“Beer it is,” Jake said decisively. “Road noise is a thing, and I’ve been on the road since six this morning, I’ll need all the help I can get.”
Joe pointed one finger at Naomi, his expression stern. “You’ve got shotgun, as the celebration gal.”
She grinned back at him. “I’ve got no problem with that!”
“I’m parked out front,” he told them, and they all headed outside, piling into the truck.
The drive didn’t take long, and soon they were entering the steakhouse. Naomi burst into delighted laughter as her shoes crunched on peanut shells the instant they walked inside. Beside the hostess stand was a huge barrel piled high with roasted peanuts in the shell. There was a waiting area to one side, where people could sit and, apparently munched on handfuls of peanuts, given all the shells strewn around the floor.
“Told you,” Joe said smugly.
It was late enough that the dinner crowd had thinned, and they were able to get a corner booth in a quiet section with no one close enough to overhear them. Naomi scooted into the booth, Liam following her. Joe and Jake slid in from the other side, and she wound up sandwiched between Liam and Joe. Liam, however, slid his arm around her waist, pulling her a little closer to him, the warmth in his gaze causing her heart to go pit-a-pat. She glanced away, though, hiding her response to him by pulling the heavy menu with its laminated pages to her, opening it to look over the offerings.
“Naomi, are you new to the Hudson Valley, too?” Jake asked as they got settled in, diving into silver bucket of peanuts in the center of the table. “Or just changing jobs?”
She almost choked on the peanut she was chewing. She took her time, chewing it well and swallowing before she answered. “Um, yes, new,” she admitted. “I moved here from Manhattan.”
She cast an agonized glance to Liam. At least the shifters here had already known all about her when she had first arrived. She didn’t have to sit there as her situation was explained, her relationship to the Rogue who’d terrorized the Valley…. maybe even see horror and rejection in their faces.
“I’m new here, as well,” Liam inserted smoothly, casting her a reassuring smile. “I finished up my veterinary residency and came to work at the clinic with Douglas and Troy.”
There was a pause as their waiter approached, bringing a basket of hot, steaming dinner rolls and a dish of butter. Waiting until the waiter departed, Liam leaned forward, addressing Jake.
“So, I’m curious. Why are you staying at the inn, and not at the pack house? Your brother’s the packmaster, and I know how wolves are.”
“Yeah, I have a room there, but it’s needed for some of the caracals,” Jake said. “Besides, it’s only for a few days. I’ve bought a house, it’s in escrow and will close this weekend.”
Joe nodded. “We’re moving the caracal families into the pack house tomorrow. The bed and breakfast was never meant to be a long-term deal, and being in a home, even if it’s a large pack house, will be a good step forward. They can stay as long as they need, until they eventually transition into their own places.”
“The pack house is huge,” Jake affirmed. “There’s more bedrooms and bathrooms than you can count, two kitchens, a dining room with a table big enough to seat the entire pack.”
“Speaking of houses, I’ve been meaning to give you a call,” Joe told Liam. “I do odd jobs with Paul’s construction crew. Paul’s a bobcat, the crew is made up mostly of shifters from his clowder,” he explained, taking another peanut and cracking the shell open. “Last weekend we were doing some renovation work on a house, and I noticed the property next door was for sale. It’s got a nice-sized stone house on an acre lot, along with a carriage house in the back. I was thinking it might make into a good clinic.”
Liam straightened in his chair, his eyes sparking with interest. “In good shape?” he queried.
“From what I saw of it, yeah. It’s older, of course, but made from local stone. Those places last. The house is a good size. Two stories, I’d say probably three, maybe four bedrooms. And of course, there’s rooms above the carriage house, too.”
“I’m definitely interested,” Liam told him. They exchanged phone numbers, and a minute later, his phone pinged with the real estate listing for the property. “Thanks.”
“No problem. Maroulla’s had us watching out for likely places, and she’s got the whole crew on alert. Soon as you find a place, we’ll be ready to go in and make whatever renovations you need to get up and running.”
Jake held up one hand. “Wait, wait. You’re the doctor-slash-veterinarian I’ve been told about?”
“That’s me,” Liam responded. “I’m not the only one, either. I’m just the first to get through the program. A couple more are finishing up their final residencies, one in Denver the other in Houston. The Council is convinced the time is coming when we go public, and they’re actively recruiting for the doc/vet program.”
“I believe it,” Jake said, his face set in serious lines. “It’s not just that there are webcams on all the streets, and people taking selfies everywhere, but now there’s TikTok, Facebook and Instagram reels, and everybody and their brother are suddenly taking videos everywhere. There’s just no way we shifters can go much longer withoutsomeonebeing caught Changing on video.”
“Agreed,” Liam nodded. “Although, I do think we’re as ready as we can be. There are contingency plans, and people poised to leap into action as soon as any pictures or videos surface.”
Beside him, Naomi shivered. “It sounds scary. To have the whole world know about us, everyone wondering if every stranger they meet is a shifter…”
“Not just strangers,” Jake put in. “They’ll be wondering about friends, neighbors, even family members.”
“Not to mention, pets and wildlife,” Joe added.
Liam took Naomi’s hand in a warm, comforting clasp. “We’ve had people anticipating this for decades. We have shifters who are in the House and the Senate here in the States, in Parliament and the EU overseas. There are regular humans who know about us in the government, in law enforcement, even at the Pentagon and NSA.”
“It’s my thinking that we need to come out ourselves,” Joe said, shelling and eating another peanut. He swept the litter of shells from his side of the table onto the floor. “That way we, at least, won’t be caught by surprise. And, just as important, we’ll be in a better position to control the dialogue.”
