Cal finally could settle into one vehicle that came with him, and he had the brain cells still to remember to pull out his phone finally.He’d finished changing out of his messed up gear and into a set of spare clothing the go bags always carried. They often kept several go bags in the trunks of their vehicles just in case a wolf did exactly what he stupidly did. Shifted without removing his clothes.At least, at this time of year, they didn’t need several layers of clothing to survive in their flesh. Nothing like shifting in a down filled parka. The song line may have been ‘It’s Raining Men.’ But there’s something about watching it rain down feathers at the beginning of a particularly bloody battle. Cal scrolled through his texts, and voice mails he’d deal with emails later. The complaints about the violence at his club and there was no warning about it from patrons were leading the way. But what caught his notice, though, were the three concerned messages from diff

“Us? How many pups are we going to have?” “I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you after your first pregnancy you tell him you have enough to handle. News flash, Dad doesn’t listen. You have three pregnancies.” “How many pups?” “Enough that you’d be running away if I told you. Don’t worry, you love all of us by the time we’re all here.” Tara prayed this was just a dream turning into a nightmare. She couldn’t be talking to one of her pups, could she? If she was, who was the pup speaking for that Tara wouldn’t listen to? “Look, you have to forgive him and show him he doesn’t have to be perfect or in control all the time. Has he told you how he grew up and why he opened the club?” “Okay, no he hasn’t and I’m not discussing the club with any pup, let alone one of mine.” The horror of the downhill conversation. Tara now knew she wasn’t in control, and it wasn’t her mind running the show. “Fine, I’ll keep his four-yea

“I’m glad you’re finally back. Tara’s upstairs resting. It’s been weird, around here while you were gone. The pack has been sending people to talk to Tara about every little thing. So far, she’s listened to every single thing they’ve had to say and not turned a single pack member away, no matter how crazy the request is. They drained her of all her energy. Oh, and I think you really need to meet with the Council of Elders. Several carefully inquired about Tara having a problem she might need to talk about. Either she didn’t understand what they were talking about, or she ignored it for now.” Jaxon met Cal in the garage when he finally pulled in. Exhausted as he was and out of sorts, he could see Jaxon was upset about something, and needed to tell him all about it. Now whether Cal would do something now about it was a different story.” “What do you think the Elders are trying to get to her to see if they can get proof that she’s a poor selection for Luna? Well, it’s a

“Okay, calm down. It’s off. Let me look at you and sure it didn’t hurt you. This has shift silver in it. How did you shift?” Cal was trying to examine her throat. He thanked whoever decided Tara would be a small wolf. The collar was tight and digging in, but it hadn’t done more than bruise her. Tara whined again. It sounded so lost. Clearly, she didn’t know how she’d done it. “I’m sorry, take your time. That must have been a surprise waking up like that. I didn’t even think about your collar when I came in. It’s a relief that we don’t need it anymore. I came to tell you that Elmwood and what’s left of the rogues won’t be trying to harm or kill you anymore. We’ll talk about that later when you’re more comfortable. Are you ready to try shifting again?” This is crazy. She’d tried in the beginning to shift with the collar on and she couldn’t. What changed since then? Tara grumbled a little and he could see her concentrate on shifting. Unlike before, whe

Tara never told Cal about her dream or whatever that was that she experienced. He made it quite clear to her she needed to speak up, and say how she felt. Cal admitted it made him uncomfortable to know that she wasn’t happy about something, but to let it avoid confrontation. She was his mate where the pack and the public were concerned. But within the club and their private spaces, she was his submissive. He’d make sure she knew when the tables turned from now on. This wasn’t a simple conversation to start for either of them. Tara could tell Cal wasn’t comfortable putting himself in a vulnerable position. Tara feared angering him, and Cal taking his anger out on her. Or calling it quits all together. Tara knew she didn’t have anywhere to go if she left this pack for any reason. There wasn’t any sane explanation why she feared this happening. Now, she sat there eating the food they’d prepared together and wondering how or when this all chang