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“It’s not that big a deal,” I protested, following him. “It’s the middle of the day, for Luna’s sake. Go back to work. I’ll find something for you to eat for later.”
“Most females of the pack have supper already prepared,” Kris reminded me as he stood in the kitchen, looking as lost in it as I usually felt.
“Well, go see if you can eat with them,” I sassed at him. “It’s ridiculous to expect me to cook a full meal every night. Can’t you just eat a salad and shut up?”
“Salad?”
His face twisted in disgust, and I groaned in despair. “Yes, it’s healthy. Lots of people eat salad.”
“Are they shifters?” My silence was his answer. “Shifters eat meat.”
“I’m aware,” I muttered. “I might need to go to the market to buy food.”
“Kezia!”
Throwing my hands in the air in protest at his scowl, I scowled right back. “You eat a lot. And I can’t plan out dinners for a week when I don’t know what you’re in the mood for! We usually eat in the common room. Is it my fault you went all caveman protector and decided to eat my cooking regularly? No.”
Kris held my stare for a long moment. “The market and back. Talk to no one.”
“Because I’m such a regular chatterbox,” I snarked at him, ignoring his huff of irritation.
“You’re right. I’ll come with you.”
Watching my brother stride to the door in disbelief, I jumped in surprise when he barked my name over his shoulder. Biting my tongue, I followed like a dutiful sister, repeating like a mantra that he was under a lot of stress in my head.
The walk to town was uneventful. The few pack we saw called hello to Kris, and some gave me a smile, but most did not.
It was pretty much how I went through life in this pack. Some days, I was more popular than others. Today was not that day.
I knew my brother noticed it, but he said nothing. The one time I caught his eye, I saw his anger, and that was enough to quell my own. Kris often stayed silent about the pack’s behavior toward me, but I was positive he knew and had a list of the members who treated me poorly.
I hoped I was there the day he kicked their ass. Or more likely, he was there the day I did, because I’d need him to bail me out of trouble.
When we got to the store, I heard someone call for my brother. Together, we turned, and Grant was hurrying toward us.
“Pack Leader Bale is looking for you,” Grant said as he approached.
Kris glanced at me and then at Grant. “Right now?”
“Yeah, he’s been waiting for you.” Grant looked between the two of us. “You okay?”
“Of course,” I spoke quickly. “My brother was giving me his list of demands for his supper tonight,” I added with a good-natured eye roll, placing my hand on the small of my brother’s back. “You know how he gets about his meat.”
Grant laughed, and I gave Kris a slight push.
“Kezia…”
“I’ve got the list,” I told him with a firm nod. “I won’t make any detours off of it.”
He hesitated, but with a sharp jerk of his head, he turned away. I watched them as they left to go to the pack leader’s house.
As they rounded the corner out of sight, I felt my chest loosen for the first time since I had been in the shaman’s house today. Taking a deep breath, I headed into the store.
With a basket in hand, I went straight to the refrigerated section and considered the selection in front of me. Steak? Boring. Lamb? We had it last night. I looked at the ground beef—I could make meatballs. They were easy.
“No matter how hard you glare at it, it needs a flame to cook.”
Turning to the unfamiliar voice, I came face to face with a handsome male. With light brown hair cut short at the sides but long and wavy on top, it gave his masculine features a more boyish look. Green eyes twinkled with laughter, and his smile was wide as he watched me.
