Vanessa’s familiar voice shook me out of my daydreamy state of longing for my mate before she put down her tray and sat across from me.Vanessa was somewhere in her forties but looked no older than the tail end of thirty.She wore her dark brown hair in a side braid that I’d never seen her without, at least not at work.
“Nothing.”I put my phone away.“Just distracted.”
Vanessa snorted.She was an ER nurse who took zero shit, as Dom would’ve put it.
“Honey, you’re sitting here, scarfing down this mash of…whatever.I remember you lecturing me about how wolfing down my lunch wasn’t healthy, and I distinctly recall how much you like reminding me to eat the rainbow and all that.”She pointed.“Are shades of greenish gray part of the rainbow now?”
Well, she was right.“I, um… I’m very distracted today?”I shrugged.
Vanessa pushed a bowl of salad my way.“Good thing I saw you sitting here being all distracted.Got you your favorite.”
Come to think of it, I was actually grateful for the salad.It had beetroot in it, which was indeed my favorite.I wondered if Marcus liked salad or what his favorite food was.Did he like treats?Chocolates or candy?He was on the thinner side, so maybe he was too busy to cook for himself most of the time?Or that disgusting ex of his had stressed him.
I had the strongest urge to go to our mate and ask him about all of it, but I was here.I placed the salad on my tray, next to the mashed potatoes and spinach.
“Thank you.You really are the best.You know that, right?”
“Aw, big Ell, you should come to the ER more.We could use more of your manners and those nice firm muscles down there.”
She threw me a mildly thirsty look, but she was only teasing.Like most of Pleasant Peak, she knew I was with Dom and Linc.Small towns like ours weren’t necessarily hotbeds of polyamory, but the general consensus had been playful outrage at three hot dudes being unavailable to the town’s singles.
“I’ll come when you call for me—my muscles, or my manners.You know that, Vanessa.”
“Promises, promises.”She waved me off.“Speaking of calling you, where were you yesterday?”
I chewed and swallowed some of the salad before I answered.“Something personal came up.Why?”
Vanessa liked her dessert first, so she was spooning vanilla pudding into her mouth.
“There was this guy in the ER yesterday.Said he was a hunter.He had a bite mark I took care of.According to him, some wolf attacked him.The guy said the wolf wasn’t right, probably had rabies, but then when I said he needed to get treatment for that, he just up and vanished when I stepped out to get the attending.Since you and Linc and Dominic live out there in the woods all by yourselves, I thought I should let you know not to get too close to any wolves you might come across.”
My eyebrows shot up.Vanessa didn’t know about werewolves, but everyone knew there were wolves in the woods.There always had been, not least because of the pack, who’d always protected them.But no sane wolf ever came close to a human, and we werewolves most certainly tried to avoid it wherever possible.A hunter getting bitten by a wolf seemed…unlikely.
“He just ran off?With a possible rabies bite?”
Vanessa nodded.“He apparently told another nurse he’d be back if he felt off.She didn’t know what he was being treated for, so she didn’t stop him.It’s a whole thing that has everyone worried and upset, given we’re talking about a possible rabies case.Just thought I’d let you know.”
I nodded.“Did he get stitches?”
“Nope.”Vanessa scraped the last bit of her pudding out of her bowl.“A few staples though.”
I scratched the back of my neck.There were exceedingly few hunters in this area, and none in the immediate area surrounding Pleasant Peak.The tourism we got came from hikers and a few climbers.Hikers and hunters didn’t mix, and the werewolf communities had had generations to make sure local tourism was all about hiking, nature, and conservation.
“You don’t happen to know if he had a license?”I asked.
“Hunter’s license?”Vanessa shrugged.“I didn’t check.But I assumed.He wasn’t shifty or anything.Pretty friendly, actually.But him just leaving was strange.”
I had to agree.I didn’t like that he had called himself a hunter.
Saying a wolf had bitten him… There was a subset of hunters who blamed anything on wolves, but they weren’t after deer, weren’t even really after wolves, and they wouldn’t care about getting a license.Some still used silver bullets to go after my kind.
“Well, I’ll tell my guys to keep a wary eye on all canines, but it’s rare to see wolves, you know.They’re people shy.”
Vanessa nodded.“Yup.Been here for fifteen years, and I’ve only ever heard them.But just in case.”
I steered the conversation to Ally, Vanessa’s daughter.The kid was in fifth grade, and last week she’d wanted to be an astronaut.This week, it was a race car driver.
In the middle of that conversation, my mind drifted again.If heisan omega, we could have kids, and they might become astronauts or doctors, even.Maybe they’ll have green eyes like Linc and Dom and look as cute as Marcus.If he’s an omega?—
