Finding Somewhere to Belong

by C. C. Masters

  I nodded.

  I finished cleaning the wound and bandaged Robbie’s leg. I gave Alex and Tony instructions on how to use the pain meds and antibiotics and made them promise to keep Robbie here for a least a day so I could keep an eye on the wound and monitor for infection.

  After I was satisfied, I cleaned up my impromptu medical area and headed upstairs. I wanted to head straight to Austin’s office so I could find out what was going on, but he probably would not appreciate me getting blood on his stuff. I stopped in my room to wash up and change my clothes as quickly as I could.

  I headed to Austin’s office with a mix of anticipation, worry, and curiosity. I wanted to know what was going on and how I would to be able to help, but I was also worried about the guys being in some serious trouble. Regardless of what was going on, I was sticking with them; these were the good guys.

  I knocked on the closed door but decided to barge in without waiting for an answer. Austin was sitting behind his giant desk, with Cody and James sitting across from him. It looked like I had interrupted a serious discussion, but Austin waved me toward them.

  Cody stood up to offer me his seat. I tried to turn it down, but all three guys insisted. Cody stood behind me with his hands on the back of my chair.

  Austin leaned forward as he started speaking. “Anna, I’m glad you’re here. Thanks for your help earlier tonight.”

  I nodded. I didn’t really feel like I did anything that helpful, but I didn’t want to waste time arguing. “So, what happened tonight?”

  James cleared his throat. “We had a group of wolves attempt to gain access to the house tonight.”

  I frowned. “Why would they do that? Is this a territory issue? How often does this kind of thing happen?” I tried to stop myself from asking questions so that he could answer some of the ones I already asked. I was babbling again.

  “Well, we think they were on a mission to get something from the house.”

  I nodded. That made sense; it looked like they had a lot of expensive things here. “How were the wolves planning to get it out, though?” I asked with a frown. “It’s not like they could carry anything in their wolf forms.”

  “That’s a good point, Anna,” Cody added from behind me.

  “James will have to look more into what they were planning and how they were planning to do it.” Austin looked at James pointedly, and he nodded in response.

  “Are you going to ask the wolves you took prisoner?” I asked, curious to know what was going on. It seemed odd that the three of them were sitting here when there were prisoners somewhere on the property that might have the answers that we needed.

  Austin sighed. “We have laws among our kind that dictate what we can and can’t do if we find members of another pack trespassing on our territory. We captured two, but it looks like there were a total of ten wolves on the property tonight. That’s a significant number and leads us to believe it was the work of a pack, not the work of a few rebels from within a pack.”

  I thought about that for a moment. “You think they were looking to attack our position here and not just steal something?”

  “That’s possible,” Austin told me. He exchanged looks with James, and they seemed to have a silent conversation. James clenched his jaw and looked away while Austin continued. “We were aware that someone had our pack under surveillance, but we weren’t sure why. Today, we set a trap. If they were interested in taking over the pack or my territory, they would have went after Cody and myself while we were alone out in town today. They didn’t.”

  Austin paused and looked as though he was considering his next words. I heard Cody shifting behind me, but I couldn’t see his face to guess what he was thinking.

  “Instead of coming after pack leadership, they came here. We had made it look like there were only a couple of wolves on guard duty on the perimeter and four wolves here in the house. The reality was that we had a lot more wolves on standby, just waiting for them to make a move.”

  Not that I didn’t appreciate being kept in the loop, but I wondered why he was telling me all of this. I was a brand new wolf to the pack, just here on a trial basis. My heart dropped. Did he suspect me of being involved somehow?

  As Austin shifted in his seat, my thoughts must have been all over my face. “Anna, the reason I’m telling you this is because we think those wolves were after you.”

  “Me?” I spluttered. “Do you think that’s Evelyn’s pack? That they know I had a relationship with her?”

  “That’s one possibility. At this point, we are not sure. We are following protocol, which is to contact the council and have them act as a mediator between myself and the other pack-master.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw James shift as he pulled out his vibrating phone. Austin gave him a wave, and James went outside of the room to take the call.

  “Our next step is to have the pack-master identify himself and what he wants. If he wants our territory, he will have to declare war. If he wants you, it gets much more complicated.”

  Fear trickled down my spine. It seemed unreal that anyone would want to kidnap me, but Evelyn had warned me this could happen if wolves found out about my existence. She had not predicted there would be a pack of good wolves willing to protect me, though.

  Or would they? Was Austin willing to negotiate something in return for me? Would he risk putting his pack in danger for a stray wolf he just met? He could hand me over, and all his troubles would be over.

  “What are you going to do if they ask for me?” I whispered.

  Austin sat back. “That depends on you. I need you to answer me honestly. Is there another pack that would have a claim on you?”

  I was confused. “How would they do that?”

  “Your father or a male that you had mated with could make a claim on you.”

  I just stared at him. “I don’t know who my father is. And I haven’t, uh, mated with any wolves.”

  “Are you sure?” Cody asked me quietly. “You couldn’t tell I was a wolf until I told you.”

  I turned bright red. “I am 100 percent sure. There was only one guy, and it was a long time ago.” I closed my eyes in complete embarrassment. Oh my god, please let words stop coming out of my mouth. I slunk down on my chair, hoping to disappear into the floor.

  “Huh,” Austin said.

  I peeked out of one eye to see if they were laughing at me for being a complete weirdo.

  “I’m going to have to ask you to give James his info so we can check, just to make sure,” Austin told me gently. “It would be better to find out now than to be surprised later.”

  “He’s no longer alive,” I told them awkwardly. “Even if he was a wolf, his pack wouldn’t have any claim on me, right?”

  “No, they wouldn’t. But I still want to confirm the story,” James announced as he strode back into the room.

