Chapter 17

Julia

I’d just finished getting the presentation packet ready for my third client of the day, leaving me with fifteen minutes to kill. I’d considered checking on Oliver but decided he’d come to me if he got tired of hanging out with werewolves. Instead, I used the time to think about my current situation. After my night at Gryph’s, I’d come to the conclusion that I needed to learn more about werewolves. I knew about pack rules, and the basics of how to avoid angering a werewolf. I also knew they needed to consume a lot of food and that they got moody near the full moon. The full moon was the only time when changing to wolf form wasn’t optional. On the surface, that might seem like a lot, but it was merely the basics. Beyond what I’d learned in school, I didn’t know much about werewolves.

Grabbing my phone, I decided to call my brother’s wife, Melina. She’d worked with many werewolves during her time as head writer for Night High, a popular teen show. If I remembered correctly, one of her sisters was also really good friends with a werewolf and worked with werewolves who were dealing with mental health issues.

“Melina’s house of horrors,” she answered.

“Hey, Mel,” I greeted her.

“Hi, Julia,” she replied. “How are you? Did they catch the asshole who’s been threatening you?”

“How’d you hear about that?” I asked. Allie had agreed to keep it from Trevor until I had a chance to talk to him.

“Your mom told me,” she replied.

“How did my mom hear about it?” I asked.

“Jessa told her,” she explained. “I’m not sure how your sister heard about it. For now, Trevor doesn’t know, but I’ll have to tell him when he gets home, so you’d better mention it soon.”

“Witches are the biggest gossips,” I muttered.

“Vampires are much worse,” Mel told me. Since she’d also worked with many vampire actors, she’d probably had a lot of experience with them gossiping. “I’ve been told angels are really bad, but they’ve always seemed pretty tight-lipped to me. Maybe they just gossip among themselves. So, did they catch the asshole?”

“The police seem convinced it’s nothing, so I’m not sure they’re even looking,” I replied. “Gryph thinks there’s a real threat. In fact, he’s getting extra security cameras installed at Bliss as we speak.”

“Gryph?” Mel asked. “You’re talking to Gryph again?”

“I hired him to be my bodyguard,” I admitted.

“I see,” Mel replied. “Are you satisfied with how he’s guarding your body? That sounded much more suggestive in my head. Forget that question. Are you trying to get him naked?”

“Of course,” I replied.

“Good for you,” Mel praised. “Just remember, Gryph is a lot more sensitive than people give him credit for. Don’t hurt him.”

“I’m trying to understand Gryph better,” I began. “If I understand him, it’ll be easier to avoid having either of us get hurt. It occurred to me yesterday that I don’t know much about werewolves. I’d never even thought about what it’s like for them when they change forms until Gryph went for a run yesterday. Now, I want to ask Gryph about it, but I’m worried it might be rude. This is the kind of stuff I really should know.”

“You’re just now figuring out you don’t know much about werewolves?” she asked.

“I never needed to know much about them,” I pointed out. “This thing with Gryph came as a surprise.”

“So, you’re ready to admit there really is a thing with Gryph?” she asked, and it sounded like she was amused by my situation.

“Not the way Gryph seems to think, but there is something there,” I admitted. “I just want to understand him better. He seems uncomfortable talking about werewolf stuff, especially how it relates to sex. At times, I’m not even sure he knows how to explain what’s going on.”

“I would imagine he doesn’t,” Mel mused. “We both know enforcers aren’t exactly the warm, fuzzy type. They’re more guarded than other werewolves, and that really says a lot. I’m not saying they’re secretive on the same level vampires are, but they’re pretty bad.”

“Can you tell me more about werewolves?” I asked.

Mel hesitated before responding. “I’m not sure anything I can tell you will help much. Most of my interactions with werewolves have been as their employer. I knew where and when they considered me their alpha and how to deal with their pack as far as negotiating schedules. I wasn’t friends with them. My sister, Evie, could probably help you out. She has a lot of werewolf patients in her psychiatric practice. One of her good friends is a werewolf.”

While I’d met Evie a few times, I didn’t know her well. “Do you think she’d mind answering some questions for me? I really want to understand Gryph better.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. Maybe she’ll even bring her friend, Hadley, along. Hadley is pretty open with people. I guess being away from the pack made her less secretive about all things werewolf. At least, that’s what Evie says. I’ve only spoken to her a couple of times.”

“Thanks, Mel. Any help they can give me would be greatly appreciated,” I told her.

“I’ll give Evie your number,” Mel offered. “I’d better go. Mr. Whiskers is fighting with the enchanted bunny slippers again, and it seems they’re ganging up on him this time. He’s going to end up breaking a lamp if he keeps flapping his wings.”

I giggled at the image. The slippers in question were quite irritable, and Mel’s familiar loved chasing them around the house when Oliver was visiting. From what I’d heard, he usually left them alone when he was the only familiar around. Apparently, he’d decided to be more daring, and the slippers were winning. “Bye, Mel.”

“Bye, Julia,” she said before ending the call.

Just as I set the phone down, Persephone let me know my clients had arrived, so I hurried out to greet them, hoping Gryph wouldn’t intimidate them. He’d decided that all repeat clients needed to be checked out by him in case they were responsible for the threatening email. Thankfully, these were my only repeat clients that day since Gryph had been busy with security details. From what I could tell, Joey, Cash, and John were still working on getting everything set up.

Taking a deep breath, I headed to where my clients were already waiting with Gryph. Tact wasn’t Gryph’s strong suit, but I had to admit it was amusing watching him try.