Page 87 of Stripped

He stiffened beneath me. “Have to say I've never seen a long-distance relationship that actually worked out.”

“I'm moving back to Aspens Whiten. I was packing up the car when you showed up at my door.”

He rose over me and smiled. “I don't want you to move to Aspens Whiten. You're moving in with me, to Mule Creek.”

I hesitated. I loved him, but was I ready to move in with him? I still needed my own space, to prove I could be independent. “You left your bag in the hall,” I said, like I was truly worried about his bag full of jeans and t-shirts and wasn't just stalling for time.

He placed his hands on either side of my face, his gaze intent and filled with so much love. “Move in with me, Abby. I promise I'll give you your space, and I won't make it weird. It'll be a bit of a commute to a job in Aspens Whiten, but…” He looked at the ceiling, considering.

“I'm going to be working in Mule Creek,” I said. “Helping the pack figure out how to make money. I'll be like the CEO for the pack, if Axel okays it.” I knew I was hurting my case, but Zane would find out anyway.

His smile was so bright and big, it made my heart stutter with love.

I held up a hand. “But that's not a reason for us to rush into living together.”

He grabbed my hand and laced his fingers through mine. “It makes more sense for you to live in Mule Creek, so you can see how everything works day and night, than to commute to Aspens Whiten. Agreed?”

I studied his expression, looking for the trick, but it was carefully blank. “Of course, but—”

“And there aren't any free rooms or houses in Mule Creek right now. It makes sense for you to live with me. I'll even let you have the guest room. You can pay rent if it makes you feel better.”

Darn it. I didn't have a reasonable argument for his rational suggestion. “I guess that makes sense.”

He grinned, triumphant. “We should spend a couple days in Denver. A mini vacation before we go back to Mule Creek and the craziness of the pack.”

I considered. I loved the idea of spending a weekend with Zane, just the two of us, but I knew the pack was in serious trouble and Julie and Axel needed to start instituting changes immediately to ensure the autonomy and safety of the pack. “One day,” I said. “We'll leave tomorrow after dinner.”

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tight against a very important body part that was already rock hard again. “Can't stand me for two whole days?”

I grinned. “It would be a trial, but I really want to get to Mule Creek and get to work on my ideas. If we stay for one day, I'm going to need to pick your brain tonight so I can present my idea with as much of the details already figured out as possible.”

He rolled over on top of me and thrust into me with one hard flex of his hips. “You can pick anything you want if we don't have to put clothes on or leave this couch.”

“I think that can be arranged.” And then I shut up, because he was moving and all I could do was feel.

***

“You want to do what?” Axel asked. His expression alternated between shocked, angry, and afraid for my sanity. Next to me, Zane squeezed my hand.

“Just hear her out, man.” Zane's calm tone was impressive considering he'd had the same reaction to my idea when I'd first voiced it to him two nights ago. He'd talked me into staying in Denver one more night and we'd arrived back in Mule Creek just after eleven in the morning. We'd gone straight to Axel's to present the plan to him and Julie.

“You actually support this crazy idea?” Axel asked. “You want humans visiting our town like we're the latest tourist attraction?”

“Sweetie,” Julie said, putting a hand on his arm. “Has Abby steered us wrong, yet?” Daisy was in Julie's arms, watching her daddy with obvious interest.

Axel sat back on the couch with a huff and a wave of his hand. “Go on.”

“Werewolves are popular with only thirty-seven percent of Americans,” I said, giving them each a handout I'd created to show the information. “Some people fear or dislike anyone who's different and there's nothing you can do about them, but I think you could bring more people to your side by inviting them here and letting them get to know you.”

“Why do we care if people like us?” Axel asked. “We did that stupid reality show, wasn't that enough for them?”

“And in that reality show,” I said. “You interacted only with other wolves. A lot of people think you don't like humans, that you might be a threat to humans if you ever decided there should be fewer of them and more of you.”

“We don't like humans,” Axel said. He waved his hand in my direction. “No offense.”

“And we wonder why more humans don't love us,” Julie said, rolling her eyes.

“The bottom line,” I said, “is that you need leverage with the council or they'll have no reason to deal fairly with you. If you have human friends, a larger pool of humans on your side, who look forward to visiting this retreat and this pack, the council will be strongly incentivized not to destroy the pack or take the land from you. No one would want vamps running a retreat. Invite humans here to Mule Creek to participate in a yoga retreat, they can take yoga classes with Zane, pole dancing classes with me, they could build crafts at the hardware store, go on hikes, and Zane can teach them meditation. I know we don't have the facilities to host a ton of people right now, but they can stay in tents, rough it, until we do.”

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