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That was something I hadn’t really considered. Cole was alpha here, so a slight against me would be a slight against him. Part of me railed against the conditional nature of it—the idea that just because of my relationship with Cole, I would be automatically respected. I couldn’t help but be a little irked by that. To me, everyone was worth the same level of respect and consideration regardless of their position in the pack or lack thereof.
But this was the world I’d signed myself up for. And it wasn’t like I could change it in a few days or even a few months. I would have to do it slowly. To nurse it like a seed and let it sprout from inside our pack and hope that the vines and tendrils made it to other packs and took root there, too.
“You look deep in thought,” Cole remarked.
I sighed. “I was just thinking about how I kind of hate that so much of pack life is hierarchical. I know it’s necessary in some regards, but I want to be respected just by virtue of being a person with feelings and thoughts and ideas rather than my tangential relationship to you.”
Cole nodded, checking the temperature of the curl again before starting to comb through the side I’d started curling on with careful, gentle movements. “And I think you ought to be,” he agreed. “But when I can’t demand that someone respect you for being you, I’m glad I can demand it because you’re my mate. I know it’s not fair, and I know it’s not perfect, but it’s a start.”
I heaved out a quiet breath, closing my eyes and focusing on the sensation of his rough-hewn fingers gently handling my hair. I savored the faint little tug of the comb’s teeth pulling through a few hairs that stuck together because of the hairspray, and the tingle of my skin as the comb brushed against the sensitive areas of my scalp.
“It’s a start,” I finally agreed, though tiredly. “It’s better than nothing.” I leaned my head all the way back as he finished combing through the curls. Opening my eyes, I met Cole’s loving gaze.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
I smiled up at him. “You do, too.”
He bent at the waist and leaned down to kiss me.
* * *
Victor and his pack mates, about ten of them in total, arrived about ten minutes before we made it downstairs. When we came down, Travis was already chatting with Victor and River while the other pack members were doing everything from looking up at the ceiling to looking for the kitchen to staring at Travis with a healthy amount of skepticism.
I recognized a few of them from when they came to help and were taken hostage by Lanyon Clover. The other ones were not so familiar. I wondered if they were the friends or family of the pack members who’d had their abilities to shift compromised, or if they were just paranoid that we would make things worse.
We walked down the grand staircase, Noah wiggling in Cole’s arms as we descended, practically vibrating with excitement that Grampa Vic was here to visit.
When we made it to the bottom, Cole let Noah go, and he careened for Victor. The older man didn’t miss a beat, kneeling down and opening his arms wide to scoop him up into a giant hug.
“There’s my little bruiser!” Victor said gleefully. “I missed you, kiddo!”
“I missed you, too, Grampa Vic!” Noah exclaimed.
Cole and I followed only a few moments later, and as I neared, Victor opened up an arm toward me.
“It’s good to see you, sweetie,” Victor said. “We missed you during Cole’s last visit.”
“I missed you, too!” I said, giving him a hug as best I could with Noah still in his arms. “How was your flight? Did you have any trouble?”
“A few bigots at the Atlanta airport, but that’s nothing new,” Victor said.
“I hate that airport,” Travis griped. “I don’t know how any of you deal with flying out of it. I’d rather drive to one a hundred miles away than deal with that hellhole.”
“When you’re herding a bunch of pack members, sometimes the delays and cancellations work out in your favor,” Victor said with a grin. “We usually get to the airport late if there’s more than three of us for one reason or another.”
I looked past Victor to see River. He stood there in a muscle tee, his toned arms crossed. His black hair was braided perfectly down his back, two leather hair ties binding the traditional native hairstyle. He must have sensed my eyes on him cause he looked away from Travis, who was still railing against the Atlanta airport, and gave me a wink of acknowledgment. I smiled back, realizing I’d missed him and was looking forward to catching up with him.
I gave Victor a pat on the back, and he released me, going in to hug Cole now. As Cole and Victor made their pleasantries, I walked over to give River a hug.
“It’s so good to see you,” I said.
“Same to you,” he said. “Word on the street is you’re starting gene therapy with the rest of ‘em.”
“Wow. I’m gossip over in Georgia, am I?” I teased.
“I know, it’s pitiful,” he said with a rueful smile. “We really need to get some hobbies. Maybe learn embroidery or crochet or something.”
I snorted a laugh and shook my head. “I’ll rally everyone to teach you how to make giant dog sweaters.”
