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“Mmm, no comment,” I said again.
“Boooo!” Paulette complained. “Come on, you’re so stingy!”
“I don’t want to know,” Lana admitted. “I prefer to think the bed I’m meant to sleep on tonight is entirely clean, thank you.”
“Valid point,” Paulette said.
“Pfff, as if you guys can’t smell him all over the room,” Rosie said. “We already know she got claimed, didn’t she?”
“Look,” I said, putting my foot down, “tonight is not the fuck-and-tell night. Tonight is the night you help me not freak out about becoming a shifter!”
“Aw!” Rosie cried, hurrying into the room and hopping back into the bed with us. “Wait, are you scared?”
“Well, yeah,” I admitted, drinking more of my wine. “Wouldn’t you be freaking out, too? I mean...technically speaking, I’m more at risk of getting complications because of my aborted bite. And then Travis had a horrible time with it when he did it.”
“Marley, you’re gonna take it like a champ,” Paulette said encouragingly. “Just like you took that knot when Cole—”
Lana clapped her free land over Paulette’s mouth. “Boundaries, Paulette,” she hissed. “She said no fucking and telling.”
Paulette’s shoulders sagged in a crestfallen pout before she looked back at me and nodded.
Lana released Paulette’s mouth, and she sighed. “Look, Marley,” she said, “you know I’m a bit of a realist, so I’m not going to blow smoke up your ass and tell you that everything will be fine. But I can at least tell you that you will be supported by all of us—by Cole, by Travis, by pretty much the whole damned family. So trust yourself, and trust that it’s going to be okay.”
Rosie nodded emphatically. “Yeah. We’re all gonna help you get through the worst of it. And you’ll be able to support all of the shifters who need to go through the therapy, too.”
“I think that’s the part I’m most worried about,” I said. “That I’ll be too weak, and the pack won’t feel supported enough by me. Or they’ll feel I’m taking too much of their alpha’s focus.”
“Why are you so panicked about the pack thinking Cole is focusing on you too much?” Rosie asked, frowning.
“Well...I mean...I don’t want them to think I’m taking his attention away from the pack,” I said. “We have to be focused on everyone’s needs, not just mine.”
“I think you misunderstand how an alpha really works and functions in a pack, Marley,” Rosie said. “I mean, yes, Cole’s job is to protect the pack and guide them through difficult things. But it’s also the pack’s job to support and uplift their leaders. It’s a give-and-take.”
“Maybe, but I also know that Cole feels responsible for all the bad things that have happened to pack members,” I said. “I mean, he thinks if he’d been more careful, the people who got caught at the cannery wouldn’t have to deal with everything they’re going through now.”
“And,” Rosie said, “he’s also housing and feeding a ton of displaced wolves you both helped save from Lanyon Clover—which never would have happened if Cole hadn’t made the attempt to save me and Paulette.”
Paulette looked strangely serious as she gave a little nod. “There are a lot of packs that would have just called us a lost cause for the greater good.”
“She’s right,” Rosie said. “And I know firsthand because I used to be in one of those packs. I know your only exposure to pack politics has been Georgia, but Marley, things aren’t usually run this way.”
“But isn’t that the whole point?” I asked. “That we’re trying not to be like other packs?”
“To an extent,” Lana said. “But not to the extent that the two of you should run yourselves into the ground, you know?”
I pressed my lips, twisting my wine glass in my hand. “Yeah, I suppose that’s true. I just hope I can get Cole on the same page. He’s so intent on doing everything he can to fix things. I’m worried he just won’t see it that way.”
“We’ll help you get him to see it that way,” Rosie said. “And hopefully, his grandfather will, too.”
“Yeah, hopefully,” I said.
“Besides, the whole point of this is how you feel about Cole diverting his attention, remember?” Lana pointed out. “And you accepting support and help from the pack while you’re going through your transition. I know how you are, that you’ll pretend to be fine when you’re really not. That shit is silly.”
“Yeah,” I admitted with a bit of chagrin. “You’re right. Will you guys just promise to let me know if I wind up being too much? I’m worried I’ll be too needy and not realize it.”
“I really don’t think that could happen, but I promise to let you know if I see it,” Rosie said.
“You already know I’m honest to the point of it creating problems for me,” Lana acknowledged. “I will let you know.”
