Page 64 of Pack Scratch Fever
“Absolutely.”
“Then go talk to her and buy her a decent meal.”
“With pleasure.”
Gary scrutinizes me, as if he’s trying to see every part of who I am. It would be unnerving if I didn’t do the same to other people. “She’s a good kid and works her ass off.”
“I can tell,” I say easily. “You have no reason to doubt me, Gary.”
Heharrumphs. “All right. Well, make sure she eats.”
“I will.”
After I’ve received Gary’s nod of approval, I search for Piper, following her sugary scent.
I find her standing in front of a gerbil habitat, her back to me. A dark brown gerbil has its face to the glass and eyes her curiously.
“You’ve got an army of people ready to go to war for you,” I tell her. She scoffs and taps where the gerbil’s nose is, quirking her lip as she does.
“Yeah. They can be a little protective, I guess.”
The gerbil runs away to join its cream-colored counterpart, and Piper turns to face me.
“Gary wants you to have dinner,” I smirk. “He gave me specific orders to make sure you eat.”
She raises an eyebrow, unimpressed. “Well, lucky for Gary, I have instant noodles waiting for me at home.”
“Come on,” I purr, crossing my arms. “Avery got to take you to dinner. Why not me?”
I need to make sure she’s eaten.
I need to make sure she’s taken care of.
The more I learn about her from her friends, the harder it is to fight the urge to scoop her into my arms and take her to our packhouse.
We have a nesting room waiting for her, and she doesn’t even know it.
She opens her mouth but closes it quickly.
“See?” I insist. “You have nothing. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t take you to dinner.”
Piper squints, as if looking for a reason. “I’m not hungry.”
That doesn’t deter me. “You will be eventually. And when that time comes, I’m going to be the one to feed you.”
She bursts out laughing. “Oh, my god. Do you know how ominous that sounds?”
But I have her smiling again, and that’s all that matters.
“I said feed you, notfeast onyou,” I quip, and she laughs again, light and carefree. The two gerbils make a reappearance, standing on their hind legs and wrinkling their noses. Piper hums delightedly as she watches them.
“Did you ever have pets?” she asks. “The cat colony that destroyed Poe’s herb garden doesn’t count.”
I chuckle. “No, they definitely don’t count. I did have dogs growing up, though. They were mutts, just huge beasts thatmy mother adopted one day from a rescue like yours. She was against buying from breeders, and she said to always adopt pets, never shop for them.”
“Oh, wow. Your mom sounds really awesome,” Piper says.
I shrug. “She was, yeah.”
