Page 89 of Confusing Hearts

I pulled on a pink sweater with a hoodie and my favorite pair of jeans and headed downstairs in my sock feet. I wasn’t sure what she wanted, so comfort trumped style.

Walking into the kitchen, I saw Mary leaned over and waving a hot pad at something in the oven.

“Oh, thank goodness. Can you help me lift this?”

I grabbed two more hot pads from the counter and took the side of the oven opposite Mary. I bent down to pick up a huge cookie sheet from the largest oven I had ever seen in a normal kitchen, and was shocked at how heavy it was.

“Oh my gosh, that is heavy,” I commented.

“I can handle the weight okay, it’s the size that always gets me,” she admitted. “It’s just easier with an extra set of hands. Thank you, dear.” She kicked the oven door shut with her foot as we lifted. Pots covered the stove top, so I wasn’t sure where to go. “Right over there. We’ll just set it down on the counter here,” she advised. “Perfect,” she said, clapping her hands in delight once the enormous pan was safely on the counter.

“It smells wonderful. What is that?” I asked.

“Oh, nothing fancy. It’s hams.”

“Hams? As in plural?” I questioned.

She removed the aluminum foil cover to reveal six large hams. They were sitting in some sort of orange colored liquid I couldn’t quite place.

“Orange juice,” she whispered. “Old family secret. Always cook your hams with an inch of OJ. It keeps them moist and the flavor blends amazingly with smoked hams.”

I looked around the kitchen in awe of the amount of food I saw. “I thought it was just immediate family at your infamous Tuesday night Westin family dinners?”

She grinned. “Oh, it is, dear.”

“Six hams? Isn’t that a bit much?”

“My little family has grown quickly. There are thirteen of us now and if you weren’t aware, wolves like to eat, especially their meat.”

I laughed. “I did know that. I just didn’t realize what that would look like for so many.”

“Oh, this is nothing. Wait till you see a pack meeting meal.”

“I can’t wait,” I told her, genuinely.

“Well, if you guys stick around through the weekend, we have a pack run on Saturday,” she confessed.

“What exactly happens at a pack run?” I asked.

Mary excitedly motioned for me to sit down. “We hold pack runs once a month. Not all packs do them that frequently. The entire pack joins. We have a huge fellowship meal at the pack house. Just before sunset, as the moon is beginning to rise, Kyle will call the pack together, just out back here. He’ll say a few words, and everyone shifts, then runs toward the woods. For the first few minutes we’re all running as one, then large groups will break off together, and eventually some will separate out and run as couples or even solo on occasion. I really don’t know how to explain it, there’s just something so magical about pack runs.”

She spoke with a dreamy voice like she was remembering some romantic pack runs of her past. I couldn’t even imagine what a sight that would be—so many wolves all changing and running together.

“How many wolves are there in Westin Pack?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I honestly don’t know for certain, but more than five hundred, probably less than a thousand, though I could be wrong on that. Only the Alpha knows for certain.”

“I guess I’d stick out pretty bad in a setting like that. Probably best not to rub it in so soon,” I admitted.

“I’m assuming your fur is solid black.”

I nodded.

“And you’re probably as big as an average wolf, maybe a little leaner.” It wasn’t really a question, but I nodded again anyway. “Chase’s wolf is solid black you know.”

“Yes, I’ve seen it many times.”

“I was certain you had. Westin has many solid black wolves. You wouldn’t look quite so out of place as you imagine. Maybe if you were a jaguar with defined spots or a tiger, who is much larger and has different coloring, but a black panther isn’t going to stand out among us as much as you think. If you were a rabbit or a fox, I might worry about you getting eaten, but I am certain you’ll be able to hold your own. Plus, Chase would never let anything happen to you. He would never leave your side on the run.”

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