By the time we got home from our shopping excursion my genie's mood had returned to her usual bubbly happy self.

  Jenna sat down in the middle of the living-room floor and surrounded herself with all her new purchases, then opened everything up so she could examine and or py with all of it. I sat beside her and helped out where I could, but mostly that meant making sure nothing important was accidentally thrown out with the packaging.

  I also tried to ask her what she knew about Cassandra, and why she was so scared of the girl. My girlfriend really didn't want to discuss it though, so I eventually let the subject go. I figured maybe just being a demonic Goddess was scary enough. Although the teen didn't seem the least bit frightening to me when I sold her a house back in April.

  We ended the day by ordering something in for dinner again. I'd offered to take Jenna out on a date, maybe to try and make up for messing up our big anniversary pns on Thursday, but she decided she'd rather stay in and get comfort food again. So we went with wings and fries, which was as unhealthy as it was messy and delicious.

  Then after we'd had our fill of greasy fried food my girlfriend and I spent the evening cuddling together on the sofa, while I taught her how to use her new phone. Specifically how to use the messaging app, so we could stay in touch through texts. I also showed her how to make and receive phone calls, but odds were she wouldn't be using that anywhere near as much as the messaging stuff.

  By Wednesday morning it almost felt like things were back to normal again. I was all healed up and my car was better than new, so I headed into the office and got back to work. That led to a couple awkward moments, the first being when Jason asked how I'd healed up so fast. After all he'd seen the shape I was in on Friday, with the crutch and the cuts and bruises.

  The only thing I could think to tell him was that my injuries turned out to be not as bad as it originally looked, and that I was lucky to heal so quickly.

  The other awkward moment was when Erin came into the office. She was just as surprised to see me, but I didn't have to tell her anything. We exchanged a look, and I knew she knew my genie girlfriend had helped me out. My boss didn't seem upset about it, and she didn't say anything either. And fortunately nothing came of it, the rest of the day went by fairly quietly.

  In fact by Thursday it was business as usual. I went through my messages and emails, handled some routine listings, and got caught up on some paperwork. Then in the afternoon I got a call from June Walker, with more good news. Apparently the deal with their werewolf neighbours was back on, and they all wanted to move on that right away.

  So one week to the day after my accident I was back out at the Walkers' farm, but this time the visit went without a hitch. I got all the preliminary paperwork signed, then on Friday I met with Jessie Vaughan to get her started on the legal side of things.

  Now it was Monday afternoon, the twenty-ninth of August, and I was at the Walkers' pce yet again. This time I had Jessie with me, but I was more excited about the fact that I was finally going to meet a werewolf or two. We were expecting to finalize the purchase today, which meant the buyers and their wyer would be arriving shortly.

  All four of us were sitting at the rge table in their kitchen, looking at the empty seats across from us while we waited for the werewolf contingent to arrive.

  "Just like them mangey wolves to keep us waiting," Mr. Walker compined. "The meeting was supposed to be for half past one, wasn't it? Here it is twenty to two and still no sign of 'em."

  His wife responded, "With the amount of money they're offering us for this pce Bill, I think we can cut them some sck."

  Then both June and I gave Jesse an apologetic look, but the wyer seemed to be taking the situation in stride. I hadn't said a word to her about the neighbours allegedly being werewolves, so I had no idea what she'd make of William's comments. And before anyone else could comment, a cacophony of barking erupted from around the corner in the mudroom.

  "Frida Sable that's enough!" Mrs. Walker yelled. "Knock it off and y down!"

  The dogs went quiet immediately, and only a few seconds ter we all heard a knock from the front door.

  "I'll get it," June said as she got to her feet. Before she moved for the door she reminded her husband, "Bill you mind your manners! If you can't keep a civil tongue then you keep your mouth shut."

  He didn't argue, but he did grumble to himself under his breath. "Yeah I know. Retirement, money, something for the kids. I'll behave."

  Mrs. Walker returned to the kitchen a half minute ter, with the three newest arrivals following behind her. They were all women, and the moment they joined us my eyes were drawn to one in particur.

  She was probably the oldest of the three, although I had a very hard time guessing her age. Possibly in her forties, maybe early fifties, but really she had that sort of timeless look about her that suggested she was mature and experienced while still maintaining her health and good looks. In fact the only thing about her that hinted she might be older was her hair, which was an elegant silvery-grey colour.

  Whatever her age, her blue-grey eyes looked sharp and tough as they swept the room. And the way she stood tall and proud emphasized her height, which had to be at least a hundred and seventy-five centimetres. In fact I couldn't help thinking she seemed to have the bearing and presence of someone powerful or important. Rather than a cattle farmer I could almost believe she was royalty, the way she carried herself.

  Her clothing certainly didn't look like what I'd expect for a rural farming type. She was dressed in an attractive white blouse, light grey scks, and a matching jacket. Even her shoes looked good, she was wearing a pair of polished bck fts. There was only one single that seemed thing out of pce on her, which was a simple white sling in which her left arm was resting.

  The next woman was younger, somewhere in her mid-twenties perhaps. She had a slim athletic figure, and stood almost as tall as the first woman. And while she cked the older woman's almost regal presence, there was still a definite family resembnce between the two of them. My guess was this was the other woman's daughter. And unlike her mother, her outfit was a lot more like what I'd expected. She was dressed in some well-worn faded blue jeans, a casual button-down short-sleeve shirt, and a pair of cowboy boots.

