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We're already planning several big canning and pickling days after whelping season ends so that we can store the summer's bounty for the winter months. It'll be a welcome addition to the meat that the hunters bring back, and it will reduce our reliance on outside sources of nutrition.
Slowly but surely, we're making moves to become fully self-sufficient.
But we're also taking careful steps to remain connected to the outside world. The cellphone tower was just the first step.
Now, Caleb's been teaching interested pack members the ins and outs of computer science. Rumor has it that some of our teens are looking to attend college in the fall. This will be a big step for the pack and will hopefully allow us to continue to expand toward a more modern existence.
Something that everyone seems to be looking forward to.
As I walk through the garden with Kale and Diana, I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of peace wash over me. This is truly my home now. When I first came here, there was just a one-room cabin and an empty clearing. Now...it's become so much more.
And so have I.
I'm not the same omega I was when I came here a year ago.
"Look!" Diana gestures toward the driveway.
The familiar silhouette of Jordan's car comes into view, and my heart swells with excitement. It's been days since I've seen him, and I've missed him dearly. But...his passengers are the ones I'm the most looking forward to seeing.
The car pulls up to the cabin and the passenger door flies open. My mother bounds out of the vehicle without hesitation and locks eyes with me from across the clearing. Tears well in my eyes at the sight of her. I hold out my arms as she charges toward me.
Her excitement is such that she loses control of her wolf, shifting out of her human form in a blur. Her brilliant gray coat glistens in the sun as she gallops toward me with ground-eating strides. She slides to a stop before me, yelping and whining with happiness as her tail wags violently to and fro.
I lower myself to my knees, with some help from the others, and throw my arms around her neck. I bury my face in her fur and inhale her scent as tears well in my eyes and blur my vision. My heart is so full that it feels like it's about to burst. I've missed her more than I can possibly put into words, and seeing her again is more wonderful that I could've imagined.
After a moment, she slowly shifts back into her human form and wraps her arms around me.
"Oh, Caleb," she says, sitting back on her heels to look me in the eye, "I've missed you so much. Look at you. I almost didn't recognize you." She laughs as tears of joy run down her face.
"You too," I say, wiping away the wetness on my cheeks. "I've missed you more than you'll ever know."
"You know," she says, "I've never seen you look so happy."
Her face grows solemn, and she takes my hands in hers. "The day you left home was the saddest day of my life," she admits. "I think I cried for days. I felt so awful for sending you away to some pack we'd never met. I regret so much about the way things went back then..."
"Mom, don't." I offer her a sincere smile. "It was for the pack. I understood that. And...I couldn't be happier now. This place, this pack...this is my home now, and I want to show it all to you."
But as my mother and Diana help me to my feet, a sharp pain lances through my belly. I inhale sharply and grimace as the muscles in my body contract around my womb. A few moments later, I become aware of a damp feeling spreading down my legs.
"Caleb!" Mom gasps as I squeeze her hand and clench my jaw to fight through the pain.
"It's time," Diana says with a nod of certainty. "Come, let's get him inside. We've got some pups to deliver."
24
JORDAN
The cabin is strictly off limits to me right now, apparently. Caleb is in there with his mother, my mother, and an entire team of omegas. They're all highly experienced when it comes to childbirth. There's no one better suited to helping him through this.
But...I can't sit still.
I barely got a chance to see him before he was ushered inside. He told me not to worry and gave me a quick kiss, but that was all. We'd been apart for days as I traveled south to retrieve his parents and bring them back for the birth of our children. I knew we were cutting it close, but I didn't realize just how close it actually was.
"Stop pacing, Son," my dad says with a chiding tone. "You're just going to wear yourself out, and you're not going to speed things up any."
He's sitting on one of the wooden lawn chairs that's gathered around the front porch. Most of the pack members that had been milling around have gone back home out of respect for our family. There'll be time to celebrate the births of all the pups that were born at the end of the whelping season. For now, they recognize that no one wants the added stress of having a bunch of people around during such an important moment.
Beside my father, in one of the other chairs, is Caleb's dad. We got to know each other a little bit during the drive up here. Honestly, Caleb's parents remind me a lot of my own. That's probably why he took to them so well despite their quirks.
