“You may have a point.” I didn’t really say anything about it, but to me, what Benny was describing sounded an awful lot likeshifterscenting. Not exactly alarming considering he was a shifter, but he was far too young for those senses to kick in.
The way our kind worked, we were essentially human until we went through shifter puberty anywhere from the ages of fourteen to eighteen. Sure, there were occasionally early and late bloomers, but Junior wasfartoo young for that. I needed to reach out to another wolf shifter, maybe another pack’s elder, just to be sure.
“So, you smelled something was wrong, then you helped catch her?”
“Yeah. She’s really light, actually. For an adult, ya know.”
I thought back to how she’d looked at that meeting, and how I had thought she was one of the fair-folk. She was a bit of a small thing, wasn’t she? Not that it mattered, really. She was clearly quite capable in her job and loved the kids.
“I can imagine.” I paused yet again, thinking. “Hey, Junior, how would you like to visit her at the hospital tomorrow? Check in on her.”
“Could we? I’d like that a lot!”
“Yeah, buddy, we definitely can. Maybe we’ll get her some treats to brighten her day.”
“Oh! Her favorite candy is dark chocolate!”
I grinned, tickled by the pride in my son’s voice at his insider knowledge. “Good to know. Definitely good to know.”
SEVEN
GISELLE
Care Package and Self-Sabotage
“Heyo, it’s your fairest sibling!”
I smiled as my door opened and Nox ducked their head in, smiling from ear to ear.
“Hey there, friendo,” I said, hating how weak my voice sounded but genuinely surprised to see my youngest sibling. “What are you doing back from college? Please don’t tell me you’re skipping class.”
“Like my teacher big sis would ever tolerate that,” they said with a chuckle before bounding to my side. While I had been their age once, I’d never had those kinds of energy levels.
Or knees.
“I’ll have you know the professor canceled the class, and I heard a certain hard-headed teacher ended up in the hospital right by my part-time job.”
“Ha, that’s one hell of a coincidence, but if it lets me see my baby sibling, then I’m not complaining.”
“Yeah, you better not be complaining. Especially since I brought you your favorite nuts.”
“Macadamia?”
“You betcha!” They reached into the messenger bag at their side and produced the largest bag of macadamia nuts I’d ever seen.
“Nox, these are so expensive.”
“I know,” they said with a wink as they flopped into the recliner beside my bed. “Basically, I’m the best little sib ever.”
“You’re not kidding.”
She tossed me the bag, and I happily tore into it. Thankfully, I wasn’t on any sort of special diet, so I could eat what I wanted. In fact, my doctors would be happy I was ingesting such calorie-dense and nutritious food.
Naturally, I shared with Nox, even though I had a fleeting moment of temptation not to. But once that moment passed and I was my normal, not-macadamia-induced-greedy self, I gave them a handful and the two of us caught up.
I should have known that the levity could only last so long, however, because after ten minutes, my sibling cleared their throat and gave me a more serious look.
“Giselle…” they started, and they were just so darnintenseabout it.
