Page 26 of To Challenge a Wolf

“But…but you’re…” A Helvering. Heir to ill-gotten wealth. Son of an alpha wolf who held his hometown’s businesses—both legal and illegal—in a tight fist. Rhett’s name could take him places in Stone’s covert crime world. Not that he’d ever wanted to go to those places, but still. She shook her head. “I never guessed you might change it.”

“Guess I should’ve said.”

The concession was one for record books worldwide. She wanted to tease him, but now wasn’t the time, and this wasn’t the topic. “Rhett, why shouldn’t we spar together? We have before.”

“Ending when I turned sixteen.”

“Well, yeah, but I’m an adult now.”

“So am I. A fully muscled adult wolf. So no, we will not be sparring ever again. Forget it, Viv.”

Maybe he had a point. She sat up, away from the support of his arm, and pushed to her feet. He growled quietly when she left the shielding tree to rejoin the group at the fire pit, but he went with her.

A few minutes later, while everyone ate in a now subdued mood, Ezra cocked his head. “Haven’t heard it in a while. Maybe it left.”

“Or maybe it’s higher but still watching,” Willow said.

“That’s possible too.”

Gradually, as half an hour passed and Ezra didn’t hear the drone, a collective sigh seeped from the pack. The pups were allowed to play in the yard again, and a few wolves Vivian had only said hello to—ginger-haired Nathan, his father Patrick, and teenager Quinn—restarted the darts game. Kelsey and Ember emerged from the patio and joined Vivian and Rhett, April and Malachi around the fire. Aaron joined them immediately, taking a seat next to his mate. Kelsey had brought a long candle-lighter from the house, and soon a cheering blaze crackled in the pit.

Vivian savored their conversations. She listened to each couple tell how they’d met—other than Malachi and April, whose story she knew now—and found out Kelsey was more than just an athletic frame and a pretty face. The woman was a travel influencer with nearly a million followers.

“I introduced Trevor a few months ago,” she said, “and I gained more than fifty thousand overnight. The man’s a natural. He keeps talking about announcing himself as a wolf, for public relations purposes.”

Ezra gave a low growl. Now that Vivian knew how his in-laws had reacted to him, how Willow had been forced tochoose between her parents and her wolf, his disapproval of his brother’s outgoingness on social media made a lot of sense.

“I know, Ez.” Kelsey shrugged. “But it’s up to him. He really wants to do it.” She hopped up from her seat as if released by a spring. “Cobbler, anybody?”

“Sounds good, but I can get mine.” Willow got up too. “Ember?”

“If you don’t mind. Aaron, stay put. Willow offered and is perfectly capable of bringing me a plate.”

The others declined for the moment. In a few minutes Willow and Kelsey returned with two plates each of dessert, and Kelsey handed her second to Ember. Ezra rolled his eyes when Willow handed him one of hers.

“You’ll want a bite when you see me eating it,” Willow said. “This is a well-established pattern, Ez.”

Laughter sounded around the circle. As it faded, Ember began to rub her back with the hand not holding her cobbler. She said nothing, but her face crinkled up and stayed that way.

“Ember?” Aaron said.

“I’m okay,” she said. She arched her back, then seemed to relax. “My back hates me. Normal for thirty-nine weeks.”

Aaron remained tense for a few minutes, his eyes hardly leaving Ember until finally she patted his forearm and leaned in for a quick kiss.

“Aaron, what’s the rule?”

“If you say you’re okay…” He ended the sentence with a growl. Ember cocked one eyebrow at him and waited. The words laced with the growl, he said, “…then you are okay.”

“Give the wolf a gold star,” she said and kissed him again.

Over the next few hours, Vivian took turns listening and talking. Everyone seemed interested in her stories of other wolf packs, how they did things differently and how they were the same. At her request, she was also acclimated to each and everywolf in the pack, even Ember’s nephew Quinn, the youngest wolf. Many of them seemed taken aback by the request, but they all growled approval when she completed the process without showing any fear. And that felt good.

“Nothing happens to you? I’ve never heard of that,” Jeremy said as one of his twins ran up and pulled on the leg of his jeans.

“Daddy, we eat s’mores now?”

“Not yet, Gigi-bug. A little later.”

---