“Thank you? Be thrilled that no one will hire me because I hate this job? I don’t know, Mr. Brush. I hated it here, and the place is far from fine dining. You serve sandwiches, not sammiches. What adult calls it that? No one. Christ, this is just barbequed sandwiches on a nasty stiff bun you buy a day old so you can save a few bucks. I’ve seen the buns here. Most of them are moldy. Not to mention you telling us to cut off that part and sever it up. Get a grip, will you? It’s nasty stuff, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you were severing horse meat over beef.”

  He had the most guilty look on his face and he just knew that he’d been right all along. It was horse meat and no telling what else. Gagging just a little, he turned and looked at the ‘meat’ that he’d had his hands in. Instead of running to the trash can, not that he thought that he’d make it, he threw up in the meat mixture until his belly was nothing but bile. Standing up, the man who he’d been working with tossed a towel at him, a clean one, thankfully, and the two of them headed to the door. At the last minute, he turned to the waitress station, where they were all gathered for the night, and told them that they were serving horse meat to their customers. They looked about as shocked as he’d been. Of the ten of the staff, only one stayed because he figured she was going down with the ship, so to speak, being the wife. Mr. Brush.

  Drawing as much fresh air as he could when he was beyond smelling the restaurant, he stood there close to the tree and thought about this teaching job. If he could get his daughter on board to go with him, he’d be set. She was his only friend too, he knew. She came and wrapped her arms around him when he was headed to his car.

  “Thanks, Daddy.” He turned in her arms and held her tightly to him. “I hated my job as much as you did. How about we have some breakfast, the two of us then we’ll see what we want to take with us to this new job. I’ve already done some research on them. The Tates are true to their words in what they have told you. They are going to cover our expenses as well as get us there. Caitlynn Tate called me right after you spoke with me.”

  “Good. We’ll make arrangements to get going first thing in the morning. Did you give her flight information? It’s going to be tight if they don’t come through with the tickets. I know that I can’t afford to pay for both of ours.” She told him that she’d use her last check to get their tickets if they weren’t there. “All right, honey. How about we do what you said. Get us a nice hot breakfast, then go home and pack.”

  The breakfast place they usually went to was closed, forgetting how late it was in the evening. The place only sold breakfast until five. It was just past that now. Picking up the few things that they’d need to travel with, they were completely caught off guard when an officer was standing at the door to his apartment when they arrived. He supposed that he shouldn’t have been as he had messed up at the restaurant. He started to defend himself.

  But the officer wasn’t there to arrest them. “I’m not here about your former job. It was justified that the board of health had been called in to inspect the place by order of the Tate Foundation. They had me go out and get this for you two. It was all paid for when I got to the store. It has five hundred dollars on it, can you believe it, for you two to have a nice couple of days at the—also, nearly forgot, your bills that were for the party of the year, and it was if you ask anybody in town, has been paid in full. I might have to figure out if they need a couple of police officers up there. Nice people, the Tates. Could be a nice place to work that appreciates you like that.”

  After the officer left them, they both went into their respective apartments and cleaned up. Larry was going to burn his clothing, not even caring if he’d only just purchased them to do this job. It was tainted with the smell of barbeque, and he suddenly thought that he’d never want another sandwich like that for as long as he lived.

  The evening was the best that he’d had in a while. He’d have a few more nights like this if he could but was counting on the bonus and paychecks that the Tate Foundation had promised him when he’d been hired as a teacher. The sign-on bonus was well more than he made in a month’s time, and that was why he’d spent so much on his little girl’s graduation party. Live and learn, he told himself.

  He supposed he should stop calling her a little girl. She was twenty-seven years old now and hadn’t been living with him since before her mother had passed on. There were times when he missed LeAnn, his wife, but not enough for him to wish that she was still around. Just having a nice talk with someone was something that he missed. Of course, LeAnn couldn’t hold her end up all that well, but she didn’t scream at him when he talked over her head. She died several years ago, about ten now, when Lexy was just a child.

