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“Trust in me, Adam,” she said earnestly.
“I do. I trust you more than I’ve ever trusted anyone.”
She beamed. Their hands clasped again and they continued their walk. “I know that you don’t know much about wolf hierarchy, so I’ll try to cover the basics. Our pack is what I’d call medium-sized. There are over a hundred members including kids who aren’t old enough to shift, all the way through our retirees. At the top of the pack is the alpha male—that’s Acksel. His truemate is Brynn, who’s human and pregnant with his pup.
“Under Acksel, the males are ranked according to fighting ability. Ren is the beta—he’s basically Acksel’s right-hand. Sam is the theto, and he’s in charge of the protectors, who are the highest-ranked males. The protectors are like a wolf police force; they do things like patrol town and guard the alphas and anyone else that needs it. Then there are the omegas.”
He stopped talking, and all she could hear was the crackle of the icy branches as they moved in the light breeze.
“If I hadn’t gotten burned, I’d be a protector. I can’t run fast in my shift because of the way my muscles healed when I shifted. Because I’m not whole, I’m an omega.”
“What does that mean exactly?”
He wouldn’t look at her as they walked; his shoulders hunched and his whole body tensed.
“Omegas are the lowest members in the pack. Females are always omegas, and so are retired males who aren’t at full strength due to age or injury. In my case, I became an omega when I shifted as a teenager and it became clear that I couldn’t function fully. My leg tightens up and aches, and the pain has even brought me to a complete stop at times in the middle of a hunt. So while I might be a good tracker, and a good hunter, and even a good fighter, I will never be anything but an omega. I’m at the beck and call of the alphas and any high ranked males.”
“Are the omegas ranked?”
“Not officially, but there’s an unspoken hierarchy within the omegas. While all of us work for the high-ranked pack members, not all pull their own weight. For example, some of the females actually order around some of the lower-ranked females.”
“You mean wolves like Kammie?”
He nodded. “It’s supposed to be equal among the omegas—everyone should be working to make the pack a better place—but there are those who don’t, and the alphas aren’t interested enough to do anything about it. Or at least Acksel isn’t. Brynn cares, because she doesn’t really understand pack hierarchy.”
“It must be hard to be human in a pack. At least I understand about shifting.”
“My friend Jeremiah and his mate Honey are stewards. They work exclusively with the retirees.”
She hummed. In the sleuth, bears who were unable to hunt, take care of their homes, or help out, were taken care of by everyone. That wolves had to be assigned to take care of the retirees made her curious.
They stopped walking, and Dani looked around. The woods were beautiful. Snow and ice-covered trees stretched for what seemed like miles. “When we talk to Acksel tomorrow night,” he said, grasping both of her hands and giving them a squeeze, “I’d like to ask if you and I could join the stewards.”
“I thought I couldn’t join the pack because I’m not a wolf?”
“You can’t, but I know that Jeremiah and Honey could use some help with the retirees, and it would be a way for you and I to work together. Unless you wanted to do something else?” He stammered a little. “You can work wherever you like, or you don’t have to work. I wouldn’t mind if you stayed home.”
She quirked a brow. “Want me barefoot and pregnant, huh?”
His cheeks flushed, and he shook his head. “No. Yes.” He groaned in frustration, and Dani laughed.
Untangling their hands, she pressed her gloved fingers to his cheeks and smiled at him. “I never worked outside of the sleuth. I want to be able to do whatever you do in the pack, but I wasn’t sure if I would be allowed. If we can work together with your friends, then I think that’s a wonderful idea. I’d love to be able to help people who need it.”
He blew out a relieved breath. “Good. I’m sure Acksel will approve, and then I’ll call Jeremiah and we can go visit them and hash out the details.”
“He’s your best friend?”
Nodding, he gripped her hips and drew her close. “He and I shared a similar dislike of being omegas, but he found a place in the pack, with his mate, where he fits. Now that I have you in my life, I want us to find that, too. I think the stewards are the perfect place.”
They continued their walk through the woods until they reached the far edge, and she could see a row of homes through the trees. “This is the retiree development. Many of the retired pack members live here, but there are others scattered around town.”
“What does retiring mean?”
“Some wolves want to run and hunt their whole lives, but sometimes things happen to take a wolf out of that activity. Age can bring arthritis, and even in the wolf form the joints can ache. We heal faster than humans, but we don’t escape everything that comes with old age. Some wolves get injured and shifting causes them pain. Retiring is a way to stay a member of the pack and under the care of the alphas, without being required to hunt or be active pack members.”
She stared at the small houses. “Will they mind that I’m a reindeer?”
“Why would anyone care what you shift into?”
