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“Hey,” she said, looking toward me as I entered. “Sorry I missed your entry last night, but I heard congratulations are in order.”
“Yes, it looks to be that way.” Another pack member happy I was here. Still, it was hard to shake the doubt of whether she’d be this cheery if I hadn’t come in as a guide. It didn’t really matter, as I was going to make the most out of this situation.
“I’m surprised you made it as long as you did over there with Gross-a. That’s what we call her around here.” She reached overand cut a thick slab of crusty bread, put it on a plate, and then put a cup with some gravy beside it. “Here, try this. I’m working on a new recipe.”
“This is incredible. You must’ve had a packed restaurant.” One thing was becoming clear—we’d be eating a lot better here. The savory flavors with the thick crust of bread were like eating a piece of heaven. As much as Charlie had missed his games,thiswas like stepping back in time for me. I’d never been a true connoisseur of food until the bar had been dropped so low. This was a reason to move to this pack, if nothing else.
“I might not have my restaurant anymore, but I still enjoy cooking. And you never know, right? I mean, things could eventually get back to normal.”
She was looking at me with such longing, such loss, that it was hard not to play along.
“Yeah, I mean, you never know. I know I’d line up for this,” I said.
She refilled my cup and cut me another hunk of bread. It wasn’t clear if this was a reward for agreeing or because I’d inhaled her food.
“What is that smell?” Another shifter, with tawny hair and big green eyes, walked in.
“Hey,” I said noncommittally, wishing I could remember his name. I was going to have to start making notes.
“It’s Piper, the new girl,” he said, grabbing a piece of the bread and going to dunk it into the pot.
Evangeline swatted his hand before he could.
“Not just some girl.Guide,” Evangeline corrected him, and then handed him a cup. “And you know I hate it when you dunk in the pot like it’s all for you.”
“Okay, well, welcome, new girl! Nice to have you here.” He didn’t acknowledge Evangeline’s chastising him or the scowl as she handed him a mug.
“Thanks. I appreciate the welcome. It’s a great place,” I said, watching the two of them about to come to blows when he tried to take half a loaf of bread. She wielded the wooden spoon like it was a sword.
“You’ll like Arkansas even better. We were in a really good position, having a settlement near the river. Kicks has a couple of our engineers setting up a mill to generate electricity, and the land out there is beautiful.” He was still smiling, even as he almost took a blow to his knuckles.
“Yeah, that sounds nice.” Arkansas. Was that where we’d be? It seemed so. Kicks had given me an out, and I hadn’t taken it.
“Piper, can I go scouting with the guys?” Charlie asked, popping his head into the kitchen with Magnum behind him. It seemed like the big guy was Charlie’s shadow, probably on Kicks’ orders—not that I minded.
“Scouting?” I asked. I’d barely come to grips with his being in the game room. Now he was going out?
“Don’t worry. It’s all in fun. We don’t get into too much trouble,” Crackers said, walking in next.
“They really don’t get in trouble,” Evangeline added. “It’s all good fun.”
I nodded, not a hundred percent sure I knew what scouting even meant.
Crackers lifted a loaf of bread off the counter and retreated fast.
“Hey, that’s for dinner!” Evangeline yelled at his back.
“We’ll be back tonight sometime!” Crackers yelled, hightailing it out of there with everyone else, until it was just Evangeline and me again.
“They’re such pigs. You can’t imagine how much they eat. They don’t even appreciate the food, but swallow it whole.” She was carrying on as if this were a litany she’d spoken many timesbefore. “Anyway, I’ve got a nice dinner planned for you and Kicks. I’ll have someone run it up around dusk.”
“No, no. I don’t want to put you out.”
She opened her mouth, probably about to spew some mumbo-jumbo about how newlyweds should have some time alone.
“I think it’s nicer to eat with the pack and get to know you all better, since you’re going to be my family.” It was mostly true, and had the added perk of cutting out awkward candlelight dinners.
I hightailed it out of there before she could put up a fight, some bread in my hand, feeling as bad as the guys had just been.
