looking in every sense of the word, just as Royce was. Billie had to wonder what the chances were of having three such good looking men in one room. She knew it didn't happen around her very often.
Not wanting to be rude, Billie dragged her eyes off the two men and turned her attention onto the three women on the couch. They were pretty, especially the small blonde, but it was the woman sitting next to her that snagged Billie's attention. There was just something about her that stood out to Billie.
The woman stood and held her hand out to Billie. "Since Royce is standing there not making any introductions, I'll do it. I'm Roxie."
Billie accepted Roxie's outstretched hand and gave it a shake. "Nice to meet you, Roxie."
Royce turned and gestured to the small blonde. "This is Candice, and sitting next to her is Taryn." Both women said a quick hello before Roxie turned to face the two men. "Over there sitting behind the desk is my husband Beowulf. And that's his brother Wade, who also happens to be Taryn's husband." Both men nodded their heads in her direction.
Royce finally spoke up. "I haven't met Taryn before either." He looked the other woman over as a confused scowl formed on his face. He turned to Roxie. "Can I have a word with you outside?" Taking Roxie by the arm, Royce said to Billie, "This should only take a moment."
* * * *
As soon as the door was shut behind them, Royce turned to confront Roxie. "I thought Wade's mate was a mortal. Taryn is a werewolf."
Roxie gave him a broad smile. "Isn't it great?"
"What is great? That Wade found one of our kind for a mate instead of a mortal?"
"No, dumb ass." Roxie rolled her eyes. "You aren't getting it. I meant isn't it great that Taryn is a werewolf now."
"What do you mean now?" Royce pinned Roxie with a hard stare. "How is that possible?"
"It turned out that Taryn was half werewolf, something even she didn't know about until recently. To make a long story short, I used the spell on her."
Royce stiffened. "I thought the spell was only meant to work on you. That it would only change you from a mortal to a werewolf."
"Well, you thought wrong."
"So your theory that the spell only worked originally on you because Gren used my blood, the sire of the werewolf blood in your line instead of using his own, turned out to be correct?"
"Not exactly." Roxie gave him a sheepish look. "The first time we tried the spell on Taryn we used her father's blood. It didn't work. So ... so I used my blood the second time and it worked like a charm."
"You did what!"
"Keep your voice down."
"Are you telling me that spell, combined with your blood, will change anyone into a werewolf?"
"That, I'm not sure about yet. The spell could have only worked because Taryn had some werewolf blood already. I'm trying to convince Candice to let me try it on her, but she is afraid she'll get her hopes up and it won't work. Seeing as how Carl is a werewolf, it would be a wonderful gift for Candice and him."
Royce rubbed his forehead. "I think I feel a headache coming on. Do you have any idea what would happen if werewolf society at large learned about this?"
"Do you have any idea how much you sound like Beowulf saying that?" Roxie crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a long look. "You do realize this could be a blessing for you as well?"
"What do you mean?"
"Did you take a stupid pill today, or are you being deliberately thick in the head to annoy me? I'm talking about Billie. You've found a new mate, and she happens to be mortal. A mortal who has no werewolves in her family tree I bet." Roxie took a step closer and placed her hand on Royce's cheek. "Knowing what you went through with your first mate, I have a feeling you're having a hard time dealing with the idea of having another mortal as your mate. I can change that. I could try the spell on Billie and make her like us. Then you wouldn't have to worry about her so much."
Royce took Roxie's hand off his cheek and placed a kiss on her palm before he released it. "I don't know, Roxie. Yes, you're right I'm worried about Billie being a mortal." He let out a sigh.