Page 56 of The Awakened Wolf

“Deal.”

With each assent, the windows went unceremoniously black until there was nothing on the giant screen but the ghostly muted reflection of all our wolves sitting in chairs they made look tiny. It would have been funny if it weren’t so damn eerie.

“Well.” Kiana clapped her hands on the table. “That was easy.”

I wanted to snap ‘For you, maybe’ but Sebastian was already giving her a respectful nod, and the way he was clearly imitating Mateo’s behavior toward Max warmed my heart. He may not have formally studied how to fulfill his Beta duties, but he had been watching and learning, secretly yearning to be himself. This pack was lucky to have him.

“About this meeting.” Father cleared his throat. “We can’t go into that without thinking through what we know of them all. I’ve been working with Yeh and Julius for two decades now. I feel I can predict them with ease. But the other two…” He shook his head. “Nobody else brought their Beta.”

“You always did,” Sebastian said quietly, and the implication hung heavily in the air for several fraught seconds before we all burst into laughter.

“She’s a bitch with bad taste,” Kiana said. “But I doubt she’s evil. And besides, I brought my Beta today.” She patted Sebastian’s arm, and my wolf swelled under my skin at that touch combined with that possessive pronoun. But then I remembered that for whatever reason, my Alpha sister really really really didn’t want a male consort.

“Maybe Tony and Gigi are also fated mates,” I said, taking Sebastian’s hand.

“Elyse!” Father scolded, but everyone else snickered. Even Kiana.

“Oh, honey,” Evan mocked. “Is it possibly Gigi’s job to follow him around and make sure no one clocks him, or were you really all born without gaydar?”

“I have… that,” Kiana groused. “I clocked Atlas for you, didn’t I?”

Evan pursed his lips as if he wanted to say something snarky, but then a coy smile broke through. “I will say our first date went better than with anyone the apps ever matched me with, but it could just be that I never pulled off a heist with any of them.”

Kiana’s brow rose triumphantly and she leaned back in her oversized chair, muscular arms folded over her chest. I wasn’t sure how I felt about their burgeoning friendship. When it came to Evan, there was still a voice in the back of my head growling ‘Mine’ that had been there longer than the bite. It must have been that way for Jayla too because the wolf beside me growled out loud and bounded onto the table.

“Hey!” Kiana cried, jumping to her feet, but Jayla had already hopped off the other side and landed in a play bow. Kiana threw her hands up. “This is not the—”

Jayla unleashed a warbling bark and then skittered in a tight puppyish circle as if she were chasing her own tail. Then she dropped to her belly and froze, silky ears pinned against her scalp, golden eyes darting wildly from side to side. Her muzzle wrinkled up over her gleaming white fangs, and my sister shoved our father’s rolling chair behind her. Sebastian leaped to his feet, throwing one arm out in front of me, but I grabbed it before he could try to send my chair flying into the wall as well. Using his sinewy forearm as leverage to hoist myself up, I shot both of them a withering look. But then immediately felt bad for not being more sensitive to my mate’s fresh trauma.

“She’s fine. But she’s never known energy quite like this before,” I said, rubbing Sebastian’s arm. “She’s got to work it off.” I glanced down the table. “Evan, maybe you could take Jayla—”

“I’m on it, boss.” Evan gave me a playful salute that drew a frown from our Alpha, and then walked around the table and clapped his hands on his knees. “Who’s got the zoomies? Has Jayla got the zoomies? Come to Daddy.”

Jayla immediately sobered and stood up, shaking out her lustrous new coat. “Uh-uh. Nope. We are not doing that.” She looked down at her paws. “How do I get my skin back?”

“Ummm, it’ll just sort of happen?” Evan ruffled her ears. “I’ll show you how to make it happen, both ways, but it’s hard to explain unless it’s already happened to you on its own. But it shouldn’t be long now.”

“Okay.” Jayla sat and curled her tail around her paws. She looked at me. “Can I still be a doctor?”

An avalanche of guilt nearly knocked me to the floor, but I clung for dear life to Sebastian’s now lowered arm. Jayla had worked so hard to make her dreams come true. Harder than Evan, who had given up after being rejected by Animalis. Harder than Charlie, who had kept her dreams small and cozy. And a thousand times harder than me, who had never bothered to dream about anything at all.

We did this.

It was her choice.

I took a deep breath. I knew that was true. And at this point, Jayla was so intertwined with our pack that remaining human could have put her even more at risk in the long run. But it still bothered me. Maybe because I was always so torn about being born to this way with no choice. I darted my eyes at Kiana to indicate she was the one who decided the course of our lives now. But Jayla’s pleading gaze remained on me.

Our illustrious Alpha cleared her throat. “We feel it would be unwise to allow any of our new recruits to return to their former lives at this perilous time, but I am sure the Bronx-Manhattan pack will be able to find use for your skills in our infirmary.”

“The whelping dens,” I scoffed at my sister’s infinite audacity. “That’s what she means. When we’re pregnant, we’re basically human, so I hope you paid attention during obstetrics and gynecology.”

“I did,” Jayla said, looking at Kiana now instead of me. “It wasn’t my focus, but I’m happy to help wherever I can. Until it’s safe for us out there again.”

“Thank you,” Kiana said in perhaps the most sickeningly sweet tone I had ever heard her use. “I have to admit I was nervous about bringing bite-born wolves into the pack, but I’ve been impressed by how many of you are willing to apply your talents where they’re needed most even if it’s not what suits you best.”

“Funny how all roads lead to the labor and delivery department for females.” I shook my head with a bitter laugh.

“Oh, yes!” Kiana placed a hand on her heart. “How dreadful of me to seize this surprising opportunity to have a trained professional review our whelping procedures and potentially update them for the twenty-first century! Truly, I am always the villain!” She threw back her head. “Mwa-ha-ha-ha! Isn’t that how they laugh in your precious movies, Elyse? Am I doing it right now?”

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