Wolf's Pack (Wolves Next Door #3) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,9

runs," Vic offered. "We're more than willing to make this work. And before you can say it, if you have a new convert, we're willing to help. Ian - Alpha, we are desperate. We will obey any rule you set because we don't have any other option. Right now, the three of us have an apartment in the middle of town with exactly one plant in the house. Wednesday? We locked our front door, closed the blinds, and got drunk so we wouldn't shift. We. Are. Desperate."

"I can't promise anything," Ian told them, but it was clear he was no longer as adamantly against it.

I claimed the chair beside him. "We can find a way to make this work, can't we?"

"Elena, what if Lane had walked in here?" he asked.

Ashley told the guys, "Her fated mate."

"We're not going to fight," Vic assured us. "We already talked about that before we came in the door. We knew we might not be welcome, but we're here to beg. We will not fight you, and we have no interest in hurting anyone. We just want a home, Alpha, and we aren't the only ones."

"What you have with Wolf's Run is a dream to most of the non-pack shifters," Scott said. "Bears, large cats, and the birds?"

"There are bird shifters?" I asked.

Jax chuckled. "Yeah, mostly eagles. They stand out, though. A little too big to be real, if you know what I mean."

"Let us prove ourselves?" Vic begged. "Ashley can vouch for me. At least, I hope she can?"

"I can," Ashley promised. "Ian, Vic's a good guy. I've heard about Scott and Jax, but I've never met them before. I think we need to at least consider it."

"When are you guys looking to move in?" I asked. "Assuming we let you, that is?"

"If you say now, we'll be hauling over boxes this evening," Vic told me. "I haven't been in my bear form in months. We can't live like this, so we're willing to do anything you ask, even if that's locking ourselves away on the full moon."

"No," Ashley said, looking at her brother. "Ian, you can't ask anyone to do that. And if this isn't exactly what you wanted, then I don't know what is."

"But we have to figure out how to make this work with the pack," Ian countered.

"So we talk to them," I said, turning my attention to the bears. "Can you three get me a list of anything you'd need, and then another of what you'd like to have but can live without?" Then I groaned, realizing how bad that sounded. "Look, I've only known about shifters since the end of October, so please don't take this wrong, but this is our pack. It's our family, and they have to come first. I know exactly nothing about bears, but if we want to even have a chance of this not becoming a bigger problem, we need you to be honest with us, so we can be honest with you."

"Does this mean you'll consider it?" Vic asked.

Scott, however, was scribbling on the back of one of the floor plans. "Even if they don't, man, we have to try. Worst case, we're right back where we started."

"And we can help," Jax told me. "Kid gets stuck in a tree? Bears climb. We're strong. We're also a lot more calm than you'd expect. We're more than willing to work as a little muscle." He flashed me a smile. "Like, say, helping a new wolf learn to use her legs?"

"That's my job," Ashley told him. "Leave my almost-sister-in-law out of this."

"Just sayin'," Jax told her. "Ashley, Vic said you're kinda in charge of this, right?"

"Yeah..." She glanced at her brother. "It's complicated, guys."

"All I'm saying," Jax insisted, "is that we aren't looking for a handout. You're a pack, and while I don't really get that urge, we're willing to learn how to be a part of that. Believe it or not, bears have families too. I also kinda like doggies."

Her eyes narrowed as she watched him. "I am no dog, Teddy Ruxpin."

"Well, I am a teddy bear," Jax assured her.

Then Scott pulled out the paper and offered it to me. "A list, just like you asked," he said. "And I'm sorry that I don't know your title - "

"Alpha," Ashley told him.

"Uh..." Scott flicked a finger at Ian. "And him?"

"Also Alpha," Ashley said. "My little brother leads the pack. His mate is kinda like the vice president of the pack. The Pack Alpha and