Page 35 of Fighting Furry

He stepped up so he was walking by my side. “Yeah. It's just something I do for fun when there's no real work to be done.”

I crossed his path to study the unicorn. There was a bit of pink worked into the metal of her single horn and it glittered in the late day sunlight. “This is amazing.”

He grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the unicorn. “Thanks. Come on, let's eat.”

I let him drag me away from his sculptures, down the mountain, and to his front yard. “I'll be right back,” he said.

He disappeared inside and returned a moment later with his wallet and keys. “We should take the truck back to the rental shop while we're out. I'll call Clarissa to give us a ride back.”

“How far is the nearest rental shop?” Far as I could tell, there was nothing within a fifty-mile radius of here.

“Couple hours,” Axel said, like he was telling me it was just down the road.

Axel drove us into town and parked in front of the building with the words Hot Food on it. “This the only restaurant in town?”

He nodded. “Gonna be a lot of people in there wanting to meet you. Don't feel you need to do more than say hello. We're just here to eat.”

“Okay.”

He opened the door and ushered me in ahead of him, which seemed a little strange, since he was the alpha and knew everyone. I stepped into a large, well-lit room that looked more like a high school cafeteria than a diner.

“Just sit wherever,” Axel said.

There were people seated at maybe about half of the tables and every single one of them was watching me. “Really? You don't have a clique you normally hang with?”

“What?”

Shaking my head, I pointed to the nearest table. “Let's just sit there.”

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me tight against his side. “Come on. I might as well introduce you around. We won't be able to eat in peace otherwise.”

My stomach grumbled in protest and I wanted to slip out from under his arm, but I didn't know these people or their customs, so I had to follow Axel's lead.

He walked me around to meet old, young, and tiny babies, none of whose names I'd ever remember. He introduced me to each and every one of them as “Julie Jacobs, my starburst.”

Finally, I'd met everyone and we'd gone through the food line and filled our trays, just like in a high school cafeteria, although the food did seem to be much better quality.

“Why did you call me your starburst?” I asked once we were seated.

He concentrated on his food so intently, I knew he was about to lie to me. “It means you're as powerful as I am, sort of a co-alpha until you find your own pack.”

“Huh.” I could call him out on his lie, but I kind of liked being able to tell when he was lying. If I gave it away now, he might figure out how to cover. I'd just ask someone else what it meant.

“How about dessert?” I asked, after we'd finished eating.

“Sounds good to me.” He leaned across the table, his expression wicked. “Let's get out of here.”

I rolled my eyes. “I mean real dessert. That other kind of dessert needs to end now that we're back. For all I know, the other wolves can smell sex on us, and I don't want to become the latest town gossip.”

“You already are the town gossip. We haven't had a new resident, much less a newly turned werewolf in town since…Well, a long fucking time. No one cares if we're having sex or not.”

“You're telling everyone I'm your equal, your alpha partner or whatever. We need to keep our relationship professional.”

“It's not that kind of-”

I stood. “I'm tired of this conversation. What kind of dessert do you want?”

“Fruit is the closest to sugar you should get.”

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