Wolf's Pack (Wolves Next Door #3) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,19

but if we could make this work? It would change everything I'd ever known about shifter society. Our pup was a converted alpha. Our mate was clearly something amazing. Our pack was living in the middle of modern society without a problem, and we'd already handled someone getting a video of a wolf in mid-shift. Those converts that most of our society laughed at had been the answer for that, so why couldn't they help us fix this?

And if they could, then that might be the biggest change of all of this. Converts would no longer be treated as lesser. Sure, they were different from natural-born wolves, but it seemed they came with their own set of advantages, and we'd already figured out how to train Seth and Gabby to embrace their new bodies. If we were lucky, this might be the next stage in shifter society, and I had every intention of making that into a good thing.

CHAPTER 7

* * *

That evening, Gabby and I headed over fifteen minutes early. My daughter had both her laptop and a spiral notebook filled with notes she'd made. Evidently, Olivia and Roman knew quite a bit about the other shifters, and it had given my kid a place to start. Gabby had taken that, pulled up articles about cultural diversity, and then researched various integration issues throughout history.

She'd tackled this like it was some research project for school, but with a lot more enthusiasm. Granted, she'd never put this much effort into school before, but I was not about to complain. She said she had a few ideas, and I honestly couldn't wait to hear them.

I'd taken another one of those muscle relaxers, but it hadn't quite kicked in when we reached Ian's house. I tapped at the door and walked in, making sure to give them a bit of notice, but we weren't the first to arrive. Bridget and Henry were in the living room talking to Seth and Lane. I could hear Pax and Trent in the backyard. There was no sign of Ian or Ashley, though.

"Hey," Bridget said, smiling at Gabby. "So, bears, huh?" she asked.

I nodded. "Three of them."

"Well..." She dragged the word out for emphasis. "Ash is waiting for the head bear to show up, and said she'd give him a ride over."

"And Ian?" I asked.

Seth jerked his thumb towards their den. "Still reading."

"I brought stuff too," Gabby said, partially lifting her laptop to show what she meant.

"Uh..." Seth waved her over. "Find a spot in the den. I think we're doing dinner first as a meet and greet, and then we'll get into the details after the food's gone."

"Yeah, but I have some ideas," Gabby told him.

He just beamed at her proudly. "Me too. So you're pro-bear, huh?"

"Duh," she teased before heading for the den.

The whole time, Lane was watching me. "You're ok with this?" he asked.

"They asked for three trees," I told him. "No. They asked for one, and hoped they could possibly get three. Now think about that, Lane?"

He made his way around Henry and right over to me, dropping his massive hands on my shoulders. "That feeling? It's what separates alphas and betas from the rest of the pack. It's what makes us leaders, little bunny. It's a hard thing to ignore, but if you do this, will Gabby be the one who ends up paying for it?"

"Not me!" Gabby called from the other room. "I'm pro-bear, Lane."

His eyes never left mine, but Lane's lips curled into a smile. "What about Kim's kids? What about the babies who'll smell a bear and be terrified?"

"But will they?" I asked. "If bears are always around, and a natural part of the society, would a baby really be more scared of one than of any other stranger? And, if they learn to accept bears, and lions, and foxes from an early age, wouldn't that make it even easier on all of us?"

He slowly bobbed his head. "So, you think you could balance that? The urge to take care of those little babies who are scared of the monsters and the monsters who need help?"

"I think that before I was a wolf, there were people in this world who would've called me a monster, so yes." I caught his hand. "These men need help. We're in a position to help. When I was sleeping off my first run as a wolf, you were all talking about other shifters wanting to live here, and you all sounded like