Wolf's Call (Wolves Next Door #2) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,205

She nurtures us. She has this respect for trust that convinces all of us to prove her right. I'd like to say she's an alpha, but I'm not sure yet, and I'm not upset at all if she is."

"Which is why we all want to please her," Trent realized.

"I thought it was her legs," Seth joked.

"Shit," Pax laughed. "Figured you'd be all about the tits or ass."

"Eyes," Seth admitted. "I love her eyes. And yes, I know they're amber now, but they're even more beautiful than before. It's the depth, or the way she looks at me, or something."

I found myself smiling at that, and still listening in without shame.

"Regardless of how hard she makes our dicks," Ian went on, "she's good at this. My mother was a horrible Alpha Female. We all know that, even if we don't want to talk about it. Elena? She's the one the wolves feel like they can actually talk to. They know I'll listen to her, and that she'll listen to them. So, I think we should put this off until our mate can weigh in. What do you all think?"

"I can go with that," Trent said.

"Yep, me too," Pax agreed.

Lane huffed. "You know I'm convinced she's the best thing in the world, so sure."

"Seth?" Ian asked.

"Thinking," he said. "I'm trying really hard to separate how I feel about her from this as a rational decision, but I think you're right. Plus, she's human. Well, was. She won't have the same biases we do, and she knows almost nothing about the other shifters. We'll need to make up lists of the pros and cons for her though. You can't just ask her if we should help others, because her answer will be yes. You need to narrow that down. How do we make a solitary group of tigers and a few families of foxes work with wolves when we don't all think the same?" He paused. "Granted, she's Latina, which means her views on minority species is going to be a little different than you'd expect."

"No, I'm actually counting on that," Ian promised. "But, speaking of that, go see if she's still sleeping, Seth. I need a shower, and one of you needs to run to our place for some meat. She ran us hard tonight."

"I'll go for steaks," Lane offered. "Trent, come carry the beer?"

"I'll clean up the living room and find a movie," Pax said. "Don't want her to wake up and think she's alone, especially not when her new senses kick in."

Oh, but they were already kicking in. I couldn't believe how well I could hear them. I was just too tired to call out that I was awake, and I certainly wasn't getting out of this bed. Instead, I just rolled over - which was more work than I expected - and waited for Seth.

The door opened softly, and my mate slipped inside. A band of brightness flashed from the lights on the other side, making me blink, but when I opened my eyes again, he was creeping closer.

"Hey," I said, making it clear I was awake.

"Hi." He crawled onto the bed. "How do you feel?"

"Like I got hit by a bus." I reached for his hand, but he was already moving away. "Seth?" I asked.

"I'm getting you something to help with that," he promised, heading for my bathroom. "Bridget gave us some muscle relaxers that are supposed to make you feel better." Then I heard the water running.

He was back quickly, but set both the amber bottle and the glass on the bedside table, then moved to help me sit up. I groaned, feeling aches in my abs that I hadn't expected, but I managed. Then Seth passed me the glass and focused on separating out two pills.

I took those, drank at least half the glass, then handed it all back. "Thank you," I told him.

"None of them know what this part feels like," he explained. "I do, so don't try to tough it out, ok? I honestly don't mind helping you sit up, or take meds, or even helping you to the bathroom. Promise I will not be horrified."

I just caught his hand. "I love you, Seth."

And for a moment, everything stopped. "What?" he breathed.

A moment of panic hit me, but I wasn't going to take it back. "I love you," I said again. "And Lane, and Ian, but this thing I feel when you're around? It's love, and I'm not going to be ashamed of it