My boss is a werewolf

This is more than paranoia

Sebastian woke up before his alarm clock went off. It wasn't unusual, but surprising, seeing as he barely slept the night before. He kept on getting a feeling… one he knew well. He tried not to think too much about it but there was no denying it. He could feel them. The bond to his family was stronger even though he had fled from them and was technically no longer a part of the Crescent Pack.

When the sun came up, he hopped on the treadmill in the workout room, started jogging on the machine. He would have preferred to jog outside in the open but there was a lot on his mind at the moment, he preferred the treadmill during times like this, the last time he went on a morning jog with a lot on his mind, he had ran four miles without noticing. That was the sole reason he got this machine in the first place. He turned it on and started jogging

Sebastian's mind shifted to the occurrence of yesterday. He remembered the blonde lady in the house from the train station yesterday, there was no forgetting her with that attitude. He couldn't understand how she found the house or what she was doing here but what really troubled him was why Marj was so insistent on her working here.

Jog. Jog.

He had never fought or even argued with Marj since they came into New Orleans and now all of a sudden she was challenging him firmly over a person she apparently just met yesterday? He couldn't understand.

Jog. Jog. Jog.

But that wasn't the reason he couldn't sleep last night. No. It wasn't because of the "new maid" There was something else. A feeling. That same feeling…

Jog. Jog. Jog. Jog…

First he thought it was just the bond to his family getting stronger, but there was something else. Something wasn't right. He couldn't tell what it was but he knew it. Maybe it was his primal instinct or something but he was able to tell if something was off and right now it was. He felt it strongly last night. He wasn't sure what exactly it was but he wouldn't rest till he found out.

Jog. Jog. Jog. Jog. Jog.

The switch of the treadmill clicked itself off and the machine came to a stop.

Sebastian's hand clasped the handle tightly as he heaved heavily for breath then raised his head to see Marj staring at him from the door.

"You shouldn't run when you're agitated." She said softly as she stepped into the room, still keeping her eyes on him.

He avoided her eyes. "You know it's not nice to try to read someone's mind without permission, Marj." Sebastian said, wiping his face with a huge towel and getting off the treadmill.

Marj cleared her throat. "Who said I was trying to?"

Sebastian lifted his head from the towel and looked at her mockingly. "Marj we've been living together for more than five years, I know when you're trying to dive into my head. What do you want, Marj?"

"I want to talk about Lucy."

"Who? The one you decided to hire without even speaking to me?" He scoffed.

"Sebastian…" Marj sighed.

"But why, Marj? Why let her work here? Why even let her in? You should have sent her away the moment you saw her."

"I know. But I didn't, everything I do, I do for a reason Sebastian. She was looking for a job as a maid, I checked her out and saw that she had no bad intentions. Her heart is pure, I haven't met someone like that in a long time. I even gave her an interview and she passed so I hired her."

"But how did she even find the house in the first place? I thought you spelled the house."

She nodded, "The spell makes the house seem invisible to the eyes of outsiders but if you come looking for this house in particular, you will find it."

"Isn't that lovely." Sebastian said sarcastically.

"That's how it works. There's always a loophole to magic. But since we're the only ones that live here and this house technically shouldn't exist, the odds of anyone finding this place are very slim. I was just as surprised as you when I saw her yesterday but I couldn't just send her out. She found us for a reason and I'm going to find out why."

Sebastian walked to the window, glanced at the garden downstairs, pondering on what Marj just said. "She's still human Marj. She isn't safe here with us." He said, still looking through the windows.

Marj kept silent. Sebastian waited for her to speak but she said nothing. He turned around and looked at her. Now it was his turn to find out what was on her mind.

"Marj?" He squinted at her. "You know something don't you? What is it about her?" He asked amusingly. Marj wasn't one to be at a loss for words. "Did you see something yesterday?"

Marj cleared her throat and said, "All I can say is she's… different." She said and conjured the sweaty towel into her hand and turned to leave.

"Wait."

"I've told you, Sebastian—"

"This isn't about the maid. There's something else."

Marj noticed the urgency in his tone and turned around. "Yes?"

"There's something wrong. I can sense it. That's why I couldn't sleep last night."

