Chapter 11
Dorian
“No, they’re different types of cabbage.” I could see why he thought they were another form of lettuce, but the incredulous expression he was wearing had me fighting to keep a straight face. “I’m not sure if they’re from different parts of the world, but we can look that up.”
We had a growing list of questions in the note app on my phone and I couldn’t tell if it was getting ridiculous or if he was just highly intelligent and had been held back on what he could learn.
Maybe both?
As I pulled out my phone to add the cabbage question since we hadn’t finished setting his up yet, Emeric made a startled sound. “The coleslaw stuff at KFC?”
Scrunching his face up as I nodded, Emeric glanced back at the clearly concerning vegetable. “That’s gross. It’s soupy but it’s not soup.”
So a mayo or dressing problem not a vegetable problem?
“You said you like bacon, so what if we cooked it with bacon? It wouldn’t have that dressing.
We’d fry it in a pan with just the bacon and some spices.
” Coleslaw wasn’t my favorite way to eat it either, but he had a stronger reaction.
“It can also go in actual soup, and if we cut it up small, we can put it in a lot of things.”
Hmm.
“I think we need to make sure…Braun is getting enough vegetables. His diet seems to be nothing but coffee and the desserts that have been randomly showing up.” I had good enough logic that Emeric sighed. “Have you heard any rumors about that?”
He’d done a wonderful job of immediately integrating himself into the pack, and I had a feeling it was part personality and a lot deliberate. Emeric was smart enough to know that if he counted as pack no one could take him away.
I just wasn’t sure what being pack meant or who he’d been running from.
“There used to be a schedule but the kids I was playing with said their parents were acting weird.” Emeric shrugged when I raised one eyebrow and picked out a cabbage. “Adults are weird a lot.”
“You have a point.” I was weird sometimes too, so I couldn’t deny it. “We’ll figure it out together. Braun needs our help.”
Even a werewolf needed more nutrients than he was getting.
“We’ll figure it out.” Standing straighter, he glanced around and gave the vegetable section a serious study. “What else has good vitamins in it?”
Adorable.
“We’ll make sure to get a variety and grab different ones every time we go shopping.
Let’s get some stuff for a salad too because we got the rest of the food for that and then…
and then we’ll figure out something to do with potatoes.
Those are always good and you can do a lot of different things with them.
” And worst-case scenario I could teach Emeric how to microwave one for a quick meal.
We’d already gone through the middle section of the grocery store so we had a few easy things to cook, but if it came between picking something simple and something made from scratch, he chose the real food every time.
That was going to be a pain the ass at the end of a long day, but I was good about reminding myself that we were starting healthy habits.
“We have a plan.” He was very proud of that, so I nodded and directed the cart toward the other vegetables. “You’re doing a good job of taking care of him.”
“Thank you.” Was there a better response to that? “But I’m fairly certain you could take care of him better than he’s doing at the moment.”
The bar was set low and Emeric’s snicker said he knew it.
“He’s good with other stuff and my grandma used to say Alphas like to have someone to take care of them. She said it made them feel important.” He glanced over at me in a not-so-subtle hint about who he thought should be taking care of Braun. “They’ve got to feel important and we can do that.”
I wasn’t going to argue with him because I had no idea where I’d even start, so I pointed to our nearly overflowing cart. “Starting with feeding him.”
That was going to be a job in itself.
“But I’ll teach you how we can cook meals in big batches and freeze some of it to make things easier, and Braun actually has what looks like a brand-new slow cooker in a box in that junk room upstairs.
So we’ll use that to make it easier too.
” Braun hadn’t said if he could cook or not, but he didn’t seem like the type to spend all day working and then make a big meal when he came home.
“Do you think he’s been living off takeout or delivery?” What else had he been eating? “Even he needs more than coffee and brownies.”
Emeric shrugged as he leaned over to study different types of onions. “One…kid mentioned that they don’t have a lot of restaurants close by, so they might not have anything that delivers?”
