to be ok. No matter all the other big things - all the hurdles that had just been placed before us - they were willing to tackle them. All of them.
For me.
"I'm going to be stupid about this," I told them. "I just feel like I'm so far out of my depth."
Ian knelt, squatting before me. "We know. We also understand. I've spent the last few days talking to everyone in Wolf's Run, and they all agree that you're a good person and Gabby's a great kid. I mean, a bit of a terror, but the good kind."
"She really is."
He grinned in agreement. "And we can take as long as you want for the other stuff, but I miss our dinners. I miss..."
"Being a family," Lane finished for him. "A pack."
"Yeah," the others agreed.
"Our mate," Trent said softly. "Ours. The woman we..."
Ian glanced back at him. "I already told her how I feel."
Trent groaned, turning away. "But how do we handle her fears of infection, guys? I mean, she has a point! It's not likely to happen, but we can't rule it out, and we all have Gabby to think of. How do we even do this? Do we just take sex out of the equation?"
"I don't think so," Seth said, lifting a hand when I opened my mouth. "Hear me out, Elena? The truth is that none of us want to wear condoms every time we're with you - but we will. We'll also wait until we have something set up to take care of Gabby. I mean, Henry's an attorney, right? There has to be something legal he can do, even if it's giving your daughter the house, or getting her emancipated. There has to be something. And once we figure that out, then we can take little risks. Like, I dunno, sex with condoms and still pull out. Or something. There has to be a way we can make this work, and it all comes down to making sure that if you ever get exposed, by us or anyone else, that Gabby's still taken care of, right?"
That was my biggest concern. It was the thing that kept spinning through my mind. If I got this disease and had to go back to her father, would that make her like the crazy old man who'd been without a pack for too long?
"And if you can't?" I asked. "If I'm killed in a car accident or something like that, then what? She'd still be alone!"
"Not alone," Ian promised. "Whether she lives in Wolf's Run or not, I will find a way to see her, to let her run as a wolf, and to make sure she's never isolated. She's our family too, Elena."
And I'd never even considered that. The idea of my boyfriend taking time to see my kid after I was gone? It wasn't something I could imagine anyone else doing - except these guys. Over and over, they'd proven to me that they really did mean what they said about her, and diseased or not, I couldn't guarantee the future.
"It's ok to be scared," Seth told me. "We've just turned your world upside down, but I promise, there's a lot more good than bad. It took me a little too long to figure that out, but I wouldn't go back for anything." He shrugged weakly. "And it got me you."
"We'll make it work," Ian swore.
And I honestly believed they would. I really did. The truth was that I also didn't want to give this up. Not them, not the community, my best friend, or even my house. I liked my life here. I just didn't want to make the wrong decision because I was too weak to stand up for myself.
But was I strong enough to take a risk when it was the right thing to do? "Ok," I said, letting out a heavy sigh. "I'll try it."
"So we can be your boyfriends again?" Lane asked.
"Yes!" I told them, giving in completely. "I don't know how, but yes. We'll figure this out."
He leaned back and smiled. "Then can I sleep on your bed?"
"Can I cuddle up with you and press my cold toes into your tail?" I countered.
"Elena, you can put them right on my belly, and I don't even care if you drool on my fur in your sleep."
"But you have to wash him," Trent said. "He's meticulous about keeping his coat clean."
I glanced down at Ian, who still knelt before me. "So, does this mean