She narrowed her eyes. “Are they unchanged werewolves or real?”
“This pack is the real Canis lupus. The unchanged ones live near their alpha’s territory. Rylee’s pack doesn’t initiate the change.”
Gaby glanced at the beautiful wolves. “This is my second time seeing a pack in the wild. Not counting lycans.”
“Why don’t you use your charm to get their attention?”
“Won’t they freak out the horses?”
“Our horses are trained to be comfortable around wolves.”
“Oh, yeah. Duh.”
Cricket dismounted. “Go on. Do your thing.”
Gaby nodded and got off her horse. She stared at the pack frolicking in the meadow.
The wolves paused and glanced at them. One howled and the rest followed her call.
“I just told them to say hello,” said Gabby.
“Nice.”
“I’ll ask them to come to us.” She focused.
The pack of eight wolves trotted toward them and then stood as if waiting for Gaby’s next command.
“Very cool. What can you have them do?”
“I can make them beg like trained poodles or rip someone to shreds.”
“Okay. We’re friends, right?”
Gaby smirked. “Don’t worry. I’m over when you knocked me out.”
“How about having them sit all at once?”
Gaby nodded. Immediately, the wolves sat down and waited for their next command.
Cricket laughed. “Good thing your charm doesn’t work on our kind.”
“Unfortunately, lycans have too much human in them.”
“Send them off and then we can have lunch.”
Her stomach growled earlier and she wondered if Cricket heard it. Riding and the brisk cold air gave her an appetite. “Okay.” She threw them a nod to return to the forest and they did.
Cricket went to her saddlebag and pulled out a sack. She unrolled a blanket and set it over fairly dry ground. She had packed all sorts of sandwiches, cheeses, trail mix, and bottled water. “Dig in. When we go back, we can play games or watch a movie.”
As much as she missed Steele, having a girl’s day out took her mind off whether he decided to keep her or not. “Sounds good.” She took out a pastrami sandwich and bit into it. “Not bad.”
“The LIA has the best deli.”
“Good to know. Especially, if I decide to stay.”
“What? You have a better place to go?”
“Rylee said as long as I don’t spill the beans I can live pretty much anywhere.”