These were Josh’s friends. Josh’s pack. And Bruce wasn’t part of them.
Laddin was the only one who spoke. He stood like the third point of a triangle as he yipped twice, first at Josh then at Bruce.
What’s up? he asked. What’s wrong?
Bruce let his head dip. He wasn’t part of their pack. He was the outsider to everyone but Laddin, and his own brother was the one holding the rest back. As a man, Bruce would have said something cutting to hide the pain. But as a wolf, he simply dropped on the ground and put his head on his paws in misery. He wasn’t going to fight his brother. Despite the moonlight flooding his body with energy, he was tired of trying to belong. More than anything, he was sick of fighting with his brother.
So he didn’t.
Laddin came forward and whined as he pressed his nose against Bruce’s neck. Then he looked up at Josh and growled. That startled Bruce enough that he looked up in surprise. Laddin was fighting for him? Laddin was growling at Josh as if… as if….
As if Laddin was claiming Bruce no matter what the hell Josh thought. And the joy of that had him rolling to his side to lick Laddin. Wolfish licks conveyed so much, especially as Laddin returned the gesture. Affection. Love. Pack.
But then a sharp bark from Nero had them looking up.
Someone was coming. It was another wolf, walking with the slow precision of someone very old or very grand. Bruce barely gave him a second look because Josh was stepping forward. His nose was twitching and his tail was up.
Laddin let out a low yip. What are you doing?
Josh didn’t respond beyond a quick flick of his ear. He came forward, his mouth open and his teeth very bright.
The wolf in Bruce wanted to back away. This was dangerous. Josh wasn’t indicating friend or foe but just kept creeping forward. But the man inside Bruce’s wolf kept his body still. He would not run from Josh. If Josh wanted to take his revenge now, then so be it.
But he wasn’t going to be crawling on the ground either. He got up onto all fours, but he didn’t run away. Still, he kept his head slightly lowered because he would not fight his brother.
Josh opened his mouth right in front of Bruce’s face. All around them, the wolves were still. Bruce knew that Laddin was twitching in concern, but all he could see were Josh’s very sharp teeth.
And then suddenly Josh’s mouth narrowed… and he blew hard, straight into Bruce’s nostrils.
Ew!
Hot, wet air went straight up his nose. Bruce flinched back, snorting and rubbing his nose in the dirt. That was gross!
All around him, the wolves yipped in laughter. Bruce felt himself bristle. They thought this was funny—
Then Josh tackled him—full wolf, full body—catching Bruce by surprise. He felt Josh’s teeth on his neck, felt the scramble of claws at his belly, and he twisted to get away. He couldn’t. Josh was big and fast, and Bruce didn’t have the leverage.
He also wasn’t getting hurt.
It took a moment for that realization to hit him. Josh wasn’t coming in for the kill. He was playing with him. Every time Bruce tried to regain his footing, Josh was there, knocking him down, rolling around with him, and….
Licking him.
Hello, you big goober! Hello!
Bruce’s human mind was still trying to make sense of what was happening, but his wolf mind knew just what to do. He yipped and wrestled, then yipped some more while more wolves, more bodies, joined the pile.
Hello! Welcome to the pack! Hello!
He greeted them all, and one by one, he put names to the scents. Nero, Wiz, Stratos. Bing, Yordan, and then Wulfric. That slow wolf, the one who joined them eventually—he was Wulfric, and he was as spry and happy as the rest of them.
Throughout it all, Bruce smelled Laddin. He kept track of Laddin. And he knew Laddin was the one at his side, the one who yipped the happiest, and the one who was, for Bruce, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, always in this pack.
His pack.
He had a pack now, and the joy of that filled him to bursting.
He howled with delight, and every single one of the wolves answered.
Hello!
Welcome!
Pack.
HE WOKE to the sound of a human female singing. It was a strange music—earthy and wild—and it called equally to wolf and man. There were words, but he didn’t understand them. And yet just as he knew the meaning between a yip and yowl, he knew what was being said.
Wake up! Come greet me!
He did, coming awake in his human body, responding with words while others all around him murmured their greetings as well. Some came in the form of words, others in barks.
“Morning,” he said, his voice thick.
Laddin said the same, though in Spanish, right next to his ear, because he and Laddin were entwined. The furry body on which they lay barked, and the two others at their feet—one human, one lupine—responded as well.
Bruce blinked the sleep out of his eyes to see the pack in a huge pile together. Not merely the eight he had names for, but more. The big wolf with the raspy yip, the white wolf who never said a word. The one who smelled of pepper, and the other whose fur curled like a poodle’s and yet smelled like a grizzly bear. He knew them all by scent, even in their human form. And he was amazed at the size of the pack. There were twenty-two of them, plus the woman who walked daintily among them, teasing some with her toes and petting others regardless of whether they were wolf or human.
“Mother,” Wulfric said in a dignified voice. “Please tell me you brought clothes with you.”
Lady Kinstead paused as she turned to her son with an ethereal grace. “No. Why
