Chapter Seventeen

June

Sitting at the kitchen table, the jar labeled baked apples in scratchy letters in my hand, I was wondering why the old neighbor woman would give me pie filling as a gift. Hannah was making toast and eggs, and Linda was peeling potatoes in the sink as the early morning sunshine filtered through the window, blanketing the room in a warm glow.

"Morning, lovely wolves!" Carmine sang as she came downstairs, wearing a sweatshirt and basketball shorts. Her auburn hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and her grin took up almost as much of her face as her freckles did.

"Morning." I echoed her.

Linda turned around from the sink. "Morning, Carmine dear. You look ready to go."

"There are a few trackers who haven't been in the village for a couple of weeks, and I thought I'd wander the outer parts of the pack territory today. Maybe I'll run into an interesting smell." She wiggled her eyebrows.

"Maybe you will." Linda laughed. "A few of our trackers are pretty handsome, and unmated."

"Can I go with you?" I asked.

"Of course." Carmine smiled. "Why do you think I wore comfortable clothes? I was hoping you would keep me company—I won't cover the ground as fast without my wolf, but that's okay."

I grinned. "All right then, after breakfast?"

"Oui." Carmine took a seat next to me.

"Toast incoming." Hannah turned from the counter and slid two small plates across the table. "Eggs in another minute."

"Thank you, Hannah," Carmine said. "June, may I have some of that?"

She pointed to the jar I'd been holding.

"Oh, sure, but I think it's a dessert or something. Baked apples, maybe?"

Hannah snorted a laugh from the counter. Linda cleared her throat. "It's bakeapple, dear. It's a berry, and that's a jam."

"Really?" I looked at the jar again; it made much more sense than trying to figure out why someone would give me only half of a dessert.

"Welcome to Newfoundland," Hannah mused. "Here's a spoon, try it on your toast."

"Oh, before I forget,"—Linda turned, wiping her hands on a towel—"Doc says he's ready for you to swing by on Thursday. He's out on a supply run for a couple of days."

"Sounds good," I said. "I'll make sure to go then."

"It will be nice to have a pack physician in training," Linda said.

"Oh, no. I—" But Linda had already turned back to peeling her potatoes.

I can't stay here .

Hannah interrupted my thoughts by setting the scrambled eggs on the table. "Eat up, freshly laid this morning."

And that was that. If I had learned anything about wolves, it was that nothing could distract them from food. So breakfast went on, and my protests remained silent. After breakfast I went upstairs to change, digging out something to wear for the walk.

This place was easy. Easy, and slow. No one was in a rush, save for the wolves running around the fields outside the village. Neighbors were friendly, no one was on a schedule. It was becoming more and more apparent that I'd left a rat race behind in Seattle. What I wouldn't give to have time for more walks, to read more books, to get enough sleep before waking up for a new day of caring for my patients. I could almost picture it, but there were still things about home that I couldn't stop missing. The ease of a grocery store and limitless restaurant options, for one. Kat, obviously. I guess there wasn't much to miss about the parks, considering I had all the nature I could handle right in front of me.

Shaking my head, I pulled on a pair of leggings and socks. Why was I even comparing the two places when I'd be going back in a few weeks?

Carmine knocked at my door. "Are you ready to go? Allons-y ."

"Coming." I finished tying my sneakers and we left the house. The air was fresh, and the sun was bright when we began walking down the slope and away from the village.

Carmine shot me a sly look. "You and Dom. Is he the one who bit you?"

"What's with that face?" I asked. "No, he didn't bite me. That was an accident with a wolf named Amelia. Dom and the guys brought me here so I'd be safe when I first shift."

"Can I see your bite?" she asked.

"Sure."

It was healing nicely, considering it was over a week old, and had already lost its pain. It was just sort of ugly now.

Carmine inspected my arm and whistled. "This Amelia did a number on you."

"Yeah. I was trying to help her, it was an accident." I shrugged. "I'd like to talk to her about it, actually."

"Wait, she's here?" Carmine asked.

"Mm-hm. But she's sick," I answered. "So we haven't really communicated."

"Ah, I see. Good luck, then, I hope you find some peace between the two of you. Now, back to male talk . . ."

"Carmine." I shoved her playfully. "Is that all you can think about?"

