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“So, where do you want to go first?” Tavi asked. “There are tons of places you haven’t had the chance to see!”
I was so overjoyed I found it difficult to speak. “I—oh wow…” I pressed a hand to my forehead. “I need to finish cleaning here, and then I can—”
“Don’t you worry about that, Bryn,” Mabel said, wiping her hands on a towel. “You go on and have some fun with your friends.”
I turned to the older woman, my eyes widening. “But Mabel, there’s still so much to do, and I don’t want to leave you hanging.”
“Nonsense. The rest of us will get by just fine. Isn’t that right, everyone?”
Frankie and the others working in the kitchen responded with a chorus of assurances.
Mabel put the towel over her shoulder and set her hands on her hips. “You go on now. Don’t make me shoo you out of the mess hall.”
My smile threatened to split my face right down the middle. I hugged Mabel tightly and thanked everyone else who was working before allowing Tavi to drag me out of the mess hall.
“Tavi, I think I know where I want to go first,” I said. “I have to let Pax know that I can watch him shift.”
“Wow. I can’t believe the first thing you want to do with your freedom is talk to your new best friend.” Tavi crossed her arms and pretended to look hurt. “How could you?”
“Oh no,” I laughed. “How can I ever make it up to you?”
Tavi’s grin broke through her faux frown. “By letting me give you a tour of our village.”
“Hmm…Well, you drive a hard bargain, but I think I can agree to those terms.”
Tavi laughed. “Let’s give little Pax the good news, and then I’ll show you all of my favorite spots.”
“Deal.”
We caught Pax as he slowly trudged home. As I had expected, his sadness disappeared the moment he learned that I would be able to watch him, and he jumped into my arms. I lifted the boy easily and gave him a kiss on the top of his head as he hugged me around my neck.
“I’m excited too, little guy,” I whispered to him. “You’re going to do amazingly.”
After we saw Pax off, Jasper jogged up to us, a grin on his face. “I thought I saw you walking around,” he said, his gaze on me. “You making a jailbreak?”
“Ha! Hardly,” I replied.
“Night’s let Bryn off her leash,” Tavi said. She looked from Jasper to Bryn, a knowing smirk on her face. “Now we’re going on a tour. You’re welcome to tag along if you’re not busy.”
“I’m not on duty for a few more hours. I think I can spare some time for you two…as long as I can escort the lovely Bryn around the compound.” He offered his elbow.
I giggled, accepting his offer. He fell into step with us as Tavi began her tour, walking on the other side of me so that I was sandwiched between the two wolves. I smiled to myself, amazed at how quickly my life had changed. I loved that I had made friends here. It made me feel like I actually fit in—even though I knew that as a human, I never really could. Tavi was a gift from heaven with her kindness, and Jasper—well, he was kind and funny, and I liked his company, but I knew I didn’t want our relationship to go any further than friends.
We walked through the villages, Tavi pointing out community buildings like the food storage cabin and the small market that was kept stocked with goods from Colville. The Wargs compound was a vibrant, beautiful place. The wood cabins were built strong and painted in a variety of colors. It seemed so cozy, so friendly, and so welcoming.
“How often do you all go into the city?” I asked
“It depends,” Jasper said. “Whenever we have time or if we badly need something that only the humans can provide. Colville takes a while to get to, so we rarely have wolves to spare for the trip. I think we go once every couple of months.”
That was another difference between the Kings and the Wargs. The Kings had plenty of cities nearby that they frequented as often as they liked. Only male wolves were allowed to go, and from what I’d heard, the usual purpose of the trip was to fool around with human women, not bring back supplies. The Kings had so much excess material and clothes from the humans that the most fortunate families in the pack had to have small storage sheds just to have some place to store it all. Mom and I, of course, rarely benefitted from those sorts of goods.
“Oh! There’s the schoolhouse,” Tavi said, pointing to a quaint brick building. “There’s a stubborn section of the roof that always leaks when it rains. Someone always repairs it, but it doesn’t help.” She turned to grin at Jasper. “I remember once that I poured the bucket that we used to collect rainwater on Jasp as a prank.”
“Some prank,” Jasper scoffed. “I was so wet, I kept slipping in the grass on the way home.”
“Yeah, but that’s how we became friends, right?”
He rolled his eyes. “I guess.”
