"Uh, normal stuff, I guess."
Ed groaned.
"Hey, I do actually pay attention to what you guys eat," Doc mock growled.
I happened to glance at Victoria. She studied Doc closely, before sighing quietly. Shit, the guys just couldn't seem to remember that she didn't know Doc's secret. Well, at least she wasn't going to jump to the vampire conclusion since she had seen him in the sunlight. Oh well.
Doc glanced over at Victoria and tightened his jaw before shrugging.
"I got lots of hamburger."
"Well, that's something, anyway," Ed muttered.
I laughed. "Guys, it could be worse. You can always go hunt down another deer."
"You all didn't want to stay at a hotel?" Victoria asked.
Doc shrugged. "Nikolai was pretty excited about his yurts and it's actually quite comfortable. We're happier up there, anyway."
Doc hit the main roundabout in town and headed out of the valley.
"You're lucky you found him," Victoria said.
"Yes, we are," Doc agreed.
I couldn't help but grin. I was particularly grateful for a lot of reasons, but I was also glad that Nikolai and Doc had hit it off so well. Victoria might not know about that aspect of our pack dynamic. She was about to get an eyeful if she didn't already know.
Shortly we had pulled off the main road and were bouncing down the snowy driveway.
"It's so pretty back here," Victoria said.
"We like it," Doc replied.
The rest of us murmured agreement.
Once the truck was stopped, we all hopped out. Nikolai waited for us, looking extremely pleased with himself.
"Hello, Victoria," he greeted her before wrapping me in a hug and kissing me soundly. "Day was long without you."
I flushed.
He gave Allan a quick hug before the werewolves jumped in the back of Doc's pickup and grabbed the food Doc had bought.
"I guess he didn't do to badly," Ed said as they headed toward the yurt.
Doc shook his head. "No gratitude."
"Experience!" Allan shot back.
Nikolai laughed and put his arms around Doc, pressing his chest against Doc's back and rested his chin on the vampire's shoulder. "Don't like your shopping?"
Doc sighed though his expression softened with Nikolai's embrace. "I needed some training when they were younger. They haven't forgotten."
I happened to glance at Victoria. Her eyes were wide, though she seemed amused more than anything.
Nikolai kissed Doc's neck before releasing him. "Training?" He headed toward the path we'd made in the snow that led back to the yurt.
"How was I supposed to know what a pair of teen werewolves ate?" Doc replied defensively. "They learned to cook as a survival tactic."
Victoria glanced at me, an eyebrow arched. I shrugged.
She shook her head then glanced over where the cabin had stood. Her expression fell. "Wow, that sucks."
"Yes," Nikolai agreed. "We will rebuild. Just need materials and time."
"Did you lose everything?"
Doc shook his head. "Important documents and most of my guns were in the safe. Nothing else was really all that important. Even the firearms weren't that big of a deal. It's more inconvenient than anything."
"I fixed most of the inconvenience." Nikolai waved his hand. "Busy day. Good to have something to do."
Victoria gasped when we came into the smaller clearing. Nikolai had been busy. The yurt remained where it had stood, but along with everything else he'd done today, he'd taken the time to magic the yurt into something rather fantastical looking. It retained its original shape, but the ropes that lashed it together had morphed into leafy vines. The plain canvas had been transformed into its own piece of art. Earth tone colors swirled along the walls, giving it a kind of camouflage, especially in the fading light, though it was lit on the inside which made some of the colors stand out.
Doc glanced over at Nikolai. "Very nice."
"Thank you."
"There is now a shower and outhouse, too. Magic, of course. Don't let just anyone know about it. It is back that way."
I could make out another path in the snow that led further into the woods.
Ed and Allan came out of the yurt, stunned expressions on their faces.
"Damn, Nikolai, we almost don't need to build another cabin."
His pleased grin widened.
Doc put his arm around Nikolai and side-hugged him before going into the yurt.
"Put food here. Also magic. It will keep everything fresh."
A couple of trunk sized boxes sat near the front door. They were more than adequate for the food Doc had purchased.
Victoria hung back for a moment and I waited with her.
"Wow," she said.
"Yeah, having someone who has actually lived like this before in our pack is really useful. I'd be like...s'mores anyone? That's pretty much the extent of my ability to rough it."
"Well, being able to use magic doesn't hurt."
"No."
"Yeah, so those two..." She raised her eyebrows again.
I grinned and winked. "Can hear you. Come on, let's go."
"Right."
She followed me into the yurt. Nikolai had moved things around a little. The bed was pushed to the side a bit more, leaving room for a low table and cushions. Where he had gotten all of that, I didn't know. Probably convinced a tree to grow them or something. If he wasn't good at earth magic, someday I wanted to meet someone who was.
A slightly taller table looked vaguely like a place to cook. One side of the table was bare wood. The other side had some sort of black stone on it. Under the black stone was another box.
"Gets hot." Nikolai gestured to the stone. "Haven't quite worked out how to let the user chose the temperature. Just pay attention. And this is like an oven. Gets about three hundred degrees, seems to be a common cooking temperature. Not perfect, but will work."
"Not perfect? Nikolai, this is amazing." Ed got in on the hugging action, dragging Nikolai into a tight embrace.
The mage looked a little embarrassed as he hugged Ed back. "Is least I could do. You all provide everything else."
"Ed, Allan, cook something," Doc ordered. "We have a lot to discuss before we drop the ladies off back at the dorm."
The other guys pouted.
"Can't we keep her here?" That
