Page 65 of Mitchell's Untamed Mate

“Not at all, Jace.All’s good,” Tracy replied.

Rand looked back and forth between them.“The stew is good.”

Tracy smiled at Rand and nodded.“I’m sure it is, but as Jace already knows, I’m a vegetarian.I don’t eat meat.I have some food I can fix later.”

“Nonsense.What do you need?”Mallory asked.

“I’m fine, Mallory, really.It’s nothing to be worried about,” Tracy insisted.

“Don’t argue.Trust me.It only makes my mom more determined,” Jayden muttered, walking over and sitting next to Tracy.

Tracy looked at Jayden in surprise.Jayden gave Tracy a crooked smile, shrugged, and dipped a piece of hard bread into the stew.Jayden eyed the stew Tracy was holding.

“If Mitchell doesn’t want that, I’ll eat it,” Jayden continued.

“I want it.You don’t deserve anything after the way you tied Tracy up,” he growled, reaching for the bowl.

Jayden shrugged again.“Whatever.”

“Nonsense.We are not uncivilized, despite how we live.What can you eat?”Mallory insisted.

“I have some food in my pack.I just need to boil some water,” Tracy conceded.

“I’ll get it for you,” Mitchell said, placing his half-finished stew down on the log.

“I can do it.You finish eating.It won’t take but a few minutes,” she said, placing her hand on his shoulder and rising.

He hesitated before giving her a brief nod.He pursed his lips when the group fell silent again to watch her walk back to Mallory and Rand’s sleeping area.With a sigh, he picked his bowl up and continued eating.

“Don’t grizzlies eat meat?”Timmy asked.

Mitchell turned to the six-year-old boy and smiled.

“Some do, some don’t.Tracy doesn’t,” he said.

“Does that mean she ain’t going to eat us?”eight-year-old Hallie inquired.

He sighed.Several of the teenagers in the group snickered.He shot the teens a scowl of disapproval.They quickly looked down at their bowls.It was obvious tales of shifters eating humans were circulating again.

“Shifters don’t eat humans,” he replied.

Hallie frowned.“But… we eat animals?Do we eat shifters?”she asked with growing horror.

“Enough of that.We don’t eat shifters and shifters don’t eat humans.If I hear any more such nonsense, there will be extra chores for those making mischief.Do I make myself clear?”Anna said in a stern voice, glaring at the teens.

“Yes, Miss Anna.”

The chorus of admonished teens focused on their meal.He looked up when Tracy returned with one of the freeze-dried pouches.She gave him a questioning smile before sitting down.Her eyes widened when Hallie stepped in front of her.

“I’m glad you don’t eat humans,” the little girl said shyly before hurrying back to her seat.

Tracy looked at him with a confused frown.“What was that about?”

“Kids being kids,” he muttered, glancing at the teens.

She looked over to the group who looked like they would rather be anywhere else.Her lips parted as it dawned on her what the group had been talking about while she was gone.She scowled at the three boys and one girl before shaking her head.

“And I thought Jace was bad.He’d fit right in with the kids,” she murmured.

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