"What the hell are you?" Sean watched as I let the silence take over the room with his demand. The smile on my face had left me unreadable to Sean as he stared me down. I raised my hands and brought them together. The single clap shattered the silence and made Sean flinch.

"Let's make a game of it! Take a seat, both of you." Cassie met my invitation without hesitation and took a seat on the couch. She then inched her way towards me until our bodies nearly touched. I flashed her a smile that became a grin when I turned to Sean, who only watched in bewilderment at Cassie's behavior. "Well, c'mon, Sean." A sigh escaped him. He relented and sunk into the chair across from us.

Greta gave me a heads up on what they are. For now, I have Cassie on my side. Maybe we can work out a deal before I lose that—These pheromones will only work on Cassie for so long.

"So let's touch on you both being werewolves-" Sean gritted his teeth before he went off on Cassie.

"Did you tell him?" Cassie shook her head at his accusation. She leaned forward, her eyes narrowed. As she was about to retort, I set my hand on her shoulder. Her face eased as she looked at me.

"I got this." I said, when she leaned back. "Actually, I figured it out after she left." Sean watched me for a moment. His nod told me I hadn't given away too much.

Not a lie, I'm just leaving out part of the answer. Technical truths are going to have to make me look more dangerous than I am. If Sean realizes I'm weaker than him, it'll end badly.

"Anyway, enough about you two. This is supposed to be about me, so why don't we start?" My dismissive tone left Sean silent when I leaned towards Cassie. "Ready to learn more about me?" My teasing made her smile.

"Yes!" The enthusiasm in her answer made Sean shake his head as he muttered something to make Cassie lower her eyebrows at him.

I think I have Sean's go ahead.

 "What do I smell like to both of you?" I asked when Cassie spoke first.

"Like Sandalwood and Amber! It's just the perfect amount of each and it's heavenly!" Cassie threw her arms around me and pulled me in. As she pressed my body against hers, I heard her take in a deep breath through her nose, followed by a chuckle.

Do I need to implement strip club rules with her? Look but don't touch? It's not my fault the pheromones smell like your favorite fragrance to pull you in. 

"You smell like sweat to me," Sean's tone was flat as he gave his answer. 

Noted, I have no impact on Sean, I can't just run out the clock with him. Looks like it's intimidation tactics then.

"So here's what I do; I hunt the souls of the dammed and devour them. The squatter in my condo was today's catch. I think it makes up for forty-one years of unpaid rent." Sean's eyebrows raised in concern as I continued, his face hiding nothing as the dots connected in his head.

"You're-" I held my hand up and eyes went radiant silver. Sean went silent when a twisted smile formed on my face. 

"Sure, I could have made it quick. Just stab him in the throat and then the chest a few times to break him." I watched Sean as he gripped onto the arms of the chair. His hands shook just enough for me to see, making my smile grow as I looked back into his eyes.

Here I thought werewolves would be tougher to scare. Then again, Cassie was pretty freaked out by the ghost.

"But I thought this guy, this fucker, used to attack women and bash their skulls to bits, but not before doing all these unforgivable things to them. So why not fuck him up a bit?" I turned to Cassie. "Make the bad ones experience what they put their put their victims through. It makes sense, right?" I asked when Cassie spoke first.

"It makes perfect sense!" Cassie said when I leaned into her.

"Thank you, Cassie, I appreciate you." Her face beamed with joy as Sean looked at us with disdain. His grip on the chair tightened when his knuckles went white.

"No, it's fucked up!" Sean retorted. I raised my arm, not pinned by Cassie up in a shrug. 

"Anyways, Sean, I like to add my twist to these hunts, so yeah, I stabbed an eye out, bashed him in the head a few times with a hammer, and left him convulsing in his own blood. Then came the big finale. How do you think I used that hammer?" I paused and let his anxiety hit a peak. "I ripped his fucking jaw off his face!" A laugh escaped me, my twisted joy vanished and my face went neutral. "So yeah, that was me, like fifteen minutes ago." Sean sat in silence at how my tone flipped between casual, sadistic and back. 

