Brand entered the Heaven Has Mercy office and sat back down at his desk. He put his feet up and considered the ceiling. His wolf felt interested, interested enough to inwardly raise an eyebrow or that’s how Brand had always interpreted that feeling. He was pleased with the trial. And to think, Gideon knew a bit of everything.

His wolf decided to pipe up and remind him that Gideon had obviously been raised human. Brand grinned. The boy had been a little shocked at the kiss and hadn’t been able to hide it. Oh well, they couldn’t all be raised Heathens.

He reached for his phone. He punched in a number using his middle finger and tilted his head back and forth at the ceiling as he waited for the other end to pick up.

“Happy Threads Embroidery,” a woman answered.

“Good morning, Dakota, it’s Brand.”

“It isn’t morning. It’s lunch.”

Brand grinned. He hadn’t made his request and she was already getting snippy at him. “You sound fiery today.” He went on before she could say anything, “I need patches made up.”

“It’s a two week turn around.”

“By this evening.”

“And you know that!”

Brand grinned. “By this evening.”

“No. I refuse.”

“You’re the only one I trust to do this. And I need the Colorado and MC patches for the back and the prospect patch for the front by this evening. The rest I can pick up in a month or two.”

He heard her grinding her teeth.

He tsked his tongue. “You know that isn’t good for your molars.”

“Brand!” she shouted.

He raised his eyebrows and waited. There were more aggravated sounds on the other side of the phone. He added his last argument. He knew she wouldn’t refuse once he said it. “It’s potlatch tonight. I want him acknowledged.”

The phone went silent. “You, you,” she sputtered. She hated it when he did that! Potlatch was important.

“I can pick them up at four,” he said. He’d need at least an hour for them to be sewn onto the vest.

“It’ll be—” She said and named off a ridiculous sum that was almost twice the amount as last time.

Brand wrinkled his nose. “Done,” he said. Her phone slammed down and he pulled his quickly away from his ear. “I don’t think that was called for,” he muttered.

He could picture her in his mind, stomping her feet and waving her arms about and having a right old cussing fit. If she were really pissed, she’d be slamming the receiver against the base of the phone. The door opened and closed, and Reese walked by with his hands in his pockets and what looked like most of his pack of sled dogs milling around his feet. His sun streaked dark hair was slightly curly as if he hadn’t bothered to brush it. Brand grinned. “I riled up your girlfriend!” he shouted out the door.

Reese jerked to a halt and walked backwards. Somehow the dogs managed to get out of his way. He stopped fully framed in the door. “You did what?”

Brand smirked at him.

Reese’s eyes widened. “He’s been here a week and you’re ordering the patches now?”

One of the dogs slipped into the office and came around the desk, putting his head on Brand’s knee. Brand obliged him with a head scratch.

“I didn’t know if he was going to stay or not.” Brand flicked his free fingers.

“You say that every time.” Reese winced. “And that is with pups you’ve helped raise.”

“One never knows.”

Reese sighed. “Flowers, chocolates,” he muttered and started to tick off a list on his fingers and walked away. “Back rubs, dinner.” The dogs followed him.

Brand patted the one he was petting on the head, and the dog lifted his head and took off after the others. He chuckled.

---

At Pine Bough Apartments, Beda had not been in her apartment and one of the residents, a teenage girl who was a werewolf as far as he could tell, had seen him looking lost and confused.

She had kindly taken his arm and took him around the side of the apartment building. “She’s always around here somewhere this time of day,” she chattered, like teenage girls did in Gideon’s experience. “And here she is, Nana Beda, this nice looking young man was asking after you,” she said and looked far too curious for Gideon’s peace of mind.

Beda looked up and used the back of her hand to push fine white hair away from her eyes. She smiled and her round face crinkled up into wrinkles. “Looking for me? Why, I don’t remember you.” She looked around. “Where did I, oh there, if you would hand me that claw, I’ll finish weeding this begonia and—” She paused as she actually looked at him and by alchemy that Gideon could never explain how he knew exactly, he saw when she realized he was a werewolf.

Gideon slipped his arm out from the girl’s, reached down, and found the raking claw. He held it out to her handle first. “Gideon, Mrs. Beda. Brand sent me.”

