Statera - The Balanced One

Chapter Twenty

Wednesday was a day of preparations. Cole arrived early in the morning, and that's when I realized Keitan hadn't mentioned him in the plan for tracking down and eliminating Senka. When I brought it up, he had a simple answer.

"Cole will do what Cole always does; listen.

Owen, Keitan, Cole, Christian, and Eric went out in the late morning and hunted down a wild turkey and a wild hog for the meal on Thursday. Christian couldn't stand still. He was so excited. Being his first hunt, I had to smile because I knew exactly how he felt. On the other hand, his sisters were irate at being left out and wouldn't let their mother hear the end of it. Dahlia didn't seem phased by the whines of discontent.

Cara and Samantha put together the formal dining room for the next day's meal with Eugene. While he loved eating meat, he wanted no part in killing the animals the food would come from. So, he respectfully declined when he was invited to go on the hunt.

Popping in to see how it was coming together, I had to admit they were the right people for the job. It was hard to not notice Samantha and Eugene were never more than three feet apart. They had spent most of the day together, and I could feel their connection strengthening. It made me smile.

Seeing nothing I could do that wasn't already being done, I headed toward the kitchen to join Dahlia and her three girls. Even though the three resembled their dad down to their cute little noses, their personalities were all mama. They were domestic in every sense of the word. Undoubtedly, they could outcook and clean most adults.

Dahlia's favorite pass time was baking, especially desserts, and Owen was repeatedly kicked out of his kitchen. But he couldn't complain too much because his reward for obedience was Dahlia's amazing cooking.

We spent most of the day making dough for cinnamon rolls or whatever struck Dahlia's fancy. The day whizzed by, and before we knew it, everyone was sitting around the fire pit just as the horizon lost its last traces of daylight. Samantha cuddled up with Eugene and had not paid all that much attention to Eric the entire day. Nadia and Christian cuddled up on one side of Owen and Dahlia while Morgan and Valarie occupied the other. I was snuggled up with Keitan, and Cara sat next to us, worrying over a crochet project she'd started for Di's babies. It was beginning to look like a pink and blue afghan blanket. Cole and Eric were in their own little world talking about college majors.

Owen gently nudged Morgan and Valarie, and they got up so he and Dahlia could stand. The two cubs ran over to Cole and lay down on their paws beside him. He scratched them behind the ears, one hand on each cub, and they snuggled closer to him.

"Dahlia and I are going on a walk," Owen announced.

Eric, getting to his feet, addressed his nieces and nephew. "Who wants to go play video games?" He was answered with the insistent happy thumping of tails on the patio boards. "Okay, let's go!" But when Morgan didn't get up to follow, he asked, "Morgan, are you coming?"

She answered him in her wolf's voice.

"Okay, sweetie. Maybe later then."

When he walked inside, Morgan got up, trotted across the patio, and lay down next to Samantha, who lavished her with attention. Her tail thumped, and she started panting happily. Eugene smiled. He loved animals, so he thought it was the coolest thing ever. He scooted closer to Samantha and put his right arm around her waist. Morgan's tail stopped immediately. He reached out to scratch behind her ear, and a low growl rolled through her that got louder the closer he got. Samantha grabbed his hand, pulling it away, then eased him away from Morgan.

"Morgan, what's gotten into you?" Samantha chided.

Morgan got to her paws and took on her Human Form. The expression on her face emanated mutinous anger as she pointed at Eugene.