The Wolf in Sheep's Skin

Chapter 20

“I want to sit there! You sit here!” Henry shouted next to me. He’d popped up out of nowhere, making me jump. He pointed at the seat further from me, which was next to my dad. Jay smiled at him and chuckled, taking a seat in the chair Henry pointed at.

“Hello again, Henry.” Jay said, as Henry scrambled up into his chair. “Have you been listening like I told you to?”

“Sometimes I don’t want to.” Henry struggled to scoot his chair in, and I moved to help, but Jay was quicker. People moved around us and began handing dishes around the table, scooping food onto their plate.

“Listening is hard.” Jay nodded thoughtfully. I paid attention to the people around me. Everyone was chatting amongst themselves, and the kids were giggling. The table was full of dishes with different sides, roasted veggies, potatoes cooked in multiple ways, salads, breads; there was a little bit of everything. The meat was in giant platters throughout the table, and the smell was mouth-watering.

Bridget caught my eye. She was glaring at Jay with hatred and biting her lip like she was stopping herself from shouting. What’s her problem? Maeve handed me a dish with garlicky turnips, and I scooped them out onto my plate. I turned to offer turnips to Henry.

“Why are you wearing that?” Henry asked in a disgusted tone. He pointed at Jay’s apron, scrunching his nose. All the adults at the table went quiet, and my cheeks warmed.

“Pink is my color.” Jay answered, like it was obvious.

“Pink is for girls.”

“Well then, I guess you can’t have any of the raspberry cake Orla made, since it has pink frosting.” Jay shrugged. “Or strawberries, watermelon, or anything else pink.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Henry shouted at him, making Jay laugh. “Boys aren’t allowed to wear pink!” He balled up his little fists, shaking them.

“Oh, they aren’t allowed to wear pink. Got it.” Jay nodded again, then squinted at Henry. He leaned in close to Henry and tutted at him. “I’m sorry to give you the bad news, Henry. But it appears your lips are pink.” Jay sat up and shrugged. “Oh well, boys aren’t allowed to wear pink. I guess we’ll have to take them!”

Jay reached out his hand, closed it, then made a popping sound with his mouth. He flung Henry’s ‘lips’ over his shoulder, tossing them away, and made a splatting sound.

“Hey!” Henry jumped from his chair and giggled. “Give them back!”

“Oh no! Your tongue is pink too!” Jay made the same motion, pretending to steal Henry’s ‘tongue’, then tossed it away. Henry laughed more, snorting and giggling, an infectious sound.

Jay laughed with him, a pleasant rumbling sound that came deep from his chest. His eyes lit up and sparkled as he played with Henry.

“Alright, get back in your chair so we can eat.” Jay pointed to Henry’s chair. He scrambled into it.

“Want some turnips, Henry?” I asked. He scrunched up his nose and shook his head.

“Vegetables are gross!” He leaned away from me, holding up his hands.

“I’ll take some.” Jay grabbed the dish from me and scooped some out onto his plate. Henry sat up, watching him. Jay moved to hand off the tray to my dad.

“Wait! I want some.” Henry mumbled, and Jay chuckled, scooping him out a bit.

We passed trays and dishes around, and everyone ate. Henry bombarded Jay with questions, but he didn’t seem to mind. Eventually, Henry finished eating, along with most of the kids, who ran off to keep playing in the yard.

The adults chatted, which was mostly Erik asking Jay about his dealings with the Fae. Jay gave him short, bored answers, but Erik didn’t seem to notice.

My dad cleared his throat, interrupting Erik, who’d been about to ask another question.

“Is there anything fun to do around here, Jay? This place is a lot more rural than where we’re from.” My dad stroked his beard and raised a brow at him.

“There’s not much to be honest. Fishing, hunting, boating. You could get a plane if that’s your thing.” Jay shrugged. Mom scoffed and adjusted herself in her chair.

“There isn’t a bar around? All I’ve seen is a diner on Main Street.” Dad frowned.

“It’s on Old Pine Road. It’s not much, but they have pool tables.”

“You’ll show me then? Let us get a drink together!” My dad laughed and clasped Jay on the shoulder. Jay tensed and froze, then relaxed.

“Mind if I invite Ansel?”

“The Alpha himself? It would be an honor to drink with him.” My dad’s eyes sparkled, like he’d won the lottery.