Beda took the claw and her brow furrowed. “He did. And what is that boy up to now?” She held up a hand. “No. Wait.” She turned and weeded out the begonia, threw them into the wheelbarrow near her and then set the rake down, took off her gloves, and made like she was going to get up.

Gideon held out his hand. “Ma’am,” he said.

Beda’s eyes narrowed and she tucked her chin down. A small smile played across her lips and she took his hand. He helped her stand. Beda smiled. “Thank you.” She glanced at the girl. “Why don’t we head inside and get lemonade and you can tell me what Brand wants.” She tucked her arm into Gideon’s and headed back around the front of the building.

The girl giggled and, with a hop, skip, and jump, caught up with them. “I’m sure my mother is looking for me by now. I’ll see you later, Gideon,” she said with a wink and dashed off. Gideon looked after her bemused. He hadn’t gotten her name.

Beda shook her head. “The whole complex will know that Brand wants something within five minutes now.”

“Brand doesn’t really want anything.”

Beda snorted. “That boy always wants something,” she said. Gideon opened his mouth, and then shut it and opened the door for her. Beda continued ignoring that Gideon had been about to speak. “I’ve known him since he was bouncing on Randy’s knee.”

Gideon’s eyes widened. “He recommended your building as a place to rent.” Okay, that wasn’t exactly how Brand had put it, but it seemed more politic to put it that way.

A young woman with a black Mohawk came down the stairs. She saw Gideon and paused. Their eyes met a moment, and hers widened and she hopped back up the stairs, clinging to the wall. She looked around them a second later. Gideon tried a smile at her and she ducked right back behind the corner. He mentally shrugged and turned his attention back to Beda.

Beda stopped and looked Gideon in the eyes. “Sure, he did,” she said. “You must be that young pup that has everyone a buzzin’.” She started walking again. “Recommended. Hah,” she said.

“If it’s a bother, I can go someplace else,” Gideon said.

“A bother.” Beda stopped again and stared at him. “A bother. It’s not a bother, young man. How long have you been in Jasper?”

“A week.”

“And you’re staying at Rosie’s?” Beda asked. She’d known Rosie since Rosie had been bouncing her daddy’s knee too.

“Yes ma’am.”

Beda nodded. “Enough of this ma’am nonsense. I’m Beda, just Beda or Nana Beda to the pups and my grandchildren,” she said and opened her apartment door. “Now, normally it is first and last month’s rent, plus security deposit. I currently have a corner one bedroom open on the second floor. You’ll probably feel more secure up there. Rent is four hundred a month plus utilities. Since Brand sent you, all I require right now is the security deposit.”

Her apartment was pink, very pink. Gideon forced himself to pay attention to Beda. “I can—” he started to say.

“Until you get your feet under you and get settled,” Beda interrupted him.

Gideon tried again. “I can pay for all of it.”

Beda ignored him. “And the last tenant made a mess of the bed and I had to be rid of it. You’ll want to head over to the Homey Roost and pick up a new one. It’s the store with the rooster logo. Don’t let the name put you off. It’s got the biggest selection in Jasper.” She patted his arm and went around to the cupboards, got a pair of glasses and set them on the countered.

She opened the fridge, pulled out a big pitcher of lemonade and poured them two glasses. “Now, the secret to fine lemonade is,” she said, and opened the freezer and pulled out an ice cube tray. “Lemonade ice cubes,” she said with a big smile. Gideon smiled back. He wasn’t sure what else to do. Beda put a few ice cubes in both glasses and handed him one. “You’ll be wanting to see it of course,” she said.

“I’m not fussy.”

Beda looked him up and down. “Military?”

Gideon shifted on his feet and touched his tags. “Former.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“You’ve got the look to you still.” Beda picked up her glass and headed towards the door. She stopped in her small atrium and selected a set of keys off a long rack filled with hooks. “We’re slightly old fashioned,” she said and opened the door. “Bring your lemonade,” she ordered.

Gideon grabbed the glass and followed after her, feeling a bit out of his element. He really wasn’t fussy. Anything would suit him fine. He’d been living out of a locker for almost seven years now. He followed her up the stairs. He winced as his knee started to ache, but if the old lady was going up the stairs, he could go up the stairs.

