by Tesha Geddes
“Less bragging, more eating,” Mathis said as he pulled Kaida’s chair out for her.
Kaida paid close attention to how Sen and Mathis constructed their tacos. She’d had chicken tacos before, but never one with so many options of toppings. Usually, the chicken tacos were just a tortilla with a bit of chicken, and cheese (if she was lucky). Sen pulled the tortillas out of a container that had kept them warm. He sprinkled a layer of cheese on his tortilla before topping it with chicken, lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream, and guacamole. Mathis did the same, except for the lettuce, muttering about “rabbit food” as he passed over the leafy greens. Kaida copied Sen’s taco. The guacamole looked a bit like green baby food, but a lot of people loved avocados and guacamole, so it couldn’t be that bad, right?
She took a bite and decided never to doubt Sen’s food choices again. The mushy green guacamole was delicious. Her dragon stirred inside her, wanting to transform and bury her snout in the guacamole. She coughed in surprise — her dragon hardly ever stirred. Sometimes she even took a bit of coaxing to come out, especially if there were others nearby.
“You okay?” Sen asked, looking at her in concern.
“Yeah, it’s just really good guacamole,” Kaida said, fighting to keep her dragon in check.
Sen smiled. “Have as much as you’d like. Amyra was testing out a new recipe — I’ll let her know you liked it.”
They ate quietly for a few minutes before Mathis broke the silence.
“Sen, Kaida has something she’d like to ask you,” Mathis said.
Kaida froze like a deer in the headlights. She hated being put on the spot like that. It took her a minute to find her voice.
“I… um… I need to open a bank account,” Kaida said, “but I’ve never done that before. Would you be able to help me?”
“I’d be happy to,” Sen said. “When were you planning on going to the bank?”
“Right after lunch,” Kaida said, with a glance at Mathis, just to make sure that was still the plan.
Sen nodded. “That’ll work great. You’ll need two forms of ID — your student ID and driver’s license should work.”
Kaida felt crushed.
“I don’t have a driver’s license,” she said, looking at the table.
“Oh, then you’ll need your birth certificate,” Sen said. “Do you have that?”
Kaida nodded — she’d been able to grab it from the safe before leaving.
“Good. We’ll swing by your apartment and pick up the things you need before going to the bank,” Sen said.
Kaida quietly sighed in relief — she’d still be able to open a bank account. Once she did, she’d be one step closer to having a normal life.
❀
“How may I help you today?” the smiling teller behind the counter asked.
“I… I’d like to open a bank account,” Kaida said, her hands shaking slightly.
“Let me go get an account manager for you,” the young man said before stepping into an office.
He returned shortly with a plump, middle-aged woman with short, permed brown hair.
She smiled at Kaida and said, “Hi, I’m Margaret; I’ll be your account manager. Are you looking to open a checking or savings account?”
Kaida glanced at Sen, unsure what the difference was.
“You’ll want a checking account for now,” Sen whispered to her, “but once you have a bit more money saved up, you’ll want to come back and open a savings account. Checking accounts are for funds you need easy and frequent access to; savings accounts are for just that… saving.”
“Um, a checking account,” Kaida said to Margaret.
“Excellent, just follow me into my office,” Margaret said, motioning to the room she had just come out of.
Kaida followed her nervously. Everything about this place set her on edge. It was a nice, elegant place, and all the furniture looked new and expensive. It was everything she wasn’t, and she felt so out of place. Margaret went over the paperwork with her and explained how the checking account worked.
“Now, we just need a photo of you for our records,” Margaret said. “Miss, if you’ll just follow me. Sir, you can stay right there.”
Kaida glanced at Sen, who nodded encouragingly.
She followed Margaret out of the office, and as soon as the door shut behind her, Margaret looked at her and asked quietly, “Do you need me to call someone?”
Kaida blinked in confusion. “Why do you need to call someone?”
“Are you in trouble?” Margaret asked, looking concerned.
“What?” Kaida asked, even more confused.
“If you’re in a bad situation, we can get you out and somewhere safe,” Margaret whispered.
Kaida suddenly realized what the situation had looked like to Margaret and was touched that the older woman was offering to help.
“No, but thank you,” Kaida said. “I just got out of a bad situation, but I’m not in one right now. Sen, my friend, came to help me open a bank account since I’ve never opened one before.”
Margaret looked at her dubiously. “Alright,” she said, “but if that changes, you just come here and ask for Margaret and we’ll make sure you get somewhere safe.”
She felt a strange mix of emotions at Margaret’s words. She felt offended on Sen’s behalf that someone would think so poorly of him, but her heart warmed at the concern Margaret showed for her. Where were angels like this when she’d needed them most? Nowhere she’d known to look, unfortunately. She’d had to do it all on her own.
