Page 131 of I Accidentally Joined a Wolf Shifter Group Chat

Hudson: I can’t diagnose that safely. Raymond can. Call him.

The response took longer this time.

Ellen: Okay. Thanks.

I set the phone in the console and sat there for several seconds.

Nothing terrible happened. The house nearby didn’t collapse. The pack didn’t vote me incompetent. Ellen didn’t accuse me of abandoning her in her time of need. I had directed a problem toward the correct person and remained available for the problems I knew how to solve.

It shouldn’t have felt revolutionary. And yet…

I drove to the hall to check a delivery before lunch. Two folding tables had arrived with damaged legs, which required emailing the photographs and having a conversation with a customer service representative who kept referring to the issue as cosmetic.

“The table leans six inches to the left,” I told her. “That isn’t cosmetic unless the product is intended for serving soup onto the floor.”

She put me on hold.

While I waited, Trevor walked up to me, wearing protective goggles and carrying a ceramic bowl with one side collapsed inward. He held it up. “Prototype.”

“The kiln is not happening.”

“This came from an oven-safe clay process.”

“It’s a little lopsided,” I said, gesturing at the bowl.

He rotated it in his hands. “You don’t understand the vision.”

The customer service representative returned before Trevor could further defend the structural intention. She agreed to replace the tables and scheduled pickup for the damaged ones.

I ended the call and wrote the confirmation number on the packing slip.

Trevor watched me. “Can you help me reinforce the garage outlet?”

“No.”

He stared.

“Talk to Uncle Raymond,” I said. “He understands electrical load better than I do.”