Chapter 9: The Other Man

Tourists swarmed the town. With only a few days until the festival, people were pouring in, wanting to make sure they got a room at the hotel in town instead of having to commute in. The festival lasted all week but on The Fest of the Forest, the real celebration began and lasted all day.

It was quite a sensation. People traveled from states away to visit and see the spectacle. It made Willow tear up every year. Many people came to pay homage to The Women of the Moon. What they thought was a folk tale was really the telling of Willow's ancestors. It always warmed her heart to see the people dancing in the streets, bedecked in all sorts of luminaries.

She had been so busy she hadn't even had time to think of Garin. Much. It had been a few days since he had stopped here. She hadn't seen him since but every so often she caught a whisp of his scent outside of her door. Being busy had also meant that she hadn't seen a lot of Lyall as well but now, here he came, holding the door open for a large group of women who ogled him as they passed.

He was still wearing his smile when he sat down at the counter nearest her.

"Hey babe," he said and leaned over, kissing her cheek. She fought rubbing it off on her shoulder.

"Hey, how was your meeting today?" she asked, not listening as a large number of orders came in. Her newest employee, Caitlin, handed her a stack of cups, orders scribbled on them.

"It was good. We found a decent space a few blocks from here. It doesn't have a great workshop in the back but dad thinks we can make do,"

"Great. That sounds wonderful," she murmured as she made three drinks at one, her mind elsewhere.

"Yeah, I could see you every day then."

"Yep," she said, not hearing a word as she scalded the milk and had to dump it out. She was rinsing the pitcher out when she felt his hand clamp down on hers. Her eyes rose to meet his.

"You aren't listening to me," his eyes were narrowed, his pupils dilated. She leaned closer to his face, to anyone else it would appear she was about to kiss him.

"Get. Your. Hand. Off. Of. Me." She growled, feeling her hackles shift under her skin. He held on for a moment longer before he had to concede. She gave him a sweet smile in case anyone had been watching and went back to work.

He set back, looking around to make sure no one had noticed. His eyes met a familiar face through the glass. It was one of the hunters. Garin, her grandmother had told him. He was glaring daggers at him. Lyall looked towards Willow who was too busy to notice and looked back at Garin, flashing him a large smile. He knew what their exchange had looked like. It had looked like two lovers sharing a secret.

This seemed to have enraged the hunter who stalked off. Lyall sat back in his seat, feeling smug. He looked over at Willow and thought, mine.

Garin had been casually strolling by the café every day, occasionally seeing Willow. She had hired a new girl to help with the festival, so she hadn't been in as much. He only went in on days that she wasn't at the counter. He wasn't quite ready for another run-in with her so soon. It was enough to be drinking the coffee she roasted, surrounded by her scent.

He wasn't sure why she had so enraptured him. They had barely even spoken. Sure she was gorgeous but there were gorgeous women everywhere. Most of whom weren't the sworn enemy of his entire lineage. His thoughts harkened to Romeo and Juliet but no, that wasn't quite right. His attraction to her was different, deeper somehow. More of a Heathcliff and Catherine perhaps.

He wanted to know her. Audrey had said that she loved reading, so as an aspiring Literature professor, he had been trying to glimpse the book that he had spotted her reading in the mornings, between customers.

No luck yet. He decided today, that enough was enough and he would actually talk to her as opposed to skulking around like a teenager. Audrey was right, this legacy business was old and he had never actually seen anyone shift. Perhaps it was all a fairytale. Perhaps his father had an undiagnosed condition. Either way, he was at least going to say hello.

If she refused him, he would move on and forget about the beautiful barista. Steeling his nerve, he walked up to the door and looked in. He saw the flash of her auburn hair, pulled back into her characteristic tight braid. She was busy at the espresso machine, a long line of customers at the register. He heard a crash and saw her close her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before walking to the sink.

He was about to go in when he saw a familiar man sitting at the counter closest to her. It was the guy that had been with her at the restaurant. The one she didn't seem interested in.

The man reached out and grasped her hand. She stopped and looked at him before drawing her face close to his and then leaned back, a smile on her face. His heart dropped. So there was something there. Of course, there was. The guy looked around and then directly at Garin, and grinned.

Garin stormed off, pushing past the bustling crowd. He needed to be away from people. He drove back to his house, an anger building slowly inside of him. The smirk on that guy's face made him see red. He wanted so badly to go back and knock that smug face on his ass.

But he wouldn't do that. He had never even been in a fight. He needed some air. When he got home he grabbed one of the preloaded hiking backpacks that his father left beside the basement door.

"In case we need to hunt one on short notice," his father had replied when Garin asked. He didn't care why, he threw it on his back and within a few short steps, he was in the forest.

With no destination in mind, he began walking, the town slowly falling away behind him. He was alone.