Honesty by Viola Rivard

the garden.
    Alone time had been both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it had given her time to process the events of the past few weeks and on the other, it had given her time to consider her future.
    She wanted Alder, there was no question about that. But it wasn’t that easy. Alder wanted to start a new life with her as its focal point. It was all happening too fast for her to wrap her head around and she was afraid that once they got to know one another better, he would come to regret being with her.
    Then there was Hale. Taylor had avoided thinking about him for a while, but every time there was a lull in her thoughts, her mind seemed programed to conjure up images of the brash, abrasive alpha. She couldn’t deny that she was attracted to him on a purely sexual level. After considering it, she reasoned that it had to be because he was Alder’s twin, as there were no other qualities about him, aside from his body, that were remotely appealing.
    Glenn pulled a packet of seeds from the crate and tossed them to Taylor. She caught them and tore open one side of the package, sprinkling a few seeds into each of the holes she’d dug.
    “Are you sure these will grow?” Glenn asked, peering over her shoulder.
    Glenn had shown up not long ago to help with emptying out the cabin. Most of the junk had been moved, but it was still going to need a good cleaning and some roof work before it would be habitable.
    “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
    “Do you really think Alder is going to stay in the valley?” Lark asked. The raccoon shifter was stretched out on the ground, not seeming to mind that she was covered in mud.
    “ Hopefully,” Taylor replied.
    Alder hadn’t actually said they could stay. On the contrary, he’d been pretty firm about the fact that they’d be leaving soon, but Taylor still had a few days to sway him. She hoped that if he saw that she was making a home for herself in the valley, he’d be less inclined to uproot her.
    “But what about Hale?” asked Glenn.
    Taylor felt her skin tingle at the mention of him. “What about him?” she said, shooting him a look of irritation.
    He seemed apologetic. “I only mean that he’s something you’re going to have to consider. Brothers or not, Alder’s not going to tolerate another alpha near the valley once you’re—”
    Taylor held up a hand to silence him. “I know, I know. I’m going to figure something out.”
    She had given that some thought as well and had decided that she, Alder, and Hale would need to sit down and have a discussion at some point. There had to be something they could do to ensure that they could all live there together. Sure, they were wolves, but they were also part human and perfectly capable of reasoning this whole thing out.
    “In the meantime,” Taylor said, “I want to build a chicken coop.”
    “A chicken coop?” Lark repeated.
    “Well, I guess it’ll be more like a quail coop.” Taylor said, standing. “I was thinking about how you said the foxes like the quail eggs. If we can catch a few of the hens in the forest, we can keep them in our coop and trade their eggs. Maybe we’ll even have enough to convince the foxes to do cleaning duties for us.”
    Lark’s face lit up. “That’s the best idea ever.” She turned to Glenn. “Can you build us a quail coop?”
    To Taylor, he said, “I have some mesh wire in the cave. Not enough to build anything too big, but I can probably improvise. Do you know how to take care of quail?”
    “One of my foster parents owned a farm. She didn’t have quail, but she had chickens and ducks. Can’t be that different. ”
    Glenn nodded. “We should find some wood first. There’s an old structure a few miles from here. The pack used to use it as a lookout point, but it’s falling apart now. I’m sure we can use the planks, we’ll just have to ask Hale first.”
    Taylor waved a hand. “Forget about him. Let’s go get it. If Hale complains, I’ll deal with