They didn’t know how the she-wolf and I were tied. They didn’t know how Ethan and I had helped birth the pups who were back at the packhouse, snuggled up in bed.
I wasn’t sure if the she-wolf should be walking around so soon after giving birth, but I wasn’t given much choice.
When I left the house, shutting the door firmly in her face, she made such a racket that all the naturals came racing to the door, snarling at me in anger at pissing her off.
I wasn’t scared of the pack, not like I’d been that first day.
They weren’t giving off the same vibes. It was more of a ‘for God’s sake, shut her up’ kind of thing.
And considering I was Dr. Doolittle right now? I figured I’d be the one to know.
I blew out a breath as the she-wolf muttered, “Useless female.”
My lips twitched though, because I couldn’t blame her. It was one of the council leaders’ women, and I had to admit, she looked useless.
From the pack meeting last night, where I’d been formally introduced as the new omega, and the pack had learned that I was mated to the alpha, beta, and enforcer, I’d seen how the women in the pack had a hardiness that wasn’t exactly common.
They all looked like they could build a house without a man to help them—that kind of thing.
I figured that was because of a few reasons. One, this town was way off grid. That was why Ollywood’s had come here, because the nearest city was Vancouver, and that was a long ride west.
The master of ceremonies, a son of a bitch called Niall, drooled over coming to these small communities where people were starved for entertainment.
What the crowd lost in having small numbers was made up for in the amount of cash they were willing to spend.
So this place was definitely on the smaller side, and it was also a little isolated. The people around here had to get used to being self-sufficient, except, it seemed, for the woman sneering at me.
She screamed city girl.
As did most of the pack council, now that I came to think of it.
As I pondered why that was, wondering how most of the pack were hardy and built as though we were still living in the pioneer times, but the leaders were all city slickers, I moved ahead of the bitch and headed into the store.
Eli said that I could ask the housekeeper for whatever I needed, but I had my period and I wasn’t going to ask anyone for tampons. I could buy the damn things myself.
On top of that, I’d wanted an opportunity to roam around the town and get used to the changes that started happening last night. Yep, my powers were evolving, and I’d been feeling weird all morning. So getting out of the house had been imperative for that, but also because I wanted to see for myself where my new home was founded.
The interesting thing was, of course, that I’d expected to have a guard with me, to have either Austin or Ethan at my side, but the second the she-wolf had gotten to her feet, not looking like she’d been in a life or death situation just four days ago, Austin had settled back into his seat and gotten back to work.
Evidently, they thought she was my guard.
What was interesting about that was I knew she had appointed herself as that, but I hadn’t exactly told them.
My mouth twitched at the thought, especially when the she-wolf growled when I told her, “You can’t come into the store.”
“Stupid humans.”
I grinned as I ducked inside, muttering inwardly, “I won’t be long.” She huffed, but I felt her take a seat. Whatever elixir was in that gross Hannibal Lecter fruit, it had worked the same miracle on her as it had on me, but the truth was, she was a little stiff, which told me how close she’d been to death.
I felt her aches and pains, felt them and wanted to heal them, but I wasn’t a healer. All I could do was stroke her and keep the fire stoked.
She wasn’t used to living inside, that much was clear, but she made the sacrifice for me and her pups.
I was both honored and perplexed by it.
Still, I wasn’t about to complain, not when her presence gave me some freedom.
I hurried down the small grocery store’s aisles, trying to find tampons.