They continued talking, and soon everyone was finished eating. We picked up the table. The rest of the party was hazy, with everyone’s belly full and the sun shining down on us.

I stuck with Quinn and Maeve, and Maeve kept eyeing me, giving me knowing looks. The three of us sat on the back patio, tucked in a corner away from the commotion. Maeve and Quinn were talking while we drank homemade strawberry lemonade.

I tried to focus on what they said, since they were talking about Quinn’s new school. But Jay was out in the grass, after being dragged out to play by Henry. He was on all fours, letting kids ride him like a horse as he crawled around in the grass. He played the part well, neighing, and making funny sounds.

One of siblings, who was 3, ran up and pretended to stab him with a stick-sword. He fell over, making fake sounds of pain. The kids all laughed, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Makes your ov*ries explode, doesn’t it?” Maeve whispered in my ear. I glared at her, and she laughed. I jabbed my elbow in her side, and she let out a playful gasp.

“Ouch!” She clutched her side and made dramatic cries of pain. Quinn giggled and Maeve pretended to fall over on her. “You got me!” Maeve froze for a moment with her eyes closed and her tongue hanging out, then peeped one eye open at me.

“Very funny.” I rolled my eyes and laughed. She sat up straight and leaned into me.

“What did he say?” She whispered, but I almost covered her mouth.

“You know he can hear you, right?” I glared at her.

“You really think he can hear me all the way over there?” She whispered and motioned to him. He was far away and had stood up off the ground.

“He’s an old wolf; we’re all outside, and there’s no loud noises.”

“There’s no way; he’s too far.” Quinn snorted.

He turned to us with a big grin on his face and blew us a kiss. Maeve’s face dropped and Quinn looked like she’d swallowed a frog.

Henry jumped up and down at Jay’s feet with his arms extended. Jay nodded to him, picked him up, and put him on his shoulders. Jay took off running with Henry screaming in childish joy, and the other kids followed. The pink apron flapped in the wind.

“How did you know?” Maeve gave me a puzzled look.

“Dad told me about old wolves.” And I could hear him too. I’d been listening to the way he talked to the kids. Gentle and patient, laughing with them. Playing, giving them his full attention.

It almost made me forget what a j*rk he was.

“Wait. Can Dad hear like that?” Quinn asked in horror and Maeve grimaced.

“Yeah.” I chuckled, and glanced at him, cleaning his barbeque. He shook his finger at me, like he was mad I was giving away his secrets.

Soon the sun started to set, and everyone slowly streamed inside, picking at the desserts on the table. The house quieted, and I stayed in the kitchen washing dishes.

“I won’t forget about that drink we talked about!” Dad said to Jay. They’d been at the door saying goodbyes. Jay laughed, and they agreed on a day and time. I scrubbed muck off dirty plates. Maeve and Quinn were with me, and we made an assembly line.

“Thank you for the gifts!” Mom said, back to fawning over him.

“My apologies for the commotion.” Jay said, and I could almost hear his smirk.

“Oh, what’s a party without commotion?” She laughed. “Please, come by again soon!

“Thank you for having me.” Jay said, and the front door clicked. His footsteps made gravel out front crunch.

Maeve stared at me with pouty lips. She motioned towards the door and tried shooing me.

“Stop that!” I leaned away from her, and she pleaded with me with her eyes.

I frowned, and our parents talked at the front door about how well things had gone. I clenched my jaw, thinking about Jay’s smug face when he’d given me his cr*ppy apology.

How smug he looked, in his nice shirt, with his tasty lemon bars, in that st*pid apron.

I froze and glared at the bubbly water in the sink. He whistled in the front yard, with metal clinking, the familiar sound of someone swinging their keys.

“Did he take it off?” I asked to the sink.

“What?” Maeve asked.

“The apron? Did he take it off?” I stood up and looked at her. I tried to recall seeing him without it on, but he’d worn it all day. Even when he’d been inside, complimenting mom’s raspberry cake, he’d been wearing that st*pid apron.

I growled and quickly washed my hands. Stomping out of the room, my parents scrambled out of the way as I stormed past them and swung the front door open.

“Hey! That isn’t yours!” I raced off the patio towards him. He was on the other side of his truck, like he was about to open the door and leave. He stopped whistling, and his keys stopped clinking.