Chapter 45

The mashed potatoes while clearly instant, actually tasted buttery and almost homemade and then there was the store-bought roll which didn’t bother her at all either. She took a careful bite of each item in turn and sat back, looking from Daniel to Sara and back again. Daniel handed Sara’s plate over to her and he waited, holding his plate as he watched her with obvious love and concern.

Watching the way the two of them acted was like watching some sort of old Victorian ritual of propriety. Amanda’s curiosity was driving her crazy by the time Sara had sampled each item and Daniel finally began to eat his own food. “Okay, so next question. Explain what the hell all this is about.” Amanda gestured around at their plates, indicating what she was talking about.

The couple exchanged looks. Sara blanched at the question so Daniel cleared his throat and then mulled over the question for a moment before finally speaking up. “Well, you see in our tribe, those of the highest rank always eat before those of the lower ranks. It reminds us to be respectful of those who guide and lead and protect us.”

Amanda considered that and then nodded. “Okay, that makes sense… you eat after Sara because she’s wolf and you’re human. But shouldn’t that mean that Sara eats before me, then you eat after her because you’re human, but you’re also her mate… and then I eat because I’m only human or am I some kind of tribal princess because of who my—my parents were?” Amanda stumbled slightly over her words. It felt strange to call anyone her parents but the two people who had loved her and raised her all her life.

Once again Daniel and Sara exchanged a look. Daniel opened his mouth and then closed it, then opened it again and closed it again.

Sara came to his rescue. “Well, something like that. But also you are our guest and that puts you at the top because while you are our guest, you are honored and treated with the highest form of respect.”

The answer made sense enough to Amanda, at least as much sense as anything else had made to her today. She ate in silence as she pondered what she might ask next. “So, you think that the man who killed my birth parents is somehow working with the men who killed my foster parents and that they’re all—“ The words caught in her throat and her fork clattered noisily to her plate, causing both Sara and Daniel to jump in surprise.

Two pairs of eyes watched Amanda as she sat there on the couch, plate held on her lap and her stomach tied in knots. “That means—“ She blinked hard twice, but she couldn’t push the tears back this time. Today had already been so painful. She didn’t need this guilt added onto it. “It’s my fault they died. My foster parents, I mean. It’s my fault that they are dead. The hunters weren’t there for them. They were there for me.”

Amanda stood up quickly and gestured to her plate. “I’m just. I’ll just go and—and put this—“ She gestured toward the door that Daniel had come from when he’d brought them their drinks and later their food. She just needed a minute, or maybe a year or ten to try to come to terms with what she’d just learned. She scraped the plate free of debris and then moved to the sink and turned on the water, sitting the empty plate down in the sink.