Dean settled the elders into the blue sitting room. One of the few public spaces set up and maintained for the older wolves’ comfort. The styling didn’t fit the lifestyle of the younger pack and pups weren’t allowed in there to prevent them from damaging the contents of the room. It was pleasant enough, but Dean felt it was too formal in an antiquated way. He’d prefer to update it’s décor and make it more comfortable for everyone. So here he sat on a chair that felt far too light to accept his weight for long and having tea with the seven new council members. “First, I would like to apologize for pressing you to take several tests to prove you were fit to sit on the council. But I now have two ex-council members who are dying because they took matters into their own hands to change. What I want to discuss with you right now will sound very hypocritical and I am aware of it. But please hear me out on this matter.” “Alpha, please let me stop y

“What’s wrong? You agreed to come here for this, Kiera.” “I agreed to look into it. I don’t know it all seems so easy, doesn’t it? What if everything looks good but something still goes wrong?” “Then we deal with that when it happens. That’s what life is like. People don’t stop living because they could be hit by a car or struck by lightning. Chances are made and done some work and others don’t. But when they work, we reap the benefits and enjoy life all the more. I want you beside me in all how count. I don’t want to always be looking over my shoulder, wondering who will force you to mate with them and take you away from me. I’ve already had to live with the worry that James would do that. It’s hard enough that he took Trisha. I know there will be someone else sooner or later in the wings wanting to do the same thing.” They hadn’t left the chairs they sat in while they said this. Kiera couldn’t argue with his logic. She knew there were some

At some point, Kiera looked up at Dean. “Did you call your sister and tell her you were doing this right now?” “Nope, because you know very well what Trisha would say and I wasn’t going to listen to it, because this is between you and me.” “Goddess save me. Fine, I’ll do it. But when she’s pissed, I’m laying all the blame at your door. So you better be prepared when you see her next, because you’re going to hear about it.” Kiera couldn’t take it. She needed to talk to someone other than Dean. Trisha was the first person she thought of. Her mind did flit to April and Mary, but right now they were too busy trying to impress her to be reliable. For two who claimed they wanted to help her part-time, that changed when they understood she wasn’t dreaming that Dean wanted her as his mate and Luna. Kiera wasn’t leaning toward either of them because right now she didn’t feel she could trust them to receive the unvarnished truth. She hoped that would change.

Two days later, Kiera and Trisha waited outside Dean’s room as Dr Graves examined him and looked at the latest test results. James returned to his pack to manage a few things. “So what are you doing for your mating ceremony? When will it be?” Kiera asked Trisha to try to find a different subject that didn’t revolve around Dean’s or her recent decisions. “Oh, I have him waiting until we can have both packs in the same place without there be fighting. I figure in a few years. I mean, technically, we’re mated. It’s just the ceremony of recognition of the mating that’s not been done. It seems so old-fashioned to me.” Trisha tried to brush it off. “Hon, if that were true, then you’ll be waiting forever to have the ceremony. Why don’t you just have it, and we’ll threaten to string up anyone and post signs of what they did? Like those photos of cats in their harnesses. “I shredded all the toilet paper while my owner was pooping.” Or “I pooped in m

In the bathroom, Dean had the shower running, and he was making sure they had everything they need within easy reach. He remembered to heat the towels and lay out the mat. Whoever built this bathroom put down super smooth tiles on the floor and it was like skating on ice when you stepped out if you weren’t careful. The mat had rubber grips to prevent that while drying your feet on it. Dean heard Kiera sigh as she settled under the spray of their large shower. A standard wolf could bath in this shower while in their fur. Now Dean wondered if he needed to remodel the bathroom to fit their new size. Kiera was smaller in her dire wolf form, and he didn’t think she’d fit in here. That was something for another day to think about. Right now, he had an eyeful of his mate and a promise to keep. There was no question for him if she was his mate. Just seeing her like this made everything right. Dean followed her into the shower and cornered her under