Keeping My Pack

by Lane Whitt

  “Are we sleeping out here again or in our room tonight? I’m beat, so I’m heading to bed either way.” Reed asks.

  “I’m going to stay up for a while and work through some of this list,” Jace tells him.

  “Yeah, I’ll help you with that.” Logan offers. Jace nods and tosses him the other computer.

  “I guess it’s rooms then,” Remy answers the question.

  “You ready for bed, Babe? Or are you going to stay up too?” Reed asks me.

  “I’ll come to bed. Goodnight guys.” I tell the others as my rounds to give them each kisses. They tell me goodnight back, and then I head off to bed with Reed. He still has his white cloud bed, but he chose to hang paintings up this time, including the finger-painting I did of the guys with the heart around them. And instead of the all-white furniture, he went with pale beech wood this time. I loved his other room, but the new décor seems more like Reed. Laid back and relaxing, just like him.

  Reed turns the lights off and slips under the covers with me. I snuggle in, feeling the mating bond rise to the surface, the electric sparks buzzing softly along every surface of my skin touching his. I kiss his neck before finding his lips in the dark. He kisses me back with a passion that only Reed possesses.

  Time flies as we keep busy with getting everything situated and organized around the house. I met with Philip, Perry’s older brother and Damon, Morris’ father because Mikey seems to be inseparable from the other boys now. We had gotten the other kids bikes to ride so that Mikey could ride his and the others wouldn’t have to miss out. Now, it’s hard to keep track of them as they cruise around for most of the day. Phillip and Damon are nice guys though, and when my guys or I have things to attend to, they look after the boys. A so Albert and Grandfather, and pretty much everyone else. Grandfather pointed out that that’s how the packs were, everyone looked out for each other, especially the children. I still worry about Mikey when I’m not around though; I wasn’t raised in a pack like him, and this pack has been through some things.

  He was right about the off-site pack members though. More and more families have been showing up, with moving trucks and all, asking to be allowed back in the pack house. I try to tell them that they don’t need to ask, and I made the offer in the first place, but they do anyway. So now we have other women in the house, finally. Some of them look my age, but they’re older, a fact I was a little disappointed in. There’s only about ten of them and most seem nice enough, though a couple just come off a spoiled to me, but then again they are spoiled, so that makes sense. With few women around so many men, it’s just the way it is, and I haven’t taken the time to get to know them yet either. The only issue I’ve had with any of them were the two who laughed when I asked them to help me sort out the new clothing Logan and Jace had gotten. Logan was worried they’d all look like clones, so he got each person an entire wardrobe, but the companies who shipped the clothing didn’t know, so it got all mixed up. I kept my anger at the women in check and explained that everyone around here helps out. Well, maybe I said that if they want to remain in my pack they have to earn it, but it’s about the same thing.

  The biggest difference and my most favorite change are the wolf pups running around now. They’re all boys, but they are the cutest little things I’ve ever seen. There're a few bigger ones too, so Mikey got more friends to play with. I had to tell him not to pet them and talk to them like he would a dog, but treat them how he would a person at first. He got the hang of it quickly and the boy he treated like a dog came around again after the slight insult. I have to keep after Perry and Morris about riding their new friends in wolf form, but Remy explained that boys are weird, and as long as no one is complaining, then it’s fine. Two things I never thought I’d hear myself say are the two things I always have to say when I’m around the boys. You don’t bite your friends, and you don’t ride your friends like a horse.

  Even with keeping the floor below ours reserved for children and families, we were able to move some of the soldiers inside the house as well. Of course, almost all of the rooms had to be converted to bedrooms, but we made it work. That made less room for common areas, but it became understood that we could go outside and run around if we needed space. Ash even suggested turning two of the smaller ballrooms into bunkhouses so we could get the rest of the soldiers out of the trailers and get those out of here. So now three-bed high bunk beds are lined up in rows in those rooms. It’s a bit cramped, but we make it work, and everyone pitches in where they can.

