Wolf's Call (Wolves Next Door #2) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,74

to, until we heard about Wolf's Run."

Emily also shook her head. "Will left his because he was supposed to mate a woman he didn't love. We met in college, and he only told me when he asked me to marry him. I thought he was lying at first."

"I thought the same thing when they tried to explain it to me," I assured her. "And this pack is all I've ever known."

"Well," David said, "most packs aren't like this. The Langdons are descended from one of the oldest bloodlines of wolves. Blue bloods, you could say. So are the Greens, the Powells, the Romeros, and the Blackwoods. There are a few other significant names, like the Stuarts, although they're more like minor nobility in wolf history." His eyes jumped over to me. "And you recognize most of those last names, don't you?"

"Paxton Romero, Lane Blackwood, Trent Powell, and of course, the Langdons." I nodded. "Ian and his betas. And Patrick Green was Henry's beta. Heather Stuart is Olivia's mom, and part of the pack."

"Right. Everyone in Wolf's Run is rubbing shoulders with people who might as well be wolf royalty." David looked back at the other two women. "But the difference here is more than just wolf celebrities. It's that this entire situation is comfortable. Most other packs are like communes, living in rotting mobile homes, off the grid, and trying to fly under the radar. They're isolated, ruled by an Alpha who'd gladly kill anyone who speaks against him or her. They have rules based on outdated biases, like natural-born wolves being stronger and more valuable than converts. Some, like my last pack, are against the mingling of natural-borns and converts, so my marriage to Kim was a problem. Our kids weren't recognized by their alpha as a real wolf."

"But they're natural-born!" I hissed.

David just shrugged. "And I'm not, so I clearly tainted them somehow. But that's my point. Things here are good. They're fair. They aren't perfect, but it's a modern life with all of the conveniences that so many of us thought we'd given up when we became a wolf. It's the taste of humanity that had been just out of reach for so long." Then he tipped his head back to the group. "And I'm sure it's very hard for one of those old lines to believe that she could lose a man to a mere human."

"But she never had him," I insisted.

David just chuckled at me. "Elena, those families have been marrying each other for centuries. Henry's ex-wife was Heather's great-aunt, twice removed. A Stuart. Of course, Karen assumed she'd become the second most powerful wolf in the pack. She'd been bred for it. After all, she's a Green, and you? You're just a Castillo, so why wouldn't you want to marry up into one of the great families?"

"Because I didn't know any of this!" I insisted. "Ashley was just the nice lady in my yoga class. I had no idea wolves were even a thing. I thought Wolf's Run was for doctors and lawyers!"

David chuckled. "I know. Trust me, we were made aware when you came here. But for someone who has known nothing but this? Of course that's what Karen's going to say. She can't accept that her last name wasn't enough to get the man, and she refuses to believe that Lane is fated for you."

"She says I'm bad at being the Alpha Female," I told him.

David shrugged just as I noticed people moving to their cars and stripping down to change into wolves. He glanced back, smiled, then turned around to face me again. "Personally, I think you're the best pack second I've ever known. You don't have a clue, but you are fair, you're kind, and..." He paused until I looked at him. "You honestly love those men. That counts for a lot more than bloodlines, Elena. Don't know a man who'd say otherwise."

"She's just jealous," Emily said. "I thought so when she was telling me, and I didn't even know all of that. She sounds like she got dumped."

Sasha was nodding. "Miles said she's the kind of wolf who'd chase me out of the pack. We heard about her going lycan on you."

"What's that?" Emily asked.

"Half wolf, half woman," Sasha told her. "It's not considered polite, but it's more like having a mental breakdown, or something. And Karen tried to chase Elena in that form with kids around!"

"No," Emily breathed.

Sasha nodded. "Bitch thinks she's a Kardashian or something, and has