Wolf's Pack (Wolves Next Door #3) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,203

kids from Damon's pack?"

"They're not kids, Mom," I reminded her.

"None of them can drink," Ashley countered, "so they are kids."

That just made me roll my eyes, but Ian was grinning at me. "I'm with you on this, Gabby."

"See!" I said.

Ashley groaned at me before she finally answered Ian's question. "I'd like to do the sanctuary idea too, but there are a few more hoops to jump through."

"And we can make that happen," Ian promised. "But if this is the course of action we'd like to take, I was thinking about calling Ethan and Alison, and seeing if they're interested in making a Wolf's Leap up in the Northwest. I'm pretty sure we're not the only place that has shifters in need, and I just..." He looked at me. "Maybe it's being a dad, but I kinda feel like being a Langdon should mean something."

"How?" Ashley asked. "I mean, the idea is great and all, but the logistics of it?"

"Well," he continued, "if we bring the twins - " He looked over at Elena. "Real ones this time. My middle siblings." Then back to Ashley. " - Down here, they can see how we run this. I'm sure theirs will start smaller, but so did ours. Besides, I'd kinda like the two of them here for our wedding anyway. And then, if this all works out, Elena and I can fly up there to help them set it up."

"And who's running the pack?" Ashley asked.

Ian just pointed between me and his sister. "Gabby's my backup and you're Elena's. It would be a weekend, and most of my betas would be here."

"I kinda like it," I said. "I mean, Nik said that before they came here, he and Lev could never shift, and they had to hide what they were, and that it was pretty tough. If one of them messed up, they had to move, and evidently having tigers roaring in the bathroom counts as messing up. Why should anyone have to live like that?"

"I'm with her," Mom said. "I think we can do this. I think we should do this."

And then all of us turned to look at Ashley. She just backed up to lean against the wall and lifted both of her hands with a grin on her face. "I tried to play the Devil's Advocate, but I'm out of arguments. Wolves have been so successful because we do have packs. Why can't we become like the Templars of the shifter world, right?"

"Like, guardians?" I asked.

She nodded. "Bring it full circle, Gabby. Pay it forward. All of that. We can do this, so why shouldn't we?"

"It'll be your pack next, though," Ian reminded me. "That means more work, more responsibility, and you'll have to balance all of this with not just high school, but college too."

"I can do it," I promised.

"I know you can," he assured me.

But Mom held up a finger. "I have two completely unrelated questions to this, but since I have you all here, now's as good a time as any." Then she looked at me. "Gabby, would you be my maid of honor twice? For both weddings?"

I nodded. "Yes! Of course, Mom."

Then she looked at Ashley. "And will you be a bridesmaid?"

"Definitely," Ashley promised. "And I'll even hire strippers for the bachelorette party, and - "

"No," Ian said. "Just no. Stop right there. I will have no strippers on my territory."

"Oh, we can go to a bar," Ashley promised.

"I can't," I reminded her. "No fair!"

"No strippers," Mom told her best friend. Then she held up a hand and fake-whispered, "But we'll talk about this more at your place."

"Deal," Ashley fake-whispered back.

Ian flopped back into his chair and threw up his hands. "Is it going to be like this for the rest of my life?"

"Pretty much," I told him. "Aren't you glad you proposed now?"

"Kinda am," he assured me. "And to think, when you moved in next door, I tried to talk Ashley out of this. Now, I've got an amazing fiancée, and a pretty decent kid."

I huffed. "You know what that deserves, right?"

"I'm scared," Ian admitted.

So I just leaned back and groaned out, "Dad! Stop picking on me!"

"This," Ashley said, wagging her finger between us. "This is what you call happily ever after, Elena?"

"Kinda is," she said. "And it's your fault for moving me into a house with wolves next door, but I swear I don't mind at all."

Dear Reader,

That's it, the Wolves Next Door trilogy is done. If you haven't figured it out by