"Jesus Christ, you-" I cut Sean off when I turned back to Cassie.

"Cassie, I met Greta. She kind of just barged into my place and saw me devour a soul." Cassie's face changed to surprise. "Yeah, I was gonna visit her after, but she trespassed on me... So that was kind of on her." My shoulders rose in a shrug. "So anyway, after I calmed her down, she told me about how she got murdered by Harold and now I'm gonna kill him and devour his soul, too." I sat back on the couch and enjoyed watching Sean try to process my new task.

That's right Sean, you and Cassie can tell if I'm lying outright, but technical truths and lying by omission give me a way to control the conversation.

"Oh!" I said, as my body shot forward on the couch. "Very important thing. Neither of you can tell Greta I'm gonna murder Harold. She only thinks I'll scare him off and her finding out could risk damming her soul to hell." My eyes locked with Sean's. "You wouldn't want an old lady to be dammed for all eternity, right?" Sean narrowed his eyes at me. I turned to Cassie, who gave a nod. 

Sweet, that takes care of that factor, that or it's not my fault if they fuck up now. Let's keep this moving.

I clapped my hands together. The sound shattered the silence and made Sean jolt. The two focused on me as I spoke.

"So, any guesses what I am?" I sat back and waited. A few seconds passed as Cassie looked me over when her face hinted she had an answer. She took a breath in as her joyful expression grew until it became palpable. 

"Oh my god, you're an angel!" Cassie said, as she set her hands on my shoulders and pulled me into another hug. "You're here to save us, right?" I remained silent, if only to not laugh at her delusions.

I've gotten some interesting answers over the years, but damn, I think she's my new worst guess ever.

"Cassandra, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Sean asked flatly. He looked on at our most recent embrace, his teeth clenched tighter with each second passing by as his lips rose to bare his teeth. "Also, get a grip and keep your hands off him!" Cassie relented with a huff.

Let's keep him distracted.

Once I was free of her, she crossed her arms and glowered at him. Before she could speak, I brushed the side of her face and heard a breath escape her as I kept my hand in place.

"Cassie, I just want to say one thing; thank you so much for your guess. I promise you, I will never forget it." My face warmed as it took on a shade of red. I leaned towards her, leaving a gap between us, and whispered. "And I'll never forget you either." Cassie's skin warmed on my hand as her face flushed and matched mine. Cassie turned herself towards me and leaned the space I left for her.

"I could never forget you either." Our smiles deepened. I stroked the side of her face with my thumb when she leaned her head into my hand. Her expression became one of euphoria.

Noted werewolves like petting. Must be the dog in them.

Cassie's eyes opened. Her amber eyes had a light yellow tinge to them as she looked into mine. She closed her eyes and as she leaned in, the sound of Sean's feet stomping on the floor as he rose from the chair interrupted us and stopped Cassie's advance.

"He's a fucking demon! Angels don't eat the evil souls! Remember all the stories mom and dad used to tell us? That no matter what you do, make sure you stay away from them cause they'll kill us all!" Sean spoke in a frenzy as he refused to let anyone else speak. "Cassie, how the hell did you get angel from the story he told us of ripping someone's jaw off with a hammer? Does that sound angelic to you?" He asked, his tone incredulous as he tried in vain to reason with his sister.

Well, he's kind of right, but let's not correct him.

Cassie's gaze shifted from her brother to me. She gave me a nervous smile, followed by a question.

"You wouldn't kill us, would you?" The two watched me when I took Cassie's hand in mine.

"I currently have no reason to." I said. My answer reassured her.

"See?" Cassie said, not allowing herself a moment to doubt my words. "We're fine. I knew I could trust him." Sean stared at her in disbelief as he muttered to himself, prompting Cassie to scowl at whatever she had heard.

"Cassandra... " He only spoke her name before he moved towards the hallway for the bedrooms. "I'm calling Marissa." Sean went out of view and a door slammed shut.

Wow, the idiot left me alone with Cassie, well time to get some info out of her.

"So... is Marissa the pack leader?" I asked. Cassie shook her head as the two of us turned to face one another on the couch.