“Oh, that’s right.” As we made our way through the vegetable section and over to the meats, I handed over my phone and Emeric searched the map app to double-check what options were close by. “There’s not a lot.”
It was no wonder I hadn’t spent more time in the area.
“The food truck looks weird. It’s got really strange reviews. Some people are claiming the tacos are amazing and others are saying the meatballs are yucky.” Emeric looked up at me, confusion clear on his face as I grabbed bacon and sausage. “Does Taco Bell have meatballs?”
Good grief, was that his only exposure to tacos?
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a restaurant that does both of those.” Maybe it was some kind of fusion place? “It might just be someone leaving a review on the wrong business?”
Emeric looked skeptical about that but pleased about the steaks I grabbed as we kept going. “I don’t know. There’s more than one weird review for the meatballs. Oh, and a couple of really good ones. People are strange.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what the reviews looked like…good or bad.
“What—” Before I could ask if he had opinions on chicken breasts versus thighs, Emeric went still and his head cocked. He suddenly went from a kid to a pup, as Braun put it, in the blink of an eye. Something about it felt odd, so I stayed quiet as he slowly turned in a circle.
“Something smells familiar.” And unpleasant or negative based on his tight expression. “I don’t remember why, though.”
That was not good.
It wasn’t much information to go on but it was enough to worry me.
Nothing seemed good about where he’d come from.
“Alright. Then we’re done for today.” That seemed like an easy decision but I tried to look calm as we went around the end of the aisle and I grabbed a few random things like cheese as we walked by the diary case.
“I want you to stay right here beside me, and if we get separated for any reason, I want you to call out Uncle Dorian. Loud. The family title will make people pay more attention.”
Hopefully.
“Braun said they know him here, so remember to use his name too.” I wasn’t usually the type to throw around names but knowing the Alpha of the local pack should come in handy if something went wrong.
“Yes.” Looking slightly steadier, he nodded. “But I’m not going to leave you.”
My biggest fear wasn’t him wandering off.
“I think we’re good, so it’s not going to matter anyway.” The store wasn’t that big but it felt like it took an eternity to get to the front. Emeric seemed to think so too but he was too focused on his surroundings to complain about it.
He usually looked so much like a regular human child it was easy to forget the pup part, but now he was obviously more. And at the moment, all that more was standing up and paying attention. It was amazing to see but I just wished it hadn’t come out because he was worried.
“There’s something…” Emeric’s voice was quiet but I could hear the tension in it. “We need to go home.”
I didn’t question what home meant, but someone behind us did. “Home?”
Wait.
Oh dear.
Turning around slowly, I put on my teacher face and smiled at one of the craziest parents I’d delt with in my entire teaching career. “Mr. Stein, it’s nice to see you. Getting some shopping done this morning?”
It was a deliberate choice of topics to hopefully distract him and get him thinking about what an idiot I was, but after a quick glance at his cart, he focused back on me again. “No.”
Great.
“I hope you finish your errands then.” Completely ignoring his ridiculous answer had Emeric doing his best not to laugh as he started piling our groceries on the belt, but I was just hoping to get out of the stupid store as fast as possible.
The fates had to be fucking with me.
I thought we might be saved by his own internal grumbling as I started helping Emeric with the groceries, but my reprieve only lasted a few seconds. “What are you doing?”
Were we trading moronic questions?
“Getting out of the house.” I gave him a quick smile that generally made me look slightly stupid and went back to emptying the cart.
“Are you feeding an army?” The man had the nerve to lean over my shoulder and study how much stuff was in the cart.
Lord.
The man had no concept of personal space.
“They march on their stomachs.” It was technically a response even if I hadn’t actually answered in a way he wanted. “A full pantry makes me feel more content. Doesn’t it for you?”
Emeric’s snicker was justified considering how empty Braun’s was, but unfortunately it drew Mr. Stein’s attention again. “Who’s he?”
Good grief the man was nosy.
He’d spent the entire first parent-teacher night looking over my desk and asking me odd questions about my personal life. Even his son and the cousins I had in some of my classes had spent the whole time rolling their eyes behind his back.
