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Ridge shifts to human form, and the rest of us follow suit before stopping in front of Amora’s smiling face.
She greets the men with a nod and then wraps her arms around me, ignoring my nakedness. “Welcome back. You’re earlier than I expected.”
“Change of plans,” Ridge offers.
I squeeze her one more time then release her, still floored by how easily she offers me friendship. I’ve never had a girl friend, and Amora’s happiness to see me makes me feel all warm inside.
Ridge steps away to dismiss his pack members, and the rest of my mates follow, giving me and Amora a moment to chat.
“How’d it go?” she asks me. “With the training?”
“I think I had a breakthrough!” I blurt, excited to tell someone who wasn’t there when it happened. I describe what I did on the street in front of Ridge’s house, particularly gleeful about my last triple-spell that annihilated the soda bottle.
Amora makes all the appropriate sounds and expressions, even gasping when I tell her how the bottle disappeared in a puff of smoke.
And I decide I love her for it. I’ve worked so hard to accept my witch, all while knowing that many of the shifters aren’t there yet, so the way Amora totally embraces my powers feels like a victory.
She takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. “You’re going to be the most powerful witch in Montana. Bet me.”
I laugh. “I don’t think I’ll take that bet, since it’s a losing one. But thank you for the vote of confidence.”
My mates return a moment later, and Ridge lifts his chin in Amora’s direction. “Anything I need to know about? New developments since we’ve been gone?”
Amora drapes an arm over my shoulders and shakes her head. “Nah, it’s been pretty quiet around here. Trystan’s little committee has been putting pressure on his whole pack though. It’s been awe-inspiring to see. They’re persistent.”
“They’re loyal to him,” I add, tossing him a proud smile.
Trystan returns my grin, and I swear it almost looks like there’s a rosy hint of a blush in his golden skin.
I get a bit of a reprieve for the afternoon. Ridge, Trystan, and Archer have to meet with their respective pack elders, and nobody suggests I take the time to train. Since my whole body still hurts from Cleo’s attack yesterday, I decide to eat lunch and take it easy. Though Archer offers to let Dare come with him, he declines, and I know innately that it’s because he doesn’t want to leave me alone. Not after Cleo’s attack, no matter how much stronger I am now.
So Dare and I crawl into the hammock in Archer’s backyard and nap, arms wrapped around one another beneath the warm sun. For a while, it’s a bit of paradise—solitude, Dare’s strong, quiet presence, his fingers brushing idly against my skin, and his heart beating beneath my cheek.
There’s something utterly unassuming about being with Dare. He doesn’t need to chat. He doesn’t need coddling or caring for. He’s content with the feeling of our skin warming together beneath the afternoon sun, and the silence of a love that transcends anything material. I don’t feel compelled to make small talk or be anything more than who I am when we’re together. There’s only the breeze, the sunlight displaced by the branches shading us, and the steady beat of his heart beneath my cheek.
But paradise can’t last forever. Ridge returns with the news that the three alphas have called a meeting of the packs to discuss a few things of note—but mainly, it’s to revisit the subject of whether or not to merge the three packs. This rather large decision needs to be made before we can start planning our march against Cleo.
I shower and dress, choosing a clean pair of Amora’s khaki pants and a tank top that’s a little nicer than the rest. I still feel like I need to impress the packs. At least, I feel like I need to show them that I’m a supportive mate to the alphas, and part of that is to put my best face forward.
The lawn beside the East Pack meeting house is covered in shifters by the time Dare and I join the others at the head of the crowd. We slide into place behind Ridge, Trystan, and Archer, close enough to make it clear we’re with them, but with enough space to show that we have deference for the alphas of the three packs like everyone else in attendance. There are so many nuances to being part of a wolf pack that I feel like I’ll spend the rest of my life learning them.
Archer holds up his hands to get the crowd’s attention, and the chatter slowly dies down. “Thank you for coming on such short notice to meet with us tonight. We’ve given you a few days to think about what we discussed in our last meeting, and now we’d like to open the floor to each pack regarding their thoughts on the matter. My pack will get us started. Patrice?”
One of the robed elders sitting in folding chairs at the front of the crowd stands and steps up onto the makeshift stage to join us. She shakes Archer’s hand, and then surprises everybody when she turns to offer her hand to Ridge and Trystan too. She’s middle-aged with a stern, hard face and a spray of gray in her blonde hair. But none of the apparent sternness is audible in her voice as she speaks.
“Greetings, everyone. I’m honored to stand before you as the emissary for the East Pack,” she says with a sincere smile. “Our people have met multiple times over these past two days, and the answer for us has remained the same since day one. We are ready to merge with our sisters and brothers of the West and North Packs. We believe in the idea that we shall be stronger together, and it would be an honor to welcome all of you into our lives for good.”
Her final sentence is met with a round of applause, and Archer beams at her as she turns to walk off the stage. She gives him a nod before returning to her seat.
Ridge steps to the edge of the stage. “I’d like to call upon Elder Jihoon of the North Pack to give his report.”
I watch the wizened old man stand and then stroll up to the stage, where Ridge gives him a hand up. I feel a kind of affection for him, since he was the one who told me I had a wolf inside me. He’s an eccentric old man, but I like him. Heck, maybe I like him because he’s eccentric.
“My dear friends,” he starts in his raspy voice. “I stand before you to say the North Pack has voted unanimously to merge. We see a prosperous future for all of us in this venture. I am personally excited to see where this next era takes us.” The old man nods respectfully to the entire crowd before leaving the stage.
I can’t see Trystan’s face from my vantage point, but I can sense the hum of anxiety coming from him. Despite how easily he was able to convince his inner circle to begin his grassroots efforts among the West Pack, he’s nervous. I assumed they gave him their answers prior to the meeting, but apparently not.
“Gloria, if you please?” he says.