"No, our mom is, but Marissa runs things when our parents are away on business." Worry crept over her expression. Something was on her mind.

"So she's your older sister?" I asked, "Are there a lot of you in your pack?" I waited for her answer that could help me figure out what I could be up against. 

"Actually, Marissa is my little sister. I also got an older one and, including Sean, I have four brothers." She let out a laugh. "I'm the middle kid of the seven of us." Her smile returned. "Oh, but I'm the fastest runner in the family." Her smile added a tinge of smug as she bragged to me.

There's only nine of them? Maybe she's only talking about her family? I need more info.

"Is that your entire pack?" My question resulted in a shake of her head when her face tensed up.

"There's Bree but... eh, her and my older brother Robbie are... about to bail on us." Cassie went silent and crossed her arms as she looked towards the ground. "You know that thing I asked you for help with?" I gave a nod. She leaned in and whispered. "Yesterday, I was visiting my parents. They got a call, then packed and left. Since that I haven't been able to shake this feeling. It doesn't help that Marissa said I need to keep this feeling to myself." She said, her grip on herself tightening as she seemed lost in her thoughts. 

 Well, I may have agreed to a little too much here... Let's figure out the situation and see what I can do. Worst case, I'll need some help, but it'll be worth the souls.

I set my hand on her shoulder; it resulted in her looking at me. A forced smile appeared on her face when my hand traveled down her arm. Her face and body eased. Moving past her forearm, I gently took her wrist and pulled her hand towards me. Our hands joined as I gave her a reassuring smile.

"You can talk to me about it. I promised to help you. Didn't I?" Her eyes watered, she used her free hand to wipe them. Cassie led with a sigh. 

"The pack that rules over the area wants my youngest brother. Ever since they set their eyes on him, they've been stalking him and the rest of us relentlessly. It's been like this for nearly a year." She said, as she took in a shaky breath as the first of her tears streamed down her face. "I think something terrible is about to happen and I don't know what to do. This feeling is just eating away at me." She leaned into me when I put my free arm around her shoulders.

"So it seems like they would have no issue killing you all and taking your brother. What did your family do to keep them at bay?" I asked, working to piece together their situation.

"We formed a deal with another powerful pack but-" The sound of a door opening followed by frantic footsteps resulted in Sean appearing before us.

"You're telling him about-" He looked at the two of us. I still had my arm around Cassie and her hand in mine. He let out a frustrated groan. "Goddamnit, will you two just get away from each other? How many times do I have to tell you he's a fucking demon!" Cassie let go of my hand and shot up from the couch.

"He's gonna help us!" Cassie moved towards her brother as I watched the two stand off with one another.

"Marissa is on her way over. She's gonna handle all of this, so just keep your shit together until then." Sean said, as the two yelled back and forth at one another. 

They're gonna be at it for a bit. Better check in with Samara.

I pulled out my phone and went to my messages with Samara

|Vincent:

-So I know you're watching me and saw I did a thing... I know you have thoughts on it, so let's hear them!

A response came just seconds after I sent my message. One that she had pre-written and was merely waiting for me to reach out to her to send.

|Samara:

-You were supposed to just de-haunt a condo. Now You're seducing werewolves and getting involved in their family drama?

-How did we get here? I thought you might get into some trouble, but never saw this one coming.

I stifled a laugh and sent a reply.

|Vincent:

-Loooook... I can handle this. I'm just gonna murder my new neighbor, then see where it goes from there.

-It'll be fine!

An exclamation mark reaction appeared on my messages.

|Samara:

-We both know that's a damn lie.

-Here's my suggestion: Get Cassie a towel for her legs, then leave. This is not your problem!

Ok, that's some half-assed aftercare right there.

|Vincent:

-I got this, but let you know if I need any contracts!

I watched the dots move as Samara typed.

|Samara:

-Alright, let's see how this plays out.

-Time will tell if I'm right AGAIN!

|Vincent:

-K!

Samara is plotting a lecture... I guess until Marissa shows up, I'll just watch these two go at it. This is gonna be an interesting job.