  The next step for us is converting the basement into laundry facilities. As it is now, there are daily runs to laundry mats and the washing machines we have here are working 24/7. And hot water? Nope, we don’t have that anymore, not even on our floor. I’m not sure how we’re going to make that possible again, but Finn is working on it.

  Tristan spends most of his time in the kitchens. Not only cooking but showing others how to prepare and cook food for the masses. With some of the ballrooms gone, dining space is limited to the small dining room and the bigger ballroom. Finn took over a big office room to start teaching the children, and I sneak away from whatever I’m doing to try to catch him with the kids during their recess.

  Seeing him playing with the children makes me love him more than I already did. The wolf pups usually make their way outside with the rest of the kids, and they shift when their siblings do, running around as yipping balls of fur. They seem to like me too as they come up to me without reserve and nibble away at my shoelaces and whine for a good belly rub. Grandfather told me that they can sense that I’m their Alpha female, and that’s why they act the way that they do. Why all the children act that way in wolf form. I told him that may be true, then again, I’ve always been good with kids.

  Tonight is New Year’s Eve though, and I’m excited to get to run with the rest of the pack. I’ve been running with Ash and the soldiers he’s training in the mornings, after my private yoba sessions with Reed, of course. Ash and his men stay human as they run around the perimeter, but I think it’s fun to chase them as a wolf, so I do.

  “You ready for this, Princess?” Jace asks as we head down to the backyard, or mud pit.

  “Don’t you call me that too. It’s hard enough to remember people are speaking to me when I get called that all the time.” I tell him.

  “Actually, if you’ll remember, I called you that first. Long before I knew you were an actual princess.” He reminds me.

  I smile up at him. “That’s right. I guess you were ahead of the curve.”

  “Always.” He replies cockily.

  “Oh my god.” I gasp out, before covering my eyes with my hands.

  “Remy laughs behind, Logan joining him. “It’s okay, Love. We haven’t been taken over by flashers; these wolves just don’t care about nudity. They’ll be shifting soon.” He assures me. Or tries to.

  “I don’t want to be naked in front of a bunch of people,” I tell him nervously.

  “Don’t worry, you don’t have to. I think the other females have chosen to shift inside the house once everyone else leaves. I’ll wait outside the door for you, just bark when you’re all ready to come out.” He tells me.

  “I guess that’s a little better.” I grudgingly agree.

  The men file out, and I wave awkwardly at Maxine, one of the other women that I’ve come to really like. She has two kids, Sway and Maxwell, and Mikey really likes them.

  Maxine waves back, stepping closer to me. “Hey there, Princess. Nervous?” She guesses correctly.

  “Just about the naked part, I’m excited for the run. I run with my mates all the time, but never with so many other wolves.” I tell her honestly.

  “Oh, it is fun. I suspect you’ll be in the back with our Alphas, so I’ll probably see you at some point. I’m going to stick near the middle back where the kids will be. Sway is always going off, trying to do his own thing, so I have to my eye on him.” She tells me with a roll of her pretty blue eyes.

  “He is a bit of a re
bel, isn’t he?” I joke with her.

  “Gets that from his father, I assure you.” She with a shake of her head.

  “I guess we better shift and head on out then. The men are probably getting impatient.” I sigh.

  I slip my fussy robe off and toss it onto a chair. I shift quickly, shaking out my fur then scratching an itch behind my ear. I give the other women a few moments to shift in privacy before looking behind me to check if they’re done. Yep, all finished up.

  I bark at the door, and a naked Remy opens it for me. I rub against his leg as I exit and sit next to him. Ash is on my other side, so I lean up to lick his muzzle. As my eyes turn back to Remy, closing the door, I catch one of the other females checking him out. Before I can think about it, I’m on top of her, snapping at her face with my teeth. Her head turns to the side, and she whimpers, so I let her go with one last growl. She gets to her feet and sulks away with her tail between her legs.