“My grandson keeps telling me to use the elevator and I keep telling him that it makes me feel old,” she said and they turned the corner and onto the second floor. “Ah, there it is,” she said and they walked down the hall. She fit one of the keys into the lock and turned it. “South corner, lots of sunshine.” She pushed the door open and gestured for him to go first.

Gideon looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, you’re one of those.” Beda sighed but smiled and entered first.

Gideon took a sip of his lemonade and his face brightened. He followed her. He looked around. He really didn’t have any opinions about apartments having never needed one before. The kitchen and the living room, or he assumed it was a living room, were one room with an island separating the kitchen off from the rest of it. The walls were painted a flat white. He felt a bit of relief. He wasn’t a pink person. Light orange, he liked. Pink was not on his list of favorite colors. He didn’t mind it if a girl wore it and it looked good on her, it wasn’t something he’d personally wear or decorate with.

“The bedroom is the left door and the bathroom on the right.” Beda said.

Gideon nodded and didn’t move.

Beda rolled her eyes. “At least go look.”

He looked down at his feet, and went and checked. The bedroom was completely empty and had a small closet. The bathroom was like any other bathroom he’d ever seen, with a narrow closet he wasn’t sure the purpose of. He turned around and looked back at Beda.

“Security deposit is one hundred dollars,” she said. Gideon nodded.

That would be nine hundred with first and last months rent. He could afford it. His last paycheck had been rather hefty, and with them not discharging him until his knee was almost healed, the insurance had covered all the medical bills. With all the traveling he’d done, he was still well off. He’d never been a big spender, and keeping the auto running and sending money home to his folks had been most of his expenses, not all but most. “It’s nice,” he said. He set the glass down and reached into his back pocket. “I’ll have to go to a bank and get Colorado currency,” he said.

Beda nodded. “Bring the glass back when you’re done with it,” she said and handed him the keys.

He stared at them. “But I haven’t—” he sputtered.

“Brand sent you,” Beda said. “I’m sure you have plenty of errands to run.” She added, “I’ll turn on the fridge.”

Gideon met her eyes a moment and looked back down. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Beda,” she corrected.

“Beda,” Gideon mumbled.

“We’ll get your paperwork squared away as soon as you have your residency figured out.” She nodded and waved a hand at him. “Now get going.”

Gideon looked up. “Thank you.”

“You said that already,” Beda said.

“But I mean it,” Gideon said and smiled at her again.

“Hmph. Don’t forget your lemonade.”

“No, Beda,” he said and picked it up. It was really good lemonade. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Beda smiled. “Oh, I’m sure you will.”

Gideon eyed her, suddenly unsure about this old lady who looked like a friendly grandmother. He beat a hasty retreat.

---

Downtown Jasper held most of the smaller businesses, a few churches, and all the bureaucratic buildings needed for what had started as a small town to prosper that had over time morphed into a mid-sized city. Care had been taken to make sure it still felt like a small town. The brick buildings were built close together with every few buildings small alleyways wide enough for an auto to go through. The afternoon sunlight reflected off the westward facing windows that were cased in formed concrete with decorative tops. Second story balconies provided a roof over the colored concreted sidewalks and protected the shoppers from the sun.

The main drag of downtown had been kept relatively open so that the white spruce, the staple tree of the Black Hills that gave them their name, could be planted freely. In the center of the space and considered the center of town, a small lawn had been planted. In the middle of it was a large bronze statue of the founder of the town, Steele Barker. He surveyed the downtown with a small smile on his face, his eyes shaded by a cowboy hat and his feet planted solidly on a white piece of Black Hills stone. The different directions of traffic flowed to either side of him.

Brand nodded at his grandfather’s statue as he passed.

Brand pulled directly in front of Happy Threads Embroidery and parked. Due to the fact that most of the businesses downtown had free parking underneath their shops for convenience, there was almost always a parking space open in the early afternoon. Brand dismounted his motorcycle, and stepped up to the curb. He stopped and smiled at one of the shoppers. “Ma’am,” he said.

She smiled back at him. “Afternoon, Mister Barker.”

Her child skipped ahead of her, hopping from sidewalk square to sidewalk square. No two of them were colored exactly the same in a row. He turned around and beamed at Brand. “Afternoon, Mister Barker.”

