Damon wiped down the outside table on his private balcony. He’ll enjoy summer mornings out there with his full family. Before the chaos of pack life took over, he missed sitting out here with his breakfast. He could see his peace being shattered by Penny and reminders from Eva. The two interacting out here while they tried to get ready for the day.
Some people would hate that. Damon would probably act like he did eventually, but deep down, this was the life he wanted. He chose, and now he just needed to convince Eva to make it permanent.
With Penny here, life would change again, and he wasn’t sure how Eva would handle it. Was she prepared enough to handle getting to know him and a lively pup running rough-shod over everyone’s lives? He&
Eva found it hard to settle down after the day they experienced. The research and hope that they may have found some sort of useable information. Then Penny bounding into her life like she had. The girl definitely made Eva think about how decisions made right now would affect how things unfolded in the future. The hardest part was this pup was nothing like Eva expected. In a good way, of course, she’s openly embraced the idea that Eva was hers and expected her to give her the attention she demanded. Wanting to know her opinion on everything from her thoughts on toys to television shows. Which, of course, Eva knew nothing of, so after dinner Penny gave her an education on it all. When it became her bedtime, it was difficult to get her to settle and Penny insisted on three stories from Eva before she’d settled down to sleep.&nbs
They both agreed, get away from the work. It was too much, and they were both climbing the walls. Janine realized what tonight was for the pack and Haden agreed they’d adhere to the traditional gathering of her pack. He’d go as her guest. Basically, once a month, the pack came together and spent time with each other. Often this was the time for announcements, celebrations of the minor achievements of various members, recognition of pack birthdays, introductions of new members, airing of grievances informally, and all that drama. Janine, at this point in time, needed to hear about someone else’s drama and forget about hers. “Are you ready to go?” Haden leaned against the bathroom door frame and watched Janine fiddle with her hair. She felt self-conscious of the streaks of grey appearing in her hair. Janine knew she’d have to come to terms that she was now firmly in the elder status of the pack, and she’d be treated differently because of it. “Yeah, I
Thomas watched the last of the witches leave his territory. It and them were secure again. The others who came with the witches were long gone, too, and all that was left in his territory were his people. They now needed to explain what the future would hold for everyone. He expected some confusion and conflict for a while. The two packs would have to learn about each other’s customs and work with each other. No pack would take over the other. This wasn’t the Middle Ages after all. The two packs would work together, but stay where they are and live mostly independently of each other. They’d share an Alpha couple. He was the leader of his pack and she’d be the leader of hers. Later they’d settle the two packs onto different pups. Hoping the two packs would become sister packs. Asia stayed up at the packhouse, claiming that she wanted to get a few things done with her Beta over a video call. He could understand that. Packs took work and constant overs
Emily thankfully settled onto the slipper chair in her closet, happy to take her shoes off. In the last few weeks, everything changed. Being poked and prodded almost daily as the doctors tested and adjusted things until they were happy with the results of one thing or another. James was going overboard and completely unwilling to error on the side of caution. But so far, his prayers have been answered. Emily felt their pups move inside of her yesterday at the ultrasound. He had her favourite foods made that night to celebrate. Emily hadn’t been able to eat much, though she tried hard to. She’d been suffering pretty terrible morning sickness, though it struck at any hour. Emily now frustrated herself with her own forgetfulness. Especially with remembering to take the bag with her that carried everything she might need just in case. Of course, by the time she remembered she’d forgotten it, she’d need something from it. James somehow kept his promise,
Thomas and Damon were back to work in their office when Alex, their arms master, burst in and interrupted them. He was out of breath and held a long, thin box in his hand. “The bloody thing isn’t much larger than a chopstick. Look at the box. No wonder I didn’t remember this thing.” “That’s it? What were they looking for?” Damon stomped over and looked down at the skinny, nondescript case. “This blasted thing box and all fell behind the shelving unit at some point. I guess they didn’t think to see if it was between the shelves and the wall. There’s several heavier boxes on the lower shelves, too. They may not have wanted or had time to move them to look.” Alex passed the box over to Thomas so that he could open it and have a look at the rod in its case. “More likely they didn’t think of the possibility that it could be out of place or off site. They wouldn’t have found the time to search everything fully. The records weren’t accessible either. If an
Haden knew the time came for him to name his successor. There were a few people in his sights. But one stood out. Sadly, it wasn’t his daughter. She’d quieted down with her human, but he couldn’t have a human as Alpha for his pack. He needed someone who could see to the safety and prosperity of the pack. Someone who would take his place in a responsible and mature manner while being young enough to give the pack a dedicated leadership that was stable. Trust was such an important thing. Watching Janine putter about, walking along the paths, chasing her wolf, and everything else reminded him that his heart wasn’t in leading anymore. Wolves lived such long lives, and without the kill or be killed mentality, they lived far longer than humans. This became an accepted practice. To pass the position on before you died. The old alpha became a mentor to the new one. Haden was tired. Tired of the stress of keeping up with all the politics and changes in the needs of others und
Thomas watched Asia as she made her way about the room as people gathered for their meeting. This was a tradition of having a gathering before and after a run like this. Humans would have barbecues and wolves had nighttime runs. Of course, there would be food and drink afterward. But right now it was seeing who was there and catching up on resent events. Who’d mated and was planning a ceremony? New pups and pregnancies. Job changes and all the other things life threw at people. Not that this pack wasn’t close and most already knew about these events. No, this was a chance for gossip and politics to play a part within the community and families of the pack. Old habits died hard. These gatherings were created because once upon a time the pack lived separately and could only find the time to come together a few times in a month. Now, for safety, they lived more closely together. Times change, but traditions were enduring. Thomas was about to stand up and tell t
“Hey kiddo. How was your nap?” Eva smiled from the living room chair she sat in, as Penny came out of her room. “I needed that. It was informative.” Penny’s response had Eva perking up. What an odd thing for a child her age to say, but she’d play along. “Oh? What did it tell you?” “We’re in for some interesting times and lots of exciting changes.” Penny couldn’t know about the message sent out by Alpha Thomas about his mating to another Alpha. That would get some getting used to since it wasn’t everyday you met a female Alpha. “Hon, what are you talking about? Your father and I mating?” “Oh, that and a lot more. You’ll see. It’ll be exciting. I will finally meet Trevor.” “Who’s Trevor?” “My baby brother. He’s not born yet, but he’ll be here soon enough.” That had Eva a little disturbed. Did Penny know how pups were born? “Penny? Who’s Trevor’s mommy?” Penny looked at Eva as if she’d grown a secon