“No,” Daphne answered, looking puzzled. “Wolves are not a dish that people consume. We eat cows, pigs, deer, chicken…”
“Aw, that’s just like us.” The little boy who’d asked her looked disappointed. “Hey, is it true that humans like using guns instead of fighting in honorable combat?”
“Well, er, that’s kind of true. I guess.”
“Are you a witch?”
“Can you turn into a wolf? I can’t yet, but I will in a few years. I’m going to be an alpha!” a boy bragged.
Several children grabbed her arms.
Their parents moved quickly, grabbing the kids and pulling them back. “See you around, folks!” I called out, grabbing her by the arm and steering her away with a scowl.
She turned to me. “You alright? You seemed more annoyed than I was through all of that.”
“I don’t like sharing you is all.”
She chuckled. “That’s almost sweet.”
“I can be sweet,” I protested.
She gave me a sidelong look.
I shook my head in exasperation. “Come along. Let’s go and have dinner with the rest of the pack properly.”
“French fries and cotton candy aren’t dinner?”
“My lady deserves something more substantial.”
“Ooh, you have a lady? Can I meet her? Is she nice?”
I snorted. “She’s nice, she’s infuriating, she’s gorgeous, she’s funny, she’s clever, she’s kind…” We were moving through the crowd. Daphne grinned at me.
“Sounds like someone I’d want to marry.”
“You’re hilarious.”
“Wait, is that hairstyling magic? No way!”
A witch sat in a chair, curling a woman’s hair without even touching it. She waved a wand, and sections of the lady’s long, straight hair curled into ringlets.
The witch stopped for a moment to wave at us, and Daphne waved back.
The curling wand surged blue, and suddenly the customer’s hair erupted into a frizzy mess. “What did you do?” the woman cried out indignantly. “I have a party to go to tonight!”
Daphne and I hurried off.
“Yikes,” Daphne said, wide-eyed. “Remind me to only go to human hairdressers here, please.”
I laughed. “We have a beauty salon on the pack property.”
We made our way to the White Fang pack tent, which we always had at the festival as a place to come and relax. People were there and waiting. They greeted us with cheers and the clicking of drink glasses. Max had prepared a fine meal this evening.
The witches, the other people of Tall Timbers and those who would smile as I passed, I considered them friends.
But this pack?
This was family.
