Page 40 of Fat Enemy Mate

“Oops,” Skylar says. “We’re supposed to be running the evening clinic.”

They pack up the same way they unpacked, which is fast and easy. The kitchen looks like a kitchen again in under ten minutes. The women all hug on the porch, and I watch as they head back to the trucks. Connor and Wilf are coming around the side, finishing up whatever they were doing in the yard that’s been keeping them busy all afternoon. Connor heads straight for Fern and kisses her before they get into the truck.

"Come down to ours when you're ready, Lara," Dina says, waving.

"I'd like that," I tell her.

Luna's the last to walk away.

"Lara," she says. "Anything you need, you ring me. Wilf's got the number. I mean it. And we’ll be in touch when Anya is coming, so you can talk to her."

"Thanks," I tell her.

Wilf walks toward me, and we watch the trucks disappear down the track again. He doesn’t ask how it goes; he just studies for a moment, and then, seeming satisfied, he gestures inside.

“Is there any of Skylar’s cake left?” He asks, adding. “She always makes good cake.”

I nod, chuckling. “You’re in luck. There are a couple of pieces left.”

“Come on then,” he says, and I follow him back into the cabin.

I cut the cake as he shrugs out of his coat, noting how remarkably domestic this whole thing feels for two people who barely know each other. That’s not quite true, though, is it? In some ways, I know Wilf better than I’ve ever known anyone, but I remind myself that the physical doesn’t really count, even when it feels like it should.

I don't tell him that. I just give him the cake.

Chapter 19 - Wilf

The meeting at the hall is the first proper one I’ve been to since I brought Lara down off the mountain. I’m glad to be there because I know I need to be back out on the ridge sooner rather than later. Connor’s been carrying it between Dylan and James for nearly a fortnight, and while he hasn’t said a word about it, I know Dylan’s pulling longer shifts than he should, and James has had to swap his rota round, and that’s not something I’m leaving them with for another week. I’m ready to be back at work as long as Lara is safe. The cabin’s been quiet for days, the wards have held, the road’s been clean, and there’s plenty of folk lining up to keep an eye on Lara if needed.

There’s no reason I shouldn’t be back on it. Except maybe the nagging feeling my wolf keeps pushing that Lara is our responsibility, and only ours.

I walk into the pack hall, and it strikes me that I haven’t dealt with the inner workings of the pack so frequently before—I’m usually out on the ridge and only needed at these things once or twice a month, but I’ve been at Nick’s place, and they’ve all been at mine twice since we got back last week. And now another meeting today. I brush off the slight feeling of awkwardness I always get before one of these things and make a beeline for Bryan, who’s dishing out the coffee. Nick is already at the table with Connot and Thomas, and Ethan is sitting at the other end, nursing his own coffee. He gives me a nod, which I return. Things seem back to normal between us now, as long as he doesn’t question Lara’s presence, that is.

I’m grateful when the meeting gets underway; the sooner it starts, the sooner it will finish. WE cycle through the usual details, rotas, and road issues after the late snow; Thomas and Cade chip in about the new recruits, and it’s about thirty minutesin before we get to the issue of the rogues. I can tell Nick saved it for last.

“Nothing new on the borders,” Connor reports. “Patrols have been clear since the cabin attack. The two western wards Luna re-anchored have held. No tracks anywhere on the southern line, no scents, no movement. They’ve stood it down for now.”

“Stood it down to plan the next round,” Ethan says.

“Yeah,” Connor agrees. “The field’s quiet now, but I doubt they’ll just give it up.”

“Anya?” Nick asks Luna, who has just arrived and sat down next to him.

“Anya’s arriving in a couple of days,” Luna says. “She’s bringing one of her covens with her, who apparently knows more about the talismans, or at least the style they were made in. She wants to meet Lara properly and talk to her about her…abilities.”

“Does Lara know?” Nick asks.

“Not yet,” Luna says. “I’ll check in with her first.”

Nick looks at me. “Wilf?”

“That’s fine,” I tell him. “I’ll be there when they meet.”

“You don’t have to be,” Luna says.

“I’ll be there,” I tell her, and she nods, a small smile playing at the side of her mouth.

Nick doesn’t push it; he just moves on to the rota.