Page 33 of Pack to the Wall

I blinked away that pleasant memory, returning to myself.

“Dana?” I whispered, so as not to wake the others.

She turned to me, unashamed of her nakedness. For a moment I found myself comparing her and Jane, since they were about the same age. Dana was a handsome enough Latina woman, with black hair and tanned skin. She was a bit more athletic of build, breasts and hips smaller and higher, but then she was a wolf. As much as I had no clue how the turning changed a person mentally and emotionally, I knew there were definite physical changes. The effects of aging were slowed a little and one became stronger and tougher, healing quicker. Dana had been a wolf all her life, so she looked younger than her age. Still, I wasn’t aroused looking at her. She was just anothernaked wolf. Whereas even just the thought of Jane made my arousal stir once again.

“Bronn?” Dana asked, voice even, her powerful presence pushing me.

My warring dominant and non-dom sides fought to figure out how to react to her. She was a dominant and might have been an alpha in other circumstances. I tried to quell my mounting fear. She wasn’t threatening me, just being who she was. She went to her small bundle of things on the floor and began dressing.

“I’d like to talk to you and Nico about his experience turning. I want to know how he felt after. You knew him before and after and might be able to provide some insight as well. I want to know how much Jane might change after she’s turned.”

Dana nodded, curt and precise. “Fetch my mate and we’ll talk.” She returned to dressing.

I went into the guest room and found the three men inside already waking and tidying up the space. It looked like the two younger males, Lucan and Jake, had shared the bed. Nico had slept on the floor.

“Nico, can we talk?” I asked.

As a non-dom, he instantly deferred. “Yes, of course.” He dropped what he was doing and came with me, half dressed in pants only. When he came out into the rec room, it was curious to watch his behavior. He kept his gaze averted from any other women and headed straight for his mate. He bowed his head to her. She offered a cheek and he kissed it lightly.

“Sleep well?” she asked, the first to speak.

“Yes, my love,” he said grinning widely. “You?”

“Carpet is better than a forest floor, no rocks, but… it doesn’t feel right.”

“Of course, my dear.”

“Now, come, let’s not keep our new beta waiting. Why don’t we speak in here?” she suggested, motioning to the third door off the rec room, which led to an unfinished utility room.

Once inside, the two of them looked at me, waiting. The cold concrete floor must have been hell on Nico’s bare feet, but he didn’t complain. It was hard to reconcile that I was technically superior to Dana now. She was a dominant type and trying to defer to me, but all my years in the pack had taught me to stand down from a powerful presence like hers.

I steeled myself and asked what I’d come to ask. “I am curious how the turning will affect Jane. Nico, you were turned. How did you change?”

Nico looked at Dana. She nodded, giving him permission to speak. “Other than the ability to shift, I didn’t notice a lot of changes, not right away, but there were many. I’d never been an assertive individual and that was enhanced as a wolf. I became a non-dom and had to learn what that meant. Turning takes who you are and… stretches it.” He grimaced. “It makes you even more of what you were before. If you were scared, you’re more scared. If you’re strong, you become stronger. As much as I did get physically stronger, that didn’t seem as big a thing as all my personality traits being enhanced and amplified.”

I nodded at this and looked to Dana for her perspective. “Anything you noticed?”

“I know he may have felt that things changed significantly, but for me, they didn’t. He simply became more… himself. I’d chosen him for all of his traits, so when they were enhanced, I didn’t really notice it as much as he might have.” She smiled. “Yet, Ididnotice his enhanced physical traits. When he mounted me, he was stronger and surer. He’s always sought to please me, but now when I asked him to be harder, he can be. It’s very satisfying.” She spoke of their sex life as if giving directions, dispassionate. Nico, however, blushed.

Dana finished with, “Also… he smelled different, though I suspect that is not the sort of change you are concerned about.”

“And, what do you think of our new alpha?” I asked. “Given what little you know of her so far, will she be dominant or non-dom?” If she was non-dom, there would be little chance of her winning against Brick.

Dana considered for a long moment.

“May I?” Nico asked. She nodded to him, a curious expression on her face.

“She faced down Harley,” Nico said evenly. “And that may have been only a protective instinct as a mother, but I tell you this. Even with everything he’d done, I’d never once considered standing up to the man. I can’t say for certain, but it seems to me there is at least some dominant in her.”

I nodded to this, as did Dana, and she added, “Watching her yesterday, she was confused and not in her element. I think she’s scared, but also strong enough not to let that fear control her. I can’t say for certain which way she’ll go, but I feel my mate is right. There’s at least some dominant in her.”

That was good. I’d seen it too, flashes of her strength. Yet I’d seen a lot of vulnerability as well. I sighed. “Thank you both. I hope she’ll be a strong alpha and lead us for some time to come.”

Nico nodded.

Dana gave a bland smile, her eyes still hard. She had reservations.

I left them and headed back upstairs.

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