it was the cruel kind. "Pull your head out of your ass, Alpha. Who else could make Ashley feel protected instead of like a predator? Who else is strong enough for her besides a bear?" He took one step toward me, his body braced to throw down. "You will not ruin this for her."
"She's a wolf!" I snapped, refusing to give in.
"She's a broken woman, and your sister. What does it matter if she is happy with a human or a bear? You don't really have room to talk, Ian."
I knew he was right. I did, but my entire life, there had always been an unspoken understanding that we did not mingle with other shifters. We could be polite to them, but that was all. Wolves lived with wolves. Bears did their own thing. The species never mixed. No one knew if it was safe - or even possible. The cross-infection could kill us, for all we knew, and there had never been a documented case of it happening.
But no one had allowed bears into a wolf pack before either. No one had created a community of shifters in the middle of a city. No one had done half the things we were doing, and it was working out. It kept working out because I didn't want to cling to the old and stupid traditions, so why was this one thing so hard for me to accept?
"Ashley wants to be with the bears?" I asked again, losing the anger.
Lane relaxed before me. "You going to throw her out for it?"
"No, I..." I grunted, cutting myself off. "Bridget thinks it's safe. She's a good doctor, and she knows what she's talking about, right?"
"Seems to," he agreed.
So I waved him down, making it clear I didn't resent him standing up to me. Then I dropped back into my chair. "What brought this up, Lane?"
"Um, I'm not sure I should say."
Which meant something had. "Just bear with me, ok?" I asked. "I'm trying very hard to accept Gabby's diversity plan, but it's not as easy for me. I get that it makes sense to let the bears live here, but I never thought about a wolf dating them. I guess I just assumed they'd eventually bring in a human and turn her or something. Or three, I suppose, but I didn't even think that far."
"Yeah," Lane mumbled. "But those three aren't living like normal bears. They're adapting, Ian. They're learning how to share territory, and I have a feeling that's going to include their mate."
"Ashley," I realized. "Because, as an alpha, she'll need more than just one companion in her life. She'd spiral alone. Even if that's a friend, someone to work beside, and a lover. Elena helps, but she won't be enough. Plus, it's Ashley."
"Bet three bears would work," he said. "Ian, I think that drink she had with Vic was a little more than a drink."
"Why wouldn't she tell me?'
He just thrust both hands toward me. "That's why. Do you honestly care who or what she's with so long as she's happy? If she fell in love with a woman, would you get this angry?"
"No..."
"A human?" he asked.
"No, Lane, that's different."
So he sat down and clasped his hands between his knees. "Why? And think before you answer, because I'm still partly her man."
He meant her beta, and I'd always known he'd have some loyalty to her. That didn't bother me at all. I actually approved of my betas caring about my family. But those words made it clear that he felt like this was a situation where he might have to choose, and I knew that Lane would always choose one thing over all the rest: Elena.
"Shit," I breathed. "She told Elena, didn't she?"
"Or Elena guessed," Lane admitted. "I don't know, but on the way back from the trails, Elena said something about them being perfect for Ashley. Now, I know your sister well enough to make a few guesses. So, the real question is what you'll do when it comes out that your sister is fucking the bears?"
All I could do was scrub at my face, because I didn't honestly know. Nothing was my first instinct, since Lane was right. It wasn't my business who Ashley ended up with. I just wanted her to be safe, and if those bears were part of the pack, then what difference did it make? But if I was having this much trouble with the idea, then how would everyone else react? How would