My Sister Is a Werewolf by Kathy Love Page A

her fancy in another bar.
    He paused. No, she’d said that she didn’t do that sort of thing. And even though he couldn’t imagine why, he believed her.
    No, he did know why. He wanted to believe her.
    But it didn’t much matter what he believed, because the fact was, he probably wouldn’t see her again.
    And that was a good thing.
    “... really enjoyed meeting you,” Brian was still talking, but Jensen realized he’d missed what was being said.
    “What? I’m sorry.”
    Brian gave him a look as if he thought Jensen was pretty much gone. Jensen had to admit he was feeling a little nutty.
    “Melanie. She really enjoyed talking with you the other night. Before you pulled your little disappearing act.”
    Jensen nodded, not sure exactly what to say. He didn’t want to give his friend the idea that he’d want to see Melanie again. He wasn’t interested in dating.
    But hadn’t he asked Elizabeth out? Hadn’t he been disappointed when she wasn’t in the kitchen, and she’d never given him an answer? Although her disappearing act had pretty much said it all.
    Apparently his own hadn’t made the same point to Melanie.
    Unfortunately, his lack of reply hadn’t been the right one for Brian, either.
    “She’d love to go out on a date with you,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.
    Jensen shook his head and straightened away from the counter, wanting to stop this conversation now.
    “I’m not interested, Brian.”
    Brian straightened, too, and Jensen realized he hadn’t stopped it. Damn.
    “You do know that you can’t stop living just because Katie died.”
    Jensen ground his back teeth. Here we go again. The talk he’d received from dozens of people since Katie died. For the first time, however, he did feel maybe people were right. Even as he thought that, guilt tightened his chest. After all, this wasn’t just about Katie dying. This was about his role in her death. This was about his selfishness and what it had cost Katie.
    “Melanie is a nice woman,” Brian was saying, and Jensen held up a hand to stop him.
    “Brian, I know that. But I’m just not interested.”
    Brian stared at him for a moment, obviously trying to decide if he should try to press his point. But finally he just nodded. “I know you’ve had a hard time of it.”
    Jensen nodded, too. Brian had no idea. And frankly, his time wasn’t getting any easier. T hank s to a beautiful woman, a pair of peculiar pale eyes, and possible multiple personalities.
    “So, have you heard there’ve been more sightings of a large wolf-like creature over near the Steadbetter Farm?”
    Jensen knew that was Brian’s way of dropping the uncomfortable subject, and he appreciated it. “Really?”
    Brian nodded. “I read in the Journal that old Mr. Steadbetter said the thing was huge. He said he’d never seen anything like it.” He widened his eyes and made a little howl, his very poor imitation of a wolf.
    Jensen smiled, shaking his head. “I think the locals are desperate for news.”
    Brian nodded. “It’s always pretty quiet here.”
    Jensen would have liked to agree, but things had been pretty crazy for him recently.
    “So tell me more about the woman shoving the guy in the bar,” he heard himself asking his friend.
    “I didn’t really see it,” Brian said. “But I did see the aftermath. The huge guy was pissed.”
    “What did the woman look like?” He tried to sound casual, asking himself why he was even going there. He needed to stop thinking about Elizabeth. For his own sanity. But his mouth kept on going. “I mean, you said she was pretty small?”
    Brian smiled, seeming to warm up to the change of topic. “Tall, but thin. Definitely not the type you’d peg as being tough enough to take down a guy this size.”
    Tall and thin could be Elizabeth, and she had been talking to a huge guy, but she’d hardly looked disheveled when he’d seen her in the parking lot. Nor had she looked shaken. She’d been pretty damn calm and