Wolf's Bane

Contaminated

"How was your first dance lesson?" Andrew asked when he saw her the following afternoon.

"I hope you like having your feet stepped on because that's going to happen," she joked.

"I look forward to it," he said. "Are you ready for your tour of the grounds?"

"Of course." She followed him outside and out onto the grounds. "I'm guessing you've been all over this place."

"Many times."

"As a wolf?"

"Often."

"I think I've seen you running around at night."

"That's likely," he said. "I can't sleep until after I've had a run."

"It must be nice to have this whole estate to run around on."

"It keeps me safe," he explained. "It protects the other werewolves, too. That's one of the reasons jobs here are so sought after by them. During the full moon, they can run to their hearts' content."

"That does sound nice," she admitted.

"There's nothing in the world like it."

"You must feel very free doing that."

"Yes."

"Speaking of freedom, have you figured out who locked Sebastian in the closet?" It wasn't the smoothest segue, but her curiosity needed to be sated.

"Not yet," he admitted. "No one is confessing and I'm hesitant to have rooms searched or anything like that. This isn't a prison, after all."

"But keeping it a secret is weird, right?" she commented. "If it was an accident, they should just come forward."

"I'm guessing the key was stolen," he pointed out. "I wanted to believe there was an innocent explanation, but that doesn't seem likely, given that no one's offering one."

"I talked to him last night," she said. "He suggested someone might have done it to mess with me since my dad was here."

Andrew considered that. "I suppose it's a possibility, but I don't know why anyone would do that. To the best of my knowledge, none of the staff should be bothered by your presence."

"I've been thinking about that," she told him. "What if someone on your staff has a crush on you and got jealous when I showed up?"

"You think one of my workers fancies me?"

"Who says 'fancies' anymore?"

"I do."

Desiree couldn't help smiling at how confident he sounded. "Alright. Well, I think it's very possible at least one person has a crush on you. You're a good-looking guy and you're nice. It's reasonable to assume someone likes you."

"You think I'm good-looking?"

"Are you going to pretend you didn't know you're handsome?" she wondered. "Honestly, I don't think such humility would suit you."

He chuckled. "I've never been known to be humble, I suppose. Still, it's nice to know you find me attractive."

"If I didn't, I wouldn't have gone on that date with you, would I?"

"Then I'm glad you like the way I look," he said. "I hate to think I could have missed out on getting to know you."

"I'm not that interesting," she argued. "I'm not sure why you'd want to get to know me. You're an Elite werewolf who basically lives in a palace with servants. I'm just a human waitress."