Wolf's Pack (Wolves Next Door #3) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,4

There was one point when only Seth could keep up, and that's saying a lot."

"What do I look like as a wolf?" I asked her. "Lane says I'm beautiful. Seth said I'm black. But what do I actually look like?"

She grinned at me. "Well, you're definitely black. Not that dark brown that's almost black, like Gabby. Your coat is completely black except for the little tawny lines under your eyes. I'm pretty sure there's some of that coffee-colored undercoat on your shoulders, but I only saw it when we had you pinned down."

"Do I look like Gabby?"

She nodded. "A darker, bigger, more mature version, but yeah. Definitely a family resemblance." She paused for a moment, struggling not to smirk, but failing. "And pretty much the entire pack wanted to do something nice for you. Sampson sent more venison. I had to talk Dad out of making some stupidly over the top gesture - "

"What did he want to do?" I interrupted.

"Give you the house." Ashley shrugged. "I told him you'd feel pressured to stay if you decided to find a new pack. We both know you won't, but I figured you'd hate that. But if you want it, I can tell him to go ahead."

"No." I waved her off. "As much as he's already done?"

"Kinda what I figured." But she still looked a little smug. "And the rest of your Sisterhood? Yep, we've made it clear that next week, every night at seven p.m., there will be wolf lessons. That it would be rude to laugh at you learning to walk, but that any wolf who needs some help mastering their canine body is welcome to join us."

"Wolf lessons?" Because that was my next concern. "Thank you!"

"Caveat," she warned me. "Your mates insisted on helping. I know David's going to be there. For moral support, he said, because you can't be as bad as he is. Gabby's little pack of betas will be running 'patrols' to keep the gawkers away, so you won't even need to be embarrassed."

"Did they gawk at her when she was first learning?"

Ashley shook her head. "Nope, but she's not the second in charge of our pack, either. Although, speaking of that, I'm assuming that her quinceañera would be a bad time for Ian to announce her as his heir?"

"My parents will be there," I reminded her. "So, humans. How is it usually done?"

"He's kinda been doing it," she admitted. "Every moon, Gabby's at his side. That's a position of honor, of sorts. The Alpha won't let just anyone invade his space, but it's subtle. Right now, it's just him claiming her as family - which she is. I hope that's not crossing a line?"

I shook my head. "No, I've always known that those guys think of her as their pup, and the truth is, I like it. They don't try to overrule my decisions, but they honestly care about her."

"But are you really ready for the rest of the pack to see them as her stepfathers?"

I pushed out a breath, because that was a big step. And yet, at the same time, it really wasn't. Ian had been calling her 'ours' for months now. Seth adored Gabby. Trent and Pax went out of their way to help her with one thing or another, and Lane was adamant that if anything happened to me, he'd be raising her. If that wasn't stepfather material, then I didn't know what was.

Granted, this new virus in my brain had me thinking differently. Before, I knew I would've been worried about it. As a mother, I would've wondered if it was too soon, or how to handle this if our relationship didn't pan out. The simple fact that they'd never asked should've bothered me, and yet they kinda had. They'd checked with me every single step of the way, and I'd always told them it was ok.

Because we were pack, and this was what pack did. Ian was the Alpha, and he was responsible for all of the pups in Wolf's Run. Was it really odd to think that he'd care for my daughter any less? Plus, he wanted Gabby to be the next Alpha, and he was offering to teach her how to take over if anything happened to him. Showing her how to lead instead of rule, basically.

For a moment, I sat there thinking about it. Not whether or not I approved - because I already did. It was more the change in my thinking. I could remember