Brand grinned at him. “Hey, puppy!” he said, reached into his vest and threw the boy a butterscotch candy.

The boy grinned showing a gap in his teeth. “Thank you!”

His mother rolled her eyes, and went and caught up with the boy.

Brand crossed the sidewalk, and opened the door to the shop. The bell set above the door jingled. He entered and let it shut. He glanced about. There wasn’t anyone at the counter. He glanced at the clock set on the wall. It was almost four. He grinned, sauntered over to the counter, leaned against it, looked down, and smirked at the bell. He reached out and, using the palm of his hand, pressed down on it. It dinged. Brand looked up and around. He cocked his head and listened. He didn’t hear anything other than the machines. He hit the bell again.

“I’m coming!” Dakota shouted.

Brand snickered and hit the bell again.

“I said I’m coming.” Her voice was louder.

Brand grinned and hit it again. He hit it once more.

Dakota reached out and grabbed it before he could hit it a sixth time. Her light curly golden brunette hair swung back and forth. His hand smacked the counter.

“Awww,” Brand said.

“I should have known it was you,” she growled. She frowned at him. Her round face was more suited to smiles. “Completely and totally unreasonable to everything else I have to do,” Dakota muttered. She twitched the hem of her polo shirt with the embroidered logo of the shop on it. She wore the Club logo as a pin near it. “And you owe me a new phone!”

Brand smiled at her and let her grouse. There was no point in riling up females if he couldn’t reap the rewards. “Are they done?”

“Of course they’re done.”

Brand leaned over the counter and kissed the side of her mouth. “I knew I could depend on you.”

She sputtered at him. She turned around and went out back again.

Brand grinned and rummaged around the conversation mints she had out in a bowl, choosing a handful of white ones. He sucked on them and waited, his eyes scanning the standard stock of pamphlets and business cards on display.

Dakota came back, pushed her hair behind her back and smacked the patches on the table. She lowered her eyelashes at him and quoted him the price.

Brand picked one up and checked it. “You know the rules, Dakota.”

“They’re perfect,” Dakota said.

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

“I do not tell you how to run the Club. Don’t tell me how to run my machines.” Dakota slapped the table.

Brand repressed a grin and made a show of checking them all. “I see you got all of them done.”

“It’s easier to do it all at once, as you well know.” Dakota sniffed.

“All appears to be in order,” Brand said, set the patches down. He reached into his kutte’s inside pocket and pulled out a well-stuffed envelope. He opened it and shook the contents into his hands and set the money down on the counter. “Here you are.”

Dakota stared at the bills and stared at him. “You’re joking,” she said.

He grinned at her. “No.”

“Those are ones.”

“Yeap.”

Dakota glared at him. “I don’t want to count that.”

“Then you’ll have to trust me.”

Dakota made a teakettle noise. “You know I trust you a lot.”

Brand lowered his lashes and grinned at her. “Not when it comes to money?”

“I have a business here, at least give me fives.”

Brand pretended to think about it. “Nope. No time.”

Dakota gritted her teeth and started counting. She made little piles down the counter of ten ones each and then counted them. “It looks to be all here,” she said. “Except for the last dollar.”

“Oh right.” Brand reached back into his pocket. “Here you are.” He handed her a rolled up thing of pennies.

“At least it’s rolled,” Dakota said.

He smiled at her. “I do love you,” he said. He leaned over the counter and kissed her cheek. “Thank you, Dakota. And do take off early, I believe Reese wants to take you out to dinner.”

She lowered her lashes. “You do this on purpose.”

“Think of how good it makes Reese feel to take care of you.” Brand picked up the patches, smiled at her again and left.

Dakota stared after him. She started. “You still owe me a new phone!” she shouted.

---

The Homey Roost was both what and not what Gideon was expecting. The proud rooster carved into the sign and the name of the store indicated to Gideon at first glance that the place would be full of country style décor. He’d grown up with ‘country’ style décor and was thoroughly sick of it. Walking in the door and his first survey of the first room had done nothing to change that impression.

It wasn’t until he found another sign with a store directory that he discovered that the store proudly declared that they stocked everything to make your home functional, comfortable, and decorative. There were seven floors. Six floors of furniture, appliances, and décor, and the top floor was a café. They sold everything from bathtubs to wine racks and this included, as stated on the paper store map, the kitchen sink. And if they didn’t have what he wanted right there and then, they could either order it or recommend another shop in town.

