sure that my smile had to look feral, but I nodded. "Now?"
"Sure," Pax agreed. "Ian?"
"Yeah, I'll handle the construction crews," Ian promised. "And I think you two are right. It's time to let the pack know that we're thinking about settling down. Tomorrow, though. Tonight, I'll talk to Ashley and make sure she's running interference. Then we'll have to figure out how to make the mating ritual work without scaring her off."
"When?" I demanded.
Ian just lifted a hand. "That's up to Elena, but once we say something, the pack will watch for the signs."
"It'll help keep her safe," Pax told me. "If we mate her, it won't matter if she's a wolf or not. She'll finally be pack."
"And Gabby too," I told him. "She's our girl. They need to know she's pack too!"
"We'll make sure of it," Ian promised. "If I claim the mother, I claim the daughter as well. She'll be my pup after that. And by extension, yours."
I just nodded my head one more time. "Thank you, Ian. I know you didn't want a mate yet, but…"
"I like her," Ian assured me. "Rather a lot, Lane. I'm not fated for her, but I do honestly like her."
"Can you love her?" I asked, needing to hear the answer.
He nodded. "I definitely could. I actually want to, but I'm not going to lie to myself and claim that I already do. I think I still would be interested in her if you weren't fated for her, though."
"And you?" I asked, my eyes jumping over to Pax. "Can you love her like she deserves?"
"Easily," Pax said. "Your mate is an amazing woman, Lane. I got a big ol' crush going on already. Trent's swooning over her."
"But not Seth," I said.
"Seth," Pax told me, "is flustered. She makes him feel like an awkward little boy, but he likes her too. You're fine. This is going to work. And none of us think of her as just a piece of ass."
The last bit of that crawling feeling in my nerves vanished. "Good. That's all I want. She deserves to be treated like…"
"Like the alpha's mate," Ian finished for me. "Like a princess."
"A queen," I corrected. "I'd say the top bitch, but she's too soft for that."
"Dunno," Ian said. "You should've seen her with Roman. Your mate has a bit of dominance in there, and she's not afraid to snap when she needs to."
"Now, c'mon," Pax said, turning me for his truck. "Let's make sure Sampson never tries to scare our woman again, huh?"
I let him lead me a few houses up the street, but I was smiling. My mate wasn't weak. She was just gentle. She was strong enough to not need to be cruel, and for some reason, I liked that. In truth, I just liked her.
Although, it was a shame I barely knew her. I wished I could fix that without screwing everything up, but I knew better. I had to trust my alpha. I had to trust my pack. They wouldn't let me down.
CHAPTER 34
The rest of the week went the same way. Well, I had no more problems from Mr. Delaney, but the guys were just as cute. Then, Wednesday night, I decided I should just tell Gabby I was dating Ian. To prepare for it, I made us a nice dinner - but nothing too fancy - and we sat down at the table. It didn't go anything like I expected.
"So," I asked her, "are you sure you're ok with me dating?"
"Yeah, Mom," she replied without a moment of hesitation.
I nodded, pushing the rice around on my plate. "Because Ian asked me to be his girlfriend. I said yes."
"Cool." She plunked a bite of chicken into her mouth and talked around it. "So, that wouldn't prevent Samantha from spending the night on Friday would it?"
"No..."
"Ok. If you don't mind, I'll tell her tomorrow so she can ask her parents, then she can get a ride home with Roman and me."
And that was it. My daughter's entire response to her mother being with a man who wasn't her father consisted of one whole word. For some reason, I'd expected a lot more drama than that. I'd braced for it even. Instead, she was more worried about coordinating transportation for her sleepover. Yeah, I decided to count it as a win.
Then Friday rolled around, and I realized that it was entirely possible she was punishing me, after all. The pair stopped over at the office when they got home and