Page 47 of Pack to the Wall

The grinding ache of my fated attraction to her sung out with the knowledge that she’d soon be a wolf and ideal for mating. Even now, with my hand still stinging, the desire to be with her was near to overwhelming. I wanted to run into her room, rip off her clothes, and ravish her.

But I didn’t.

That was the reason Bronn was with her now instead of me. Luckily, I had a task to help keep myself busy. I’d promised Jane I’d talk to the pack: let them know they were free and ask what they wanted for their lives now. I had no clue how they’d react to such a thing, but I hoped, for Jane’s sake, they wished to be free as much as I did… even if they didn’t know what that looked like.

I waited for my mom to return from Jane’s room, then pulled her aside. “Got a sec?”

“What is it?” she asked, sounding curious as we made our way into the basement. We stopped in the corner at the bottom of the stairs. Not too far away, Dana and Nico Juarez were givingsome lessons to the youngest members of the pack: Winnie, Lucas, and Jake. There were old, ratty textbooks and papers scattered on the basement floor.

Since none of us had ever seen the inside of a normal school, the best we could do for our pups were lessons taught by elders, using out-of-date, scrounged-up textbooks.

“Jane has a rather simple, but radical idea about the pack,” I whispered so I wouldn’t disturb the lesson.

One of my mom’s brows rose.

“She wants to know what we want out of life, for ourselves. She’d rather be an alpha who sets us free to live the life we want, instead of us giving her the lifeshewants.”

My mom shook her head slowly with a heavy sigh. “Brick is going to eat her alive.”

“No,” I said firmly. “He won’t. I’ll teach her how to fight and survive. But if — no —whenshe does, she’ll rule this pack and rule it her way. So, I figured I’d ask you first. What would your ideal life look like?”

Kira sighed, running a hand up her face then combing her fingers through her silver-streaked hair. “I have everything I want. I wanted kids, and I got them.” A half smile spread on her lips. “I couldn’t be prouder of you. Rita’s headstrong, and in the wrong pack that might get her hurt, but for now it’s serving her well, and I wish Brutus wanted more for himself, but he seems happy.”

“And you like taking care of the other pups,” I said. She’d become a pack-mother of sorts to all the children.

She nodded. “And there are two more now, Jane’s kids. If she doesn’t survive Brick, I’ll make sure they’re safe.”

“You don’t want anything more?”

She grimaced, an expression which said,yeah, I do, but it’s silly for our kind to want such things.

“What is it?” I urged her.

“I mean, I could do with a little peace and quiet.” She looked around, her gaze landing on the kids on the floor. “I wouldn’t mind if we had better materials to teach the pups. I also wouldn’t mind if there were more pups around, but I sure as hell ain’t gonna be the one having ’em.” She sighed. “And if we’re going to stay here, we’ll need more room. Being stuck in this basement is okay for a few days. It’s out of the rain and it’s warm, but we’ll go crazy if we have to stay down here indefinitely.”

“See,” I said with a grin. “I knew there were things you wanted. There’s probably more too, if you spend some time thinking about it. Just give it a try and let me know what comes up, okay?”

“And this alpha bitch will magically make it all happen?” Kira asked, skeptical.

“I don’t know. It depends what people want. I get the feeling it will be a process, and we’ll all probably have to pitch in to make it work.”

My mom shrugged. “Just don’t get people’s hopes up.”

That would be the hard part. “Yeah, I know.”

Next, I interrupted the lessons and asked everyone there what they wanted. The youngsters weren’t much help. Their answers revolved around simplydoingwhatever they wanted, not necessarilyhavinganything permanent.

When I asked Dana and Nico, she did most of the talking. “Freedom to come and go as we please, to say what we want, and live our lives in peace.”

Nico nodded at this.

“Do you want to keep your bikes and that lifestyle?” I asked, curious. There was a part of me that would miss the open road.

Dana thought for a moment, seemingly uncertain.

Nico asked, “Might I?” And she nodded to him. “Most shifters are bikers or nomads of some sort mostly because they don’t have any one place to call home, yes?”

I nodded.

---