Putting her paw,no,her hand in Warren’s felt odd at first but the warmth of his palm was familiar and reassuring. Smiling at him, she quietly nodded to Marlene as Warren escorted her out the door.<br/><br/>“Hey, Warren.Next time you go on a hunting trip, bring me back a pretty little wolf gal too.”came the ribald call from the shadows of a building.<br/><br/>Warren drew her closer to him, putting his strong arm around her shoulders. Tinker glanced at him to see his jaw was clenched.<br/><br/>A wolf whistle came from the other side of the street and Tinker whipped her head around to see what that was all about.<br/><br/>A group of men and women fell into step with them, making small talk and pleasantries. Warren seemed to relax a little as he talked with them, One tall, older woman said,<br/><br/>“Nice to meet your human form, Tinker. I’m Anne, the school teacher for most of the children.”<br/><br/>Tinker smiled. She realized this smiling was an automatic polite response like wagging the tail.<br/><br/>“It is good to be here. “ Tinker answered. She didn’t yet understand the niceties of thank you and please yet, although she did understand being gracious. “Do you enjoy being a teacher?” she inquired, wondering exactly what that meant.<br/><br/>“Yes, we have lots of fun while we are learning. The pack school has its advantages for the young shifters. No one gets upset is someone shifts either way during school. I also understand the way wolves assert dominance so our children don’t miss days from school for being expelled for fighting.”<br/><br/>Tinker couldn’t image anyone being in trouble for asserting dominance,unless it was with the wrong Alpha, but she listened politely. Perhaps she could learn something from this teacher.<br/><br/>“Donna , here,” Anne jerked her thumb at a petite red head who looked rather tattered. “ She keeps our bloodlines straight so that someone doesn’t marry their own sister. We wouldn’t want to be like those people in the Appalachian mountains.”<br/><br/>The small woman eyed Tinker.<br/>“Come to think of it, you look rather familiar. Who is your father and your mother? I need to enter you on my chart.”<br/><br/>Warren suddenly tugged on her arm. Tinker looked from him to the woman in confusion.<br/><br/>“My father was Tanner and my mother Nora, a full wolf.”<br/><br/>“Last name?”<br/><br/>“I don’t know. We were always wolves.” She was beginning to really be upset and she glanced at Warren for a cue what to say.”<br/><br/>Before she could say more, the older man with them peered closely at her and then rubbed his chin.<br/><br/>“She has the look of Tanner Darktip, don’t you think Anne?”<br/><br/>The group stopped and began to walk around her, examining her. Tinker thought if they had all be in wolf form they would have had a major butt sniffing going on.<br/><br/>“I do believe you are right, Amos. Weren’t there some rumors about him back in the day?”<br/><br/>“I think so but I will have to recollect on it.” He answered.  “Well, sonny, looks like you have a keeper here. Come on, ladies, we have some donuts to taste over at the donut shop. I can see the Krispy Kreme sign says Hot, from here.”<br/><br/>As they walked off, Tinker sagged against Warren.<br/><br/>“What was that all about?” she asked.