Page 71 of Outnumbered

We made it away from the houses and into an area that was grassy with wooden stalls on each side and each stall had a vendor with different items. There were also several people selling drinks and food.

“Oh, my gosh, this is so adorable!” I gasped. “It’s just like the movies of the small towns.”

I visited every single stall, looking at the various handcrafted items. “I need to come back here when I have more money,” I said.

“See something you like?” a tall man with thick grey hair braided on each side at his temple asked from behind the stall I was in front of.

I nodded. “Everything is lovely, but this is exquisite.” Gingerly, I picked up a wooden, hand carved, howling wolf with trees carved into the side of it. The wolf was so well done.

“Of course you picked that one,” Riddick said and scoffed while Caleb snickered behind me.

“What?” I asked.

“That piece is of our prince here,” the man said. “I carved this in honor of his eighteenth birthday.”

The one item I had picked up had been a replica of Caleb. What were the odds?

I set it back down and chuckled in embarrassment. “Ah, well, um, it’s very well done. I love the details and the trees.” Moving away quickly, I headed to another stall, ignoring the still snickering Caleb.

“What’s your favorite here?” Triston asked as he leaned over next to me, inspecting the wooden boxes with various carvings. They were somewhat small, but seemed like they were used for storing jewelry or trinkets. The carvings ranged from scenery, to animals, to hearts with ornate knotwork around the edges.

“This one I think is my favorite,” I said and pointed at a box with a heart in the center and an infinity symbol through the middle. The front had a bright purple gemstone embedded in it.

“That one is gorgeous,” Triston agreed with a nod. He turned and looked away then asked, “Do you want a snack? I’m starting to get hungry.”

I nodded. “A snack sounds good.”

He took some money out of his pocket and asked, “Can you get four of the spiral meat sticks for us?”

“Oh, sure,” I said, took the money and walked over to get in line. Luckily, there were only two other people waiting in front of me.

The woman right in front of me turned around and scowled down at me. She appeared to be slightly younger than me, but was several inches taller and way bustier than me, a fact seen by her low-cut shirt. “Who are you?”

I smiled. “I’m Ember. I’m visiting with Prince Caleb today.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You? You’re the one he’s been seen with? How could he possibly be interested in you? You reek and you’re obviously not an alpha. A dominant alpha like him should be with a female of the same caliber.” She scoffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder as she turned back around. “What a waste.”

“I didn’t realize female wolves were catty. Seems a bit of a contradiction,” I snapped back.

She spun back around, lip lifted in a snarl, and growled at me. “What did you say?”

I put a hand on my hip and cocked it to the side. “You heard me. The reason he’s not interested in you is because dominance doesn’t matter. What matters is not being a conceited bitch.”

She raised her fist and I flicked my finger up, shooting roots out of the ground to wind around her entire body and hold her still.

Everyone around us froze, turning to watch what was happening.

“I was nice to you, but you responded to that niceness with rude remarks. You don’t know me. You have no idea what I’m like. You don’t know if I’m powerful or not. You should remember that people aren’t always what they seem. I may not be a wolf shifter, but I can still protect myself.”

Caleb walked over, hands in his pockets, and asked, “Everything okay?”

I sent the roots back into the ground and she stumbled back several steps, bumping into the person at the front of the line. “Yeah, everything’s great,” I said and smiled at him.

He draped an arm around my shoulders and kissed the side of my head. “Glad to hear it. Oh, meat sticks. I love these.”

The woman stormed off, face red, and hands clenched into fists at her side.

“Well, that’s one way to introduce yourself to the pack,” he whispered in my ear and laughed softly, nuzzling his nose against my neck.

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