“You did good,” Sen said, playfully bumping her shoulder as they walked out of the bank ten minutes later.
Kaida barely stopped herself from flinching. “Thank you for being there,” she said. “I don’t do too well around strangers.”
“Anytime,” Sen said, and Kaida thought he meant it.
“I feel like you’re always helping me,” Kaida said.
“That’s what pack does,” Sen replied with a shrug.
“But I’m not part of your pack.”
“You’re Gramps’s apprentice, and my friend, and Celicia’s friend — that makes you pack,” Sen said as though it was the most logical thing in the world.
Kaida was thunderstruck. Sen had essentially just said she was part of a large, energetic, family. Did everyone accept strangers into their family this easily, or was this a wolf shifter thing? Or was Sen’s pack just unique? She didn’t know what to think — it was too much to process.
“I need to get back to work,” she mumbled before taking off back to the library. Maybe if she just focused on work, this tangle of emotions in her chest would disappear.
❀
Sen watched Kaida run away and wanted to kick himself. He didn’t know what he’d done wrong, but obviously he’d done something.
“Keep space,” he reminded himself. “Keep space.”
It took all his self-control not to run after her and pull her into his arms. He hadn’t missed how she’d tensed when he’d casually bumped her earlier. Physical affection was as natural to wolf shifters as breathing — hugs and back slaps abounded in pack houses. It was driving him crazy to have to be so careful around her. He wanted to find whoever had hurt her and rip them to shreds, but he wouldn’t, because that wasn’t what she needed. His wolf growled — he wasn’t so sure that ripping the bad guys apart wouldn’t solve anything. At the very least, they wouldn’t be able to hurt his dragon again.
Sen let out a slow, shaky breath, shaking his head in disbelief. A dragon! Kaida was a dragon! No wonder he hadn’t been able to figure out what she was. He’d only briefly met a few dragons, and their presence was unmistakable and dominating. Even in their human forms, they felt like apex predators. Kaida had kept her dragon presence hidden so well, he hadn’t even been able to tell she was a shifter. The other dragons he’d met were fire drakes, and smelled of sulfur and ash, but Kaida smelled floral. He frowned — maybe that was just her body soap.
He’d only realized wh
at she was when her dragon stirred after that first bite of her taco. After she’d finished eating, her dragon’s presence faded quickly. His wolf had nearly howled in despair — no shifter should have to force their other half back so completely that they became invisible.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and headed for his truck. His pack’s mountain was only an hour away, and his wolf needed a good run.
❀
Kaida’s hands shook as she opened the door to the workshop. Mathis took one look at her and ordered her into his office. Surprisingly, his office was the only book-free place in the workshop. He didn’t say a word until after he’d put the kettle on and made her a cup of tea.
“Now, care to tell me what’s on your mind?” Mathis asked kindly. “If it was something my grandson said or did, I won’t hesitate to turn him over my knee and tan his hide.”
Kaida couldn’t help but chuckle at the image that statement conjured.
“It wasn’t Sen,” she said, shaking her head. “Well, it was, but it wasn’t bad. Just… something he said made me feel all tangled up inside, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
“Talking helps,” Mathis said. “Getting those thoughts and feelings out of your head and in the open can help you make sense of them. You don’t need to talk to me, but you should talk to someone.”
Kaida gulped. Did she dare? Could she risk everything by asking the question that burned on her lips?
“Sen said I was pack… is that true? Do you really see me as part of your pack?” Kaida blurted.
Mathis looked at her for what felt like a long time but was probably only a few seconds. “Yes, Kaida, you’re part of our pack,” Mathis said, “but only if you want to be.”
Kaida felt something inside her break and tears began to stream down her face. “But why?” she sobbed. “I’m nobody. I’m not even a wolf shifter. Why would you want me?”
Mathis shifted closer. “I’m going to hug you now, if that’s alright with you.”
Kaida nodded. A hug sounded nice — she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had one. Mathis put his arms around her and held her gently as he patted her head.
“You’re part of our pack because we want you to be,” Mathis said. “That’s the only reason we need. And Kaida, a better question would be: why wouldn’t we want you? You’re kind, intelligent, and hard-working. Anyone would be lucky to have you in their pack.”
“But,” Kaida sobbed, “I’m so different. I’m not even a wolf shifter.”
Mathis chuckled softly. “I don’t know of any wolf pack that’s made up solely of wolf shifters. As for being different, that’s not a bad thing. And shame on anyone who’s made you feel inferior because of it.”
Kaida sniffed and dried her tears on a tissue Mathis handed to her.
Chapter 10
Sen had run all over his pack’s territory, and he was exhausted. He walked back to the den and flopped down on the floor, panting heavily. The pups in the den took this as an open invitation and piled on top of him, a mass of wagging tails and happy paws.
