27 Happy Birthday, Boots (3)

Isabelle had already reserved a booth for the group at the restaurant. She said a few short words to the maître d' and another place was set for Hunter next to Ash.

"So, tell us how this came to be," Isabelle asked, referring to Ash and Hunter. Isabelle had to play hostess at some of her father's dinner parties and it was the hostess's job to keep the conversation going and make sure everyone was entertained. She didn't particularly enjoy hosting when she had to do it for her father's casual functions, but she was eager to take on the role at Ash's birthday. She was particularly interested in hearing about the birthday girl's new relationship.

"Uhm, how?" Ash glanced at Hunter, looking to him for answers. There was no way she could tell her friends exactly what happened between her and Hunter without sounding crazy (assuming they didn't know about the werewolf thing) or without mentioning the werewolf thing (assuming they already knew and were just asking for confirmation).

[Geez, even I don't know the answer to that question. I wasn't even awake for it when it happened,] Ash thought.

"Uh, well it happened at school, obviously," Hunter answered, making it sound like a joke. It was the obvious answer, but it wasn't what Isabelle was looking for.

"Well, obviously---"

"What do you mean ~it~?" Celia asked, interrupting Isabelle.

"It?" Hunter and Ash asked at the same time.

"~It~ obviously!" Celia said, sounding irritated. "You said ~it~ happened at school?"

Celia, blunt as ever, just wanted to get down to the burning question. She heard the word "it" and she immediately pounced on it. Which wasn't really surprising, given what she thought she overheard Hunter and Ash talking about at the library. She already assumed that they were doing ~it~ since she had seen the couple making out between the stacks.

"Celia, darling, that's kind of an inappropriate question, don't you think? I just meant their relationship, not ~that~ part specifically," Isabelle said, delicately.

"Oh!" Ash exclaimed under her breath, belatedly realizing what Celia's question actually meant. She was so preoccupied with keeping her cover as a human that she hadn't realized her non-existent sex life had almost become a topic for discussion.

Hunter, for his part, quietly looked away.

It got very quiet at the table for a moment after that. They finished their appetizers in awkward silence. It was the kind of heavy quiet that could not be saved by a quick change in topic. The moment passed and the only way to move on from the silence was by introducing more food.

Fortunately, their steaks arrived just in time to change the atmosphere.

"I hope the meat is to your liking, my darling. Happy birthday, Boots!" Isabelle said to Ash as the server left.

"Thank you for the treat, Izzy. I'm so happy right now," Ash said as she sliced into the buttery Wagyu beef. She popped a slice into her mouth and practically swooned. It was the juiciest, richest piece of meat she had ever tasted.

And yet, as Ash savored the expensive cut of beef, her thoughts wandered back to the deer she had killed in the woods. She had dreamed that she was eating fried chicken at the time, but the taste and feel of the deer's blood and flesh in her mouth had been unforgettable. It was a distinct experience, wild.

The Wagyu in the restaurant was the most expensive cut of meat on the menu, and yet Ash couldn't say that it was better than the deer. She shuddered at the thought.

"Are you okay?" Hunter asked her.

"Yes, the meat is very good," she answered.

"But?"

Ash didn't even need to say anything. Hunter looked into her eyes and understood. He knew she was thinking about the deer meat. He knew because he thought about it too. Cooked food was still delicious and he loved all kinds of cuisine, but the taste of fresh hunted meat was incomparable.

As Ash put another slice of meat into her mouth, Isabelle noticed the new bracelet on her wrist. Ash didn't own any jewelry, and the silver clasp and the dangling charm on her braided leather bracelet caught Isabelle's eye.

"Is that a birthday present on your wrist, Ashy?"

"Oh, yeah, Hunter gave it to me in the car. It looks cool, doesn't it?"

"It does. It looks great on you. It's just your style. What's that charm on there. Is that a dog?"

"It's a wolf actually," Hunter answered.

"Oh, why is that?"

"I actually wanted to get her a werewolf but I couldn't find any."

Isabelle's brows knitted together at Hunter's strange answer. She couldn't think of anything to say to that so she just said, "Oh, okay. That's interesting."

[Isabelle doesn't know,] Hunter thought.

Meanwhile, just beside Ash, Celia had been struggling with her food. She had been hearing whispering in her head ever since she saw Ash and Hunter together at the parking lot. The voices had quieted while she was in the car with Isabelle, but the whispering had started all over again when Ash sat beside her at their booth.

Her mood had been sour ever since their meal started. She had wanted to laugh off her awkward line of questioning and apologize to Ash, but the voices in her head had distracted her from doing so.

As she heard Hunter say the word "werewolf," something clicked inside her brain. She grasped her steak knife in a closed fist and slowly turned to Ash.

Ash was smiling at her and holding out her wrist. Celia raised her knife.

"Do you wanna see my new bracelet, Cece?" Ash asked.

Hunter saw Celia raise her steak knife over Ash's outstretched hand and immediately reached forward over Ash to try and grab the blade out of Celia's hand.

As Hunter made a grab for Celia, he accidentally pushed Ash forward and Ash's hand fell on Celia's face. The silver charm pressed against Celia's chin and she screamed like she had been burned. Celia's knife grazed Ash's arm, drawing a line on her skin. The opened wound was a thin streak of bright red, the blood trailing to a beaded point at the end of Celia's knife.

Ash didn't even realize she'd been cut. She just stared at Celia's screaming face and saw a wisp of smoke where the silver wolf had pressed against her chin. It was like smoke coming from a thin cigarette, but it was coming off of her friend's skin. And her friend was screaming.

Suddenly, she was in Hunter's arms and he was yelling at Celia. Isabelle's eyes were wide and she had her arms around Celia who still had her mouth open in a now soundless scream. The steak knife fell quietly onto the carpeted floor.

"What the hell, Celia?!" Hunter yelled.

"The Master . . . " Celia said, shuddering.

Hunter stood up and pulled Ash along with him.

"Izzy, I'm sorry but I'm taking Ash with me now. She'll call you when we've landed. I'm taking her home with me."

Hunter pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the blood on Ash's arm. He threw the stained handkerchief on the table and led Ash away from the booth.

Isabelle sat stunned with her arms still around Celia. When the server came over to clean up the mess, Isabelle merely nodded to him. She finally noticed that Celia had fallen asleep in her arms. She set her friend to lie down on the booth and then she set her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands.

She couldn't bear to look at the unfinished meals on the table, and yet she couldn't seem to leave the booth either.

Somewhere in the kitchen, the server wrapped the steak knife in the discarded bloody handkerchief. A voice in his head was telling him that he had to bring the blood to the Master up in the woods. The wolves were already gone, the little bit of dried blood would have to do for now.