A Chance Encounter

1

“I can’t believe I’m at the farmers market with you right now,” Darby Sharp grumbled under his breath while shooting a displeased look at Jordan Sharp, his cousin and fellow natural-born werewolf, once every few seconds. “You told me it’s going to be a fun trip. So far, it’s anything but!”

Jordan rolled his eyes. “Can you stop complaining for just one measly minute? Don’t be such a grouch.”

Darby harrumphed and glared even harder at Jordan. “Well, excuse me for being pissed off at you for dragging me out of my warm and comfortable bed at such a crazy hour in the morning, and now, I’m stuck here at this overcrowded market with you and all of these other insane people. Most normal people will choose to snuggle underneath their blankets in their beds at home, especially when it’s not even eight o’clock yet on a fucking Sunday morning.”

Jordan chuckled while tilting his head back a little and inhaling deeply and loudly. “Come on, man. We’ve only been here for less than fifteen minutes. Tops. Take in the sights. Smell the air. Don’t you just love the freshness of spring?”

Darby frowned at Jordan. “Is something wrong with your nose? I’m actively trying not to breathe in the nasty stench from some of these people. Shower much?”

Jordan laughed when Darby shuddered in disgust. “You’re going to look as old as Grandpa George if you continue to scowl like that.”

Darby continued to scowl at Jordan, and he lowered the volume of his voice when he spoke next because he wanted to be as discreet as possible. “We’re werewolves. Our innate quick-healing ability protects us from shit like that.”

Jordan snickered. “I know, man. Just teasing you. Besides, Grandpa George may be nearly ninety years old, but most people will believe him if he claims he’s only forty.”

Darby snorted, but he didn’t bother to retort. Instead, he focused on doing his best not to bump against the other visitors at the farmers market because he was aware of his build. He knew he had to be careful, especially when he was around the non-supernatural folks. At six feet, three inches tall, he wasn’t the tallest person in the world, but he weighed two hundred and sixty-seven pounds of pure, bulky muscle everywhere. Even without his supernatural strength, he was already much stronger than most of the ordinary folks. He acquired his muscle by spending most of his spare hours at the local gym, and being a werewolf certainly helped him to gain muscle much faster than ordinary people.

Jordan was accurate in his assessment of Grandpa George’s youthful appearance, though. Darby was thankful that the supernatural folks were all blessed in that particular department as a result of the magic that was present within them. The one other thing they all shared was longevity. Literally. They could all live up to a minimum of five hundred years of age. Some were even immortals because magic had varying advantages, depending on the level and the type of supernatural folks they were. Shifters, including werewolves like both Darby and Jordan, were incredibly powerful physically. They moved fast, and they could cover a distance of at least two miles in the blink of an eye if they chose to do that. They were also immune to non-supernatural diseases because their quick-healing ability prevented them from contracting anything that would be detrimental to their health.

“What’s the real reason we’re here, by the way?” Darby asked Jordan when the silence between them had stretched on for way too long.

Jordan halted in his path and stared at Darby. “Uh, well, nobody really knows, man. Are you inquiring from a philosophical or religious point of view?”

Darby stood still and folded both of his arms over his chest before narrowing his gaze at Jordan. “Don’t be daft. I’m not wondering about the reason for our existence on the mortal plane. I want to know the true reason for us coming to this farmers market at such an insane hour.”

“Oh! I-I thought it will be fun for us to hang out.”

Then Jordan blushed, and he quickly turned away before walking off. However, Darby managed to glimpse at Jordan’s guilty expression prior to that. He snorted as he rushed forward and caught up with Jordan easily. After all, he was five inches taller than Jordan, and even at a normal speed, he had a longer stride than his cousin.

“Nice try back there, man, but you aren’t fooling me. You’re hiding something from me. Out with it.”

Jordan huffed. “Okay. Fine. There’s this beautiful girl. Her name is Patsy—”

Darby groaned in annoyance, cutting Jordan off midsentence. “For Luna’s sake! Are you telling me that you woke me up on my only off day of the week to…to what? Accompany you at the farmers market while you make goo-goo eyes at Patty?”

“Patsy,” Jordan corrected. “And don’t use Luna’s name in vain. She’s the goddess of the moon. Show a bit of respect.”

Darby raised his eyebrows at Jordan. “Whatever. Dude, please tell me you’re lying.”

Jordan now had a sheepish expression on his face, and Darby huffed in exasperation. He couldn’t believe his luck. As a bookshop owner, he was busy Monday through Saturday from three in the afternoon all the way to eleven in the evening. The main reason for the unusual opening hours was because most of his clients were people from the supernatural community. Sunday was his only day off. Barring any emergency, he would never get out of bed on Sundays before twelve noon at the very least. Unfortunately, he was now stuck at a farmers market at eight in the morning because Jordan needed him to act as a wingman or something.