“May your cubs be healthy and fierce.”
“And you had to go and ruin it.” Macy crossed her eyes at her. “We’re in our honeymoon period, where we’re screwing like bunnies. Hard to do when you’re taking care of a bunch of brats. You can have all the cubs, thanks.”
Then she glanced at a bunch of shifters at the end of the bar, who were banging their beer mugs on the bartop.
“Keep your fur on!” she yelled at them. “And if you break those glasses, I’ll bite your asses!” She hurried over, served them their beer, and trotted back.
“So what’s going on with Miles? Word is, he took out the whole Clearwater Pack today, and that should put the fear of dog into anyone else who wants to start trouble. So why the long face and sudden desire to kill your liver?”
“We’re done,” Dakota said, and blinked very hard so she wouldn’t cry right there in the bar. “I don’t want to talk about why.”
Macy set another shot of tequila in front of her. “Good. I don’t want to hear about why. I’m not the touchy-feely type. So does this mean you moved out and dumped all the little hairballs?”
“No, they’re at Anthea’s cave right now. We’re all staying there. Naomi’s still at the Fenris Pack grounds – she’s moving in with Baldwin.” Naomi had cried when Dakota and the cubs left, although she’d said she understood why they were leaving. Dakota had assured her that she’d stay in town and they’d see each other all the time.
The cubs had sniffled when they were leaving too, but as soon as they’d found out they were staying in a cave, they’d perked up. When Dakota had left them with Anthea, they’d all been playing Neanderthal and chasing each other around with clubs.
Dakota set her drink down and rubbed wearily at her face. “So, school is still shut down while we wait to see if the town erupts into war. Who knows if it will start up again.”
“Ugh. You’ll be stuck babysitting your bratty family all day long. You want another shot?” Macy poured it as she asked.
Dakota shook her head reluctantly. “No, I should set a halfway decent example for the cubs and not stagger back there half snockered.”
Macy slammed the shot herself. “To setting a halfway decent example! That’s more than I’ll ever hope to achieve.”
“And thank God for that.” David winked at her as he rushed by with a tray of drinks.
A burst of noise from the back of the bar made Dakota start. She looked over and saw Destiny, the blonde who’d tried to steal Miles, sitting on a table making out with a coyote shifter while the crowd cheered her on.
She heaved a sigh and stood up. “I came here to cheer myself up, but honestly, it’s just depressing me more.” She tossed a twenty dollar bill onto the bar. “Congrats again, and I’ll try to be less of a wet blanket next time I see you.” And she headed out of the bar, her heart even heavier then when she’d gone in.
* * * * *
The “cave” was actually a clean, bright home inside an enormous cavern. It looked sort of like a hobbit house, but supersized. It was connected by various tunnels to the other bears’ homes. Anthea had laid down flooring, and there was an long oak table and lots of chairs – where, two days after they’d left Fenris Pack lands, Dakota sat all the kids down and slapped down their school notebooks in front of them.
“You’re seriously going to make us do homework?” John asked Dakota, scandalized. “But…school’s closed! And we already gathered firewood and picked berries to make jam for the clan!”
“Yes. If you’re staying with someone, you pitch in and help out. That has nothing to do with schoolwork. You’ve had two days off now, and it’s time to get back to work.” She tapped the table, and they scowled and reached for their notebooks.
All this time, and she hadn’t heard a word from Miles. She just sat there getting angrier and angrier; he hadn’t come by to apologize, hadn’t sent anyone to check on her and the cubs…she wished they had cell phone service so she could at least call Naomi to see if he was all right. Yes, he’d made it very clear that she wasn’t his partner and had no part in his plans, and that was a bitter pill to swallow, but she still cared about him. She wished she didn’t.
She would have heard if anything had happened to him, wouldn’t she? She thought so, but just to be on the safe side, she’d have someone deliver a note to the pack the next day and ask Naomi to meet her in town for lunch.
“I miss it back at the Fenris Pack,” Sailor sighed. “Baldwin was teaching me how to shoot a bow and arrow, and Naomi would read to us. I mean, I don’t think Anthea even likes us. Ever since we came here, she spends all day out chopping wood and stuff. Doesn’t even come back until after we go to bed.”