Page 8 of Holiday Surprise

We found tables at the back of the room and sat as a pack, separating ourselves from them. Lily frowned at me. I knew that wasn’t her plan. She wanted to see our packs mingling together, but I didn’t know how to make that happen and I was still afraid it would backfire and become a nightmare.

Much to my surprise, without prompting from Lily, a few of the cowboys made their way over to talk to those that worked out on the ranch or in the dairy.

Bran had led the way alongside his mate Ruby. Ruby was one of Thomas’s sisters and she and Bran oversaw the dairy operations. They were good people and it showed as my packmates started to relax and soon some got up and began to interact with others as Bran introduced them around.

Thomas was standing near me and I could feel his tension ease as it all began to unfold naturally. It wasn’t long before you couldn’t tell who belonged to which pack, with only a few holdouts hugging the walls and watching.

“It’s working,” he said, nudging my arm. “Lily didn’t even have to intervene. This is going better than I suspected.”

I smiled and nodded. “My pack was quite nervous about tonight. I’m happy to see them relax and enjoy themselves.”

“As a precaution you and I should probably run tonight, too,” Thomas said.

I gave him a strange look. “Do you usually not run with your pack?”

He shrugged. “I always start the run, but there’s usually some catastrophe or something else that needs my attention and keeps me from a full night’s run.”

“That must me hard,” I said. “I guess there are some advantages to a small pack. Pack runs are quickly becoming the best thing we’ve ever done and really uniting us all in ways I’d never expected.”

“Yeah, Lil’s been on my case to start doing them monthly. It’s so much work though getting everything prepared that I haven’t conceded yet. I don’t know how Kyle does it over in Westin Pack. They run on every full moon, sometimes even more than once a month.”

“That’s what we’ve been doing since summer and honestly, it’s worth it.”

He sighed. “I’ll reconsider.”

“Not reconsider, my friend, re-prioritize. Do me a favor. No matter what happens tonight, you run. I’ll monitor my guys. I think we’ll inevitably run as a pack anyway, so if there’s any skirmishes or problems, I’ll be right there to squash it. So, you take your beautiful mate and join your pack and just run free tonight. Peyton taught me that, so I know it can’t be a foreign concept to you. You just need the reminder.”

Zachary Collier walked up behind us and put an arm around me and the other around Thomas. “He’s right, son. I know the pressures of Alpha are great, but this one night, you need to forget about all of that and just be present with your pack.”

“I’ll try,” he said.

By nightfall the party was in full swing. As dinner was being served, they ushered us all back to our tables. There was no more tension within my packmates, and despite holding to my command of no alcohol, they were all in good spirits.

Thomas got up to say a few words and publicly acknowledge the Larken wolves in the process. People turned and smiled or waved our way. I was surprised by the lack of animosity.

As the food started to come out, I was again hit by how very different our packs were. I was lucky if I could keep my wolves from starving to death, and here dish after lavish dish kept being delivered. It was more food than any of us had ever seen in one place, and we all devoured every bite given to us.

“I’m so full, I’m going to bust,” little Tom said.

I ruffled his hair and smiled down at him.

“Luke, what do us kids do while all the grown-ups are running?” he asked sounding a little apprehensive.

They had become used to playing at Oliver’s house and knew all the rules there. It was a comfortable and safe place. The kids knew nothing of Collier. For the majority of them it was the first time they had ever set foot in the territory.

“You don’t need to worry about that. Lily has set up some play stations for all the kids to hang out during the run. There will be a few expecting mothers who can’t shift watching over all of you.”

He gulped hard. “Us and them? Together?”

I smiled reassuringly. “Tom it’s going to be fine. You’ll have fun even.”

Lily was making her rounds and happened to listen in to his concerns. She came over to our table and kneeled down beside him so that she was eye level with the boy.

“Hi, I’m Lily. What’s your name?”

He looked to me first for permission to speak to her. I nodded my head.

“Tom.”

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