Raymond's mouth twitched. He was swayed by Celeste's words. She could tell that, and she was ready to sway him even more.
"You can go to the east to find the wolves yourself if you don't believe me. You're the werewolf hunter here. Although wolves are different from werewolves, I trust your expertise to trace them down."
Celeste wasn't bluffing or lying to his face. The wolves did live in the east of the forest, far away from her pack. It was just that the forest was too wide and thick for Raymond to run into them. Now that he knew which direction to look into, his odds were much better.
Before Celeste came to the café, she had expected Raymond to find something more solid about the existence of werewolves. So she was surprised and even a little disappointed at his theory. But that did give her an opportunity to distract the hunter.
"But… How do you explain the increased wolf cries on the full moon?" Raymond asked.
"As I said, you are the werewolf hunter here. You should be the one who knows everything about wolves. Don't wolves all howl on the full moon? That's their call to rally or hunt I suppose?" Her fingers tapped on the table.
"Is that so?" Raymond asked, scratching his head in frustration.
Celeste was amused by his reaction. He didn't even know that? Was he really a hunter?
"Okay! Please put away that smirk on your face." Raymond complained, draining his drink. " I have to say, you got me. I guess I'll have to test my theory by finding those wolves first…"
Celeste wondered if Raymond said that to keep her guard down. But he seemed genuinely frustrated.
"Good luck with that, then." She wasn't sorry at all.
Raymond grumbled, "Thanks a lot! And I'll keep you updated about what I've found."
"Can't wait." Celeste smiled. Raymond was again that clueless, nerdy man she knew for months…
***
Byron, Nora, and Jeff were glad at her return. But they all gasped and frowned upon her bold attempt to touch the wolfsbane, which was well expected. Celeste had tried to skip that part, but the three found out about it immediately and demanded the truth stubbornly.
Nora had talked Celeste's ears off and made her promise never to make such a dangerous move again. The lecture ended with Celeste tightly caught in her mother's arms.
"Ouch!" she protested, trying to remind her mother to loosen her up a little. But not only did the mother not untie her, but the father also joined the big hug.
Now that she was away from the hunter, what had happened started to sink in. She began to feel a bit frightened at what she had done. The wolfsbane could have killed her or at least wounded her.
Also, she still had no idea why Raymond stopped her from touching the wolfsbane in the end.
But on the bright side, the threat facing the pack was seemingly gone. At the very least, the hunter was distracted for the time being. But in case Raymond got suspicious again, Byron said he would make sure to keep an eye on him.
"Oh right. Since we don't have to worry about the hunter anymore, are we still going to have the gathering this month?" Nora asked the Alpha.
Their pack gathered once every month to have dinner together. It was more like a family union than a gathering, happening late in the month when the moon became a crescent and had less influence on them. And it was only days away.
Everyone had been excited about the gathering this month because they were going to celebrate Jeremy's first shift, but the news of the hunter in the town had dampened the spirits. They had even thought about canceling it.
Werewolves, being social creatures, were particularly fond of the gathering. Now that the hunter was no longer their concern, the idea of the gathering was drawing their attention again.
"I guess we are," Bryon answered, earning a small yeah from Nora. "We're going to celebrate Jeremy's first shift and also welcome our new member."
Celeste had heard about the pack taking in a rogue more than two weeks ago. She heard that the rogue had passed the Goddess's test and was officially a member of the pack. But she hadn't met him yet. In fact, most of the werewolves in her pack hadn't met the guy. So, this would be an opportunity to introduce and welcome him to the big family.
"Ha! I'm so excited to meet the new pack member! What's his name again? Ken, right?" Jeff asked.
"It's Kent! Kent Woolf. That's a very handsome young man." Nora corrected her husband.
Jeff snorted. "Sorry I didn't follow the gossip about this very handsome young man new in the group."
Nora shot him a dagger. Celeste giggled.
"Don't be jealous of the young man, Jeff. And in Kent's defense, he is good-looking. The ladies in the pack have been asking me about him." With that, the Alpha shifted his gaze to Celeste. "And Cel, I think you two will get along. You can win his heart in the gathering first with your amazing cooking skills."
Celeste rolled her eyes. Why would she want to win his heart? She didn't understand why Byron was always interested in setting her up with any guy he liked.
That said, she would be glad to welcome the new member with her food.