"Listen, June," she said. "I've been craving a mate for the last two years. I'm headed toward forty, after all. Moon knows my maman is running out of patience for grandpups. So, yes, I have males on my mind. I'm starting to wonder if I should give up and settle with someone else who's mateless."

"What?" I stopped in my tracks, shocked. "You're almost forty? You look twenty!"

Carmine threw back her head and laughed. "Silly human, wolves live three or four times as long as you. Well, not you anymore. I'm still thirty-seven, but forty is nothing. It's true that most mates find each other somewhere in their twenties, but by no means am I too old to find mine."

I paled. "Am I going to live that long?"

"Yes." Carmine winked. "You are."

"Oh," I breathed. "Okay."

"Back to males!" She clapped her hands, holding them in front of her. "Not gonna lie, that Dom was a juicy piece. Maybe he's mateless too."

"You're into Dom?" I asked.

Carmine shrugged. "I don't know if I'd settle down with him or anything, but a romp in the woods might be nice, if you know what I mean."

"Ugh, I'm afraid I do." I grinned.

"What's the matter, don't you find his type attractive?" she asked.

My heart skipped a beat. I hadn't asked myself that question before, but I found that I already knew the answer. "Yeah," I agreed sheepishly.

"Great, do you want to tag team him? I've got an itch that could use scratching."

"No!" I shouted, eyes wide. "No, I'm okay."

"Suit yourself. Oh, and I saw some other good males at the picnic yesterday. Did you see that guy helping turn the meat in the pits? The one with the scar on his arm?"

"Yeah, he was cute, I guess," I said.

"Or maybe the one with—" Carmine stopped and stuck out her arm to stop me as well.

"Wh—"

"Shh." Carmine's face was serious as she tilted her head, listening and scenting the air.

"Another wolf is here, and something smells . . . weird," she whispered. "I'm going to shift, stay on your guard. If I tap my paw twice in your direction, run back to the village."

"Okay," I said nervously.

Carmine took off her clothes and handed them to me. Without having anything else to do, I absently folded them neatly in my arms and carried them as she shifted. Her fur was stunning. So far, most of the wolves I had seen were varying shades of gray and white. Maybe one or two brown ones at the picnic. But Carmine was a reddish-brown shade that reminded me of autumn leaves, something a bit like her hair color. It made me wonder what color my fur would be.

I shook my head. Now was not the time to admire something like that. We had to be on guard. From a wolf. A wolf who, if they were an enemy of some kind, could outrun me in a heartbeat and eat me.

Did werewolves eat people?

I didn't have time to ponder an answer to that as Carmine began sniffing the air, walking back and forth. She stopped, perked up, and walked forward. A howl in the distance sent a shiver down my spine. Carmine lifted her head and howled back.

She trotted back over to me when she was done, and shifted back to her normal self. I handed her the clothes I was carrying.

"What was all that?" I asked.

She pulled on her shorts as she answered. "Alpha Evander. He's coming this way now."

"And the howling was what, exactly?" I asked.

"A general sound of ‘is someone there?' and my answer of ‘yes, over here.' As soon as I could tell it was Evander, there was no reason to hide. This is his pack, after all, and I'm a guest on his lands."

Evander emerged from the trees wearing loose shorts and a T-shirt. He ran his fingers through his hair and waved at us as he got closer.

"Good morning, June. Carmine. What are you girls doing out here so early?" he asked.

"A walk to smell out males," Carmine said. "Same old, same old."

Evander chuckled and turned to me. "And you brought June with you?"

"She's good company," Carmine said. "You've got a good one here, Alpha Evander."

"Do I now?" He took a closer look at me, and I could almost see the gears turning.

"Alpha Evander," Carmine said, "I smelled something really strange at the same time I noticed your wolf. I almost didn't recognize you at first. What was that?"

"Ah, yes. I'm out here looking into something that was reported on pack lands. I turned everyone else away from it, I didn't realize you girls would be here on a walk. For now, I suggest you go back to the village, you can walk again tomorrow."

"Okay. Thank you, Alpha Evander. Come on, June. Let's go."

I thanked Evander too. And then he walked away in the direction he had come from. Carmine watched him go with her eyes narrowed on his back the whole time.

"Something isn't right," she whispered. "Your Dom and his friends are from before Evander was alpha, right?"

"Yes," I said.

"Let's go pay them a visit," Carmine said.