“So you should let her attack you? No. Hell no. If that…If she ever tries that again, you shift and kick her ass. It doesn’t matter that she’s Ryder’s cousin. He knows if that happens she will have deserved it.”
“She’s his cousin? That’s just…” She scrunched her nose up and Cindy giggled then handed her a bunch of carrots, potatoes, and turnips with a peeler.
“Distant cousin and her granny told her that her offspring would mate an Alpha. I don’t know why it couldn’t be one of the boys but she has it in her head that it is Kelly and Ryder. He has never shown any interest in her at all and I don’t think that he likes Nicole much either but she’s family. Poor Kelly thinks that she doesn’t have any choice because that’s what Nicole has told her.
He and Will were tight back in the day, that’s how they met. They were together one day when her and her family dropped in for a visit. She and Will hit it off and were mated within a week. When Ryder formed his own pack, naturally Will signed up. Mathew was one of their friends and that’s how I got here. I’ve never liked her. She’s pack and naturally I would do what a pack member has to do but, I still don’t care for her.” Cindy was loading a roast into a huge pan and seasoning it. “Got any moose around here?” Harper laughed.
“Maybe at the zoo.” She stopped at Cindy’s look. “Sorry. No. No, moose, no game really except deer, maybe a coyote or a fox. You may see Canadian geese, some duck, doves, and wild turkeys. I think it’s illegal to kill the geese though.
There is a grocery store in town.” Harper offered and Cindy made a face. “Okay, um, sometimes my Alpha would get buffalo from a farm not too far from here. It comes butchered so you will need a big freezer. Do you have one? When you buy one, it’s by the half or whole animal.”
“I’ll put it on Ryder’s list.” She thought a minute then nodded her head. “Instead of planting corn, Matt needs to learn how to tend animals. I’ll put that on the list too. I hate store bought eggs. They are not the same.”
“Did you guys work a farm in Green Valley?” Harper finished the carrots and started on the potatoes.
“No. Well, we had chickens but everything else we caught. There was plenty of wild game and not a lot of people around.”
“I’m thinking chickens, sheep, goats, hmm…rabbits.” Her eyes lit up and Harper laughed. “Yes, let’s put rabbits on the list.”
“You could catch a rabbit here, they’re around, squirrels too and we aren’t far from the lake so you can fish once you get a license.”
“Ugh. This place has too many rules.”
“Maybe, but nobody is hunting you here either.” Cindy quirked a grin.
“Good point.” Cindy gathered up Harper’s vegetables and put them in the pan with the roast then carried it to the oven. “Done. Now we can move some laundry.”
“Do you do everyone’s laundry?” Cindy nodded. “She doesn’t help?”
“I told you, she is the queen of lazy.”
“Wow. How many machines do you have? I mean there are a lot of men here.”
“It’s on the list. Ryder is going to convert the basement for us, he says he is getting commercial washers and dryers, a dumb waiter, laundry chute and a commercial kitchen put in. The basement is first but the kitchen won’t happen till later after the additional houses.”
“If you build houses why the need for all of that in this house?” Harper tried to puzzle it out.
“Well, the unmated males will get housed together at first but the mated houses will be built first, and then we can do our own laundry.” She said sarcastically and grinned. “Ask Ryder, he’s the man with the plan. Come on and I will show you around. By the way, I heard that he was going to mark you, but I don’t see his bite. What happened? You don’t have to tell me, I mean if it’s none of my business, just say so and I will drop it. That goes for anything, but I am naturally curious and I ask a lot of questions.”
“It’s okay. We decided to wait. He wants to finish the room first and move his bed in.” Harper’s cheeks burned. Cindy grinned.
“Good. You’re first mating shouldn’t be in a pallet on the floor in the middle of a construction zone. It should be…” Her eyes searched the ceiling and she smiled.
“Yeah.” Harper said quietly.
“Okay so here’s the laundry room. If you suck it in, we will both fit. Someday this will be a walk-in freezer, I’m told. Meantime, it’s hell.” Cindy kicked a pile of clothes. Harper looked at it dubiously. “I know what you’re thinking. I’ve let my laundry duties lag. Not at all. Those are yesterday’s clothes and maybe a few from Thursday.” Cindy shook her head and moved jeans from the washer to the dryer. Harper watched with her brow furrowed.