Gideon didn’t know whether to be amused, bemused, bewildered, or overwhelmed. He’d never done this before. He’d never really moved out of his parent’s house completely. His mother wouldn’t hear of him staying at a hotel when he was on leave. And when he’d been in the military, he’d stayed in the barracks during Basic and had never felt the urge to move out of them into an apartment on base or off base entirely.

Why should he? He’d had constant company, no need for a wardrobe beyond his fatigues and other uniforms. Everything he could want was on base, laundry, commissary, barber, bathhouses, and sport facilities. He went off base to go to bars, eat in restaurants, and meet women. He’d never gotten married or had a steady girl to need to get an apartment.

The military had been his life. He was good at it. He hadn’t needed anything else. Therefore, he had the right to feel a little lost.

He tested his leg and winced. He reached down to rub the knee. He’d abused it too much in the shantytown. He’d been having too much fun in a manner of speaking to notice until he was done and driving away. He’d have to take it easier for the rest of the day. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a list.

The small simple list that Brand had given him, or at least he thought it had been simple, had expanded the minute he’d told Rosie he was staying in Jasper and had found a place to rent. After the fragile feeling woman had hugged him. Rosie wasn’t a werewolf. She’d then sat down and rattled off a list of things he was going to need in order to, as Rosie put it, be snug as a bug in a rug in his new apartment.

He didn’t know where she’d picked up that expression. However, he’d left her place with a clean glass, cleaned out with real dish detergent, a list on actual paper as long as his forearm, and an admonition not to let Beda bully him. He wasn’t sure if Beda knew how to bully. She looked like everything he imagined a grandmother to look like. His grandmother as far as he knew had been human and died before he’d been born.

But Rosie’s list had been informative. Some of it, he didn’t think he needed, but he wasn’t about to tell Rosie that. Right now, what he really wanted was a bed, sheets, and towels. She suggested dishes, which he supposed he’d need at some point. He wouldn’t mind a comfortable couch and a coffee table too. Then he could go get shampoo and stuff in large bottles instead of the travel sized ones he’d been subsisting off of and fill the fridge with the extreme simple basics, bread, eggs, milk, butter, sandwich meat, peanut butter, jelly, mustard and mayonnaise.

The eggs might be out of the range of his cooking skills.

He checked his list. He might need to get a pan to cook the eggs. Pots and pans were on Rosie’s list. One pan, he thought, he needed one pan, maybe a pot if he wanted to try and boil them.

He frowned at the word curtains on the list. What did he need curtains for? The apartment had blinds. He snorted, stuck the list away, consulted the map, and decided to go look at beds first.

The store had an elevator and with a relieved sigh, he went to look for it. He didn’t dare subject his knee to stairs. He went to the floor that held beds and looked around. The décor changed from bed set up to bed set up. He wasn’t really worried about a headboard or a footboard for the bed. All he wanted was a bed frame and a comfortable mattress.

He went over to the nearest bed, sat on it and bounced.

Gideon grinned and then tried to suppress it. He felt like a big boy. He was supposed to be an adult. He bounced again and got up, and tried another. But being a ‘big boy’ was much more fun.

---

Gideon shifted the latest lollipop he had to the other side of his mouth and sucked on it. Beda had been right, he mused. He ended up having more errands to run than he expected. The Homey Roost hadn’t had everything he’d wanted, and they’d directed him to a used furniture store. He hadn’t been able to decide on anything and run out of time. And then he’d had to run to the grocery store to grab the chips and soda Brand had wanted him to get. He’d made a detour to the bank. Now, he needed to return Beda’s glass to her.

Gideon knocked on Beda’s door. He’d already scouted around the apartment building in case she was still outside weeding. However, the flowerbeds were clear of weeds, the wheelbarrow and tools were all put away or he assumed, and there had been no sign of Beda.

“Just a minute, I’m not as fast as I used to be,” Beda said on the other side.

He pulled the lollipop out of his mouth and stuck it between his middle and pointer finger like it was a cigarette. The door opened and Gideon smiled at her. “I brought your glass back,” he said and held it up.

