feel weird. The same way it feels when Gabby needs me. I'm guessing that's the protective thing we get as wolves, right?"
"Sounds like it," she admitted.
"So, why am I feeling overly protective for a group of bears? Maybe because I don't know any better? Because I'm the Alpha Mate? Or could it just be because it's the right thing to do? Ash, those bears need a home. Wolf's Run can figure out a way to make room for them. If we don't, are we actually the good guys here?"
"Then we need to figure out how to do it with the least amount of hassles," she decided. "Go forward the phones to voicemail. I'll tell Dad to pull everything he's got on bears. And for the rest of the day, you and I are going to come up with a plan. If we all have some idea of what's needed, then it'll make it that much easier to put this together."
I nodded and headed towards the door. "I'm not backing down on this, Ash."
"Which is why we're dropping everything else, Elena. If it means that much to you, then Ian is already outvoted - and not dumb enough to pull rank without knowing he'll be sleeping alone for weeks. The bears are in - we just have to figure out how."
CHAPTER 6
* * *
Trent and I were hauling brush from the culverts, clearing the winter deadfall and enjoying the almost-warm day when my phone rang. Letting out a heavy sigh, I released the handful of brush because I recognized the ringtone, but it had already rolled to voicemail before I had my gloves off and my phone out of my pocket. Seeing the name on the screen, I didn't bother to listen to the message, just called Ian back.
He answered immediately. "Hey, stop what you're doing and come home. I need my betas, because we just had something come up."
My heart slammed to a halt. "Is Elena ok?"
"She's fine," he promised, which allowed me to breathe again. "But we had some bears show up in the office today."
And my heart stopped again. At this rate, I'd die before I even ended the call. "What?!"
"Bears," Ian repeated. "Three of them, and they want to move in."
"With Elena?"
The bastard laughed. "Yeah, I was trying to avoid that part. She's fine, a little surprised, and still doing great, but it was a little tense for a bit there."
"There were bears in the office, and you think she's fine? Damn it, Ian! She was probably panicking. I've met a bear before, and I wanted to run. How the fuck do you think a new convert's going to react?"
"Better than I did," he told me. "Pax, she was shocked, but Ashley knew one of the guys, and that seemed to be all Elena needed to relax. I was ready to throw down, and our mate walked over and shook their hands. She's fine. I'm still recovering, but she is actually ok. The problem is that they came seeking sanctuary. They want to move into the community, and Elena wants to have a meeting about it."
"Ok, so cancel all of our plans for the weekend," I guessed, looking up to catch Trent's eye.
My best friend was hanging on every word, and from the color of his face, he was desperately waiting for me to fill in the pieces he couldn't hear. Granted, he could probably catch most of what Ian was saying over the phone. Wolf hearing and all that.
"Tonight," Ian corrected.
"What?" Trent asked, snatching the phone from my hand. "She needs to be in bed and resting," he told our Alpha.
"And I agree," Ian said, his voice muffled against the side of Trent's face. "Look, I wanted to talk about it next week, but Elena's adamant, and we all know that she'll push and fret unless we do this. So, I agreed to have dinner at our place with pretty much every wolf who has a say in this community. Dad, Gabby, Bridget, Ash, and us. Here's the kicker. Elena wants the bears there too, because she's adamant that we need to help them."
"Shit," Trent breathed. "Call Seth."
"I'm dealing with Lane," Ian said. "I need you two to get Seth and get home. Leave the rest. It's lasted this long, so what's one more day, right?"
I laughed. "Tell him we should hire the bears to clean up the brush and trail area, then we won't be so far behind."
"Heard that," Ian said. "Just get Seth? He's