Pigeon Post
A prolonged silence made Rue look up from the MacBook Pro on her lap.
When she had last taken a break from working on her company’s spring market exhibit about an hour ago, Kelsey and Danny had been curled up at her feet in their wolf forms, enjoying the afternoon sun on their pelts. Now their places beneath the porch swing were empty.
Had they gone inside to raid the fridge?
She mentally shook her head. If they had shifted back, she would have heard the pained growls, no matter how focused she was on work.
Frowning, she closed the laptop and stood. Her back muscles cramped from staying in one position for too long, and she massaged her lower back while she shaded her eyes with the other hand and searched the area behind the house.
At times, being the human alpha of a pack of wolf-shifters was like herding cats.
Something rustled in the hedges to her right.
Rue whirled.
Kelsey was stalking along the hedge, using it for cover. Her chocolate-colored ears flicked forward, and she kept her gaze fixed on her prey as she carefully placed one paw after another.
Rue’s adopted son, Danny, followed her, mirroring her every movement. He had started to fill out during winter, but his paws still looked as if they were a bit too large for his lanky frame.
They didn’t stop their stealthy approach as Rue stepped closer to get a look at their prey.
A gray pigeon sat on the lawn, grooming itself. Apparently, it hadn’t noticed the two wolves yet.
Danny’s tail started wagging. His hazel eyes gleamed against his black fur, glowing with hunting fever. An excited yip cut through the peaceful silence.
The pigeon stopped grooming and turned its head in his direction.
Kelsey paused with one paw lifted, nearly making Danny stumble into her.
After a second’s hesitation, the pigeon took flight with hurried flicks of its wings.
Kelsey pounced.
Feathers flew.
“Kelsey, no!” Rue let out a sharp whistle. “Leave the pigeon alone.”
For a moment, she thought the wolves, gripped by hunting fever, wouldn’t listen or even hear her, but then Kelsey ceased her attack and crouched, her belly almost touching the ground. Behind her, Danny whimpered and lowered his body too.
The bird used the opportunity to escape to the pigeon loft next to the woodshop.
Whining, Kelsey watched it fly away before she slunk toward Rue with her tail tucked in submission.
Danny followed her.
Rue bent, buried her hands in the thick fur of Kelsey’s ruff, and lightly shook her. “What did I tell you? No hunting the pigeons.”
Their gazes averted, the wolves licked every inch of Rue’s exposed skin they could get at.
“Okay, okay, apology accepted. Come on, you two.” She patted her thigh so that even Danny, whose wolf was as deaf as his human form, could understand that she wanted them to follow her. “It’s time to shift back before you get into even more trouble.”
Danny sat on his haunches and cocked his head. One ear flopped forward.
Rue laughed. “Nope. Playing the cute, innocent pup won’t help you. I want to go make sure the pigeon is okay, and if I leave you behind, you’ll probably try to get into Odo’s dog biscuits again.” She strode to the French doors, opened them, and led the wolves into the living room, not wanting them to shift outside. Even though her neighbors and the rest of the world now knew about the Wrasa’s existence, she thought it better not to rub their faces in it.
Mr. Whitley had already accused Kelsey of eating his cat, and Mrs. Baker was convinced that the “werewolves,” as she called them, were responsible for her tulips failing to grow this year. Having strange noises and sounds of pain drift over from the Hardings’ back porch wouldn’t help keep the peace in the neighborhood.
Even Rue still winced as bones crunched and joints popped. She hated seeing her son and Kelsey suffer. At least Danny had gotten better at shifting, and now his dark fur receded almost as fast as Kelsey’s, becoming shorter and shorter as if being absorbed by his skin. His muzzle shortened, dividing into mouth and nose, while his legs lengthened and leathery footpads separated into toes and fingers.
Rue looked away, giving them a chance to dress in privacy.
Finally, a floorboard next to her creaked, and Kelsey’s fingers entwined with her own.
For a while, Rue stood in silence, enjoying the touch and Kelsey’s warmth, her body temperature higher than Rue’s. When she turned her head, their gazes met. Once again, she marveled at how being with a woman who didn’t even belong to her species could feel so right. “Say aaah.”
Kelsey gave her a puzzled look. “You want me to…what?”
Rue chuckled and nodded. “To say aaah.”
“Oh, man. If you’re going to start playing doctor, I’m out of here,” Danny signed and ambled past them. Seconds later, his footsteps pounded up the winding staircase and then the door to his room banged shut.
Rue winced. “And here I thought wolves were supposed to be stealthy.” She shook her head. “Apparently not teenaged wolves. So, where were we?”
“Uh.” Still looking at Rue as if she doubted her sanity, Kelsey opened her mouth and said, “Aaah.”
Rue pretended to thoroughly check her mouth and throat. “Very good. No feathers. You get a kiss, then.” She intended to make it just a quick peck, but as soon as their lips touched and Kelsey eagerly opened her mouth, she couldn’t resist deepening the kiss.
When they finally pulled back, both breathing heavily, Kelsey buried her face against Rue’s shoulder and mumbled, “Feathers?”
Rue combed her fingers through Kelsey’s sand-brown hair, streaked with darker strands. “Yeah. While I was working, you and Danny went out for a little snack.”
Visibly paling, Kelsey scrubbed her hand over her mouth. “Oh, no. Don’t tell me I harmed a bird. Did we…did I…kill it?” Her eyes, exactly the color of warm African mahogany, filled with tears.
“No. The pigeon is fine.” She kissed first one eyelid, then the other and had to smile. For a wolf, Kelsey was such a pussycat. If only the human public could see her now—close to tears at the mere thought of hurting a bird. So much for the big, bad wolf that many humans thought her to be.
“Pigeon?” Kelsey covered her face with both hands. “Great Hunter. Don’t tell me it was one of Tala’s. She’ll have my pelt.” She peeked through her fingers, clearly afraid of the Saru assigned to keep an eye on her.
Rue wrapped both arms around her and pulled Kelsey against her body. “No, she won’t. No one but me touches your pelt.”
At the determined tone and the possessive embrace, a shiver ran through Kelsey, and she groaned contentedly, like a dog sleeping in front of a fireplace.
Wolf-shifters. Rue smiled to herself. They’re just too easy.
“So it was one of Tala’s?” Kelsey asked after a few moments.
“Probably. It flew over to the pigeon loft she set up.”
Kelsey groaned.
“Come on. It was to be expected. I don’t know what the council was thinking anyway. Having Tala keep pigeons is like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.” Quite literally, since she was a fox-shifter.
“No. She knows her orders. Even in her fox form, she knows they’re not to be hunted.”
Rue tapped Kelsey’s nose. “Didn’t stop you and Danny from using the pigeon for hunting practice.”
Blushing, Kelsey tugged on Rue’s hand. “Let’s go check on the poor thing.”
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