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Jamie gapes at me. “What the hell did you just say?”

I tilt my head, confused at his shock. “I believe I asked you a question. Answer it. What is coffee?”

“No. I can’t believe you’ve never had coffee. We need to fix this. Now!” He’s on his feet. “I can hear a lake in that direction. Let’s clean up. Then I’m getting you the best cup of joe you’ve ever tasted.”

Together, we go to the lake. We wade in and wash ourselves clean with cool water. Once we’re clean, though still faintly smelling of our lovemaking, we return to our clothes and dress.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

Jamie zips up his coat. “Well, I’d love to take you to my café over in Brooklyn, but that’s quite a trip.

There’s a diner nearby. They should be open even this early.

I make the best coffee in the city, but this place is pretty good too.

Besides, I need pancakes. Like, now.” He takes my hand and pulls me along after him.

“What are pancakes?”

“Oh man. You don’t know what you’re missing!”

This “diner” is a boxy building. Inside, there are only a few tables. It’s an open space with little room to conceal attackers. “It appears safe for now.” I vow to stay on my guard. The air is thick with delectable smells. “Is that… bacon?” I begin to drool, to my disgust. Gods, how I love bacon.

“You can get so much bacon. Hey, Wanda! Can I get a table for two?”

An older woman behind the counter smiles. “Sure thing, kiddo. Have a seat.” She gives me a dubious look as I trudge past, armor rattling. I make sure to sit facing the door, then throw a cautious look behind me.

Jamie arches a brow. “What are you looking for?”

“Wolf hunters,” I snap. “They could be anywhere, even in this time. By turning you, you could have a target on your back.”

Jamie’s eyes widen. “Oh shit. I didn’t know. I really do think we’re safe, though. Wanda is a good person, and her staff treats me like family. We’re safe, puppy dog. I promise.” He rubs my clenched fist.

A man garbed in black approaches our table. “Good morning!” In his hand, he grips a bundle of weapons. A snarl tears from me, and I leap to my feet.

“Get back!” I snap, shielding Jamie with my body.

The man screams and drops the weapons to the ground.

“Anders, chill!” Jamie leaps up and puts both hands on my chest. “He’s our waiter. He’s just come to take our order.”

“Jamie, get away from him! He’s armed!”

Rolling his eyes, Jamie grabs the fallen weapons and shoves them at me. “It’s just forks and knives, you dummy!”

And… it is. I only saw the tip of the knife protruding, which isn’t even sharp.

“Oh.” My shoulders slump.

“Sorry about that.” Jamie helps the man up.

He shakily drops some stiff papers onto the table and darts off.

“Gonna have to leave a big tip,” Jamie mutters, picking up one of the stiff things.

“What is that?”

“It’s a menu. It’s a list with all the food items on it.”

I pick it up and sniff it. It smells strange. I flip the menu upside down, hoping that will make sense of it. I can’t read anything that’s written here. I don’t recognize the writing. It’s all strange symbols, nothing like the runes my pack writes with.

“Uh. Anders? You good?” Jamie’s looking at me like I’m the strange one.

“How do you read this?” I ask. It seems while the portal has made it so I can speak the language of this time, it hasn’t given me the ability to read these odd runes.

Jamie gawks at me. “You gotta be kidding.”

“There are no children here, Jamie. Now, tell me how to make sense of this.”

Jamie rubs his eyes. “I’m too tired for this…”

“H-hello.” The timid man from a few minutes ago jumps when I glare at him. “Can I get you started with anything?”

“I’ll have some coffee, milk on the side, and banana pancakes with a side of sausage and scrambled eggs, please,” Jamie says. “Also, some chocolate chip pancakes to go, please.”

“And you, sir?” The man inches away from my glare. “What would you like to eat?”

Since I still have no idea what the menu says, I say, “Boar stew and a mug of mead. Some bacon as well.”

“I… I’m sorry?”

Jamie hides his face in his hands for some reason.

“What are you sorry for?” I snap. “I told you what I want. Now, get it.” If he were my thrall, I’d have him flogged for making me repeat myself.

“Anders,” Jamie hisses.

“W-we have pancakes, oatmeal, granola…”

I don’t know what any of those things are.

“He’ll have what I’m having! But with bacon instead of sausage,” Jamie chimes in, grinning a wide, fake smile.

“I will not—” But he kicks me beneath the table, and I’m shocked into silence.

The man leaves us alone. Jamie slumps, sighing.

“Did you just kick me?” I growl at him.

“Someone had to.”

“I should take you over my knee.”

He bobs his eyebrows. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, puppy dog. Anders, you need to understand that nothing here is like what you’re used to. Otherwise, you’ll stick out, and this world is nasty to people who stick out.”

