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“Cole, I want to do it, but you’re messing with my whole charming, wry, aloof act. Let me pretend to be a burdened man.”
“Of course, my mistake,” I said with a laugh. “Continue.”
“Eh, maybe later. I’m too overworked and underpaid,” he joked.
As I shook my head, Paulette raised her hand. “And what about other non-shifters? What roles would they get? I assume Marley isn’t covering everything.”
“Well, I’ve been thinking about that...” I said, rubbing my chin. “I actually wanted to ask you guys what you thought about having a civilian human liaison. Their role would be to lead and mediate concerns, initiatives, and other issues between the pack members and any humans who are not in a position of authority. They would help build positive relationships and understanding between the two groups in the pack. Maybe even help with education initiatives to reduce ignorance around shifters.”
“That would be incredible,” Marley said.
“Would you want to oversee it?” I asked her. “Be the one to select a person for the job and give them their duties?”
Marley smiled and nodded. “I would love to.”
“We have a lot of leadership roles,” Rosie observed. “How will we manage all of that?”
“That’s where the pack coordinator comes in,” I replied. “The pack coordinator is like an office manager. They deal with pack issues before they escalate up the chain of command, ensuring that everything runs smoothly and efficiently.”
“And let’s not forget the pack healer,” Travis added. “Their role is crucial for the well-being of our pack members, taking care of injuries and supporting their overall health.”
“Who’d take up those positions?” Paulette asked.
“Well, the pack healer is a tricky one because you have to have a calling to do it,” I said. “It’s not something you can exactly train someone in. It’s something you’re born with or come into over time, like being an alpha.”
“I...” Sylvia began.
The whole table looked at her, and Sylvia looked nervous for the first time I’d ever known her. She sucked air into her lips, then breathed out heavily.
“I’ve always had a penchant for healing work,” Sylvia finally said. “The art started showing up when I had my kids, but I never pursued it since I wasn’t really in a pack and shifters were still pretty deep in the clawset back then.”
“No kidding?” Travis asked.
Sylvia nodded. “There’s a reason my kids hardly missed any school growing up,” she said. “I’ve just always had a knack for making them feel better.”
“If you want to do it, you’re more than welcome to the position,” I said. “We’d be happy to have you do it.”
After Sylvia agreed, I said, “It’s settled, then.”
“What about the rest of us?” Rosie asked. “Do we get to do anything?”
“Rosie, I’m going to need help teaching self-defense, if you’re up for that?” Marley asked.
“That would be amazing! And Cole, I can help you scout for sites, too, if you want,” Rosie said.
“That would be great. The place you snapped up for Shift into Fitness is perfect,” I said.
“We’re going to have so much fun!” Rosie exclaimed.
“We’re sort of in a hurry-up-and-wait mode for now,” I said. “The big thing we need to do now is figure out how to go about recruitment. I’d originally thought of just making things casual, making it more like a club than a proper pack. But now that I’ve seen how well a pack works when it’s running smoothly, I’m almost certain it would be in everyone’s best interest for us to take it as seriously as we can. I don’t expect you all to come at this with the same level of dedication I have, but I’m telling you all now that I’m going all in.”
“So am I,” Marley said.
“Yeah, me too,” Travis said, taking a sip of his second beer of the night.
“No kidding,” Paulette said. “You’re becoming a whole-ass shifter, you’re so dedicated.”
Travis rubbed the back of his neck and smirked. “Damn right.”