  I grumble as I trot back to my guys, not caring if anyone thought I was mean. Remy is mine, and no one looks at them that but me. As if to reassure myself, I walk the line of all of my mates, rubbing against them and licking under their necks. Yep, mine. All mine.

  Remy’s red wolf comes to stand over me, bending his head down lick the top of my head, his chest rumbling at me in approval.

  I finally turn my eyes to the rest of the pack, who sits patiently waiting for us. Remy takes his time showing me love, then backs away, taking a deep breath. He howls loudly, his voice carrying across the land and bouncing around the night. My responding howl mixes with the rest of the packs. All eight of my mates chorus the next one, and that’s the signal for those in front with Grandfather to starts running. The younger wolves yip in excitement, and I see Maxine up ahead with the pups, herding them to stay in line. I bark a hello, and she turns her head to see me, bowing her head and giving a short bark back.

  The pack runs in groupings, the older wolves out in front, followed by the best fighting soldiers, other than my guys, the majority of the pack follows them, with more fighter, the families, even more soldiers, then us, the Alpha family running behind them.

  Somehow, the guys seem to not only know where the wolves up front are going, but they’re directing them from all the way back here. I howl when they howl, turn when they turn and every now and again pounce a rabbit. The last not to the guys’ liking at all, but it’s fun. I don’t know how long we run for, but my energy seems to build instead of drain. It’s exciting being out here with the pack. We move as a team, as several parts of a whole, and I’ve never felt closer to them. I’ve also never found my guys to be as attractive as they are right now either, and that’s saying something since I have always found them attractive. The way they command the other wolves, the way they never break stride, their paws moving at exactly the same time, their fur brushing up against one another as they run side by side. It’s infuriatingly sexy, and I find myself wanting them more than I ever have, all of them.

  Eventually, we circle back to the house and wolves shift back into men and flood the house. I, however, have only just ran myself into a hot mess, so I issue a challenge to my wolves, getting their attention with a bark, then turning and raising my tail high, swaying my hips as I walk. Several turned on growls meet my ears, and I know they’re watching me now. I take off as fast as I can, heading for the orchards, wanting us to get some distance from the other people still milling about. They let me lead, for I know all of them could catch me if they wanted, especially the fast as lightning Logan. I weave through the barren trees, finding a nice spot for us. With a low howl, Remy orders the guys to surround me. Oh, this is fun. They play with me first, probably getting back at me a little. I try to guess which one tries to nip at my leg next, they’re too good, and there’s too many to keep an eye on at once. After a while I pout, huffing and sitting down. I don’t like this game; I can’t win.

  Ash steps forward and nuzzles my neck, telling me it okay and they were just playing. I nuzzle him back, and Reed starts in on my other side. They begin their slow seduction, and I’m soon lost in a tidal wave of love, lust, and passion.

  And that’s how I find myself waking up in the middle of an orchard, freezing my naked butt off, feeling irritable with lack of sleep. I cross my arms over my chest and kick out at a still sleeping Ash. “Ash, wake up. Let’s go get coffee. I need coffee.” I demand. I am so not doing this again in winter.

  “I apologize, Love.” It was never our intention to fall asleep out here. Come here, I will keep you warm.” Remy tells me, picking me up in his arms. I wrap my body around him, stealing his heat.

  “It’s okay.” I sigh. “I fell asleep too.”

  “Because we wore that fine ass out.” Logan brags, with a slap to my bottom.

  I yelp in shock, a little in pain as my backside stings. It’s cold out here. “Hey!”

  “Let’s go inside. I too would like some coffee and some more rest.” Remy says loudly, ensuring the rest of my sleeping mates wake up and come with us.

  Well, this is going to be fun, walking into a house full of people who know exactly what we have up to. And we have the added bonus of being completely naked. I sigh heavily, oh well, it was totally worth it.

  Remy

  “Fuck. This can’t be good.” I groan, scrubbing a hand down my face.

  “War usually isn’t.” Maksim agrees.