“If you’d just give me your damn necklace, I wouldn’t have to worry about fitting in,” I grumble at him.

Hurt sours Jamie’s scent. “Just because we had a good time doesn’t mean you’ve earned my grandma’s necklace yet.”

Suddenly, I wish I could swallow my words. I didn’t mean to hurt him. I never want to hurt him, in fact. “I… I feel comfortable with you,” I say, focusing on tearing the paper napkin into strips to give myself something to do. “But everything else is…”

“Different, right?” Beneath the table, Jamie runs his foot up and down my ankle. His touch soothes me, at least a little.

I nod, grinding my teeth. Shame burns my neck from admitting such a weakness.

“Okay. I get that.”

I jump when our waiter arrives with steaming mugs in hand.

The scent is bitter and makes me recoil.

Whatever drink this is, it’s served with a side of milk and some packets.

I tear open the packets and pour something white and granular into my palm.

It smells good, so I lick it, humming in delight at the sweetness. “This is delicious. What is it?”

“Sugar. You had it last night in the drink I made you.” Jamie smiles, watching me. “You’re like an angry toddler.”

“What is all this? How do I drink it?”

“You can take it as is, or you can add milk, sugar, whatever you like,” Jamie says.

I cautiously lift the hot mug to my lips and sip. The bitter taste is so strong, I spit it all out. Jamie covers his mouth, his shoulders shaking with laughter. “Here. Try it with milk.”

Lifting the little pitcher, I pour in milk, and the black solution in my cup lightens to a brown shade. It looks like muddy water. When I taste it again, the bitter flavor has been diluted, but only somewhat.

“Better?”

I smack my lips and nod. “This tastes amazing!”

“Here. Try this.” He pours some of the sugar into my mug and stirs it with a spoon.

This time when I taste the drink, the bitterness is hardly noticeable. I hum my approval, then add another pack of sugar. Then another. It’s almost as sweet as honey now. Perfect.

Jamie’s eyes grow wide. “That’s an awful lot of sugar.”

I sip the coffee and moan at the sweet taste. “Much better.”

Jamie chuckles, like he finds me amusing. “Loving your enthusiasm, tough guy. It’s pretty cute.” He pours milk into his coffee and drinks it. Somehow, the bitter taste doesn’t bother him.

“Cute!” I’ve never been so bewildered! “There is nothing cute about me.” I should tell him to stop calling me a puppy, but the fact is it doesn’t bother me.

Neither does being called cute. If anyone else did it, I’d lop their head from their neck.

But when Jamie says it, it doesn’t get me on the offensive.

Swallowing his coffee, he says, “I beg to differ. You’re adorable. Especially in your furry form. Those big ears, that boopable snoot! So precious.”

I growl at him lightheartedly, and he just laughs. The things I’d do to hear that sound…

Plates of food arrive. The “pancake” things look like stacks of flat, fluffy bread. I’m familiar with such things. What I don’t expect is for them to be so sweet! They are so soft they melt in my mouth.

“Are you gonna eat them plain?” Jamie grins at my enthusiasm as I tuck in. I haven’t eaten in hours.

“Why not? They’re delicious!”

“Here. They’re even better with butter and syrup. Real syrup, not this fake diner stuff. I’ll have to make some for you at home sometime with the real deal.”

I spread the butter and drizzle thick amber syrup over the pancakes. When I take a bite, it’s like a taste of Valhalla in my mouth. “I imagine Odin himself must eat such fine things.”

Jamie’s grin widens. “Never heard somebody love pancakes so much.”

I clean my plate in seconds, saving the crispy bacon for last. Oh, how I love bacon… This world may be different, but the food is incredible. My stomach feels like it will burst by the time I’m done, and still I eye Jamie’s remaining pancakes with zeal.

“Want some? I’m stuffed.” Jamie spears a piece of pancake.

I eat it right off his fork, moaning my satisfaction.

Jamie’s smile is soft when I open my eyes, and it makes me scowl. I don’t like how easy it is to let my guard down around him. I feel like a different person when I’m with him, someone weak, soft, vulnerable.

“What kind of food do you eat where you’re from?” Jamie asks me.

“Nothing so complicated as all of this.” Even the bacon tastes different. “Everything has more flavor.”

“How did you even end up here anyway?”

A growl escapes me as bitter feelings sour the sweet aftertaste of pancakes. “My brothers exiled me.”

Jamie’s eyes get wide. “Why?”

“They betrayed me in every sense.”

Frowning, Jamie reaches across the table and takes my hand.

All the anger drains out of me, leaving nothing but soothing calm.

I don’t like it. Nobody has ever been able to affect me so easily.

It feels like trickery. If Jamie wanted to, he could use the effect he has on me to his advantage and harm me.