Kingdom of Wolves - Page 58

Looking over at Lyle, I can see he’s mulling over what Mr.Wallace said and seems to be happy with what he’s heard. I have a question,however. “Mr. Wallace, if you have a shifter, who the town does not want toaccept, what happens to them?”

“They are led from the territory to either a pack they wantto join or to no-man’s-land. Now, it’s not very often that a shiftervoluntarily enters no-man’s-land. They’d much rather rejoin a pack of theirchoice.”

“I can imagine they’d rather join a pack. We’ve had somejoin us this way obviously, and it’s always worked out well for our pack andthem. But I can assume some don’t settle into a pack and have to be moved on.”Lyle says and pats my knee.

“Any other questions?” Mr. Wallace asks, and both I and Lyleshake our heads that we don’t. “Okay, come along then, keep up and askquestions when we leave the business, not during the visit.”

“Okay.” Both I and Lyle say at the same time, and I grinbecause we’ve become good friends and think very much alike, much to Brod’sdisgust I add, and his constant saying he’s my ‘Bestie’, while giving Lyledirty looks.

The first port of call is the diner and the lady who’d servedme when I first came to town greeted us warmly. Mr. Wallace smiles and turns toboth me and Lyle. “This is Helena. She runs the diner with the help of herhusband Jasper and daughter Ivory.”

“We’ve met briefly, and I’ve seen you around town. But it’snice to speak to you again.” Helena smiles at me, then turns to Lyle. “Youare?”

“Oh, sorry Helena. This is Lyle Walker of the Spirit WalkerPack. He’s here to learn some valuable lessons for when he is the Alpha.” Mr.Wallace quickly introduces him.

“Hello, Helena, it’s nice to meet you.” Lyle quietly saysand holds his hand out, which Helena takes, and he shakes it gently.

“Is it that time of the month, Wallace?” Helena asks beforeguiding us to the back of the diner and into a small office.

“It’ll not take long Helena because you are so organized.Have you had any problems?” Mr. Wallace asks and both Lyle and I remain quietand watch.

“I had trouble getting fresh vegetables from old manEdwards. It’s maybe time he had an apprentice. He’s been growing vegetables fora long time for the town, but he’s getting so ornery that it’s hard to dealwith him. He put his prices up again too, which I had to throw to thecustomers. I think someone needs to speak to him.” Helena doesn’t look happy,but she’s not being nasty as she’s saying this. She’s looking sad about it.

“I’ll go see him, find out what’s going on. He’s getting onin years and maybe he needs help. I know he’ll not want it, but we may have togive him an ultimatum that he either takes the help, or we set someone else upto provide.”

Helena gives Mr. Wallace a sad look and nods her head beforeturning to the desk. She then hands an account book over to Mr. Wallace andwaits for him to look. We stand near the door watching and waiting while heflicks through the pages, then looks up at Helena. “I can see the price hike,and it’s more than he should have asked. I’ll go see him. In the interim, thecouncil will only take twelve percent instead of fifteen. It’ll help you keepthe price down for the customers.”

“Oh, thanks, Wallace. I’ll amend the prices immediately. Iknow my regulars will be happy to see that, as some said, they may have to stopeating out if this price rising continues.”

“If there is nothing else, we’ll move along.”

Helena gives all three of us a smile. “No, that’s all toreport this time, but if things change, I’ll come and speak to you at youroffice.”

Outside we walk away and towards the mechanic’s garage andbefore walking inside Mr. Wallace asks if we have questions.

“I think it was good that the town council is happy to standthe cost of the increase. Is that what would normally happen?” I ask, watchingfor any sign he’s not being honest.

“We would be happy to do as we have today to assist thebusiness and the customer. I’ll speak to Mr. Edwards and find out what ishappening and why he’s increasing his prices. If he won’t take any help, thenwe’ll have no option but to find someone else who’ll grow vegetables thatsupply the diner and the store. Many of the locals tried growing vegetables,but the percent of failures had many going back to buying.”

Lyle speaks. “We don’t own the businesses in Spirit WalkerPack, as you all do here. The individual shifter owns it, but they pay a tax onthe business to the pack to assist the pack runs smoothly. I can see that forthe town this is a great idea as many coming here would have nothing,especially if they did as Tati and rejected the pack with only what they cancarry. I applaud you all for doing it and helping each other. It’s a noblething you are doing.”

I can see Mr. Wallace is pleased with Lyle’s comment andwhen he squeezes Lyle’s shoulder before we walk into the garage, it confirmsfor me that the town is good, even if it’s full of rogues.

The rest of the visits go well, but the garage takes us thelongest as Lyle asked so many questions about the vehicles that I felt liketaking a nap from boredom.

By four o’clock I’m well ready to get back to the farm, andthe reports on each of the businesses Mr. Wallace had us doing take forever.But I understand the reasons for doing it and the importance of keeping thingsdocumented.

Walking home, I’m dragging my feet as I’m tired and I knowDrake is coming over this evening to give us another hard lesson before Lyleand Chief Glen go home on Wednesday.

“Come on, Tati, buck up. It’s not been a bad day. We’velearned a lot, found out who runs what and why, and even how effective yourtown council runs.” Lyle wraps an arm around my neck and drags me along besidehim.

“I’m just tired. My brain hurts with all the information andchoices I’ve got to make, eventually.” I rest my head on Lyle’s shoulder andbump against him as we walk.

“Climb on and I’ll piggyback you to the farmhouse.” Lylechuckles. “Rest your legs before Drake makes you use every muscle in yourbody.”

Entering the farmhouse on Lyle’s back, laughing, he comes toa stop and we both look at Flint, who is sitting at the kitchen bench sipping aglass of orange juice. I slide off Lyle’s back and give Momma Akela a smilebefore turning back to Flint.

“Before you ask, I’m here to give an update on BlackshadowPack, then I’m going home to check on things at the shifter council.” Flintwatches as I take a seat and we all look over when the door opens, and PoppaLykos walks in with Chief Glen behind him.