Jasper doesn’t say anything. Omar joins us swiftly, dropping his tray on the table with a loud thunk.
“Tuck in, boys,” Omar says, already pulling pork from the bone with his teeth.
I sink my teeth into the steaming meat and the juices explode across my palate. I’ve never had ribs this meaty, this tender and delicious. “Oh my moon gods!” I mumble with a mouth full, knowing I must have sauce all over my face.
“I know, right?” Omar says, nodding. “And yours?” he asks Jasper.
With a knife and fork Jasper cuts a neat triangle of his mushroom, stares at it briefly as if it could be poisoned, then finally slips it between his lips. Instantly his eyes pop open and he chews with an amazed look on his face.
“Pretty good?” Omar is staring at Jasper with very high eyebrows.
Jasper stares at his plate. “It’s fine, I guess,” he mumbles, but Omar and I can both tell that’s the best damn mushroom he’s ever eaten.
“So after lunch I thought I could show you around a little,” Omar says. “Then Max, I want to introduce you to Yoki.”
“Yoki?” I ask.
“Yoki is our spiritual leader, they’ll be the one working with you on the blood-wolf front. They’re amazing, they’ll be able to help you out, no trouble.”
“And what about Jasper, what will he do?”
Omar smiles mischievously at Jasper. “Earn his keep.”
Jasper and I stare questioningly at Omar.
“You’ll see,” he says, then goes back to his lunch.
“That’s the healer’s tent over there,” Omar says, pointing to a large tent with a thin plume of pale smoke rising from the center. “And over there is one of our communal vegetable gardens.” Between two rows of tents I spot an out-of-place patch of green dotted with bright colors—yellow corn and red bell peppers all growing in abundance.
“It must take a lot of work to cultivate all that produce,” I say.
“The biggest issue is sourcing enough water,” Omar explains. “But we all chip in with the garden work and there’s no shortage of sunlight.”
“And you grow everything you eat yourselves?”
“Pretty much.” Omar glances at me looking suitably smug.
“That’s so cool.” I nudge Jasper. “Isn’t that cool? Living completely off the land?”
Jasper grunts.
“We have a water reservoir just a short distance from here in the shadiest part of the valley,” Omar continues, turning right down a slightly narrower path. The tent walls on either side of us ripple in the warm breeze. “Down here is our meditation center where we go to hone our wolf senses.”
“Is that where Yoki is?” I ask, eager to meet the spiritual practitioner who might be able to help me.
Omar grins knowingly. “No. Yoki has their own space.”
We stop at an intersection with five paths leading off in different directions. Omar points down a trail to the left. “If you head this way you’ll find our library. We have an amazing collection of books. There’s volumes and volumes about the history of werewolf culture, a great section on horticulture and germination. But there’s also some wicked fiction, some romance, mystery, the classics. A big selection of young adult.”
“Awesome,” I say.
“That way”—Omar turns and points down another pathway—“leads you to the music tent. And down there”—he turns and points down yet another—“is our gym.”
“You have everything you could ever need,” I say.
Jasper remains stoically silent.
“Almost,” Omar replies. “Your mate doesn’t seem so impressed.”
