What It Means To Be Me

Finding a New Beat

"You guys better be nice, okay? He doesn't understand much yet."

"We'll be nice, jeez."

"Yeah, not like we haven't known each other for what, our whole lives? We aren't gonna rag on your new friend, Ry."

Waking up to the sound of strange voices had a quiet growl slipping from my throat as I sat up, hunching over in a defensive position. When I realized no one else was in the room, I focused my attention toward the door, baring my teeth a few second before a quiet knock sounded on the other side.

"Hey, Tanner? Are you awake?"

It took my sleepy mind a moment to remember what awake meant.

"Yes," I replied as I slid out of the bed. I hadn't taken off my shoes last night as I'd seen Cole do every time he went to bed, but I guess I had been worried someone else might eat them before I got a chance to. They were comfortable anyway, so they didn't bother me when I slept. The door opened right as I straightened up. To my surprise, there were two new people standing behind Ryder who followed him into the room. They were all wearing smiles so I carefully put my own on and waited for someone else to speak.

"Hey, Tanner, these are my friends, Warren and Macon."

I looked over the two new people and eventually forced a smile as I realized they were the two people with Ryder the night he'd rescued me from the snow.

"My name is Tanner."

Their smiles widened a little, and they held out their hands for me to shake, which I learned from Cole when I was still a wolf. I put my hand in both of theirs quickly, then turned my full attention to Ryder, giving him a real smile.

"Thank you for let me stay here last night."

He nodded and gestured his friends out, then for me to follow as he headed for the kitchen and the other two dropped onto the sofa. When we stepped into the kitchen, I noticed the strong scent of meat and licked my lips as I saw it sitting on a plate near a new pan.

"Do you like bacon, Tanner?"

Oh! I remember that. Yes.

"Yes," I shouted as I walked over and grabbed a piece, then promptly began tearing off a big chunk with my teeth. When I got around to chewing it, I noticed the look on Ryder's face and paused.

"I would say I'm surprised you just ate a piece of raw bacon, but I'm really not. You like it that way more than cooked, Tanner?"

Do I?

"I like both," I mumbled around the piece I was still needing to chew. That made Ryder nod and smile before he turned to the stove and got the pan heating.

"Alright, I'll leave you another uncooked one, then fry the rest, okay?"

"Mmph," I replied as I chewed up the rest of the strip I'd just put in my mouth, before grabbing the other and inhaling it, too.

"Hey, Ryder. You wanna practice after breakfast since we're all here anyway?"

The sudden shout from the living room had the hairs on the back of my neck bristling, but I bit down on the growl trying to come out.

"Sure," Ryder shouted back, drawing my attention back to him with curiosity.

"Practice?" I asked as I leaned over to get a good smell of the now-cooking strips of bacon in the pan.

"We play music, Tanner. Remember I mentioned my band last night?"

Oh, yes. He did say that word last night.