Vlad took a restless turn around Simon’s living room. “I read a couple of those kissy books before I sent them on to Prairie Gold.”

“Really? Why?”

Vlad shrugged.

“Did the books mention skinny-dipping?” Simon thought for a moment. “Do you think Meg read those books?”

“Don’t know, but I’m wondering if this is a step in human courtship, another kind of play before the female is ready to mate.”

“Ruthie and Kowalski weren’t skinny-dipping in the winter before they mated,” Simon argued.

“But showering together is considered pre-mating play.”

Simon threw himself on the sofa. “This isn’t helping.”

Vlad sat beside him. “How much human is the terra indigene going to keep?” He paused, then added quietly, “How much human are you going to absorb?”

The possibility of losing the Wolf, the essential part of his nature, scared him. But Meg didn’t want, didn’t trust, a male who was a human human. She needed him to retain the Wolf.

What did the Elders need and want from the Others living in the Lakeside Courtyard? There hadn’t been a new form of terra indigene in a very long time.

He wasn’t ready to shoulder the weight of that possibility. And Meg certainly wasn’t ready. But play would be good.

“Are you going to tell Meg that the Elders are curious enough about the howling not-Wolf that they’re going to return to the Courtyard?” Vlad asked.

“No. I think the skinny-dipping will be enough excitement for one night.”

•••

They drove to the swimming hole. Since Vlad hadn’t been much help, Simon had considered asking one of the human pack about human courtship, but he decided against it. Meg was no more knowledgeable than he, so this was just another thing they would figure out together.

Her mood had changed as the sun went down. She seemed small and timid, as if she had already used up her allotment of courage for the day.

“We don’t have to do the skinny-dipping thing,” he said, trying to understand her mood. “We can paddle around wearing clothes. We’ll feel just as cool.”

“No. I want to do this.”

You want to do this as much as I want to be stepped on by a bison. But he parked the BOW and pulled the blanket out of the back. Someone had thoughtfully set some of the solar-powered lights around the water, creating enough illumination that Meg wouldn’t be stumbling around in the dark.

She removed her sandals, then stood at the edge of the swimming hole, looking so unhappy.

He wondered how to back out of this adventure when Meg suddenly pulled off her clothes and jumped into the water. She went under, then surfaced, squeaking from the shock of water so much cooler than the air.