Wolf's Call (Wolves Next Door #2) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,209

hide. At least, not from my pack. So, when I walked into the kitchen, following the scent of breakfast, there was a little extra spring in my step. It was almost enough to make up for the drag of my aching muscles.

"You look happy," Lane said as I rounded the corner.

I just grinned, and yep, my mind replayed my mantra. "I feel good," I told him. "Like a whole new woman, although I still ache all over."

His eyes just slid down my body. "If you stay home, I'll give you a long and very thorough massage."

"No." I laughed to take the sting out of that. "Guys, seriously. I need to get used to hearing more than just all of you being extra quiet. I need to smell the air outside. I have to get used to this, but I'm not going to push too hard. Promise."

"So..." Ian set a plate of eggs, toast, bacon, hash browns, and sausage before me. "Are we allowed to hover and worry too much, or would that bruise your newfound wolfish pride?"

"You can hover," I assured him. "After all, you are my mates." And I looked up to meet his perfectly golden eyes.

His mouth curled higher. "I like that."

"Hm?"

Seth claimed the chair beside me, gesturing for Lane to pass him some food. "Most wolves can't meet his eyes that easily," he explained. "Dominance, Elena. You have it, and not many converts can say the same."

"Gabby did too," Lane told me. "Pretty sure she didn't get it from her father." And he lifted a brow, making it clear he meant she'd inherited - or learned - it from me.

"I'm not dominant," I reminded them. "Guys, I'm the happy housewife type."

"Not as much as you think," Ian assured me. "Elena, three alphas couldn't force you to shift, but Lane asking could?"

"No," I said. We'd talked about this, but I felt like he still didn't understand. "I was just trying too hard. Lane begged, and he's the one who told me to stop pushing or fighting. I'd never considered that trying too hard could be fighting it, so I gave up and let you do your thing, Ian."

"I didn't do anything," he said, adding a glass of orange juice beside my coffee. "You changed back on your own. We tried. Me, Ashley, and even Kim. Henry was making his way over when you figured it out and just..." He huffed, clearly at a loss for words. "You just did it."

"Because I trusted my pack. And Gabby needs me, so I had to make it work." I took a bite, pausing to appreciate how good real food tasted. Not that my taste buds had changed, but it had been a bit since I'd felt up to chewing. "And this is very good."

"She's not going to believe you," Lane told Ian. "Just let it go."

"But - "

"No," Lane warned. "She figured it out. It doesn't matter if she ignored your dominance. She's your mate, she figured it out, and she'll be stronger for it. Leave it alone, Ian."

Seth just pointed his fork at Lane. "Wouldn't really push him. He was up all night."

"Why?" I asked around another mouthful of real food.

Lane leaned over the kitchen side of the counter, right toward me. "Because my mate hurts. She may have needed me."

"And Seth was with me," I reminded him. "You could've crawled in bed and slept."

"Can't," Seth mumbled. "He's been a mess with worry since he bit you." He grabbed a piece of toast and shoved that into his face. "And Ian had to order him to sleep. So, if you want to make sure he passes out, you're going to have to throw him in bed."

"I'm good with that," Lane agreed, a devious little smile curling his lips.

Ian just chuckled, turning back to the coffee pot to hide it. "So, if any of this gets to be too much for you, Elena, what are you going to do today?"

"Um, walk home?" I guessed.

"No," Lane said.

"How about call one of you?" Because that always seemed to be the right answer.

"No," Lane said again, proving me wrong.

"Tell Ashley?" I guessed, unable to think of anything else.

"Yes," Lane finally said. "She will call me. I will come get you and make sure you aren't scared."

"I'm not scared," I told him. "A little mortified to realize just how well my daughter can hear, and refusing to think about how I'm going to handle all of you spending the night now that I'm no longer