Page 29 of Moon Tamed

Wrinkling my nose, I said, “Ew. That is not something I want to think about, Dad. And if Mom has the hots for him, do not ever tell me.”

Dad snickered. “Your mom married perfection. Why would she have the hots for Allasandro?”

“She’s not blind or dead!”

That earned me a hearty chuckle. “Your mother is safe from Allasandro’s charms, I assure you. Allasandro is hoping Calden will settle down before he begins dating again. It took Calden a long time to accept his mother’s death. As Allasandro is a master of worrying, he doesn’t feel he should be romancing a woman while his son is obviously burdened.” Dad started the engine of his SUV. “Yes, that is as ridiculous as it sounds. Anyway, we couldn’t help but notice you did not run away screaming at the sight of a wolf, and you also survived the broccoli brownie incident. As such, Allasandro is hopeful you might help nudge Calden out of the singles market. I have been recruited, after being subjected to significant complaining over how it should be illegal for such a handsome son to still be single, to discuss this with you. If you like Calden after the camping trips, Allasandro is not above begging you to take his boy on a date.”

My father wanted me to do what? I needed a cold shower and a reality check, because not even in my own damned fantasies did I put men like Calden in the same room with someone like me. We came from two entirely different worlds. However, as I hated disappointing my father, I’d sacrifice a minor amount of my dignity and pride to make him happy. “I’ll think about it. But that’s all I’m promising. And should he ask me out on date, the rule still applies. I don’t kiss on first dates.”

In a world of instant gratification and impatience, my rule did a damned good job of keeping most suitors at bay. The ones who tested my rules ended up having the rest of the evening to themselves, and the rest? Well, there was a good reason I remained single.

I needed something that would last—and someone who handled change with grace, as I chased after the new and the exciting every other breath. Such men were few and far between, and I’d accepted that long ago.

One day, my parents would figure that out, or so I hoped.

Allasandro Stephans lived a block away from his headquarters in a townhouse a lot like the one my parents owned. The first of the reality checks came upon learning he owned the entire row. Rather than renting a room, as expected, I’d have an entire townhouse to myself.

I could fit a lot of books into an entire townhouse.

“Dad, this is excessive.” I checked to make certain Allasandro Stephans or his son couldn’t hear me. “This is crazier than you suggesting I should date Calden.”

“It’s not crazy. On all the forms, he’ll be your landlord, and he’s tying your rent to your employment with the Hunters, as he has no doubt he’ll need you for at least a year. He checked your current commute and had a fit.”

Men. Had they asked me if I minded the commute, it would have saved them a great deal of hassle and heartache. “I take public transit. I read these weird things called books. It’s an hour of premium book reading time each way. I use the time to relax, read, and generally enjoy myself.”

I could live without the other commuters, who often did a good job of driving me half mad by the time I made it to work. While some of them were smart enough to read, many others liked to talk, talk, talk—and some believed I wanted to talk with them.

There were days I wanted to smack people with my books rather than read them.

“Well, your commute is now five minutes each way. I’m sure you can figure out how to spend your extra free time.”

I worked on prepping the next load of stuff to go into the townhouse, and during one of the lulls, I pointed at the other townhouses in the row. “How many of these are empty?”

“Calden lives in the one on the end most of the time, but he has a weekend house on the outskirts of the city. It’s a two hour drive once you leave Moonriver.”

“That’s not the outskirts, Dad. That’s in the country, possibly near the border.” Shaking my head at the insanity, I checked on the cheetahs to discover they romped together in their carrier. “Uh oh. The kittens are awake.”

“That’s my cue to get their milk ready while you go inside and establish your territory. I’ll start working in the kitchen. You can figure out where you’re going to put the animals. I’ll bring their pen in next.”

The fully furnished townhouse would test me. Where would I put my furniture? I’d gotten most of it from a thrift store, something my parents had admired yet hated at the same time. Donating it, assuming I couldn’t find somewhere to stash it, might work. Alternatively, I could dump it on the curb during the next community cleaning week, as several of the pieces might not survive being moved.

That would work.

Pleased with my decision, I carried the kittens into the sitting room, selecting a corner where I could move a single empty bookcase to create their domain. The bookcase would fit along the neighboring wall, although people trying to enter the room would need to be aware of the case else run some risk of running into it. With the kittens contained, I resumed ferrying my collection of library books into the house. On my third trip out, while my father wrangled hungry kittens armed with bottles of milk, Calden’s father came up the walkway carrying a box. I peeked inside to discover paper-wrapped, frozen packages.

“Are there rabbits in that box?” If there were rabbits in the box, I would take my father’s suggestion of asking Calden out on a date seriously.

“There’s enough in here to appease even a wolf. This weekend, I’ll have movers bring your furniture over. The basement is finished but empty, so you can set it up however you like.”

Well, that eliminated the need to donate or dump anything. “Thank you, Mr. Stephans.”

He headed towards the kitchen. “You’re welcome.”

After clearing out Dad’s SUV, I headed to the kitchen to discover a baking party. Judging from the choice of pan and ingredients littering the counters, some form of brownie came to life.

Having already experienced the man’s evil ways, I worried. “Please tell me there isn’t any broccoli in these.”

Allasandro Stephans laughed at me. “They’re regular brownies. We’ll need these after the next wave comes in via portal. They’re sending back our dead—well, those who could be retrieved. We’re expecting a hundred or so more won’t make it back alive. They’re taking a direct portal. The jumping waypoints are deluged getting evacuees out.”

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