Page 66 of Moon Tamed

Staring didn’t make the tea steep faster, and my wine-befuddled brain couldn’t remember where the mugs lived.

The provider of warm beverages grinned at me.

“Problem?” he asked.

“I think I need a mug,” I admitted. After a moment of thought, I shrugged. “I can drink right out of the pot if needed.”

“That level of hangover is not a good time,” he said, and he pulled down a mug from his cabinet. “I’m not nearly as bad as she is, Dad, so why don’t you head back to work, inform them we were assaulted by several bottles of alcoholic beverages during a lapse in maturity and common sense, and that we’ll show up by the end of the day to sign papers. Bring the doctor with the testing kit here. If the doctor can’t handle two hungover people playing with bunnies, they’re not qualified to check DNA results.”

Calden’s father heaved a sigh. “You did this to force me to take a half day off, didn’t you? The one can’t figure out how to operate mugs, and you? Don’t get me started about you.”

“It’s true. It’s impressive I didn’t drown while trying to shower away my hangover. Can this be a life lesson moment? I’ve never done this before, and I officially do not understand why some do this fairly frequently. This is miserable.” I checked the tea, determined it to be sufficiently steeped, and filled my mug. I checked its temperature, concluded I wouldn’t burn myself if I guzzled it, and emptied the entire pot in record time. “I’m going to need at least ten of these if you want me functional, Mr. Stephans. I’d blame Calden, but I was an equal player in making sure none of the Champagne went to waste. And after that? Common sense left the building.”

“And knowing my son, he wanted to toast you to welcome you to the faction.”

I eyed Calden. “Yesterday is fuzzy. Is that what happened?”

He laughed. “Approximately. It’ll be fine. Dad’s just upset I didn’t notify him in advance we were popping bottles. Of course, in my initial plan, we would have stopped after the Champagne, but my plan quickly went off the rails.”

“It’s an alcohol thing. We should know better, but in the moment, we never know better. We should make certain we don’t play with the alcohol on work nights. That will resolve the vast majority of the problems.”

“A glass with dinner, as long as it’s a bottle we can stopper, isn’t all that dangerous. It’s the sparkling stuff that gets me in trouble,” Calden admitted. “I can’t stand once it goes flat, and I hate wasting something I bought.”

I nodded, as I tended to make sure the entire bottle of sparkling wine vanished without a trace.

I refused to regret my first and last taste of Champagne, as I doubted another bottle would cross my path. The bottle would change my relationship with sparkling wines, too.

Every time I popped a cork, I would remember the origin of the drink and the planet’s sad fate. The years would make the memories easier to carry, but I would remember all the same.

Once upon a time, someone in my family had been born on Earth before venturing through the stars to find a new home. However removed, Earth was part of my history.

In some ways, the planet’s loss made me regret having been unwilling to venture off my world to see other places.

Then again, had I waited until adulthood to make the decision to go, I might have been one of the many killed in the planet’s final moments.

“A dollar for your thoughts?” Calden asked. “Your expression leads me to believe a penny isn’t going to foot the bill.”

“I was just thinking about Earth.” As one pot of tea had restored me enough to function, I went to work heating the kettle. “What kind of tea do you want, Calden? I am confident I can now handle this basic task.”

He pointed at a blue wrapped tea, which informed me he desired some form of breakfast tea. “That’s my go-to for hangovers, although it’s been a while since I’ve had any. It’s strong enough I can taste it but it doesn’t give me the jitters like coffee does. The last thing I need when hungover? The jitters.”

Calden’s father sighed. “Your clothes are in the living room, Coraline. I will go back to the office and notify everyone you were both charmed by the bunnies and they coerced you into having adult beverages due to their wretched cuteness. I can’t believe you brought those wretchedly cute things into your home, Calden. Now I’m forced to admit I like them. You’re a terrible son. I’ll be back with the doctor for the DNA test, so don’t get into trouble without me. You’ve reached your threshold of trouble for the day.”

Once his father left, Calden snickered and said, “He’s freaking out because you’ve been spending time with me. In some ways, I’ve handled my mother’s death better than he has. He does this every time we have someone who is around us contagious wolves and he doesn’t know if the person has the gene mutation.”

“I can’t blame him for that.”

“I don’t, but it’s gotten to the point I find it to be funny. Dad’s been working hard at developing gene manipulation sciences with the other factions to fix the gene in question, and there’s plenty of evidence the gene therapy experiment is working. He’s worked himself up for nothing.”

“You’re not worried about it?”

“Not particularly. Nobody in your family line has the mutated gene, and we are around your parents all the time. Despite close proximity, neither of them are demonstrating any signs of shapeshifting. They interact with us often enough Dad worried about them, so he begged for them to get tested. Then, because he’s a worry wart, he follows them around once a year to have another test done in case they start showing signs of shapeshifting. Your family has robust genetics in terms of shapeshifting. Your father has been really helpful with my father’s research, as the preliminary tests indicate everyone shouldn’t have issues with the first shift.”

Ah. I counted as safe to be around. “In any case, I don’t mind being tested. Wolves eat rabbits, and as such, I do not have a problem with being around wolves. I’m going to have a problem if the wolf I’m around isn’t a shapeshifter, however. I was not joking. If a wolf is in the woods, I will try to pet it.”

“There are going to be a lot of wolves out at the upcoming hunt, Coraline. You should not try to pet them during the hunt.”

“But why not? If I’m caught by a wolf, I should be compensated for my defeat. Petting a wolf seems like acceptable compensation.”

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