“Smells good,” Austin said as he walked into our dining area with Cody not far behind.
“Fish again?” Cody asked with a slight wrinkle of his nose.
“It’s going to be fish until you manage to find a wild herd of cows running down the beach,” I told him with a grin.
Austin laughed and shook his head at the thoughtful look on Cody’s face.
“Not going to happen, bro,” Mason chuckled.
“We only have access to local supplies right now,” Caleb added as he set his iPad aside and stretched his arms up.
“Technically,” Jason said thoughtfully. “Anna has access to everything now that she can make gateways.”
Cody looked at me with hope in his eyes.
“That would attract too much attention,” Austin reminded him. “The humans aren’t aware that a wolf pack lives here in Seaside, and we don’t want to tip other supernaturals off to Anna’s growing powers.”
Cody sighed, but he grabbed a handful of silverware to help set the table. Austin dropped a kiss on the top of my head before pouring himself a glass of wine from the bottle I’d opened.
“How are we doing on stores?” Austin asked, looking in my direction.
I waved a hand toward Mason. “The twins have been doing a great job with that.”
Mason straightened up a little. “We have a steady supply of fish coming in, thanks to Connor and Aaron,” he told Austin. “We’ve been rationing pasta and rice, but we’re running low. Not many vegetables are in season, but we found a farm who was willing to trade sweet potatoes for fish.”
I never realized that the reason we had fresh vegetables in the grocery store year-round was because they were sourced from all over the world. Once global trade ground to a halt, we had to rely on what we could buy or barter for locally. It was early in spring, so crops were limited, and everyone in Seaside was scrounging for fresh food.
“Get used to it,” James grumbled as he strode into the room. “Things are going to be tight for at least a year or two.”
“That long?” Jason asked with a frown.
“We have to get rid of the dark fae so the world can go back to normal,” Caleb reminded him.
“Not just that,” I added. “Things need to settle down enough that people feel safe enough to go back to their jobs, and companies can open back up for business.”
Everyone took their seats at the table as the twins dished up our food.
“Fish and sweet potato fries aren’t bad,” Caleb said after tasting the first bite.
“You say that now,” Cody warned. “But wait until after you have to eat that for several weeks in a row.” He looked at Mason pointedly. “Just how many sweet potatoes did you get from the farm?”
“Enough to feed you,” Mason mumbled.
I held back my chuckle and decided to change the subject.
“I’m glad we decided to have dinner with just the seven of us tonight,” I said with a smile. “I think we needed a little bit of time to ourselves.”
“Agreed,” the twins enthusiastically said in unison.
The past few days had been challenging. At the beginning of all this, the guys had carefully planned out the living arrangements that they were building around the property, and it hadn’t been easy to accommodate the extra wolves from Justin’s old pack. Cody and Austin had been busy smoothing over rising tension and easing the resentment from our packmates. Austin had a strict code for who he let into the pack, and the newest arrivals didn’t meet them. There were special circumstances involved, but it was still going to be a bumpy road going forward. Many of our guys saw the newcomers as an extra burden that we simply didn’t have the resources for. The newbies were going to have to prove they could pull their own weight here.
“I finished all the medical exams,” I said cheerfully. “Everyone is healthy and sound.”
There were murmurs of acknowledgement all around the table, but the mood was still off. Everyone here was tired and overworked. Plus, we hadn’t had bonding time together in far too long, and I could feel us drifting apart a little. Each person here was completely consumed by their tasks for survival. It didn’t leave spare time for fun.
“Lori’s doing a great job helping out with the clinic,” I continued. “I think her guys are fitting in as well, right?”
Lori and her crew were another group that didn’t meet Austin’s requirements. They weren’t prior military and had no