  The night was free of talking about work. Neither of them knew if they got it, nor of the ones that they quit this week. Lexy had been fired because her boss hadn’t come into work on time, and several people who were waiting to work, her included, didn’t get the store open on time. He couldn’t believe the shit that was going on at places now. How entitled the employees and employers were nowadays. Like everyone wanted money but not to actually have to work for it.

  The next morning, they headed to the airport. It wouldn’t be that long of a flight, a few hours, but they’d be there soon and he just hoped that this job was as good as he remembered it being. Not so much for him but for his daughter. He was old, he told her, and he could do something that seemed less school-like. Whatever that meant, he told her.

  Not only were there tickets for them, but they were in first class. On the way to the embarking, he was handed a file with his name on it, and Lexy got one as well. In it was another gift card for them to use when they got into Columbus and there would be a car to pick them up when he called them. Christ, the perks alone were making him happy that he was doing this. And being with Lexy made it all the more special.

  They got off the plane with everyone else. Gathering up their luggage wasn’t a problem as they had both only brought carry-ons. He had some suits that he was going to have shipped to him already packed up with his dressier shoes and ties that he was sure were going to be too hot in this city.

  As they were driven out of the larger city, not taking the highway per Lexy’s request, he realized that it was the big city that made it feel like he was in an oven. The views here were beautiful as well as there were sites to see all over the place that he might have to visit. The caves sounded like the best. Lexy was reading to him the description of Hocking Hills as they were enjoying the air conditioning of the large car.

  “Mr. Turner, Ms. Turner, I just heard from the Tates, and they wish for me to drop you off at the school. They wanted me to assure you that nothing is going on there today, but he, Jeremiah Tate, wanted you to see where you might be wanting to teach. The rooms, I mean.” He asked them if it was about the shooting last semester. “That and yesterday morning, too. No one was harmed but a few reparations but nothing more. Teachers were handcuffed and taken out by police when they were there in their rooms. I do believe that Mr. Tate will have more information on it as I’ve only read what was in the newspaper. There’s a copy of the paper there on the seat with you.”

  He read about the incident and realized that the woman, Betty Higgins, was the person who had called him and canceled his job offer. He’d thought at the time that he should be making another call to the Tates, as they’d been the ones that he’d been dealing with all along, but he was too pissy to bother. Now, he wished that he had.

  The school was just as beautiful as he remembered it being. Lexy was impressed with the security measures that had been put in place. While he was annoyed that he was having to show his driver’s license, it was his daughter who reminded him about the shooting that took place last spring.

  Larry hadn’t met the younger of the Tate men. He had been called away for the foundation and hadn’t made it back in time to meet up with him. If he was anything like the others that he had gotten to speak to, then he thought that they’d get along just fine. As soon as he shook hands with the other man, he knew that he was going to like him a great deal. He couldn’t have been more pleased either with the room that he’d been assigned and Lexy being right across the hall from him. They were both going to be teaching the kindergarten children, and he was fine with that.

  “You’re not human, are you?” He started to ask him why did that matter when Jeremiah told him to call him that but he spoke before he could. “I’m not either. The whole town knows that we’re wolves, but so long as their checks don’t bounce, they’re all right with that. So, welcome to Dresden, Larry, and Lexy. I hope we can persuade you to stick around for a while.

  Chapter 2

  Richy was so happy to be away from the Mann’s—it was confusing at times but he was glad too that he was being called by the right name. He’d been Cody Mann with them. Now, he was Richard Stonehouse.

  He hadn’t ever realized that he’d been kidnapped by them until last year. Richy had been searching for some food or something that he could steal so he could get him something to eat when he ran across the article in an old newspaper. The idiots, that he knew was true to this day, had actually written at the bottom, ‘We did this.’

