“Four women,” Simon said, locking HGR’s front door with a relieved sigh. “I don’t think the youngest female wanted to keep house or whatever humans call it. She kept talking about being able to ride a horse and how she had learned to lasso animals by practicing on the dairy cows and the goats.”
“Well, Tolya will have to work that out.” Vlad laughed. “He might end up with his own exploding fluffball.” He stopped laughing. “I never considered that Simple Life humans would have exploding fluffballs.”
Simon thought about the smile Merri Lee had given them earlier in the day when they told her about her promotion and the smile that lit up the Simple Life woman’s face when he said she could travel to Bennett for the final interview. Yep. Exploding fluffball. “That one is going to herd something, whether it has two legs or four. Better for Tolya and everyone else if they give her some cows to keep her busy—and happy.”
“I wonder if her family was thinking the same thing,” Vlad said dryly.
Amused—and glad they could no longer make a direct telephone call to, or receive one from, Bennett—Simon went upstairs to meet with the rest of the Business Association and discuss how they would feed the human pack.
Meg bit into her beef burger and chewed slowly, enjoying the flavor along with the novelty of eating at Meat-n-Greens with Simon and Sam in their human forms. They ate plenty of meals together, but it was usually at her apartment or in the summer room, not in the closest thing the Courtyard had to a human-style restaurant. This was new, and Simon wasn’t the only one who was watching her for any sign that this new experience—and the number of humans who were also venturing in for some food—wasn’t causing distress.
There had been distress earlier in the day. She’d endured the pins-and-needles feeling that came in waves along with the people coming to the job fair, hoping to build a future for themselves in another part of Thaisia. She’d been tempted to go into the bathroom and make a tiny cut on a toe, but Nathan would scent even that much blood and raise a howling protest. That would bring Simon, who would feel angry with the strangers and shut down the fair.
She’d been given a chance at a new life. She didn’t want to be the one who stopped other people from having the same chance. So she’d struggled with the craving to cut, telling herself it wouldn’t help anyone because she wouldn’t be able to ask anyone to listen when she spoke prophecy.
In the end, Nathan had made the decision for her by shifting to his human form and taking up a position in the doorway between the front room and sorting room. The deliverymen could see her working away in the sorting room, but it was Nathan who dealt with them and signed for the packages, giving her that much distance from actual contact.
It was enough—along with the Wolf eyes that watched every twitch she made and breath she took—to get her through the day. She’d left the office early to make her deliveries, getting back to the Green Complex long before the rest of the residents finished their workday. She’d sat in the summer room, doing nothing but listening to the birds chirping as they went about their own day in a part of the Courtyard that was, for the moment, free of Hawks.
By the time Simon got home, she was calm and ready to pick up Sam at the Wolfgard Complex so that the three of them could have this dinner together.
Meg felt prickles come and go as friends came in, but no one’s presence produced the painful buzz that might compel her to make a cut. Eating at Meat-n-Greens wasn’t a new experience that might overwhelm her. She’d been here with Ruth and Merri Lee. She’d even come in by herself for a meal. It was the experience of being here with Sam and Simon that was new—and that made her happy.
“Meg? You want a bite of my bison burger?” Sam held out his barely cooked burger. “It’s really good.”
A Wolf offering to share food wasn’t a small gesture, but . . . “No, thank you, Sam. I have my own burger.”
“But yours is beef,” Sam protested, as if she’d been given inferior meat.
“I like beef better than bison,” Meg assured him.
Sam looked stunned. “Why?”
“Enough, pup,” Simon said. “Let Meg eat her burger in peace.”
But Sam wasn’t done exploring her food choices. “What about deer? Do you like deer better than beef?”
No, she didn’t, but she was getting used to it, just as she was getting used to chops on the menu coming from other animals as well as pigs, and being served freshly caught duck or goose instead of chicken when the meat was listed as “poultry.” She hadn’t, to her knowledge, eaten elk, moose, or horse. She was pretty sure horse wasn’t a meat offered in the Courtyard anymore, which made her wonder who ate the horsemeat now.
“Meg?” Just a hint of concern in Simon’s voice.
Meg set her burger on her plate and picked up her fork to eat some of her salad. “I like deer meat, but I like beef better.”
Sam ate a couple of bites of his burger. Then he turned to Simon. “Maybe Meg doesn’t like eating deer because she doesn’t get any of the best parts. Maybe you could give her some of the heart or—”
Meg’s fork clunked on the plate. She swallowed hard to keep her suddenly queasy stomach from doing something that would ruin everyone’s meal.
Simon’s hand came down on Sam’s head so fast, the boy didn’t have time to flinch let alone avoid his uncle. Not a slap or a grab, just the weight of the leader’s hand giving a warning, keeping a youngster from causing trouble.
Meg heard nothing, but she was sure plenty was being said between them using the terra indigene form of communication. Then Simon removed his hand, discipline completed.
Looking thoroughly chastised, Sam sat with his head bowed, his lower lip quivering, and his hands in his lap.
Meg looked at Simon, who resumed eating his meal as if nothing had happened. She wanted to mimic Simon’s move, put her own hand on Sam’s head, run her fingers through hair that was a mix of gold and Wolf gray. Whether it was fur or hair, the coloring made him distinctive. According to Jane, the Wolfgard bodywalker, the fur would change as Sam matured, becoming more of a gray shot with gold—better coloring for a hunter.
Privately, Meg hoped Sam would retain more of the gold color in his human form. All the girls would have crushes on him—as long as he didn’t talk about his meat preferences.
Anxious looks from Sam. A different kind of look from Simon. More of a question: had Sam ruined her enjoyment of the meal?
Since she didn’t want this to be the only time they ate together like this, she picked up her burger and took another bite, hoping her stomach had settled. She swallowed and nudged Sam. “Eat your burger. And your salad.”
The chastised look faded. Sam gave her a happy puppy grin and attacked his meal with enthusiasm.
Simon focused on his own food, seeming to ignore both of them. But the one time he looked at Meg, his amber eyes were filled with amusement.
Relieved that he wasn’t angry with Sam, and a little bit curious about what had been said that she hadn’t heard, Meg watched a couple of the Addirondak Wolves approach the counter where Michael Debany and Merri Lee were studying the menu board for the day’s offerings. She couldn’t hear them, but it was obvious that the humans were explaining how to place an order, pay for their meal, and receive a number that they would put on their table when they sat down. When the meal was ready, whoever was serving tables that day would bring the food over.