"You're probably just stressed out Sebastian." She said, eyes darting around the room.

"I think this is more than paranoia." He took a few steps closer and opened the sleeve of his shirt to show the crescent moon tattoo on his upper arm. "They're here, Marj, in New Orleans." He said, a slight hint of panic in his eyes.

Very few things troubled Sebastian but his family was definitely on the list.

Marj looked at the tattoo then at Sebastian. Then she bared her shoulder to reveal her own tattoo which was a bright burning bird. "I felt it this morning too."

They both stood there in silence, occupied by their own thoughts.

"You should shower. I'll make breakfast." She said and left.

There was a knock on the door while they were having breakfast.

Marj glanced at the door and said, "It's Lucy, I'll get it."

"Good morning." Lucy said when Marj opened the door.

"Please come in." Marj smiled brightly.

"Good morning… sir." She said to Sebastian.

He cleared his throat loudly. "It's Sebastian. I do not like to be called… sir." He smiled dryly.

"Uh sure, Sebastian." She said with emphasis on the name." Anything else you prefer me to do? I have a notepad in here somewhere."

Sebastian glared at her. He wasn't used to people talking back to him.

"Don't say anything rash." Marj mind-linked him.

He glanced at Marj then at Lucy and smiled. "Try not to cover the whole house in your vanilla essence."

Lucy flushed and tried to reply but Sebastian stopped her before she began. "Don't you have to take her to her room, Marj?"

"This way Lucy." Marj said as they climbed the stairs.

"Is he always this rude?"

"You'll have to excuse him. He's not used to someone else living in the house but I'm sure he'll adjust soon." She said and left.

****

Sebastian left the house with one thing in mind, to get to the bottom of what was going on. He had seen the news before he took off. Two people found dead by Lafayette cemetery. They were obviously killed last night. He knew something was off and immediately he saw the news, his suspicion was proven right.

He sneaked into the station, deflated the tire of the finest car in the garage and headed to the crime scene in Lafayette.

He fished out a police badge from his pocket and put it on. When the reporters and cops saw him, they gave way.

"Morning sir." A short man with a mustache greeted.

"What do we have?" Sebastian asked in a deep voice

"Two victims found dead this morning inside the cemetery, they were hung on this tree right here." He pointed. "Forensics believe they were tied postmortem." The deputy said all at once.

Sebastian put in a face mask and gloves and studied the bodies. They were pale and stiff. There was dried blood coming from their nose, mouth and ears. He checked for any bite marks or scratches. There were none. This wasn't the work of werewolves. These men were tortured, killed and tied up on a tree for fun. A wolf wouldn't do that. They looked poisoned but there was no trace of poison in the test from forensics. His family would never do something this drastic to get his attention. Then who?

Sebastian's ears flickered and he listened, "...Yeah I had a flat tire, thanks for the ride." He knew that was the real detective coming and he didn't have much time. He looked round the place once more for any clues, when he couldn't find any, he fled. Only a witch could kill without leaving any clue like that.

****

It was already evening when he came back home. Lucy and Marj were having dinner.

"Should I dish your food? We made pasta." Marj said.

"I'm not hungry." Sebastian grunted and marched to his room. He could feel Marj's worried gaze but there was a lot on his mind.

A few minutes after he sat on his bed to think, he fell asleep.

Sebastian woke up after some hours with a stomach ache. That was probably due to the fact that he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. He checked the time, 1:04AM. He got up, headed downstairs and listened for any sound. When he heard nothing, he went to the kitchen and helped himself to the leftover pasta. It was pretty good.

"Lucy made it."

Sebastian choked on a mouthful of spaghetti from the sound of Marj's voice behind him.

"Bloody hell, Marj!" He coughed heavily.

"Liberum." Marj whispered and he stopped coughing immediately.

"Thanks." He rubbed his neck.

"What happened when you left?"

Sebastian told her everything.

When he was done, she said, "Sounds like the work of a witch, but that can't be possible." Marj said.

"I know."

"There's something else. Lucy said those same thieves tried to mug her last night but she was rescued by someone."

"Who?"

"She said he introduced himself to her as August."

"What?" Sebastian asked, his eyes glowing.

"Your brother was at Lafayette last night."