  Thinking even then that he wasn’t like them, but that never stopped them from carting him around to all the places, and when they got into trouble, he was there to plead for someone to take care of him. He hated that as well. A couple of weeks ago, he’d been recused by Mr. J, Jeremiah Tate, when his kidnappers had come to the place he’d been hiding in the school and tried to take him again. Lucky for everyone around, Mr. J had been able to shift into his other half and had saved him from being hurt again. He’d been staying with the man and his family ever since. He found Grandpa J, Jeremiah’s dad, in the kitchen when he went for something to snack on.

  “Mr. J said that he’d be coming to get me after the people left to go to their house. Do you know if they showed up or not?” He really liked the women of this family, but he loved Grandpa Joseph, Mr. J’s dad, the most. He’d already taken to telling people that he was his grandson, and that suited him just fine. Richy had been staying at Mr. J’s house since the arrest, and Grandpa J was there every day when he was ready to go out and about.

  “Well, now, I do know the answer to that query, young man. They showed up about an hour ago. Jeremiah is showing them around and telling them they can use the company card to fill out their rooms. Gonna be right nice having a father-daughter team in the school, don’t you think?” Richy is what he went by now told the older man that he didn’t care if they were elephants so long as they were going to keep him safe. “Elephants, huh? No matter, I believe they will. You know that my boy, he carries a gun while he’s at school now. Got some special permission to do so as the principal. Some scary stuff going on around the school and he didn’t want anyone to get hurt anymore. It’s been a bad year for the elementary school around here.”

  He’d heard about it all since running away and nearly getting caught. It had been a terrible few months around here. And he was glad that most of it was taken care of. He didn’t want to end up having to run again. It was wearing on a kid to be on the lookout for not just his next meal but not being hurt was even better.

  The two of them walked to the school. It was all that far, not really, and the views were surely pretty with the trees turning and people being so friendly to him no matter where he was going. Saying hi to the six new bus drivers, he was able to get aboard one of them and have a look around. Not that he was going to be riding a bus, he lived too close to the school for that to happen. He would be able to hitch a ride from Mr. J if they didn’t find any of his members of the family who would take him in. So far, everyone wasn’t around anymore. He hoped that they’d find nobody because living with Mr. J had been the most stable and friendly place he’d ever been in. Having clean clothing that fit as well as food in his belly all the time helped a great deal as well.

  By the time they were at the school, he was sure that he’d die of thirst. He’d been having trouble with drinking enough fluids without getting sick. The doctor that he’d been taken to see said that he was severely dehydrated and needed to have a drink on him drinking it at all times. Or he’d end up in the hospital. He didn’t want that, so he tried to remember to have a drink all the time. Mr. J had one in his hand for him as soon as they entered the school building.

  “Slow down, Richy. There are more bottles in my office. Just don’t drink it down too fast, or it’ll come back up.” He asked him if there were always a lot of rules for just drinking some water. “Not usually, but you’ve been without for too long, so it’s affecting you hard. Did you meet the new teachers?”

  “No. Do I need to?” Mr. J told him it was the polite thing to do. “I guess so, but I’m no dummy who has to repeat that grade, am I? I didn’t go to school much with them, we were forever moving around but you said that I had to take a test and I did it. I’m worried, Mr. J. I don’t want to be in the little kids’ rooms. They’re nice and all but I don’t want to be made fun of.”

  “I got your back, Richy. Don’t worry about that. We should get your test scores in the morning or even later tonight. We’ll look it over together and see what your best options are. Okay?” Richy nodded, thinking once again that the test wasn’t all that difficult so long as you read it all the way through first. Just as Mr. J had told him to do. “All right. I’m going to go and properly meet the Turners. I’ve met the man, but his daughter was dragged down the hall by Caitlynn and the other women before I got a chance to talk to her.”

