An awkward silence fell over the pack before Lupa piped up, bluntly saying, “Want deer.”
Hugo scratched the back of his neck. “Well…”
“Why didn’t you get it?” Sage asked.
Dax and Hugo shot Sage a sharp glare. Apparently, it wasn’t as cute when he was clueless. But I understood where Sage was coming from and I didn’t want his brothers to give him flack so I stepped towards him and said, “It’s okay. Len and I talked about it earlier, and I just want you all to know that I don’t mind what you hunt.”
They seemed taken aback, exchanging a bewildered glance with each other.
“But Morgan,” Dax said with a sympathetic frown, “wouldn’t it make you uncomfortable if we ate a deer?”
As everyone looked at me, I shrugged. It felt odd to be the center of attention—and the center of concern—when no one had ever given me a second glance in my herd. It was strange but comforting knowing all of these people actually cared about me.
“If it’s a mute animal, no,” I said. “I can’t change your biology. Asking you wolves to cut out a huge part of your diet would be inconsiderate. It would be like asking me to eat a totally meat diet.” I shuddered at the thought.
Dax grasped my hand, still observing me closely. “If you’re sure…”
“I am. Don’t worry so much about me.” A smile tugged at my lips. “Though I appreciate the concern.”
“We need to be careful not to hunt down deer shifters,” Hugo said seriously. “I wouldn’t want to make a mistake.”
“I don’t think that’ll be an issue,” I said. “When Dax was hunting me, I shifted to tell him off. I’m sure any other shifter in danger would do the same.”
The wolves nodded. Among all shifters was the unwritten code of not eating other shifters, no matter the species. Once they revealed themselves as a shifter, hunting was off limits.
Hugo’s lip curled in disgust as he muttered, “I hope that fox isn’t still skulking around.”
Dax looked just as angry at the mention of the fox. “Are you talking about Red?”
“Who is that?” I asked.
“A bastard fox shifter who eats other shifters,” Dax growled.
A chill ran down my spine.
Len rubbed his arm. “That’s how Hugo and I met. He saved me from Red. He was trying to hunt me down and wouldn’t stop even after I told him I was a fellow shifter.”
The thought of it sickened me. In a way, I was blessed. My shifted form was a huge buck with massive antlers and strong hooves. I possessed weapons that other prey shifters didn’t. I could easily take down a fox with a single good kick—Len couldn’t. It truly was fate that saved him that day.
“I’m sorry, Len. That must have been awful,” I said, shaking my head.
“It’s all right,” Len said with a small smile. “I don’t really blame Red. Honestly, I think he’s just lonely.”
“Len, he tried toeatyou,” Hugo growled. “I don’t care if he’s lonely. Frankly, I don’t care about his feelings at all.”
Len rubbed his arm with an amused expression. “I know, my big strong wolf.”
Hugo blushed and shut up.
“So… does this mean we don’t have to survive on pheasants anymore?” Sage asked meekly, glancing at me with big puppy eyes.
“No, Sage,” I told him. “Feel free to eat all the venison you want.”
“Yay!” He threw his arms around me in a sudden hug. “You’re awesome, Morgan!”
I blinked, then smiled and patted Sage on the back. I was still getting used to the concept of group hugs but I had to admit they were kind of nice.
After eating dinner, we split off to our separate sleeping areas for the night. Dax denned at the outer rim off the grove since he liked being on the lookout. The long grass was flattened in the area where he slept all curled up. I laid next to him and thought with amusement that there would be two permanently flattened spots soon.
