Hallow Haven Cozy Mysteries Bundle Books 1-3 by Mara Webb (hardest books to read TXT) 📗

I heard the rumble of an engine and looked up to see a small plane in the distance headed towards the island. I wondered who was on board. A brief moment of panic, or possibly excitement, rose up as I considered that maybe my ex-boyfriend had tracked me down. Did I want him to do that though? It always seemed so romantic in movies, but in reality, it was an incredibly creepy thing to do.

Justin coming here would be a collision of two worlds. In the few days since my arrival, I felt changed. I had a purpose and a community, I had magic. I wouldn’t be prepared to give that up even if he begged me to come home. That didn’t mean I didn’t want him to try, just that I would reject it immediately. I wanted to be wanted, but have the power to say no.

“She’s coming,” Greta mumbled. I don’t know if she intended for me to hear it, but she must have said it out loud for a reason. When we got into the house I slumped into the armchair in the living room and Fitz jumped onto my lap. I laughed at the realization that I was now both the owner, and patient, of a cat. He was my dentist. A cat was my dentist.

“A werewolf was here, is that right?” Greta asked.

“Yes,” I replied. I fussed Fitz behind his ear, and he purred gratefully. “It didn’t hurt me, it just stood there.”

“When there is a shift in the atmosphere, these things can happen. Those with dormant werewolf genes can be activated and then it’s a matter of restoring peace to the place to keep everything under control. There are a few families with werewolves in their ancestry,” Greta explained.

“Effie said her great-grandfather was a werewolf. Maybe she was activated by my arrival,” I suggested.

“That’s not what you think though, is it?” she said, gliding through to the center of the room to get a better look at me.

“I think it’s the sheriff,” I sighed. I hadn't discussed this theory with anyone yet and I hoped that Greta would give me the benefit of the doubt. I didn’t have much experience with my intuition yet, but there had been something about that wolf’s eyes the resonated with me. I couldn’t ignore the walkie talkie outside the window either.

“That makes sense, he and Effie are second-cousins, they have the same great-grandparents,” Greta said.

“What?” I sat forward, causing Fitz to slide off my lap and tumble onto the ground. In an effort to save face, he began licking his paws as if his fall was intentional. “She’s never mentioned that. She told me she’d made a pass at him, but he’d rejected her. She can’t have known, right?”

“Ha, oh she knows. Look, there aren’t that many people living out here and second-cousins can legally get married, or at least I’m sure I read somewhere that they can. It’s frowned upon, but I have heard Effie wax lyrical about that man’s abs on more than one occasion, so she clearly thought she had a shot.”

“But wait, Miller could really be a werewolf? What do I do?” I asked, leaping to my feet.

“Sadie?” It sounded like Kate. Greta blew a quick kiss and disappeared before Kate walking into the room. Maybe I shouldn't be so concerned about finding a copy of my house keys out by the rocks, it seemed like everyone had access to the house anyway. I considered that, as Kate and Effie were sisters, either of them could have mentioned that they were related to Miller.

“Hey,” I nodded as she came in, spotting Fitz on the carpet and pointing at him.

“Fitz! I wondered where you’d gone. I’m not due a checkup for another four months so I didn’t even think to check at the dentist’s office,” she laughed.

“If you were so worried about me, you could have called or come in for an unscheduled assessment. I might have thrown in a free polish for you,” Fitz joked. They both laughed and I remained baffled by the situation until Kate turned her attention back to me.

“Anyway, Sadie! I figured you might like to come play GPS roulette with me today. It would help you get to know the island better; I’ve got lemonade in a mini cooler in my backpack and... Ryder insisted that someone was with you in case the wolf strikes again. He’s been on some research mission and apparently they don’t just come out at night under a full moon,” she grinned.

“Ryder, huh? Are you babysitting me at his request to get into his good books? Greta already filled me in on you and Effie being second-cousins with Miller,” I teased.

“Yeah, it’s a bummer that there are like, two major hotties on the island and I’m related to one of them. Second-cousins aren’t off limits, just FYI, but Miller has made it clear several times that he thinks that you shouldn’t date anyone that is invited to a family reunion,” she huffed.

“Do I need to change my shoes?” I asked, looking down at the flip flops I had discarded when I had gotten into the house.

“Boot up, let’s go,” she said, passing me a baseball cap. It had a small cartoon pizza slice on the front, but the visor was deep enough that it would shield my eyes from the sun. I refilled my water bottle and Kate lead me out of the house onto the sand and we double back along the beach to get to the main street. “You’re thinking about Miller,” she said after a few moments of silence. “I can sense it.”

“How?”

“I can’t read minds exactly, but I can feel that you are getting a soft spot for him, you mentioned him earlier anyway, so I already knew he was on your mind,” she smiled. Kate pulled her cell phone out of her shorts pocket and opened