Just as I put Muzo's displaced red fabric back into its proper place, I heard a yelp and a crash from another aisle.
As a tiger, my reflexes were fast. Within seconds I'd dashed to the source of the sound—my other friend, Poppy, trying not to be crushed by a falling bolt. He shrank to the floor, covering his head with his arms, expecting the weight to drop on him, but I caught it just in time.
"Oh, Taylor, you saved me," Poppy murmured, his big brown eyes wide. He was an Arctic wolf shifter, but his pleading gaze reminded me more of a deer, or a lamb.
I pushed the bolt back to safety. "What were you thinking? This is too high up for you to reach."
Poppy was sensitive, so unlike with Muzo, I spoke to him gently. Even still, Poppy hung his head like I'd admonished him.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I thought you'd like it..."
The fabric that had nearly crushed him into wolf-paste was a deep cerulean blue dotted with yellow stars. Itwasbeautiful, and to my taste.
I smiled. "Thanks, Poppy. It's perfect. Just tell me next time. I don't want you to die doing something nice."
He glanced up with a shy smile, looking relieved.
Poppy was an omega, too. Taller than Muzo, shorter than me. But even though he was a wolf shifter, he was unusually delicate. Combined with his soft personality, it made me wonder if he had a difficult past. Even his name was odd. But Poppy never liked talking about himself, and I never pressured him by asking, so Muzo and I didn't know.
"Why don't you wait with Muzo at the cafe next door? I'll buy my things and we can grab lunch," I suggested.
"Okay."
He seemed pleased that I liked the fabric he chose. As he left, I watched him go to make sure he didn't accidentally get crushed by fabric bolts.
When both my friends had evacuated the fabric shop, I sighed. I couldn't blame them for distracting me. It was my fault for not planning my quilt patternbeforeI arrived.
"I'll figure it out at home," I mumbled to myself.
I gathered the fabrics, had them cut, then paid. I withheld a choking sound when the cashier told me my total.
Quilting wasnotcheap. But it was worth it.
Besides, I had nothing better to spend my human currency on. I was single, had no children, and lived humbly. I had food, a roof over my head, a hobby, and a couple good friends.
My life was fine.
So why did it feel like something was missing?
Holding my purchases, I walked out to the street. My nose wrinkled as traffic drove past. The acrid scent of car exhaust always bothered my sensitive nose. How did humans stand this? Then again, it wasn't like they could shift into a four-legged beast and travel that way. Not that we shifters could, either. Shifting into our animal forms in public was frowned upon, if not forbidden in certain places.
"Hey, Tay!" Muzo called excitedly.
He and Poppy were outside the cafe. There was a small crowd down the street behind them, but I couldn't see what the fuss was about.
Muzo ran towards me. He thrust a small postcard-sized paper into my face. "Look at this!"
I blinked. "What exactly am I looking at?"
"You should enter your name!"
"Muzo, what are you talking about?"
Just as I tried to peek at the card, Muzo snatched it away. "It's a... quilting sweepstakes!"
I perked up. "Quilting sweepstakes? Like a contest?"
Muzo shifted on his feet, still grinning. "Not a contest. More like, you enter your name for a chance to win a huge quilting shopping spree!"
