I needed to get out of my funk and do something fucking normal. Fred had gotten me a crutch so I could move around a little more easily. It helped so much. I didn't have to have Abel around all the time, and I could go on short walks with Dave on my own now.

I took the short walk into town and stopped by Cal's brothers' garage. River was sitting by a table, fiddling with something and looked up when he must've heard me coming.

"Ey, look who it is out and about." He rose to his feet and tied the sleeves on his jumpsuit around his hips, smiling widely.

"Slowly but steadily," I said, trying to keep the mood breezy. Dave let out a small growl before sniffing at River's hand. River gently patted Dave on his head and the border collie mix opened his mouth, his tongue rolling out.

"You wanna walk a bit with me?" I asked and got a better hold on the leash and my crutch.

"Sure, I can take a break now. But I want lunch. On your dime. Don't even pretend your boyfriend isn't loaded."

"Not gonna pretend, but him being loaded has fuckall to do with me," I muttered and started walking. River wiped his hands in a rag on the way out of the garage and caught up with me. By walking in a normal tempo. So, there was no struggle at all there. But hey, I was walking on my own with no one there to support me and that was a win. I had made it all the way into the town centre. Which was usually a ten-minute walk, but it had taken me half an hour. I was here though, and Abel would pick me up after I had a chat with River.

We went to the club and got risottos. During the day the club had a seating area outside where you could bring your dog. There'd be a little water and you could order a little treat too. I hadn't gotten the chance to try it out with Dave yet, so I was actually excited for it. And to sit down. My leg was agony.

"I'm guessing this wasn't just a social call," River said after we got our food.

"It is and it isn't. I did wanna go out and have lunch, but I also wanted to know if you've told Frank anything."

"I told him you were pushed into a wolf trap and that they should be careful."

I nodded and shoved another spoonful of risotto in my mouth. "Yeah, that's cool. I was gonna do that myself but it's nice I don't have to. Thanks."

"Figured as much. I haven't been able to contact Meera. It's like she just dropped off."

"Yeah, I don't expect her to be as active anymore. I don't think she ever felt like she fitted in and with the wolf trap and all... I get where she's coming from."

River shrugged. "I don't know, man. It seems extremely weird to just disappear like that."

I shrugged too. "Wolves come and go. Sometimes we need to accept that they go and then don't come back. She didn't seem to form any bonds with the others either, so I honestly didn't expect her to stick around for long."

"If you say so. But I find it weird."

"You're allowed to. We don't have to agree on everything." I shrugged again.

"You've grown so much. I'm so proud." He wiped away a fake tear from his eye in an overly dramatic way that was completely unnecessary.

I rolled my eyes in response and fed Dave a treat. "Do you think we should try again with the other wolves?"

"I think you should at least give them the information. That someone's targeting wolves in this valley. Then they can choose to stay the fuck away, if they want. It'd suit you and fit your brand to give them the warning, no strings attached. And I bet that's why you even asked me. You wanted to know if that was bad idea. And no, it's not a bad idea. It's nice."

"Well, I guess that settles that then." I gave Dave another treat, because he was the best little old puppy in the whole wide world.

I was the first to arrive this time. And that was very deliberate. This time this was my meeting, my terms, my location. Okay it was the same location as the last time, but this time I had picked a booth not so far from the door so if I wanted to bolt fast, I could.

Frank was the first to come. He sat down next to me and looked around before settling his gaze on River, Samuel, Tasha and Abel.

"You brought the vampire?" he asked, arching a brow.

"Yep," I said without offering any kind of explanation. He'd see soon enough why I needed Abel there. I was way too proud to let anyone else help me get up from this booth. And I wasn't moving out of my seat. If I did, I'd have to struggle to get up. More than I would already. Here I could get Abel to help me while I used the table for support, and he'd be there for balance.

"Smart decision," Frank said then and moved the side of his mouth in what was probably supposed to be a smile, but it looked weird.

I snorted and then the next wolf appeared. Koyo walked in and smiled, sitting down in the booth.

"Glad you decided to see us again, Gael," she said softly and looked down at the menu. "I'm famished, so I'll be ordering food. You want anything?"

I politely declined as Manuel walked in. He offered Frank a nod and then just looked expectantly at me.

"Just gonna wait for the others," I said, thinking he might've been waiting for an explanation.

He just raised his eyebrows in response. I made the weird polite smile people from the 'burbs do by pressing my lips together and widening my eyes a little. It only made him frown at me, looking like he thought I was crazy.

Dee walked in and waved, offering a slight smile. "Don't think we need to wait for Dres to show up," she said.

"Not like we were best friends," I muttered. "Alright, then we're all here. I just wanted to gather you all to warn you and for you to hear that warning from me. There are wolf traps in our valley. Frank has encountered them and so have I. These are strong wolf traps too. If you get into one, I wanna offer our help. My friend knows how to counter them and heal whoever has triggered it. Or she can at least save your life." I stopped for a bit of dramatics. "She's doing this out of the goodness of her heart. You can take it or leave it."

"How serious has it been so far?" Dee asked, brows frowning.

"Serious. I was pushed into one. You can talk amongst yourselves about it now and get back to me about whether you wanna reconsider mixing with other kinds or not." I waved at Abel, and he came to our table, offering everyone a tight smile. Dee pulled back immediately, and Manuel stepped back.

I grabbed my crutch that had been laying under the couch for the booth and struggled to my feet. Abel grabbed my free hand and supported me. Would've been mortifying if I had fallen flat on my face, especially after being all mysterious about the seriousness of the traps. Maybe also a little funny. But mostly mortifying.

"How did it go?" Tasha asked once we were outside the diner.

I shrugged. "No idea. We'll see if they react differently this time or not."

Abel gave my arm a squeeze. "At least they've been warned."

"At least you got to be a little dramatic too," River said and snorted.

"What can I say? I like my dramatics."

"Seems like it worked," Tasha murmured and nodded towards the entrance of the diner. Frank and Dee came out and made their way towards us.

"That happened from the wolf trap?" Dee asked and nodded towards my crutch.

I nodded.

"Prognosis?"

"This is probably as good as it gets."

"Still better than you being dead, love," Abel said and got me to lean against the car, while he opened the door and helped me sit down on the front passenger seat.

How he just knew I was exhausted was a total mystery. Not that I was getting paler by the second and basically leaning all of my weight on him.

Dee glanced up at my boyfriend with a look that wasn't exactly friendly. But she wasn't giving off an entirely hostile energy either.

"I have people who can't afford to end up like you. Both as humans and as wolves. If I could've prevented it and someone ended up dead... Purity be damned. I'm in. Everything else is dumb at this point."

"Wish the others would agree there," I said.

"We can't force people, Gael," River said.

"Which I still think is dumb, but whatever," I said and sent off a cheeky smile.

He rolled his eyes in response.

"I've got your number from Frank. I'll be in touch," Dee said.

"Right, we gotta get home now," Abel said and shooed my legs into the car, closing the door.

I rolled the window down though, shaking my head to Frank. "He's protective."

"No shit," Frank said. "We'll be talking later."

I nodded and motioned at my own wolves to get into the car.