said this, and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that it weirded me out a little. Perhaps I would’ve tried harder to figure out what her deal was if a bird hadn’t flown over our heads right then and called everyone’s attention to it with a loud cry.

“That’s a Belted Kingfisher!” Al said as he leapt to his feet. “I can’t believe I’m actually seeing one in my backyard.”

The bird landed on a tree next to the patio and chirped a few times. Al walked carefully across the wooden slats, and even though he hadn’t told us to be quiet, Missy and I fell silent. Once he was close enough to get the shot, he gingerly took his phone out of his pocket and photographed the bird. After a few snapshots, the bird flew away, and Al watched it go, hand on his chest like a proud parent.

“That was amazing,” he said softly. “I’ve lived here my entire life, and I’ve never seen one of those up close. My birding group is going to lose their minds when I show them these pictures.”

I laughed. “I didn’t know you were a birder.”

“Me neither,” said Missy.

He smiled over his shoulder at us. “There are a lot of things you two don’t know about me.”

“Well, I, for one, hope to change that.” Missy got up and went to him, putting her arms lovingly around his shoulders. He kissed her cheek and snaked his arm around her waist.

“And that’s my cue to go,” I said, getting out of my chair. “You two have a nice rest of your morning. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, yeah?”

“For sure,” Al said, waving. “But you don’t have to rush off.”

“Who’s rushing?” I laughed. “I’m just giving you two some alone time.”

“You have any fun plans for your day off?”

“Not so much,” I said. “But I was thinking about going for a walk on the beach to kick things off. Then I suppose I’ll just see where the day takes me.”

“Sounds relaxing,” he said.

“Lord, I hope so.”