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“I love you.”
Grinning, she let her shift take over. Shaking herself out, she stretched and inhaled, her nose twitching at how good Lucian smelled. He squatted down and rested a hand on top of her head, sliding his fingers through her fur and then rubbing her ears. “You’re gorgeous, but I knew you would be.”
He kissed her snout and then she trotted next to him around the side of the house, to find her cousins in their shifts, along with Malachi. Jack was climbing on Mal, who looked like he was grinning.
“Carrot! Woooofff,” Jack said, giggling wildly as he tried to sit on Mal like he was a horse.
Nila shook her head with a smile. “Wolf, little guy. Not woof.”
Jack screeched in happiness. “Woooooffff!”
Mal shook his head, a wolfy chuckle rumbling from him. She lifted Jack from Mal, bent and kissed her mate on the top of the head, and then said, “Have a great hunt, guys.”
Jack waved as Mia and her family left, heading into the woods. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Lucian blow her a kiss. He would patrol the house, keeping the non-shifting mates and kids safe while the pack hunted. When she was finished, she’d find her mate waiting for her, and once his duty was finished for the night they’d head home and celebrate the rest of the night however they wanted.
She was sure it would involve nakedness and a lot of pleasure.
And she couldn’t wait.
* * *
Lucian stared into the woods at the exact spot where Mia had disappeared with her family. He wasn’t jealous of her going off to hunt, but he missed being with her.
“I’d like to say it gets easier,” Nila said as she joined him, “but it doesn’t. It’s weird to be on the outside of things. We’re part of the pack but not wolves, and that’s different no matter what courtesies Acksel extends.”
Eveny and her mate, Luke, opened the sliding door. “I’m starving,” Eveny said. “Who else is hungry?”
“Carrot?” Jack said.
Lucian looked down at the little boy, and he grinned up at Lucian. “You like carrots, kiddo?”
Nila laughed. “That’s what he calls Mal.”
“Priceless,” Lucian said.
“Are you coming in? The omegas made a great meal for us,” Brynn said.
“I’m on duty. I’m going to patrol.”
“Oh, right. Well, I’lltryto leave some food for you. I’m not making any promises. Adam and Dani made brisket for us, and it’s so freaking good.”
When he was alone, Lucian inhaled deeply and then opened his senses, letting his nature free. He could feel his body change slightly as the berserker rose to the surface, but he didn’t need to change entirely in order to be a good guard. He’d draw on his full nature if he needed to, but he was hopeful that this first night, everything would go smoothly and there wouldn’t be any emergencies.
He could hear the wolves howling in the distance as they hunted in small groups. Somewhere in that inky darkness, Mia was stalking something, which he hoped was a small, harmless bunny and not anything that could hurt her. He headed for the front of the house, planning to walk the yard several times and keep an ear out for trouble before he took up his post and watched the woods. The pack wouldn’t be back for several hours, and then he’d get to take his sweetheart home and enjoy the remainder of the night.
A few hours later, Lucian had just finished a third perimeter check and was talking to Luke on the deck about the bar that he owned, and the drinks his mate had been inventing, when they heard a series of high-pitched barks cut through the night.
“Was that one of our wolves?” Luke asked.
“It sounded young,” Lucian said.
“Randi’s pretty new to shifting. She’s only had a couple of full moons. Maybe she’s in trouble?”
It happened again, with a series of short barks that morphed into a howl. Lucian knew then that whether it was the young wolf or not, whoever it was seemed to be in trouble.
“I’m going to find her,” Lucian said.
“I’ll keep an eye on the house. If any wolves come back from the hunt, I’ll send them to find Acksel.”
