Read covencraft 02.5 - carnival moon for Free Online Page A

up at Jade with big, blue eyes - wide and inquisitive.
    “Um. Hi,” Jade said.
    The big eyes darted from Jade to the bread-roll still on Jade’s plate and then back to Jade again. Jade looked over at the big buffet table where there will still plenty of rolls to be had.
    “I think there’s some, you know, over there,” Jade said, gesturing with her finger to the table. Blue eyes looked again to Jade’s roll and back to Jade.
    “It’s a wolf custom,” broke in Lucia, her eyes bright and happy. “She sees you as a higher ranking member of the pack and if you share your food with her, you’re acknowledging her. By feeding her from your own plate, or if you prefer, going to get her a roll, you’re saying that you’ll help her. You’ll care for her as a packmate.”
    “Should I do it?” Jade asked, eyes slipping sideways to Paris and then to Lucia. “Is that what I’m supposed to do?”
    Lucia smiled. “It’s up to you, Jade. Do you wish her to see you as a packmate that can help her?”
    Okay, so more than just tossing a roll at the kid and being done with it. This would be a werewolf declaration of sorts. Jade looked around the room at the happy collection - while she still didn’t know much about the werewolves, they had invited her to their carnival, taken her out on a run, played in the forest with her. She may not be ready to accept a job offer from them nor even think about leaving the coven, but Jade thought… she thought she could be comfortable with them. There were precious few places and groups of people for which Jade felt that way. Lucia and Galen, across the table from her, watched her with open and waiting eyes. Jade sensed they would be fine with whatever she chose. The decision was hers. Paris was also a calm presence by her side. If he thought it was strange that the wolves were taking such a shine to her, he didn’t act like it. Jade looked down at the little girl, her pigtails messy from a day of playing. Her was mask crooked, colored with child-friendly paint in bright, sharp colors - red, blue, yellow and green. She was waiting so patiently for a small child - not fidgeting at all or making any whining noises.
    Jade would have to be a real puppy kicker to say no to that face. Even if she didn’t particularly like kids.
    She took the roll from her plate, broke off a piece for herself and then gave the remainder to the little girl. Her small hands snatched it up and she gave a happy ‘yip’ and scampered off, running on her short, chubby legs. She fell into a circle of other kids, excitedly breaking up the roll and sharing it with the group - clearly some kind of small-child champion for getting it from the witch-guest. Jade turned to Paris, smiling wide, proud of herself.
    “Perhaps I should turn over all werewolf interaction to you,” Paris said, taking a bite of his own food.
    “If they’re always going to feed me like this, I’ll say yes,” Jade responded, taking another bite off her plate. Heedless of whether it was gauche or not, she used the bit of roll she’d saved to sop up the juices and spices on her plate, leaving it relatively clean. A quick look around showed that most others had done the same as well.
    A sharp barking sound from the child’s play group caught her attention and she looked over to see three furry kid-sized things where there had been actual children before. Two toddlers were fighting over a toy, yipping at each other, while a third fell down on her butt and started crying. They had all sprouted ears and some fluffy patches on their faces - cheeks and chins mostly. The toy, a stuffed tiger, was rent apart with a ripping sound. Jade could see each of the two tug-of-war children had sharp tiny claws that had torn the fabric, helping it rip apart. It was some kind of small-child werewolf brawl. Jade hadn’t seen any adults change form and wondered if they would shift as the children did - partially, or if they would shift fully to a wolf, as Paris