Zane
Brumous barked, launching himself at our kneecaps. I dodged right as Koa sidestepped left, leaving Cas to catch nearly two hundred pounds of squirming dire wolf. Captain Catastrophe actually laughed, a hoarse, rusty sound, as Brum slobbered across his stubbled jaw.
“Down!”
Of course the pup obeyedhim. Alpha Sharp apparently ranked highest in the floof’s mental hierarchy.
Hopping off of Cas, Brummy lunged for me again, tail whipping. I feinted left, then right, and his claws skidded across the tile as he tried to escape me.
“Oh, you wanna play some more, huh?”
I chased after him as he darted around the kitchen island, his tail wagging furiously. Our demolition derby through the pantry earned whoops from Ko and a genuine grin from Cas. Finally, I fake-lunged left and snagged his scruff right.
“Gotcha!” He yipped as I hoisted him up, his hind legs pedaling air. “What’s the penalty for kitchen vandalism, huh? Lifetime of belly rubs? Forced cuddles?”
“Careful,” Ko snorted. “He’ll think you’re negotiating.”
With a yodel, Brummy escaped my hold, springing onto the breakfast nook.
“Round two?” I cracked my neck. “Bring it, furface.”
Our second chase ended with Brumster somehow herding all three of us into the living room, and I ended up tackling Cas when I dove for the wolf. We toppled onto the L-shaped sectional, the dire crowning himself king of the pile. Ko flopped beside us, phone raised.
“Smile for Seri’s new lockscreen.”
The wolf hammed it up, licking out my nostrils.
“Blackmail material acquired.” Ko pocketed the device.
“You little attention hog!” I scooped Brum-Brum up in a bear hug. He draped his head over my shoulder, his tail thumping against my ankle, and let out a contented sigh.
“Do I want to know why the pantry is a disaster area?” Seri asked as she walked into the living room, Foster on her heels like a moon-damned shadow. Each of them carried snacks, Fosterino two bags of chips and Seri two packages of cookies.
“Blame your apocalypse hound.” I let Brumsy down, and he went right to her for ear rubs and a treat from Fozzy Wozzie.
“Well, we’ll clean it up before Mrs. Wentzel gets here in the morning. For now, though, I have something to show you in Koko’s lab.” She passed Ko one of the cookie packs, then took one of Foster’s chip bags and tossed it to Cas.
For some reason, I alone remained strangely devoid of snacks.
“Um, honeybee, did you forget something?” Scowling, I crossed my arms and tapped my foot on the floor.
“No, Zoodle, I don’t believe I did.”
“Then allow me to enlighten you. Here on my left, I observe you and Ko stuffing your faces with his favorite chocolate chunk cookies. Here on my right, I note Cas and Fozzerella savoring one sour cream and onion chip after another. And yet,” I spread my hands in front of me, palms up, and stared at them, “I seem to have been deliberately ostracized from impromptu snack time.”
“That is true.” Her expression was solemn and, if I didn’t know her better, I would have said guileless, too.
“And may I askwhyI have been singled out for such unfair treatment, Mrs. Cimmerian?”
“Theydidn’t release live crickets in the library yesterday.”
“A gift!” I threw up my hands. “You said you missed hearing little frogs ribbeting back home on the farm!”
“Crickets aren’t—”
“Amphibian adjacent!” I insisted.
“The insects have been removed, Seri.” Cas closed his eyes and rubbed a fingertip between his brows. “And disciplined.”
