He shrugs. “She’s pretty well connected.” He winks at me. “Anyway she asked me to show you to one of the guest tents.”
“Great,” I say.
“We’ve already dropped off your belongings,” Omar says, then glances at the sun. “Come on, it’s almost lunchtime. You won’t want to miss Miss Sammy’s barbecue ribs.”
He turns on his heel and takes off down a path. I glance at my reluctant mate one last time and follow Omar, pulling Jasper along behind me.
ROGUE SANCTUARY
Omar leads us through the tent city, nodding and greeting rogues as he does. From the way that people smile when they see him, waving and winking, it’s clear he’s ingratiated himself within this community.
“You seem popular,” I say.
He shrugs. “It’s easy to get along when everyone is this friendly. Here we are.”
We arrive at an expansive shaded area. A tent ceiling is held aloft by thick wooden poles, and underneath are at least a hundred collapsible picnic tables. The place is already crowded by wolves eating and chatting with the others at their tables. My nostrils widen as a stupidly delicious scent wafts by.
“What is that smell?”
Omar grins. “Told you. Miss Sammy’s ribs are the best in the country.”
I glance at Jasper and his eyes are wide as well. “Smells good, huh?” I ask and nudge him gently.
He shakes his head a little and resets his face. “Not especially,” he says.
I turn to Omar, desperate not to have offended him. “Jasper…uh…doesn’t eat meat.”
“Don’t worry, Alpha Boy,” Omar says. “There’s plenty of veggie-loving wolves here too. You’ll be well fed.”
Jasper can’t even hide his shock at learning there are other vegetarian wolves, as much as he’d like to.
We wander through the tables, Omar slapping his pals on the back. At one table three men are sitting not touching their food while they glare at us. They don’t look as happy as everyone else that we’re here.
By the far end of the shade cloth, four tables have been set up and food laid out buffet style, with wolves dishing out all manner of delicious-smelling food to the patrons lining up with their dinner trays. Behind them in the sun sit three industrial-size barbecues that wouldn’t be out of place in some steampunk fantasy. We make our way to the end of the line and take our trays.
“Miss Sammy!” Omar says with an open-mouthed smile, throwing his hands wide and nearly taking Jasper out with his tray.
“Omar, baby,” Miss Sammy says from behind a mountain of glistening, succulent-looking ribs. “You better be hungry today.”
“Always,” he replies.
Miss Sammy has big, rosy cheeks, her curly red hair is held back by a bandana, and her apron is covered in barbecue sauce smudges.
“Who are your friends?” she says, pointing at Jasper and me with a pair of saucy tongs.
“This is Max. He’s the blood wolf and a super cool dude. And this is his mate, Jasper Apollo, he’s…” We stare at Omar, waiting to see how he plans to finish that thought. “He’s here too.”
Jasper rolls his eyes but Miss Sammy leans over the table, her belly nearly coming into contact with the pile of ribs, to squint at Jasper.
“You have her eyes,” Miss Sammy says.
Jasper pulls his head back like he’s smelled something rotten.
“You boys are a long way from home. You must be hungry. Load up, there’s plenty to go around.”
I let Miss Sammy stack way too many ribs on my plate then move down the buffet, doing as told and loading up corn, potato salad, sausages, a succulent-looking burger, some other salad with chickpeas and broccoli. Behind me Jasper is being much pickier but he accepts a large spoon of both salads, plus some grilled eggplant and halloumi and a seasoned mushroom head the size of my face. Both satisfied, we find an empty table and sit.
“Looks good,” I say, taking a whiff of the spicy, sweet scent of barbecue sauce and salivating up a storm.