I thanked God and every deity I could think of on a daily basis that the kids were much better behaved than he was.
“Where are the boys?” I just ignored his question which delighted Emeric. “They’re usually all together.”
Because they ran in a pack.
Hmm.
Oh.
If he wasn’t human, some of his behavior might not be as weird as I’d thought.
There was no good way to ask that without looking insane, though, so I just focused on the never-ending cart and piled on a stack of reusable bags because we hadn’t been able to find any in Braun’s house.
Emeric’s guess was that Braun didn’t realize we’d need them because he’d probably never been there in person, but I was worried they were organized away in one of the storage spaces.
Either way we’d made the decision that we’d just buy more, but luckily for us, there was a stack of boxes by the cashier we could use as well.
I thought we were safe from Mr. Nosy as we greeted the woman helping us with our groceries and ignored her wide eyes at how much we were buying, but my hopes were dashed as Mr. Stein inched closer again. “This isn’t reasonable.”
What wasn’t reasonable?
“He’s not your child.”
Duh.
I now had to ignore the cashier giggling as well as Emeric, but that was better than the alternative. “I think it’s wonderful how communities come together to bond.”
When he just blinked at me, I smiled wider. “You’re always watching over your nephews and I think that’s admirable.”
Oh, I’d stumped him.
That was much more fun than chasing him away from my desk.
“They’re family.” It seemed to be the best the nosy man could do, but I got a reprieve when I had to move the cart forward so the cashier could use it as well. My 3D puzzle-inspired stacking job couldn’t be easily copied based on the way she was frowning at the growing pile.
“Sorry.” There wasn’t anything I could do about it, though. “Saying this was a big shopping trip would be an understatement.”
She nodded without saying how insane the situation was, but Emeric snickered again. “There’s no food in the pantry at all.”
“Nothing reasonable at the very least, but we’re fixing it.” Slowly. “We did a good job on this trip, though.”
It was just going to take several more to handle the problem completely.
“How did you let your pantry get this low?” Mr. Stein just couldn’t help himself. “It’s not a good example for kids.”
Duh.
“Kids learn the most interesting lessons. Mark and several of his cousins talked about learning how important memorizing their multiplication table is. They’re so smart.
” They’d only decided it was a good idea because Mr. Stein had spent five minutes arguing over what twelve times eleven was and they never wanted to be that frustrating to anyone else.
“Thanks.”
Ha.
That had him stepping back and I could breathe.
As she had to admit defeat on the first cart, I almost asked Emeric to move to the side so I could start working on repacking the nightmare, but he went still again.
Not good.
“Come stand over by me.” Why? Um. “I don’t want us to get in her way.”
It was grasping at straws but it was the best I could do in the moment. The cashier just gave me her customer service smile which probably meant she thought I was insane, but Mr. Stein went still as well.
Very still.
Emeric still.
Good grief.
What was he besides annoying?
“Why is the…boy afraid?”
How was I supposed to answer that?
Did he know about Emeric’s genetic history?
I was doing my best to think of a useless response, but as Emeric shifted closer to me again, he whispered softly. “He’s a shifter.”
But not a wolf?
Did that explain his utter lack of personal boundaries?
“What are you?” Mr. Stein’s head popped up in front of mine as the cashier’s eyes got wide. “You need to learn how to answer questions.”
Really?
“Someone smells weird.” Emeric seemed to have decided to answer instead of letting me just fuck with Mr. Stein. “I don’t like it.”
Well, if that was what we were going with, I did my best to keep my response unspecific but slightly helpful. “Emeric just moved to the area from out of state and it’s been a bit stressful.”
I wasn’t sure what else I could say without being too open around strangers and humans, but he nodded slowly and started studying the people around us. “Tune out everything but the smell. Focus on that and you’ll find the memory. Your brain remembers all of them. You just need to find it.”
He was technically more helpful than I expected, but he had Emeric’s hand reaching out to take mine in a death grip. “We need Braun.”