Free Dancer's Heart by R. E. Butler

sprout fur, but that was about it.
That made him bottom-tier of the wolf pack. Adam’s scars make him
an omega because he can’t run as fast in his shift as others. But
you know what I think?”
    “What?”
    “I see how he looks at you. If you were in
trouble, nothing would slow him down. I think packs start to see
the laws as the be-all and end-all of life. They forget that
underneath the laws are the people who are affected by them. Is
Kammie less of a wolf because she has scars from childhood abuse?
Is Jer less of a wolf because he’s a strange hybrid
scary-movie-monster wolf? Or Adam because he’s got scars from a
fire? Hell no. This is what Jer and I like to call hierarchy
bullshit.”
    Dani chuckled. “The sleuth didn’t have a
hierarchy like that. It was just the king. Everyone did what he
said, and everyone pitched in.”
    “It would be cool if the pack was like that,
but I think that in spite of the archaic laws there is something
good about it. I think the laws have a place.”
    “They remind us that we’re not human,” Dani
offered.
    “Exactly. Now,” she said, clapping her hands
together, “are you ready to clean a kitchen and bundle up some old
newspapers?”
    “You bet.”
    The two left the warm car and walked down the
street to the home of a widowed she-wolf named Esrami. Honey
knocked loudly several times and then opened the door.
    “Ez? Are you decent?” Honey called.
    “I’m never decent,” a woman
answered.
    Dani chuckled. She and Honey draped their
coats over the kitchen chairs as they walked through into the
family room, where a fire blazed brightly in the fireplace and a
woman, gray hair piled high on her head, sat with fabric in her
lap.
    Honey bent and hugged the woman. “Esrami,
this is Dani. She’s Adam Cruz’s mate.”
    Esrami pulled her reading glasses off and
looked up at Dani. “Well, hello. You’re a reindeer?”
    “Wow, you can tell that so quickly?” Dani
asked.
    Esrami touched her nose. “Eyesight goes, but
the nose sticks around. It’s nice to meet you.”
    Dani shook Esrami’s hand. Honey pulled a
chair over and said, “I’m going to start working on the kitchen.
You talk to Ez. She’s a hoot. I’ll make some hot chocolate.”
    “A hot toddy would be better,” Esrami told
her.
    “It’s too early to drink,” Honey said.
    The old woman harrumphed. “Fine, I’ll wait
until you leave and have two.”
    Dani laughed. “What are you working on?”
    Esrami blinked jade-green eyes at Dani and
smiled. “I’m making a quilt for Honey and Jeremiah, for their first
pup.”
    “I’m not pregnant!” Honey yelled from the
kitchen.
    “I didn’t say you were,” she hollered back.
To Dani she said, “It takes me so long to quilt nowadays I have to
start before someone is pregnant, or I can’t finish in
time.” She gestured to the quilts hanging on the wall and over the
couch, loveseat, and recliner. “I’ve been quilting since I was a
young pup. My grandmother taught me. My Ralph and I never had any
pups, but my sister had several and I was able to teach my niece
how to quilt. She sent me that one for my last birthday,” she said,
pointing to a pretty pink and mint quilt over the recliner.
    “That’s so cool. I don’t know how to
sew.”
    “Your mom never taught you?”
    “Well, my real mom was killed when I was
little, and my adopted mom was a baker and not much for sewing.”
She leaned forward and looked at the fabric in Esrami’s lap. The
small squares were a mixture of pastel colors and patterns,
ensuring it would be perfect for a boy or a girl.
    “This is a patchwork quilt. It’s my favorite
kind, because you can do anything you’d like with the pattern.”
    “It’s beautiful,” Dani said.
    “Would you like to learn?”
    “I’d love to!”
    The scent of pine cleaner drifted into the
room and Dani chuckled as she stood to go help Honey in the
kitchen. “Maybe not today.”
    “Anytime.”
     

 
     
    Chapter 7
     
    “I think we