every side of this. I was sure of my decision, but that little voice in the back of my head - the one that always sounded like my ex - made me worry about them not being excited about it.
"So, you know I took a couple of days alone, right?" I waited for them to nod before I kept going. "Well, I came to a decision. Someone open that?"
"It's your birthday," Ian said, tipping his head at Seth.
"Already got a present," Seth told him.
"Fuck it," Trent said. "I'm dying to know."
So he grabbed the box and ripped open one side. His hands immediately stopped. Lane asked, "What?" but Pax stole the package to finish tearing off the wrapping. Not caring about making a mess, he dropped the wrapping paper on the floor, because there, in his hands, was the biggest box of condoms I could find.
"So, I've decided that if we're doing this, and if you're all still on board, and there's only a one percent chance, then it's stupid to not, um..."
"Move to stage two," Ian finished for me. "Sex is allowed with condoms."
"Fuck," Pax breathed. "Talk about a happy fucking birthday, Seth. Damn."
"You sure?" Seth asked. "I mean, even with your concerns about Gabby?"
I nodded. "I've kinda been thinking about the transition, and with Karen being a pain in the ass lately, I'm not so sure that I don't want to be a wolf."
"Which is a long way from being sure," Trent pointed out. "Elena, it's not something you can take back."
"I know," I promised. "And I'm not there yet, but I'm not as adamantly paranoid about it anymore. I think I've moved into the 'it makes sense to be careful' stage. And..." I looked at each of them. "I kinda miss what we almost had. All of you have been so patient, understanding, and amazing, and I don't know how you do it!"
"I think our girl's horny," Trent said softly.
"Well, yes," I admitted. "But I also know that there's a difference between careful and unreasonable. I even talked to that new doctor, and she said this should be ok."
"Dr. Bridget?" Lane asked. "She moved in today."
"Nice," Ian said. "Any idea when she's opening the clinic?"
"She said next week. Soon as it's all organized, but she can treat emergencies now." He glanced over at me. "Which means we have a doctor for Gabby."
Which was when it hit me. They'd talked about the things they wanted before, but finding a doctor had suddenly become a very big deal when Gabby had been bitten. Slowly, I turned to look at Ian, thinking about how he'd called her ours. There was no way they'd done this for me. Well, for Gabby, which was basically the same thing.
"You didn't find her for us, did you?" I asked.
He reached up to scratch at the side of his beard. "Um, we wanted one. It's just that when you tried to call 9-1-1? I realized there was no more waiting. If it was you, and you were turning? I'd want a doctor around who understands what we are."
"So, yes," Lane told me. "He pushed it for you both."
"In case anything happened," Pax added. "I talked to Ashley about it. It's not just for you, but having you here has made us realize the things we never noticed. And if you were hurt?"
"If Karen tried to attack you," Seth said as an example.
Pax just thrust out an arm, proving that was a good one. "We'd want to make sure there were no issues. And kids get hurt. Gabby's going to do something eventually, and we wanted to make sure she's not seeing a doctor she barely knows."
"It's easier in the pack," Trent told me. "No trying to remember what you said last time. No worries about making sure your story and Gabby's are the same, or explaining away the bruises from her running in the woods. It's just common sense."
"Thank you, guys," I said, hugging the man closest to me - Trent - first.
Then I moved to the next, and the one after. But while I was doing that, the others were picking on Seth. They didn't necessarily say anything, but I saw Lane shove Seth's shoulder. Pax casually patted the massive box of condoms while staring at the guy. Seth just shook his head until I made my way to him.
Then he hugged me back, leaning in to whisper in my ear. "You just made this an amazing birthday."
I reached up to push away that