Chapter 6

Chapter Six

I'd checked out the cold house, the smokehouse, the schoolhouse, and the gathering house. I'd run out of houses and had since moved on to wandering around the massive farming area.

"Piper?"

I turned to see a woman walking toward me with a dirty apron and knees. Light brown hair was pulled up into a messy bun that was more utilitarian than fun. Still, she had a cute, fresh look about her that held a lot of charm. She was also the first member of the pack that had initiated any kind of real communication, so she got points for approaching the scary girl.

"Yes?"

"Louise. I'd shake your hand, but…" She held up her muddy, gardening-gloved hands. "Do you garden?"

"No, but I'd like to. If you need any help around here." The area looked like it had been large before and was in the process of expanding.

"We're pretty good. There's others who help me tend the field, but we're off season so they are busy with other projects. I'm just doing some cleanup and prep."

"Looks like quite a garden." It probably had to be with the amount of bodies they had to feed. From my initial guess, it looked as if somewhere around two hundred people were living here.

"We've done okay, but once Death Day hit, everyone in the pack who wasn't staying here pulled in closer. Come spring we're expanding it out to that tree, so I'm trying to get a sense of where everything might be laid out best."

I could see the stakes she'd been marking the ground with in the distance.

"Do you have any kind of blessing or words you could offer?"

She was smiling, but for some reason, in spite of her asking, I got the sense she didn't actually think I'd give one. It made my next words hurt a little, as if I were just saying the lines she'd laid out for me.

"I'm still finding my way around that side of things."

"Maybe when you get in the swing of it?"

"Yeah, sure." Something about her initial charm was wearing thin, like a bad piece of costume jewelry left out in the rain.

"Have to say, I never thought we'd get a guide here. Lots of people talked about it, and we all wanted one, but we didn't think Kicks would ever be able to pull it off," Louise said.

The more she said, the stiffer I grew. It wasn't like Kicks had made a secret of wanting a guide for his pack. We were mated, probably in part because he'd wanted something from me in exchange for offering me a safe haven. I shouldn't be bent out of shape by hearing it, but I was feeling a little dinged up at present.

She rambled on about something, but I was having a hard time focusing. My relationship with Kicks was viewed as transactional, and every shifter here knew it.

"Piper?"

It wasn't until she said my name that I realized I hadn't heard her.

"I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

"I hope you didn't take any of my silly comments to heart. I'm sure Kicks cares about you. I didn't mean to imply that he was just with you because you're a guide. There'd have to be some sort of feeling of some kind for him to make you his mate. I can't imagine he'd completely forgo the ability to have children just to get you here." She shrugged, her body language at odds with her words.

The fact that she'd opened that statement up as an apology was just as farcical.

"You know, I'm just going to head back. It's been a long couple of days." I should've told her to go to hell. I wanted to, and if it was just me she'd try to turn the pack against, I would've. But I was learning Charlie had to live with all the consequences to my actions as well

"Sure. All that traveling."

"Hey! Piper!" Evangeline yelled, waving me over from the other side of the field.

"I'm going to go see what she needs. I'm sure we'll chat again." I really had to work for the smile I gave Louise, and it wasn't only to keep the peace. Damned if I'd openly show that her words had left marks.

"See you around," she said, waving before going back to her work.

"Hey, what's going on?" I said, joining Evangeline.

"What did Lousy say to you?" she asked, motioning for me to walk with her.

"You mean Louise?"

"Yeah, Lousy. What did she say? I could see your face from a mile away."

"I take it you don't care for her." I didn't need to ask why after talking to the woman.

"Did my evil eye give it away?" Evangeline asked. "Now what did she say? I need to know if I should go back and punch her or just trip her next time she's not looking." She didn't seem to care who heard her as we walked past a few shifters who giggled at her words.

"She was just rambling on about how happy the pack is to have a guide."

"Ha!" Evangeline said loudly. "I knew she was being a bitch."

