Page 40 of Remy & the Wildcat

She made a humming noise of agreement, rubbing her cheek on his shoulder.

He kissed the top of her head.

He was crazy about her, falling headfirst in a way that was surprisingly fast but also felt very right. He remembered his mom telling him that she fell in love with his dad right away, because that was how it was supposed to be with truemates.

He sure knew what that felt like.

Remy and Thyme introduced the heads of the families to Mayor Applebaum, who graciously gave everyone a tour of Main Street and then held a meeting in the town hall, where she unrolled a huge map of the town with the abandoned homes and businesses marked with bright yellow flags.

“The homes and businesses belong to the town,” Mayor Applebaum said. “All that needs to happen is for the homes to be assigned to the families coming to town, the utilities turned on, and the businesses started up again. The town has funds to provide assistance to anyone that needs it.”

Marty asked, “Why are you guys so happy to have a shifter group come into town?”

“Well,” she said, “first of all, the town is going to die off without new families joining the community. And second, is that my husband had an adopted sister who was a wolf shifter, and he had always hoped that a shifter group would come into town to live, because the woods are full of wildlife, and the deer wreak havoc on the gardens, too.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Dana said.

“Do you have any suggestions for splitting up the homes?” Thyme asked.

The mayor pointed to a few homes that bordered the large wooded area. “I’d recommend these houses as good for the alphas because they have large yards for gatherings and are also right at the woods.” She spoke about the other streets with empty homes, sharing a printed list of homes and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms in each.

“This is awesome, thank you,” Thyme said.

“I’ll leave you all to it,” Mayor Applebaum said. “If you have any questions, I’ll be at my house since it’s the weekend and I host a craft group with a few ladies in town every Saturday.”

Remy said, “We were thinking about bringing the pride here for a hunt next weekend if that works for you? We’d like to get everyone here and give them a chance to really explore the woods.”

“That sounds perfect, keep me posted.”

When the mayor was gone, Remy and Thyme spoke to the pride members who were gathered.

“You can take as much time as you need to look at the homes. The biggest homes should be for the families with the most members. If there are any issues with who should have a particular home, Remy and I will be the deciding vote,” Thyme said.

A male lifted his hand and Thyme said, “Yes, Mike?”

“It’s pretty obvious that there are a few families not in attendance today. What’s going to happen to them if they choose not to move to Copper Creek?”

Thyme looked at Remy with a nod and he said, “They’ll be exiled from the pride, and at that point they can start their own pride and stay in Marin if they wish.”

“Any family or individual can leave the pride at any time between now and the full moon. But for those families who are choosing to throw their support to my half-brother, when he is not eligible for leadership at this point in time, and neither has he officially challenged Remy or me, then they will not be welcome to join us here. We will forcibly remove them from our pride and leave them behind.”

Mike nodded. “Good.”

The pride members started to clap and Remy smiled at Thyme. He could see the relief in her eyes and was glad that the majority of the pride was on their side.

“Liam, we’ll need to elect a new elder to replace Jacob once we move to Copper Creek,” Thyme said.

“I’ll give you a list by the end of the day and you and Remy can choose,” he said.

Copies of the home details were handed out and the people dispersed to go look at the houses. Remy and Thyme walked with Liam and his mate Arlene to the homes by the woods. They toured the three homes that were about a hundred feet apart from each other, each with a big backyard that bordered the woods.

She and Remy both loved the home in the center. The two-story home had four bedrooms and a big kitchen. The main bedroom was on the first floor, which she really loved, and the back patio had an awning for shade in the summer.

He stood on the patio with Thyme and stared into the woods.

“I can picture the pride gathering here on the full moons,” he said. “We could treat it like the pack does and have a cookout and get-together before we head out to shift.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” she said. “We’ve always just immediately gathered at the clearing and then gone to hunt.”

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