"Rin, dear, can you fetch me some strawberries from the garden?"
"Yes, Granny."
I took a deep breath of air. It was sweet and the sun was warm. A beautiful morning indeed. Sometimes I felt guilty since the other creatures scavenged and struggled while we were safe and warm. I tried not to linger on those thoughts. One thing I learned growing up is to move past negative thoughts. They get you nowhere.
I looked through the bushes to find the best berries and I gathered them in a bowl to bring to the woman. She was sweet and caring. She had a quirky and upbeat kind of personality. She was the kind of woman that as she was cleaning, she would stop and use her broom as a pretend microphone and sing in another language. She even would go all out on the body motions or start head banging while pretending to play a guitar. It was rather humorous. She caused us many laughs.
She lit some type of vanilla candle in the kitchen and brought us smoothies.
"I know you are wolves, but I wanted to mix it up a bit. What do you think?" She smiled. I took a sip.
"Quite tasty! Thank you." I replied. Miku looked up, realizing he forgot his manners.
"Yes, Thank you Granny."
"You are very welcome my dears. Now, I need to head to the market. I need to get some coloring for your hair, Miku. If you are going to pass as my grandchildren for the time being, I need you to at least look human."
"What color?"
"I was thinking of matching your sister. Why, any color in mind?"
"Can I have black? Do you know if coloring my human hair will effect my wolf form?"
"No, I do not. I don't want you turning into a wolf to find out though. I don't know how your magic shifting stuff works, but I don't want you wasting my money on dye only for it to disappear from transitioning. You got that clear?" She smirked.
"Yes mam."
"Now, when you are safe again and able to leave, then you can turn. I am curious too, so when it is safe, don't leave me out."
"Is my hair human colored?" I asked.
"Yes. In fact, my hair was brown when I was younger. Though you can't really tell now. Now my hair is just grey. It is natural, but only for old people like myself. Your brother is too young to be grey."
"We know older people become white or grey. We have seen it here and there back at home."
"I didn't know if you knew. How many elders did you have back at home?"
"One or two. The eldest wolf was originally black, but he greyed out. An old fox had become white too. She was only in her thirties though. She was a pretty little thing."
"Only in her thirties?"
"Yeah, she had very loud and active children." She laughed.
"I see. That makes sense."
"Did you ever have any?"
"Yes. With a beast man nonetheless. She was part wolf, an old friend of your mother's. You never met her. She left for another hybrid elsewhere. She had my brown eyes, with tannish-ginger hair."
"She sounds pretty."
"She was." She left the table and grabbed her purse. "I need to get going now though. See you guys shortly. Don't cause any mischief while I'm gone."
"Don't worry. We'll stay right here till you get back."