“Welcome back,” Tad, one of the pack elders, said. “Mathis called and said he needs to talk to you the moment you get back.”
“What’d you do?” Bailey, one of the youths, asked with a snicker.
Sen just growled at her before going off in search of some clothing.
❀
“What were you thinking?” Mathis started into him, skipping any form of greeting when he answered the phone. “Thanks to you, I spent the afternoon mopping my apprentice up off the floor. I’m too old to be mopping anything off the floor.”
Sen groaned and rested his head against the steering wheel. He’d wanted privacy for this phone call, but while on pack lands, the only option for privacy was usually inside a vehicle or a secluded cave somewhere. The caves tended not to have great reception, so he was sitting in his truck. It still wasn’t as private as he would have liked, as a few pups were playing some sort of pirate game in the truck bed. But, if he talked quietly, they shouldn’t be able to hear him.
“That bad?” he asked.
“Bad? No, not really,” Mathis said. “I think she needed it — they were healing tears. Just warn me next time you intend to turn my apprentice into a puddle— I’m not good with waterworks.”
“I’m not even sure what I did,” Sen protested.
“You overwhelmed her with your generosity,” Mathis said. “You gave her a family when she thought she was alone.”
Sen took a deep breath — it wasn’t as bad as he’d thought. “Okay, what do I do now?” he asked.
Mathis chuckled. “Put that big brain of yours to good use. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
Sen growled — that sounded like work. Maybe he should go for another run while he thought about his next move.
❀
“What’s this?” Kaida asked, looking at the bag hanging from the handle of her bedroom door.
“Oh,” Tanya said with a shrug. “I washed my clothes, just to get the dust from traveling off, but these shrunk in the wash, so they don’t fit anymore. They might fit you though. If you want them, keep them, if not, I’ll just have to donate them.”
Kaida peeked in the bag and saw the four dresses Tanya had her choose from a few days ago. Kaida’s throat tightened as her eyes began to water — in a single act of casual generosity, Tanya had just doubled her wardrobe.
“Thanks,” Kaida said, choking back her tears — she was still feeling fragile from her conversation with Sen and then Mathis afterwards.
“Oh dear,” Erica said, poking her head out her bedroom door. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” Kaida said with a sniff as she wiped away her tears.
Erica looked at her dubiously.
“N–nothing bad,” Kaida said as Tanya approached. “It’s just… you guys are so great. You’ve been so nice to me, and I don’t deserve any of it.”
“Girl, come here,” Tanya said, pulling Kaida into her arms. “We’re gonna hug this out.”
“Don’t forget me,” Erica said, wrapping her arms around the two of them.
Sophie poked her head out of her room and joined them, saying, “I want in on this.”
Kaida sniffled as the tears continued to fall. Group hugs were nice, but only for so long. After a little bit, she began to feel uncomfortable and squirmed to leave.
“You guys are the best,” Kaida said, wiping away her tears.
❀
“That jerk,” Celicia growled at the text on her screen.
“Something wrong?” Joan asked, looking up from the counter where she was carefully packing the containers of Sunstar flowers up for shipping to a testing facility.
“My jerk of a brother decided to up and leave for pack lands without me!” Celicia said, mildly outraged. “Not only was he supposed to be my ride home, but I would have loved to go home for the weekend. That jerk.”
“Do you need a ride after work?” Joan asked.
“No,” Celicia said with a shake of her head. “Sen arranged for Linus to pick me up, but I’m still mad at him for taking off like that. He didn’t even ask if I wanted to go.”
“Hmm, that doesn’t seem like him,” Joan said. “I wonder what happened.”
“I’ll just have to ask him when he gets back,” Celicia grumbled. “How long do you think it will take to get the results from the testing?”
“A few weeks, at least,” Joan replied.
“Remind me again why you need to send them for testing,” Celicia asked. “We know that all Sunstar flowers have a potent healing ability, which is what makes them so valuable, so why do they need to be tested?”
“Each batch of Sunstars are particularly good at healing different types of maladies,” Joan replied. “Some might be especially good on burns, others can heal broken bones, mend hearts, repair muscles, restore eyesight, etc. What they’re good for depends on the magic present when they bloomed. Their value also depends on what they do — if the
y can do something modern medicine can’t, it’s more valuable.”
“How are the other trees doing?” Celicia asked.
“Fully grown,” Joan replied. “I took them back to the greenhouse and added extra security. I already have buyers lined up for two of them.”
“Will you keep the others?” Celicia asked.
Joan shook her head. “I don’t know. It depends on if I can find trustworthy buyers for them. The more places we have Sunstar trees, the more likely we are to get them to bloom again.”