Beda half-smiled at him and narrowed one eye. “Good. Come on in.” She took a step back. Gideon sniffed. Something smelled delicious, meat and gravy. He wasn’t precisely sure what it was. He entered the small apartment and held out the glass to Beda. She took it and held it up to the light. “And clean, I think we’ll get along.” She patted his arm and walked towards her kitchen to put the glass away.

He followed her, struggling not limp and failing miserably. He winced and hoped she wouldn’t see it. He stuck the lollipop back in this mouth, and while she opened the correct cupboard, he stood on the other side of the counter and started counting out one hundred dollar bills. He separated them into three piles, though he didn’t think one of them could rightly be called a pile.

Beda turned around. Her eyes narrowed. “What did I tell you?”

Gideon narrowed his eyes back. “I can afford it,” he said around the lollipop.

“You have expenses,” she said. “The rent can wait.”

He sighed. The lollipop was taking the force out of is argument. He took it out of his mouth so he could enunciate better. “Really, I can afford this.”

“Did you order a bed?”

“Yes,” Gideon answered. The man had talked him into a headboard and a footboard against Gideon’s better judgment. The man had gotten a bit crude and Gideon had wanted him to shut up. Something about him or the girl having something to hold onto. Since Gideon didn’t have a girlfriend at the moment, he hadn’t wanted to hear it.

Beda raised an eyebrow that was as white as her hair. “Did he let you pay for it?”

“He told me to pay on delivery tomorrow.”

Beda nodded. “And you settled up with Rosie?”

“Not yet,” Gideon muttered.

“And have you picked out any furniture? Or linens?”

“I didn’t have time—”

“You have expenses.” Beda picked up two of the piles, shoved them together and pushed them across the counter at him. “I’ll hold onto your security deposit and we’ll straighten things out between us when you’re settled.”

Gideon wanted to tear his hair out. “I can—”

“It’s done.” Beda looked down her nose at him. “Brand sent you.”

Gideon gritted his teeth and bit his tongue.

Beda smiled at him. “You aren’t used to people doing good things for you.”

It wasn’t that at all. Well, it was partly that, Gideon conceded. “You’re making assumptions about my finances,” he said. He felt extremely uneasy leaving this bill unattended like this.

Beda snorted. “You’re prospecting into the Club and you’re military,” she said. “I’m not making assumptions.” She turned around and opened a drawer and put the security deposit away.

Gideon stared at her back. So much for not letting himself be bullied by Beda. “I have no idea what I’m getting into,” he said aloud. He looked down at the money, stuck the lollipop back in his mouth, and reluctantly put the money back in his wallet. He didn’t want to get the crisp bills sticky. “I should have asked more questions,” he muttered around the lollipop.

“Most likely,” Beda said without a trace of sympathy.

Gideon glanced up at the clock. He needed to be going. But this wasn’t over. He’d settle the rent with Beda later when he had more time to argue with her. Since she was officially being stubborn at the moment. Now that he didn’t need both hands, he took the lollipop back out of his mouth to talk. “They’ll be dropping off the bed sometime tomorrow,” he said.

She grinned. “I’ll make sure the elevator is ready.”

“Do you need me to call any utility companies and turn things on?” he asked.

She waved a hand. “I already did that.”

Gideon nodded and added another hundred dollars to what he owed Beda. “All right. Thank you. I, um, need to get going.”

Beda laughed. “Brand gave you marching orders.” She inwardly shook her head. Gideon was too trained not to jump when someone said to do so. He would have to work on curbing that instinct. Or else the pack would put him into all sorts of trouble, and laugh at the result.

Gideon flushed. “Yeah.”

“Thank you for the security deposit and my glass.”

Gideon looked at his shoes. “You’re welcome. The lemonade was delicious. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said. He didn’t expect to move into then. He left, putting his lollipop back in his mouth. He missed cigarettes. They were easier to deal with than lollipops. They weren’t sticky and they weren’t top heavy. He turned and headed towards the door, managing his leg mostly until he was on the other side.

Beda looked after him. Her brow furrowed as she noticed the slight limp and the way he was favoring his right leg. His assumption registered. The boy did have a lot to learn. A smile played around her mouth. “I’ll see you this evening,” she said and turned around to check her pan of stew.

It was potlatch night.