  “All this, just because we’ve accepted a few more changed wolves? Were they not aware that the eight Alphas of this pack are changed wolves or are they just ignorant all together?”

  “In all fairness, I did warn you this could happen.” The Russian reminds me. I shoot him a look, expressing how unhelpful he’s being.

  “Well, if they want to declare war on us, so be it. We won’t strike first, so they’ll have to come here.” I state firmly.

  “Is that a wise choice, Rem? These guys have come a long way in a month, but I don’t know if they’re reading for the real thing.” Ash asks. He’s got a point.

  “The UK pack is small compared to ours. We’ll at least have the numbers, and the men will be fighting for their home and for their family, that might help tip the scales in our favor. Besides, I don’t want this fight to happen if it doesn’t need to. Declaring against us, doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll come for us. They could just be taking a stand against changed wolves being granted entry into packs.” Finn adds his opinion.

  I nod my head. “That’s true, but we need to be prepared, just in case. Tristan, can you place additional orders to the food suppliers? Make sure to add more non-perishables.”

  “I can do that, Rem.” He confirms.

  “Do we let the rest of the pack know? I mean, we don’t even know if this is a real threat yet.” Reed asks.

  “I think we should hold off for now, see if any other packs declare for us or against us. There’s a chance Finn is right and the UK pack is just getting pissy.” Logan suggests.

  I notice out of the corner of my eye that Kellan looks a little nervous. Since he used to go to war with Ash as a medic, it’s out of character for him. “Do you have something to add?” I ask him.

  “Not really about this.” He answers. “Well, kind of about this. I think we should hold off on mentioning it to Kitten as well.”

  “Are you crazy? She’ll rip our balls off if we don’t tell her that someone has declared war against us. Can you imagine how she’ll react if we wait to tell her we knew until their knocking on the front door?” Logan questions. I agree that she’d be fairly angry about that.

  “How, exactly would we explain that she should stay indoors as well as the other women and children? She won’t do it without asking why.” Tristan asks.

  “Why don’t you want to tell her? If anything, an angry Kitten will rally the troops better than any of us ever could. Angry Kitten gets things done.” Ash directs his question at Kellan.

  “I’m not suggesting we don’t tell her until war is at our door, I’m just saying we can wait a little whi
le. If you haven’t noticed, Kitten hasn’t been herself lately. She shouldn’t be able to get sick, so I don’t know what’s going on with her, but something is.” He says.

  “She has been more tired than usual. She takes at least one nap a day.” Tristan points out.

  Reed’s face scrunches up as he thinks about it. “And she’s either starving herself or eating a meal fit for a family of six.”

  Thinking back over the past couple of weeks, I realize my brothers are right. Kitten has been acting strangely. We’ve had to keep her away from the television because she either gets angry at the commercials of old people falling and no one helping them up or balling her eyes out at the commercials of abused animals and hungry kids. Even Mikey’s animated films seem to set her off. She’s also either been sleeping like a rock when we come in or ready to tear our clothes off, one or the other with no in between.

  “Alright, I agree to hold off on telling her, for now. But only until we figure out what’s going on with her, which will be as soon as this meeting is over.” I put my foot down on this, I’m not keeping things from her; it’s just now how this family works.

  Maksim bursts into hearty laughter, holding his gut he’s going at it so hard. Albert joins him, looking to my brothers and me and laughing harder.

  “Is there something we don’t know? Care to share? Or do you think a declaration of war and a sick granddaughter is something to be laughed at?” I grit through my teeth. The Russian’s continuing laughter is getting on my last nerve.

  My tone calms his laughter down into a shit-eating grin instead. “It’s funny you say she’s sick when we all know that she can’t be sick. It must be something else, don’t you think?” He asks me, the twinkle in his eye and his rosy cheeks making me want to punch him. I f I knew what was wrong with Kitten, I would have fixed it by now. I'm not sure if she’s just stressed out, or adjusting to having so many people around, or what. I think she just needs time.