Page 89 of In This Iron Ground
“Thank you for your advice. And thank you for this gift—”
“Payment.”
“Excuse me, payment. You have been very generous,” Damien finished.
Camille shook her head. “You didn’t listen to a word I said. I have not been generous. I have been fair.”
Damien opened his mouth, thought better of it, and closed it again. He simply nodded. They were obviously on different pages on the matter.
They returned to the living room to find Alice and Hakan on the couch, talking. For a moment, Damien had to pause and look at the scene. They looked beautiful together. Alice’s playful eyes and smile were the perfect juxtaposition of Hakan’s more serious expression.
It was a bittersweet happiness that coursed through Damien.
Hakan got up as he spotted Damien. They thanked both Nileses for their hospitality as Damien tucked the recipe book safely in his bag.
“We will see each other again, Damien of the Salgado pack,” Camille said. Damien looked at Hakan, wondering if he was going to jump in to correct her, but he just raised his eyebrows at Damien as if to ask,What?
Damien turned to Camille. “I hope so, Kephale of the Niles pack. Good luck.”
“And threefold to you.”
**********
The train rattled around them. The lights were low and the black landscape streaked past outside. Damien watched the trails of light through his own reflection.
“Alice was nice, right?” he asked, turning towards Hakan, who was reading in the seat next to him. Hakan’s eyebrows twitched, but he nodded, not taking his eyes off the page. Damien watched him for a moment. “How does it work, if two members from different packs get together? Like, it must happen a lot, right?”
This time, Hakan looked up from the book. “It depends, I guess. On their status in the pack, the responsibility they hold…where they want to live, if they have a preference on which pack they want to belong to. You can only have a pack bond with one pack, one Kephale, but there are other types of bonds that you would retain with the pack you left.”
“So…if you married Alice, for example, since she’s going to be Kephale, you’d join her pack and she’d be your Kephale, and your mom wouldn’t be, but you’d, like, still have some bond with the Salgado pack?”
“Uh, yeah. That’s a far-fetched example but, yeah.”
“Far-fetched why? I thought you two looked good together. She seemed into you,” Damien said. Hakan stared at him for so long that Damien began to shift awkwardly. “What?” he said defensively.
“You’re serious.”
“What?”
“Damien…she was completely into you.”
“No she wasn’t!”
“You’re actually serious. You really didn’t realize.”
“She wasn’t! I notice when people show interest,” Damien muttered.
“Sexual interest, maybe, but you’re completely blind to love.”
“Love?Okay, I think you’re taking it a little far there,” Damien said, rolling his eyes.
After a moment, Hakan sighed, tilting his head back against the headrest and closing his eyes.
“Okay, Hakan, I think you’re being a little melodramatic. It would be super weird to join a pack that wasn’t yours, anyway,” Damien said offhandedly. Hakan immediately straightened, glaring into the distance. Damien snorted. “Okay, wolf-man. We all know your feelings on pack. Calm down,” Damien said, poking him in the side. Hakan sighed again, thumping his head back.
Damien left him to his dramatics.
*****