"She really didn't say anything bad." Not outright, anyway. She'd spoken the truth, mostly. That truth, unfortunately, wasn't so flattering.

"Lousy is a passive-aggressive slug. She won't flat-out hit you with anything. She'll pretend she's being nice and then stick it to you. She probably insinuated that your being a guide was the only reason Kicks mated with you. Tell me I'm wrong?" She was giving me an expression I'd seen on Charlie more than once. The I dare you look.

"She didn't say that exactly ."

"No. Just implied it. She's been hot for Kicks for a decade, so I'm sure she's about as sour as my pickles that you showed up with him." She opened the door to a small cabin. I didn't have to ask if this place was hers. The kitchen dominated the open floor plan of the cabin, with every type of pot and pan hooked to a rack hanging in the center of the room. Interspersed were drying plants, which I could only assume were spices of some sort, not that I could identify anything beyond some basil and parsley.

She motioned me to a table that took up another large chunk of space. "Sit. I've got some stuff for you to try." She began filling up a tray.

"Did they ever get together?"

"They?" Evangeline flew around the kitchen as she worked on her tray, clearly having moved on to more important topics.

"Lousy? Did she and Kicks ever date?" After Bri, the question felt necessary. Although if Bri was the standard, Lousy would've been slumming it a bit for Kicks. Then again, by the Bri standard, I was as well.

But I couldn't forget, I was also a guide. Talk about a sour taste.

"Oh," Evangeline said, and then let out a good laugh. "Could there have been a late night hookup I don't know about? Maybe. I'd never know. Date? Never. She's not his type."

"Why is that?" I asked, hoping I could hold her attention on the topic long enough to get some clarity. It seemed like once she shifted gears to cooking, it was going to be a battle to drag her back to the Kicks subject.

She straightened from where she'd been bent over her tray. "You mean other than the whole passive-aggressive slug thing? She's cute and all, but he doesn't like sneaky people. Or maybe that's only my feelings? I really don't know, but it seems like he's never gone out of his way to be around her. He's nothing like how he is with you. When you walk in a room, he goes deaf to everyone else."

"Really?" I leaned back, feeling like I must have misheard her.

"I'm surprised you haven't noticed. It's almost ridiculous." She put a tray filled with tasting bites in front of me. "Now I need you to try each of these."

"Why do I get to do this?" The array of bite-sized morsels had my mouth watering.

"Because I'd have to lock up my kitchen if I let anyone else in. They're all pigs." She pointed to a couple different cake pieces. "Start with these. I'm working on a new recipe for the feast."

The flavor was so bright and full that my taste buds almost felt painful, as if they couldn't take this level of excitement.

"They're amazing. Can I ask you for a huge favor?"

"Sure. What?"

"Could you help me make a birthday cake?" If it wasn't for Charlie, I'd never have asked.

"You want to make it?" The caution in her question was leaning toward insulting.

It appeared word hadn't just spread about my killing abilities. Or maybe my cooking had been a part of the discussions as the cherry on top when they talked about my killing abilities. I could imagine them whispering, "Wow, did you here that not only is she a killer but"—insert gasp—"she can't cook?"

"I mean, yes?" I said.

"How about I make it? Who's it for?"

"Charlie's birthday is coming up."

"Really? That's great! I needed a better theme for the feast coming up than ‘Hey , stare at the new guide, and the alpha is back.'" She rolled her eyes as if that was old news.

"I was thinking a small affair at the cabin so no one feels stressed about coming and—"

"Nope. Has to be big." She was off already jotting notes down on a paper, clearly no stopping her.

"I really don't want to put you out." This had been a bad idea. What if no one showed? Well, it was unlikely, since they wouldn't want to insult Kicks. It would probably be okay. Plus, at the pace Evangeline was scribbling away, I wasn't sure I could stop her. "Can I at least do something for you in return?

"Yes," she said with zero hesitation. "You can go to this thing with me tonight."

"What thing?" This was definitely a bad idea.

Her scribbling paused. "I'll tell you about it later. I don't want to ruin your appetite."