  “Are you thinking that she’s your mate, Mr. J? I’m betting if she is, there isn’t any way that she’d going to want to let you keep me around.” He told Richy that they were a team on this, and she’d not take one without the other. “Yes, but she’ll be the one lovey-dovey at you all the time. I’m just a pest who asks a lot of questions.” They both laughed, but he was serious about this. He’d been tossed aside enough for several lifetimes for a nine-year-old.

  The room with his name on it was the fifth grade. While he knew that when he was on the run, he’d not had much chance in the way of studying, but he did read everything that he could get his hands on. The people that had taken him never read and he hadn’t ever been sure that they knew how. Just to get to read an entire book now was the best thing that he’d gotten from all this.

  “Ms. Lexy Turner?” She turned toward them and fell backward when the ladder she’d been standing on slipped. Barely catching her, nearly dropping her when she scrambled away from Mr. J, Richy told her that she was safe. Mr. J just kept holding her even after she told him three times to let her down. She was fine. Finally he did and just looked at him like he wasn’t sure what had just happened. When she was steady on her feet, she and Mr. J seemed to stand really close to each other like he’d never seen a person of the opposite sex before. Then it hit him.

  “Ah, crapola. She is your mate, isn’t she?” They both turned to him, looking at him oddly. “You two are going to be a great couple, and I know that I’ll be moving on soon, I guess.”

  “No.” Mr. J cleared his throat, having sounded like a little girl had startled Richy. “What I mean is, no, we’re not mates. Right?” Mr. J looked at Ms. T, and she nodded, then shook her head. “There is nothing to suggest that we’re mates, Richy. Just that she’s…she’s a very beautiful woman, and I was just startled by that.”

  “Thank you.” Ms. L’s face turned a pinkish color, and he hid a smile. She was cute, he supposed she’d be called because she was embarrassed about being a pretty woman. Who knew about the heads of females. He certainly didn’t.

  A large man came into the room with them, and he hid behind Mr. J. The man looked deranged a little, and his face was covered in blue paint. They’d only been here an hour, he thought. How could he have gotten so messy in a little time?

  “What’s the meaning of this? Mr. Tate, I won’t have you manhandling my daughter. Nor will I tell you again to let her go. Now, see here. You keep holding onto her like that I’m—” Ms. Lexy told her dad the news about how lovely she had been to Mr. Jeremiah. That she was his employee, nothing more. “Employee, you say? Well, of course, he is. He’s mine, too. You’re a wolf, right?” Mr. J said that he was. “Well, Lexy and I are elephants. White ones, as a matter of fact.

  Richy couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing. They were all staring at him again, but he just couldn’t contain himself enough from laughing. He did manage to say that he’d been talking to Grandpa J earlier and about how he didn’t care what they were so long as he was taken care of. Grandpa J had to finish the story as he was still trying his best to not giggle every time he thought of elephants.

  When Ms. L backed into the corner, she talked like she was just emptying her head—like she was babbling, that was the word. That other woman, the one that had kidnapped him, talked like that too. But she did it because she needed a fix or something. He knew that meant drugs, but he wasn’t sure that Ms. L was taking them. She just looked nervous.

  “Hey, why don’t we get some dinner together?” Richy asked Mr. J if the Turners were going with them. “Of course. They’ll be teaching here, and it would be good for them to get to know us a little better. Don’t you think?”

  “Mr. J, I don’t think she has all her marbles,” he whispered to his new friend. “Just listen to her talking a mile a minute.” She stopped talking then and shut her mouth hard. He just stared at her for several minutes before speaking again. “Are you big enough to squash me, ma’am? I don’t want to be mashed up if you’d not mind it.”

  “I don’t believe that I’d squash a child, no. But if you’re going to be someone who talks about me, then you’d better get it right. And ask me first before saying something like that.” He told her that he was powerful sorry, but he’d not met so many shifters in his life until this week. “Well then, we’ll have to have some lessons on what to say when you meet a stranger. That should have been taught to you when you were just a child. But I’m to understand that you didn’t have a good upbringing. How about you and I work on that together?”