  Finally the st woman was very different from the first two. She was average height, with dark brown hair cut in a simple professional style. She appeared to be in her te thirties or early forties, and like the other two women she seemed to have a somewhat athletic build. Her outfit was more business-casual, and like both Jessie and I she was carrying a leather folio case. I guessed she was their wyer, and I was proven right when the introductions began a few moments ter.

  One thing I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed about was despite all Mr. Walker's talk about werewolves, none of the three women seemed to be anything other than human. After seeing catgirls and squirrelgirls and others around town I was almost expecting to see some fur or fangs. Or at least some lupine ears and a furry tail or two. Instead I was left wondering if the werewolf thing was all in William's head after all.

  "Greetings," the older woman suddenly spoke up. Her voice was just as commanding as everything else about her, and it only took that single word for her to get everyone's undivided attention.

  She addressed Jessie and I as she continued, "My name is Belinda Tate. I'm the neighbour that I'm sure the Walkers have told you about."

  "This is my eldest daughter Lindsay," she added as she gestured towards the tall blonde. "And this our wyer, Sandra Benoit."

  "It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Tate," I replied politely. "And Miss Tate, Ms. Benoit. My name is Vikki Lawrence, I'm the Walkers' real estate agent. And this is Jessie Vaughan, she'll be taking care of the Walkers' legal representation."

  Jessie greeted them as well, then as the new arrivals moved to take seats at the table across from us Mrs. Walker asked if anyone wanted some refreshments. That took a few more minutes as June fixed coffee for herself and Bill and Jessie, while the rest of us accepted bottles of spring water.

  After that we moved on to the real business at hand. And since all the preliminary work was taken care of ahead of time, there wasn't actually that much for me to do. Which meant I mostly got to sit and observe, while Jessie and Sandra did most of the talking.

  Ms. Tate wasn't idle though, she continued to py an active part in the process. She seemed to be fairly knowledgable when it came to both real estate and legal matters, which left me wondering why she bothered to bring a wyer. I also noticed the way Ms. Benoit seemed to defer to Ms. Tate. There was more to it than how I'd expect a wyer to respond to their client.

  After another few minutes it finally dawned on me, that if they really were werewolves then Belinda Tate was probably their pack leader. Assuming werewolves actually had packs, and those packs had leaders. I knew I was probably making a lot of bad assumptions, but I certainly wasn't going to ask the woman to crify or expin any of that.

  So I kept quiet and observed, and maybe felt a little guilty about how much commission I was going to earn from this very easy sale.

  And in the end everything went exactly as pnned. There was only one surprise, and that was very small and had zero impact on myself or the Walkers. Apparently while Ms. Tate was the one who'd be paying for the property, it would be her daughter Lindsay's name going on all the paperwork. The matriarch expined that her son Jaden was already all but running their existing farm, so the Walker's pce was going into her eldest daughter's care instead.

  The meeting wrapped up not long after that, with all the contracts signed and the payment received. The cheque would go with Jessie, who'd put it in a special trust account until the agreed-on closing date which was in six weeks. And with that the werewolf contingent bid us all a good day, then got to their feet and headed for the door.

  After the wolves had gone Ms. Vaughan and I shook hands with June and William, then the two of us headed out as well. It wasn't quite three in the afternoon yet, but I was almost tempted to take the rest of the day off and just go straight home to my girlfriend.

  Unfortunately I still had all the paperwork from the sale to deal with, so I did the responsible thing and headed into the office instead.

  "Hi Vikki," Jason greeted me as I dumped my folio on my desk then slumped into my seat. "How'd it go?"

  I smiled, "It was good. Got the sale, my clients are happy, and I think the buyer's happy too? Although she was a lot harder to read."

  He smiled back, "Congrats! Chalk up another one for Rhodes Real Estate's rising star!"

  "I don't know about that," I blushed. "I honestly didn't have to do much work on this one, they could have just gone directly through Jessie Vaughan's legal practice and saved themselves some money."

  Jason shook his head, "Don't sell yourself short Vikki. You might not have had to do much today, but you've been working on this one for a few months now, right? That's not even counting getting your car smashed up trying to meet with the client."

  "Which by the way," he added as he gave me a curious look, "I've been meaning to ask how you got your car fixed up so quickly? Or was that the same sort of deal as your own injuries? Where it looked worse than it really was?"

  I tried to act casual as I nodded, "Yeah pretty much. It looked bad, but the mechanics figured out that the damage was mostly just cosmetic."

  "Anyways I'd better get on with this work," I added quickly. "I need to file all this stuff, get it into the computer for Erin."

  My coworker shrugged, "No rush there. She probably won't be around to look at it until tomorrow anyways."

  "Yeah I saw her SUV wasn't out back when I pulled in," I responded. "Is she seeing a client or something this afternoon?"

  Jason shook his head, "She didn't say? She headed out about an hour ago, the only thing she told me was not to expect her back this afternoon."

  "Anyways I'll let you get back to it," he added as he turned and headed back into his office.

  I thanked him as he left, but I couldn't help feeling a little worried about my boss. It seemed like that sort of thing was happening more often tely, either she'd be off half the day for some mysterious appointment or she'd get called away and have to leave early. Or not come in at all.

  On the one hand I knew it was none of my business, but on the other she was my friend and mentor, and I couldn't help worrying about her.

  PurpleCatGirl