Page 38 of The Scarred Heart

Brynn and Acksel stood in the center of the front room, with other wolves gathered around them. Brynn said, “We’re sorry to see you go, Kammie, and we wanted you to know that you’ll be missed greatly.”

Brynn moved forward and hugged Kammie, slowly pulling her away from Row and into the group of wolves. He let her go even though he didn’t want to, because he knew it was important to her to get to say goodbye to her people.

He joined Kammie and extended his hand to Acksel.

“Thank you,” Row said.

“Kammie was an asset to the pack. She’s going to be missed.”

Brynn clapped her hands and the crowd quieted. She put her arm around Kammie and said, “I can’t believe you’re leaving, but I’m so happy you found your truemate. Hunting’s a good thing I guess, huh?” She smiled and winked at Kammie.

“It can be,” Kammie murmured, casting a glance at Row.

“I know you’re heading out to dinner, but I hope you have time to stay and have some finger food and a piece of cake.”

To Row’s surprise, the males who’d been guarding the house the last time walked out of the kitchen with platters of food and set them on a card table against one wall. Kammie’s brow furrowed, and Acksel cleared his throat. “Brynn suggested that it wouldn’t hurt for the guards to know how to peel carrots and set the table.”

“I was a real slave-driver today,” Brynn said.

Adam introduced Row and Dani’s mom to the alphas while the crowd mingled and ate. Brynn and a female named Mia bracketed Kammie on the couch, asking for details about the bear sleuth and what she was going to be doing in Oakville.

Someone cleared his throat and Row turned to face a tall, broad-shouldered male holding a young boy. “I’m Malachi Slattery. This is my son, Jack.” He gestured to the couch where another female, with dark blonde hair, joined the others on the couch. “My mate is Nila. She’s sad to see Kammie go. When she had trouble with her former mate, Kammie helped out by letting Nila’s friend stay with her while she recovered from an attack.”

“Kammie will miss some aspects of the pack,” Row said.

Jack wiggled in his arms and said in a very stern baby voice, “Carrot!” Malachi put the boy down, tousling his hair and smiling as the boy hurried to Nila. “I’m glad that things will be different for her with your people. Brynn, my sister, and my mate went to see Dani, and she told them about the sleuth. I’m sure you don’t have a good opinion of wolves right now, but things will get better with time.”

“Your alpha seems happy to carry on tradition.”

“He is, but he’s also anxious about his own family’s future. If his children don’t shift, they’ll be omegas. For an alpha male, that would be hard to take. I personally don’t care if mine and Nila’s children shift. I just want them to be happy.”

Row nodded. “I think that’s a wish all parents have.”

“The good ones, anyway.” Malachi said. “Dani won’t technically be part of the pack, but she’s going to become an honorary steward, and she and Adam will work with Jeremiah and Honey, who are running late because they were working with the retirees.”

“What’s a steward?”

“A wolf who is assigned to help out the feeble or retired wolves in the pack. It’s not technically a ranked position, but it’s not an omega either. Dani, Honey, Jeremiah, and Adam don’t work for anyone but Dade, who is Acksel’s dad, and they help the retirees. The pack pays them a salary as well. I’ve heard that two of the retired females are already teaching Dani how to quilt.”

The front door opened and in walked a male and female. Malachi said, “That’s Jeremiah and Honey. I’ll go get them so I can introduce you.”

After meeting Jeremiah and Honey, Row relaxed, not realizing that he’d been worried about Dani’s place in the pack. Honey and Dani hugged like old friends, and Row’s mom seemed content with her daughter’s new home and friends. Dani could take care of herself, and she had a strong mate at her back, too.

The pack wasn’t as welcoming to outsiders as the sleuth, but it had been Kammie’s home for her entire life. There was good along with the bad. Row decided to put the past where it belonged and to stop holding the current generation of wolves accountable for the shortcomings of the previous one. Sure, they’d treated his sweetheart badly, but they had grown up believing that was the way things were supposed to be. It didn’t make sense to him, but he didn’t care any longer. Dani was safe and loved, and Kammie was going to live with him in Oakville, where they could start the next chapter of their lives.

He leaned over the back of the couch and kissed Kammie’s cheek. “We can have dinner out tomorrow night if you’d like to stay longer and visit with your friends.”

She beamed at him. “You don’t mind? It would delay us leaving another day.”

“If you’re happy, I’m happy, little wolf. Don’t you know that by now?”

CHAPTERTWELVE

The following day, Kammie pulled into a parking space in front of the mall and took a deep breath. Ever since their mating night in the den, she’d been aware that she had no sexy lingerie. Well, she’d always known that, but it had never mattered to her before what her undies looked like because she was the only one who saw them. She went for comfortable, not sexy. She knew Row didn’t care about her panties or bras or what she slept in. He preferred her naked and took every opportunity to tell her so.

“I’m really doing this,” she said out loud.

Before she could lose her nerve or talk herself out of it, she pushed open her door and got out. The frigid air caught her by surprise, but she just wrapped her scarf around her neck a second time and shut the door firmly. She was doing this for Row, but also for herself. She was actually going to stand in front of a mirror in a changing room and try on lingerie.

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