Wolf's Call (Wolves Next Door #2) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,100

of calling me later," he warned as he headed for the door. "I already spoke to Patrick, so you know. Have a good night, kids."

Elena just leaned into me. "I need to be a wolf, Ian. I think I even want to, but I don't know how to make this work."

"We'll figure it out," I promised. Because, one way or another, if my mate wanted this, I would definitely find a way to make it happen.

CHAPTER 29

We made dinner and helped Elena get her house straightened up. Since tomorrow was Saturday, she didn't need to worry about going to work, so that helped. Lane made it clear he was staying, although none of us were surprised. Someone had just tried to attack his mate. I had a feeling the man would make a few extra laps around the house - and God forbid anyone decided to open a door before he was awake. He'd probably eat them, convinced he was protecting Elena.

So the rest of us left. I hated walking away from our mate. Every time I had to, I hated it a little more, but we had to share her with each other. I knew that, yet I also didn't want to. For the first time in my life, I actually wanted something of my own. Not that I resented the guys caring for her as well, but I hated those moments when she wasn't with me. I wanted her always, and I still felt like I barely knew her.

Elena was just too amazing. She was so sweet and gentle. It hit me in a way I'd never expected. I usually went for the uninhibited women. Not necessarily sexually, but the girls who ran barefoot through the snow types. Elena? She was a planner, an organizer, and she'd caught me completely by surprise. Even thinking about Karen hurting her made me feel simultaneously sick and furious, yet Lane was the best one to make her feel secure. I wasn't.

Thankfully, Ian was holding it together. He wasn't pissed, not exactly. This was much more territorial than that. Someone had come after his mate, and every alpha instinct that man had - which were all of them - told him to kill for her. He was subtle about it, but I knew my alpha well enough to know that he was on high alert. Pax wasn't much better. Seth? He acted calm, but I'd watched him push between Lane and Ian to hold her hand. That guy had it bad.

Shit, we all did. I liked the woman, the kid, and even the life that came with her. Until tonight, the idea of someone hurting her had seemed like nothing more than some theory we were discussing. I'd never imagined it would happen in real life. I figured Karen would yell at her, Elena would make the woman look like an idiot, and that would be about it.

But she'd almost been bit. Was it bad that a part of me wished she had been? The timing was all wrong, but I would gladly sit beside her until the full moon rose again. But to see her as a wolf? Would she be dark like her daughter? Red like Lane? Brown like me? I had a feeling her body would be lean and lithe. Her coat would be on the longer side, and her hair would be silky. Her eyes would be just a bit darker than most of ours, simply because she'd spent so many years as a human. I'd hold her, laying her wolfish body across my lap as we taught her how to move each leg and even her toes when she wanted. I wouldn't even care that she wasn't sexual in that form. She'd still be my mate.

We were halfway across our own yard, almost to our front door when I heard feet scurry around the house. My head snapped around, braced for Karen to try something else, but what I saw was Gabby. She was wearing only a hoodie over her clothes, her arms hugged to her chest as if she'd grabbed what she could and raced after us. But I wasn't the only one who'd noticed her.

"What are you doing out here?" Ian asked. "It's freezing, Gabby."

"I'm sorry, Alpha," she said, moving even closer so she could lower her voice. "I didn't mean to listen in, but I heard Mom talking to Henry about me. I heard my name, and I couldn't help it."

Ian turned to her.