Page 85 of Moon Tamed

“Discussing our future date nights, I do believe. I foresee a lot of quiet evenings at home with books, good company, and great food, and I wish to know what other terms I must add to my surrender to learn more about these activities. Beyond letting you leash me for the duration of the hunt.”

“Well, I’m sure we can come up with some good ideas for our date nights, but let’s discuss how I might come out the victor of this hunt in a surprise upset.”

“Nobody is going to be upset if you win, Coraline. If anything, they’ll be delighted. If you win, that means you’ll have bested my father, and my father gives no ground. If you beat him, it’s because you did so legitimately. If anything, the more he likes you, the more cruelly he defeats you during the hunt. It’s a good way to get pampered by the rest of the faction. But if you want a chance to beat my father, I have some ideas I’ve been working on for a while.”

“What sort of idea?”

“The kind where we spend the entirety of the hunt launching sneak attacks on my father at every opportunity. As long as we best him during office hours on a hunt day, we gain points. Until now, I’ve never done such a thing against anyone. But this time? An exception will be made.”

“How do we do that?”

“You approach him like you have serious work for him, and we take him out like he’s one of your rabbits perfect for skinning. We will be armed with paintball guns. I’ll make sure we arrive early and steal one of the more interesting colors of paintballs. We’re going to need a lot of paintballs to take my father out. I’ll also need a lot of patience, because I’ll be responsible for cleaning up everything we get messed up outside of the hunting areas. But there’s nothing in the hunt rules saying we have to stay in the boundaries of the set courses to collect points.”

“There will be once we’re done with the faction,” I promised.

As I’d hoped for, Calden and I returned to the hill and its meadow after dark with a lantern and watched the fireflies dance. He stood a close and careful guard as a wolf, and I indulged in digging my fingers into his fur and enjoying his quiet company.

I wondered what wolves said, as I got the feeling his body language conveyed a lot more than the basics I could interpret from the position of his ears. Mostly, I assumed he also enjoyed himself, as he remained relaxed, even when he made certain nothing in the surrounding woods would bother us. Instead of reading, I captured the moments of quiet peace, listened to the distant call of nocturnal birds, the rustle of small animals nearby, and an orchestra composed entirely of crickets.

Only when the fire spluttered and began to die did I rise to my feet, dust myself off, and pick the lantern up. “We should probably get some rest. Then you can change back into a man of the human variety and tell me what you were thinking, because you seemed to have a lot to say with those ears of yours. Then we can get in a little reading before we sleep. I brought a book and forgot to open it.”

He huffed, bobbed his head, and pointed his nose in the direction of our camp. Upon our return, I held open the tent flap for him and went to work with a flashlight to make certain we left everything out of the camp secure from the animals that might find our things to be interesting. After a few minutes, he emerged wearing his pajamas. “You don’t have to do that.”

“You did it earlier, and I paid some attention to what you were doing, so just tell me what I’m forgetting.”

Calden had taken the pelts to the SUV, disappearing for almost an hour earlier in the day, which led me to believe he’d dropped our prizes off at his father’s ranch for safe keeping.

With a small smile, he gave me directions on how to prepare the campsite for the night before emerging from the tent so I could get changed as well.

I considered wearing nothing but my underwear, but I would keep my promise to myself and behave until sometime after our first date night, which would happen sooner than later if I had any say in the matter.

After a brief but vicious battle against the flannel, I poked my head out of the tent and said, “I don’t know how flannel managed to put up a fight, but mine did.”

Calden snickered, did one last check of the camp, and joined me in the tent. “It’s probably the same sort of dark sorcery that makes it so difficult to get out of bed in the morning when I’m wearing my favorite pajamas. It’s a most insidious spell designed to catch us at our weakest.”

“At least I’m not the only one who gets ensorcelled by good pajamas. Do you think we’ll even make it to work in the future if we both wear our favorite pajamas at the same time?”

“My phone has a potent ability to dispel such charms, much to my eternal disappointment. And if my phone doesn’t work, my father’s appearance certainly does.”

“We’re changing that lock,” I informed him in my most serious tone. “He may knock, but he may not enter without permission.”

“It’s useful giving him access sometimes. Like right now, he’s caring for Espresso and Latte.”

“In the future, we shall deliver the keys before we depart, and upon our return, we will reclaim them.” I considered who we discussed. “After which we change the locks again, for he will surely copy the keys.”

“How long are you going to let him assume you’re still living at his rental?”

“If he hasn’t figured it out by now, he’s blind,” I muttered.

“Or he’s just hopeful and doesn’t want to push his luck.”

“We’ll spell it out with paintball rounds during the week on one of his suits. I’ll even pay for the replacement if it’s ruined. Do you think one day is enough time to learn how to fire a paintball gun?”

“This is going to be harder than I thought, but I’m game to try. But honestly? I’ll just hope for beginner’s luck, as I’d rather stay here with you than dive right back into work right away.”

On that, we were agreed.

TWENTY

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