“This way,” I said, gesturing to the dining room. It was likely to be more crowded because the young ones preferred the living room. And as much as I loved the teens, preteens, and kids, they could be too much. But then again, our reunions were too much too, and Felicia had handled that just fine. Still, it would be easier to observe and ask questions with some of the more chill members of the McCallister pack.
“Oh, look who’s here. I didn’t know we were getting a cake.” Jason, a middle-aged man who traveled more often than he stayed, greeted us first. He’d been sticking around a lot more the past year-and-a-half, but I got the feeling it was because his youngest nephew had recently gone through the big change, and the man was realizing his time as a Cool Uncle was about to be eclipsed by the malaise of teendom. Luckily, I’d avoided that fate by always being painfully uncool, and it had worked for me so far. I was a fair alpha, and that was good enough.
“No cake today, not that any of us need any,” Auntie Siobhan said from the very head of the table. “Miss Felicia is here as our guest tonight.”
“Guest?” Another murmur, and I could almost feel everyone’s apprehension rise. I understood why. They were confused and concerned about a human in our midst. Again.
It wasn’t as if my father or I had ever ordered our kind not to interact with humans. In fact, we had several contracts with human service workers who tended to things that were more involved and technical, like issues with our HVACs, or making sure any new structures were up to code.
It was one thing to be kind and friendly to strangers on official business, and another thing entirely to have a random human just drop into dinner like a shifter.
So, I might as well clear the air.
“Don’t worry everyone. Felicia is aware of our nature, and I thought this might be a wonderful opportunity for her to ask any questions she might have.”
If I’d thought it was quiet when everyone realized the baker was there, I had been sorely mistaken.
Now it was dead silent. Even the cacophony in the other rooms had ground to a complete halt.
“Not sure how you knew about that, though, Auntie Siobhan.”
“I have my ways,” the older woman answered with a wan grin before Arietty entered from a side door, her plate loaded up with cornbread, a stuffed Cornish hen, and enough meatloaf to feed a hungry linebacker.
That explained it. For being so young, Arietty truly had a knack for putting her paws in things. I could definitely see her following in her father’s footsteps and being an excellent beta.
Too bad I didn’t have an heir.
My wolf sharply reminded me that I could have an heir, since a wonderful woman was standing right beside me, but I shut those thoughts down. Felicia was an independent woman and a human. Just because we’d had one incredible night together didn’t mean she was down to churn out pups.
Wolf and human pairings were rare, but I had heard that when they did happen, shifter genetics tended to be pretty dominant, and most of the children ended up as shifters themselves.
Focus. Not what we’re thinking about right now.
My wolf responded with a sentiment that felt a lot like he was telling me he certainly was thinking about it right now, and that he would continue thinking about it.
“Please, we’ve put our guest on the spot long enough. Here, you two can sit next to me.” Siobhan gestured to the seats beside her, and the two of us made our way over. I could smell some of Felicia’s nerves, but most of it was covered up by the heavenly, savory smells surrounding us. Sure, it wasn’t a huge spread like we’d had at the reunion, but it was still impressive.
“Feel free to help yourself,” Siobhan continued to Felicia as we settled. “Trust me, you won’t be able to keep up with our appetites, so you can stuff yourself silly and not so much as put a dent in things.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“Oh please, you know our secret. Call me Auntie Siobhan.”
“Thank you then, Auntie Siobhan.”
“Isn’t that so cute when you say it?” The corners of the older woman’s eyes crinkled. “You don’t have much of a city accent, but when it comes out, it’s quite sweet, isn’t it, Valerie?”
“I’d say it is. Much better than that man at the car dealership who tried to upcharge me for having a uterus. I told him I’ve been drivin’ my husband for four decades and didn’t appreciate him treatin’ me like some sort of Sunday driver just cause I’m an old biddy now.”
“You’re not old,” Felicia objected as she took the plate handed to her.
Valerie just smiled. “I’ll have you know I’m ninety-seven years old. If I ain’t old, I don’t wanna know what is.”
“Ninety-seven?” Felicia echoed.
I hadn’t really gotten the chance to explain that shifters aged slowly. Yet another reason why wolf-human relationships tended not to work.
Felicia recovered less than a beat later. “Well, I don’t think you look a day over seventy!”
Valerie and the older women all laughed at that, and Felicia’s nerves faded. Good. I wanted her to have a good time, and I couldn’t just wave my hand and make everything go smoothly for her.
Thankfully, it seemed a good time was exactly what was had, with laughter, good food, and plenty of exaggerated storytelling. I didn’t burst any of the elders’ bubbles by calling them on it. That was supposed to be one of the perks of getting old, right?
Getting to spin wild yarns that were perhaps a hair or two more epic than reality.
And it wasn’t like Felicia didn’t give in turn. Between a truly nightmarish tale about a graduation party from hell, as well as her first fraudulent-refund Karen, there were multiple times she had folks around her eating out of the palm of her hand. It was impressive, honestly, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d have assumed she’d always been a part of the pack.
Maybe because she was meant to be.
Another thought to purposefully not concentrate on. I tucked it away, although it was difficult not to at least give it a little thought on its journey to the dark, dusty closet in the back of my mind where I put things I didn’t want to deal with.
At least I knew Felicia was definitely having a good time because once the meal wrapped up, I gave her at least two opportunities for us to duck out, but both times she declined with literally zero hesitancy. The first time, she returned to the animated conversation with Jason, David, and Valerie. The second time, after we’d moved to the living room, she’d delighted in the four teens who were in some sort of competition to show her how long they could grow their teeth without shifting.
Yeah, I hadn’t exactly gotten the notification that being a baker was cool now, but it definitely seemed so with how the teens crowded around Felicia. Or maybe that was just her. Granted, I figured a lot of the little ones were just enjoying getting to showboat in front of a non-shifter.
“Wanna see how high I can jump?”
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