“Most of this stuff was in the boat in case it got wrecked or stranded somewhere,” Inga remarked, distributing their loads. “And some of the extra food I brought.” She held up a vacuum-sealed loaf of bread. “Oh, I must’ve overlooked this yesterday. That’ll be nice to have.”
“You aren’t really set up to feed two extra mouths,” Luke remarked, glancing over at Rogue, who was watching hopefully.
“No, but it’s fine.” She gave him one of her sunny grins. “I came out here to be alone, but I’m actually pretty glad I’m not. It’s really quiet with just one person, especially now that I’m stuck here until someone comes to get me, unless I take drastic measures, I guess.”
There was a large jug of bottled water among the supplies. Rather than carry it, Inga decided to make a late lunch. Luke watched, impressed, as she deftly put together a small campfire and pulled out some freeze-dried packages of food.
“Some of these heat in a pan, and some you heat water and pour it in,” she said, squinting at the directions. “What sounds better, beef macaroni or stroganoff? Oh, there’s a chicken and mashed potatoes one, too.”
Luke decided not to find out what reconstituted chicken and mashed potatoes in a pouch tasted like. Even MREs had never gone that far, at least that he’d had the misfortune to find out. “Beef macaroni sounds good.”
“Excellent choice, that’s my favorite.” She found a beat-up metal camp pan among the supplies. “I didn’t bother taking this with me because I knew there were cooking supplies at the cabin. Also, I think it’s been used to bail the boat a few times. Let’s just rinse this thing, and we’ll have a not-so-fresh hot lunch in no time.”
Camping out with Inga would be fun, Luke thought. Itwasfun. He crouched beside the campfire and fed it small twigs.
“If it’s not too personal, can I ask if you have a mate?” Inga asked suddenly.
“What?” He looked up from the flames, startled. “Er ... is that a way of asking if I’m single?”
“Sort of, I guess.” Inga’s cheeks were pink from more than the sun and the fire. “I did mean what I said, just asking if you’d found your mate yet. I haven’t, by the way. Just a data point, throwing out there for consideration.”
She was cute when she was flustered, but Luke felt flustered too. She said it like there was only one, like she thought he ought to have, what, a soulmate or something? “No,” he said. “I’m single.”
“Yeah.” Inga idly tossed a crumpled wrapper into the fire; she had peeled and eaten her granola bar earlier. “They say you know at first sight. My brothers both knew. But I’ve always wondered myself. Can youreallyknow for sure? What if you figure it out over time?”
What in the heck was she talking about? Luke felt as if he’d been pulled into a conversation that he had only half the context for. “Is this still about whether I’m dating anyone? Because I’m not, I told you that.”
“No, I—” Inga stopped and huffed out a breath. “You know what, never mind.”
Had he upset her? He was about to ask when she leaned forward to reach for the pan on the fire. “Water’s boiling. Lunch in a few minutes.”
Rogue, stretched out in the sun, rolled over and sat up, ears pricking forward. He had clearly recognized some part of that sentence.
“That is one smart dog,” Inga said, pouring the hot water into the pouches. “Where’d you get him?”
“Uh ... I just picked up him somewhere,” Luke said.
He was still wondering why she had freighted her questions about his single status so oddly; had he done something to make her think he was married?
Was every conversation going to be a minefield of things he didn’t dare talk about?
INGA
Luke had definitely grownup without other shifters around, Inga mused while she blew on her beef and mac. (Somehow it was less good than she remembered. Also, she had forgotten to account for utensils. There was one plastic fork that had somehow fallen down to the bottom of the cooler. They took turns using it.)
But yeah, Luke seemed to be in the dark about things she had thought were shifter common knowledge. Looking back on it, she was pretty sure he’d had no idea what she meant when she talked about mates. Who didn’t know aboutthat?
The food went down fast, though, and the company was good. She’d always found that food tasted better outside. Inga crumpled and burned their trash when they were done. Luke went down to dip a panful of sea water to pour on the fire and extinguish it. She was pleased to see that he knew good camping etiquette.
“You want to shift and run for a while?” she asked as she kicked sand and rocks over the remains of the fire, scattering it with her boot.
If she hadn’t looked up at the right moment, she would have missed Luke’s expression. It was completely out of proportionto the question she’d asked: a quick flash of fear, covered swiftly with a slightly forced smile.
“You mean—as a bear?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty rare to have a chance to do it without other people around. We could adapt our packs to carry on a bear’s back and walk back to the cabin that way, or just shift for a little while and take a refreshing dip in the ocean.”
Luke was already shaking his head. “No, thanks, you go ahead. It’s not really my thing.”
