Wolf's Pack (Wolves Next Door #3) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,70

that led to his balance. By the time we called it a night, he made a lap from the fire pit to the tree stump all on his own, and the man's tail was wagging so hard it made a circle.

On Tuesday, the guys joined us. That made David struggle a little more, but Lane and Ashley moved in to hold him up. There was no judgment, just genuine offers to help. I decided to try trotting, which resulted in my nose spending a bit of time in the dirt, but Pax and Trent kept encouraging me to try again, then again until I actually got it.

The problem was keeping track of my hind feet. Now that I could make them all move when I wanted - and where - I had to think about what I was going to step on. Twigs hurt my little uncalloused paws. Rocks were worse. Branches could catch my toes, sending me down, but the faster I went, the easier it was to turn and weave. I even tried out a little jump - and managed to land on three of my four feet like I intended.

That night, Lane came over to give me a massage. I got a little lesson in how our two forms were connected, so injuries in one transferred to a corresponding problem in the other, and that included muscle aches. Strength in one form helped the other as well. It was why my mates were all so very fit. The gym in their garage was mostly for strength, but the stamina came from chasing the moon every month. As the pack leadership, the guys needed both: enough strength to win a fight and enough stamina to keep going on to the next problem.

But I was starting to feel like I might not be a failure as a wolf. Watching David slowly but surely improve also made me feel good, but in a different way. The man was my friend, and he'd spent years wishing he could keep up with his wife and kids. Now, we were making that possible. It made me feel the same way as I had watching Gabby give her speeches at her quinceañera, or even when she was dancing with Ian.

I felt proud, but not for myself. Maybe maternal was a better word? Although that didn't really fit with helping out my friend's husband. Nurturing was the best I had, but it wasn't quite right. This wasn't about feeding and cleaning. It was the joy of knowing I'd helped someone else succeed, even if it was in a very small way. Still, I'd done my tiny little part to make the pack stronger.

Wednesday started out by Ashley interviewing Sheridan for the job working our main gate. She and Lev had turned in their applications the day before. They were all approved and I had keys for them both. The only question was going to be if Sheridan and the foxes were getting a free house or if I'd need to set up a payment plan for her.

I tried not to eavesdrop, but with my new hearing, it was pretty easy to listen in. So far, it sounded like everything was going pretty well, and Ashley was laughing with the girl easily. I was just starting to hope that this would really end up a good match when my phone rang, forcing me to get back to work.

"Wolf's Run, Elena speaking," I answered.

A cruel chuckle sounded on the other end, but it was a voice I knew too well - Karen's. "Well hello, Elena. Guess this means Ian hasn't gotten tired of your human ass yet. You fucking him now?"

"What do you want, Karen?" I asked, seriously considering hanging up on her.

"Just figured you should know that we've had two pack members shot and killed because of Wolf's Run."

The woman didn't honestly seem upset about it, though. Pissed, sure, but that seemed to be her default emotion. For me, thinking of our pack members dying was the sort of thing that would make me honestly sad, yet there was no quavering in her voice at all. If anything, it made me hate her more than I had before. It was almost like she thought every other wolf in the world existed simply for her convenience, and them getting killed had somehow put her out.

"And how is that our fault?" Because, I couldn't begin to figure out how she was blaming us for it. Besides, Karen loved