Wolf's Pack (Wolves Next Door #3) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,11

because I could smell something, and their eyes weren't like wolves, but you'd all said that colors changed, and I was wondering if I'd even be able to recognize a human. So I was trying to figure out how to handle these people who I couldn't identify, but being bears makes sense. I'm fine. I'm just learning, ok?"

I just dropped my head to massage my brow. "Lane is going to end up attacking one of them."

"I'll make sure he doesn't," Elena promised. "Ian, we have to help them. Didn't you hear him? Vic said that they haven't been able to shift!"

"Uh..." Ashley sucked a breath through her teeth. "Yeah, that's not as uncommon as you'd think. Before we had the community, we'd need to make sure the hunters weren't out, and certain times of year - like deer season - were not safe times to run."

"But we have this place," Elena insisted, "so shouldn't we help others? I mean, isn't that the point?"

"It's to help wolves," Ashley said. "That's why it's Wolf's Run. Elena, it's taken generations for us to finally be able to make this happen. Most shifters move so often they don't have the chance to get good jobs, get promotions, and invest in a project like this. Is it really fair for us to use our pack's resources to help others instead of all those wolves out there who are still struggling?"

"And the bears aren't?" she asked. "Or the foxes, or whatever other things have already asked about it? Why does it only have to be one?" Her head whipped around to look at me. "Just the White people? Just the Asians? Just the Jewish or Christians, or whatever category you're going to claim you're a part of? Why can't we help those who need it most?"

"And where do we draw the line?" I asked her.

"At the boundary of the land," she told me. "Look, those who live here already? Great. But why should we take a self-sufficient wolf when there's a group of bears who are struggling? And why can't those guys become a part of a bigger pack? Why shouldn't we try to accept that their culture can complement ours?"

Ashley was smiling at her proudly. "That," she told me, "is why I said she should move here. We've spent our entire lives being raised to think only about wolves and what wolves need. Elena didn't. She's had to struggle, she's found success, and she's felt the persecution those bears are running from. Ian, I actually agree with her."

I blew out a breath, knowing I was already defeated. Oddly, I wasn't that upset by it, but I was trying hard to think of my pack first, not just the desperation on those men's faces. So, refusing to give in yet, I gestured to the paper Elena still held.

"Well, let's see their requirements."

She passed it over, and I scanned the hastily-scrawled notes. The bears wanted a house with modern facilities so they could be presentable for a job. They asked for access to at least one tree, preferably three. A set schedule when they would be allowed to be outside shifted, and a request to use the trails for at least the end of the full moon's course. An hour, they'd asked for. That was it.

I had to read it again, because that wasn't much. No, it was pathetic. If this was a list for my pack, I would've added in ten times that as simple necessities, but those bears were asking for only the bare minimum for their survival. Reading through it again, I felt tingles in my fingers as it dawned on me exactly how desperate they really were.

"What if the other wolves won't tolerate them?" I asked, the words coming out as little more than a breath.

"We'll convince them to," Elena assured me. "Ian, this pack trusts you. If you, your betas, and your family all accept them, then the other wolves will too."

"And the Sisterhood," Ashley said.

Wait, that was the first I was hearing of this. "What sisterhood?"

"Our Thursday night wine club," Ashley clarified. "Me, Elena, Kim, Heather, and Bridget. Kim's an alpha, Bridget's the pack's doctor - "

"Crap," Elena breathed. "We need to make sure she's on board with this." And she headed over to her desk.

I watched her while still talking to Ashley. "Ok, so basically the pillars of the pack. Ash, do you really think we can do this?"

"We have to," Elena said.

Ashley just thrust a hand back toward her.