Werewolf

　　Celeste was a bit lost by the sudden change of topic.
　　"I mean… You and Sarah have been curious about my secret, right? And now I'm offering it to you. So, let me ask again. Do you want to know my secret or not?"
　　Weird as it sounded, she was intrigued. She shouldn't have cared about him since she no longer worked with him. But her instinct told her to say yes. She sensed something fishy, though.
　　"Why? Why do you decide to tell your secret now?" she asked suspiciously.
　　"Because I… I like you. I hope we can still be friends. I want to share a secret and earn a friend," Raymond answered, gaze fixed on her.
　　That was a very strange reasoning. "Why on earth do you think I will be your friend after I find out your secret?"
　　"Because you're not seeing me as who I truly am. If you know my real identity, you will change your opinions of me. I think you'll even consider me a hero."
　　Ce

　　Celeste paled. Of course, she knew what werewolf hunter meant. But she never expected Raymond to be one. She couldn't even imagine him holding a gun and aiming at his target. Raymond was just a clueless, nerdy man to her.
　　Hunters and werewolves were worst enemies for hundreds of years. Not that they had never made peace, but the peace had always been short-lived along with human life and perished as new generations grew. As time went by, suspicion and misunderstandings swelled into hatred and bloodshed. For example, Alpha Byron's Luna was killed by the hunters.
　　Werewolves seemed stronger with their sharp teeth and power, but they were vulnerable under the moon. Hunters stood no chance if they were barehanded, but their weapons were getting more lethal to give them the edge. In the end, werewolves could only hide, as they did in this town.
　　The moment Raymond admitted his identity 

　　After a trip to the supermarket, Celeste drove to the place she worked.
　　Her friend Sarah was chatting with Raymond. When the young lady laid eyes on Celeste and the jar of cookies in her hands, she cried in surprise and jumped at Celeste. Raymond rolled his eyes, "Yep… Like a monkey jumping at the sight of bananas."
　　His voice was low, but Sarah didn't miss it. She shot him a dagger and returned her attention to Celeste. "Hey, Cel! I miss you!"
　　Celeste chuckled, "I guess you miss my cookies even more. Here you go."
　　Without a moment of delay, Sarah took the jar and picked up a cookie. She tossed it into her mouth and moaned in satisfaction, "You never let me down."
　　Celeste smiled. She was always happy when her friends liked the food she made. She didn't make friends with too many humans, though.
　　Not that she was racist or distrustful of humans. No. Or she wouldn't have taken this part-time job at the very beginning. It was just that humans grew old and died while werewolves were so long-lived they were almost immortal. Besides, to most humans, werewolves were creatures that lived only in legends. That was why Celeste barely made human friends. If she made friends, she didn't want to lie to them about herself.
　　She met Sarah at work, and they hit it off almost immediately. Celeste liked how carefree and honest Sarah was, and they had quite a lot in common. For example, both had a sweet tooth that would put most people in horror.
　　But Celeste hadn't told Sarah her secrets. She figured it would be more convincing when she could shift directly in front of Sarah. It was just not the time. Her wolf wouldn't surface yet.
　　After swallowing another cookie, Sarah was finally free to talk again, "Oh, by the way, how's that handsome twin brother of yours?"
　　Celeste grimaced. She would love to know that as well! But too bad, Jeremy was being very mysterious these days.
　　Before Celeste could answer, Raymond cut in, "Oh, Sarah! So you've found your first love again? This time the lucky guy is Celeste's brother?"
　　Sarah blushed and gave him the finger. Sometimes Jeremy gave Celeste a ride here, and that was how Sarah met him and developed a crush on him. Sarah never stopped talking about how attractive Jeremy was and how much she appreciated handsome faces.
　　Raymond was a good-looking man as well, but she was seemingly oblivious to that.
　　Celeste was amused. She almost blurted out that she could just give Sarah his number. But somehow, the words died at the tip of her tongue when she opened her mouth. Celeste didn't know what changed her mind all of a sudden.
　　"Miss Sherwood, you can come in now," the boss stuck his head out of his office and said to her.
　　Celeste waved her hands at Sarah and Raymond and went to the office…
　　Raymond was waiting for her when she came out of the boss's office. Sarah was nowhere to be found.
　　"You quitted?" he asked bluntly, pushing himself away from the wall.
　　"Yep. Too bad, you won't be able to see this pretty face much anymore."
　　She thought that would at least draw a snort from him, but the man only forced a smile.
　　Celeste and Raymond Gunther had known each other for a while, but he always gave away this mysterious vibe. He had some secret, which was rather obvious to Celeste and Sarah. They had tried to probe him, but the man never cracked.
　　Sarah was interested in basically everything. As for Celeste, it was not that she liked to pry. It was more about intuition. Her sense as a wolf told her that Raymond's secret should have something to do with her.
　　One of the secrets Celeste knew, or sensed, was his feelings towards her. Like now, he was staring at her again. She could feel his gaze against her skin. And the look on his face… She knew that look. It was identical to the one on Sarah's when she was staring at Jeremy.
　　But Raymond never admitted anything. Celeste wondered if she was being presumptuous and reading too much into it. Raymond was hot, but he was not her type. She met the man's eyes and was startled by something intense and complicated in them.
　　"So… I guess it's time to say goodbye then, Mr. Mystery?" Waving her hand, Celeste turned to leave.
　　But she was stopped by the grip on her wrist. Automatically, she tried to pull herself from him. But the man's clasp didn't yield an inch.
　　"Raymond?" Celeste raised an eyebrow, not sure what he was doing.
　　The man looked down at his hold on her. She waited for his answer, but he didn't let out a word. Given how she had been treated after Jeremy's first shift, Celeste was suddenly so sick of the silent treatment. Why the guys were all acting like that? Why wouldn't they just open their mouths and talk?
　　"Let go of me, Raymond. I don't think I'm comfortable with this," she demanded, this time her voice a bit colder.
　　Raymond jerked his hand away from her as if burnt by the words. "I'm sorry."
　　Celeste liked Raymond, but they were not that close. She felt intimidated. But when she returned her gaze to the man, she was suddenly hit by guilt because the man looked like a hurt animal.
　　"I… I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Celeste. I'm sorry," he said in a low voice and looked into her eyes, "I guess I just overreacted. I … I guess I'm just surprised that I won't see you again."
　　"It's… It's fine. Goodbye, then?"
　　"Wait!" Raymond was trying to grab her again, but he apparently managed to stop himself finally. "Uh… I was thinking… Do you … Uh… Do you want to know my secret?"
　　"What?"  

　　Celeste was a bit lost by the sudden change of topic.
　　"I mean… You and Sarah have been curious about my secret, right? And now I'm offering it to you. So, let me ask again. Do you want to know my secret or not?"
　　Weird as it sounded, she was intrigued. She shouldn't have cared about him since she no longer worked with him. But her instinct told her to say yes. She sensed something fishy, though.
　　"Why? Why do you decide to tell your secret now?" she asked suspiciously.
　　"Because I… I like you. I hope we can still be friends. I want to share a secret and earn a friend," Raymond answered, gaze fixed on her.
　　That was a very strange reasoning. "Why on earth do you think I will be your friend after I find out your secret?"
　　"Because you're not seeing me as who I truly am. If you know my real identity, you will change your opinions of me. I think you'll even consider me a hero."
　　Celeste snorted. "You cocky ass must hype it up, huh?"
　　That being said, she was curious.
　　She ponde

Chapter 7