When I reached the trees of the National Forest, I let out a howl that was quickly answered by Ryker. He was a strong pack member. He worked hard, called things like he saw them and was always read for a fight if he was needed. His only downfall was that he attracted a world of females, wolf and human alike. As a human he had blond hair and blue eyes and he walked around with a knowing smirk. Half the single females from our old pack wanted to follow our new pack when they found out Ryker was coming. The other half wanted to follow for me. Odd with all those females he only likes the one who doesn’t give a damn, I mused.
No one ever called me smart he replied to my thought as he neared me on his sweep of the land. I turned to intercept him. Sorry man, I mentally shrugged, mind’s been wandering today. Have you noticed anything off? I had caught up to the light grey wolf I knew was Ryker and we ran side by side towards the pack house.
Naw, a few hikers but I avoided them, and they didn’t get near the house. As we entered the clearing in front of the main house we shifted to human form. I knew we’d have to address the possibilities of humans in our territory. It was part of our reason for the meeting tonight, among other issues I had noticed cropping up in the pack.
I looked up at the cabin, mansion really, that my parents had given the pack as a gift. It sat deep in the forest, back against the edge of a large clearing. The clearing gave the pack a huge expanse of yard in the front of the house for pack meetings outside. The house itself was a two-story log cabin. The kitchen and pantry were large enough to store and cook food for a pack much bigger than ours. The living room was huge and full of several couches and an entertainment center. There was an attached garage and a nice porch. Altogether, including the living area over the garage, there were ten rooms, several bathrooms, an office, a laundry room, and a huge basement. It was much more than I would have asked for, but the house had a natural feel that I liked.
“How was Zee?” Ryker asked curiously. I knew Wyatt wasn’t completely happy about a female distracting me, but I didn’t know that Ryker or anyone else knew about her yet. I hoped that Delaney hadn’t heard about Zee yet. She was hard to deal with on her best days, but if she found out I liked a human my night would go to crap quick.
“Yeah, Alex, how was Zee?” I looked up to find a red-haired beauty glaring at me, her emerald eyes flashing with malice. Guess that answers the question about Delaney knowing I sighed and didn’t answer either of them. Now was not the time to fight with a jealous female. I knew Delaney would corner me soon enough and it wouldn’t end nicely.
“Pack meeting in the dining room, 30 minutes. Be sure everyone knows,” I barked as I went inside the house and headed straight to my office. I quickly locked the door and collapsed at my desk. I stared for a moment at the huge stack of things I needed to address. I would need to get Wyatt’s help on some of the paperwork.
We had too much that needed to be handled. The land was scouted, the towns had been looked at, and now we needed to get to work setting up our forms of income. I needed to delegate some help for Tegan who was working constantly to try to make the house perfect for everyone. I worked quickly to sort through the paperwork, making a pile for Wyatt to deal with, and a pile for myself. I was hoping to get it finished before the meeting and have time to grab food.
Forty minutes late, and in a bad mood at the prospect of facing all the pack issues without a full stomach, I walked into the dining room. Everyone but Jarren and Tegan were there, and the table was covered in different finger foods for the pack to eat during the meeting. I was about to ask about Tegan, as the small blond-haired girl walked into the room carrying another plate of sandwiches. Her brilliant blue eyes met mine briefly with a knowing smile as she nodded at the food on the table.
Tegan was classically beautiful, and it wasn’t hard for me to understand why Wyatt found her fascinating. As she sat the plate on the table his eyes followed her graceful movements. It was too bad for Wyatt that Tegan was a very shy wolf. She had been in my father’s pack for as long as I could remember. No one ever claimed turning her since she was just a small child at the time. Her human parents had left her with my family, and so she had lived in the main house and grown up with me. I would always consider her a little sister.
“Since everyone else was prompt and Tegan provided us with a perfect dinner,” I waved my hand in Tegan’s direction and she dropped her gaze quickly, blushing. I continued, “Why don’t we start with you all airing any concerns you have.” I sat down and started loading my plate with food.
“More like you want to stuff your face so you’ll let us talk first,” Wyatt said wryly. Ryker chuckled and Tegan smiled shyly at Wyatt. I suspected from the look on her face that my shy little sister felt more for Wyatt than I realized. I looked away from them to find Delaney still glaring at me. I