  Oh my god, now James was discussing this? How was he even a part of the conversation when he had just been out in the hall? If I could have sunk any lower in my chair, I would have. “Can’t I just say I want to stay here?” I mumbled.

  Austin looked at me with pity. “Unfortunately, wolf society has been very patriarchal over the centuries. Females are considered part of the pack they are born into unless they mate outside of the pack. Males are free to change packs and go where they want. Wolf society is behind on the modern times.”

  I shifted uncomfortably. “But I wasn’t born into a pack, so I don’t belong anywhere.”

  He shrugged. “That is what makes this a delicate situation, and why I decided to involve the council. They have the authority to name you as an official member of our pack; other packs will respect that and back off. No one will risk the anger of the council in order to kidnap you.”

  “But what if the council wants to give me to another pack?” I asked nervously.

  “Austin’s father and James’ cousin are both on the council,” Cody informed me.

  “So it will be difficult, but not impossible,
for us to have you named to our pack,” Austin told me.

  “There’s going to be opposition from the more well-established packs. They are going to argue that she should go to one of them,” James voiced.

  “We can argue about what may or may not happen all day. Right now, we need to plan for the things that we can control,” Austin said firmly.

  “I’m going be contacting the council members individually to try and get their ear before any official proceeding occur. James, I need you on the investigation to see what we are dealing with. Cody, I need you in contact with the other local packs; see if they have had any problems with renegade wolves or another pack encroaching on their territory. I already have Caleb working this from a tech aspect.”

  Finally, Austin turned to me. “Anna, I need you to stay in the house and out of sight.” I frowned. Everyone else got an assignment, but I was told to hide? Not fair.

  “Can’t I do something to help?” I asked. “I feel kind of useless just going to hide under my bed, when all of this is kind of my fault.” I chewed my lip nervously.

  Cody chuckled, and James was hiding a grin. “None of this is your fault, Anna,” Austin told me reassuringly. “We have been dealing with attacks on our territory a lot since we are a new pack. Having a female here now is just giving them extra motivation.”

  I nodded and tried not to worry. These guys were professionals, they knew exactly what they are doing and are the best at what they do. Everyone is going to be fine.

  “I’m going to have you stick with the twins, so you can help them with all of their tasks,” Austin told me.

  “OK,” I told him.

  James took that as a signal that the meeting was over and strode out. I stood up and headed to the door after him. I wanted to find the twins to check up on them and see what I could do to help.

  Chapter 12

  Much later that night, I was snuggled into my bed. It had been organized chaos for most of the evening; almost all the pack members had shown up after the attempted attack on the house. I was able to meet everyone who came over. Some seemed more open to having a female in the pack, others wary. I was determined to win them over.

  I was naturally shy and awkward, but Mason and Jason made me feel comfortable when I was around them. They kept the mood light as I was introduced to each new person. I tried my best to remember everyone, but all the new names and faces were a blur.

  The twins and I had been responsible for assigning pack members to work details, coordinating the search efforts (from inside the house, of course), and keeping everyone fed and up to date. It was a lot of work, but I really liked working as a team with my new pack.

  I was worried about what was going to happen with the council, but I had a warm, content feeling when I thought about being able to stay with the guys here. I was also grateful I had the rest of the week off from work; there was no way I could have managed all this in addition to my job.

  I yawned and felt myself start to drift off to sleep. The sound of my doorknob twisting caused me to jolt out of my sleepy haze. My heart started to pound as I heard footsteps enter my room. I was extending all my senses to determine if this was friend or foe before I let on that I was awake and gave up that small element of surprise.

  The footsteps stopped a couple feet from my bed. “Psssst, Anna.”

  “Jason!” I scolded him. “You almost scared me to death.” I threw a pillow at him, but he just gave me a shit-eating grin. He hopped on my bed and tossed the pillow back at me. “Awww, the vicious arctic wolf was scared?”

  I used the pillow to smack him. “What are you doing in my room at -” I glanced at my phone and groaned, “2:45 in the morning?”

  “I was worried,” he told me seriously, scooting closer on the bed and lying down next to me. “You were almost kidnapped tonight, and I saw how nervous you were meeting all the new wolves. I thought you might be feeling overwhelmed.”

  My heart melted. “That’s sweet of you, Jason. I know I shouldn’t be worried because the house if full of our wolves -” I started before a yawn interrupted my sentence, “but I do feel better having you close.”

  It was true, having Jason close by made a part of me relax that I had not even realized was tense. I closed my eyes, and just having his scent near me made me feel like I was home and safe.

  I heard my doorknob twist again. I had a strong feeling that I knew who it was going to be this time. I was right as I sat up and the light from the hallway illuminated Mason’s face.

  “Yo,” Mason said as he saw I was awake and glanced toward Jason lying next to me. He padded over to the bed on my other side and lifted the covers. “Move over a little.”

  I rolled my eyes but scooted closer to Jason to make room. Mason reached for one of the extra pillows I had tossed on the floor, and all three of us rearranged so we were comfortable. I yawned again; there was no doubt in my mind I was safe now. There was nothing that could get past these two giant wolves.

  We lay there quietly, and I started to drift off again.

  “Anna?” Mason murmured.

  “Yeah?” I mumbled sleepily.

  “You know you’re not allowed to leave us now, right?” he asked quietly.

  A small smile slowly spread across my face. “Yeah.” I drifted off to sleep with a warm, happy glow, surrounded by my pack and wrapped in their scents.

  Chapter 13

  I woke up with sunlight hitting my face and blinked as the events from yesterday came back to me. I snuggled deeper into the blankets; the bed was nice and toasty, as I still had a twin on each side of me. I pulled my pillow closer to me and snuggled with it. I was lying on my side and facing Mason. He was still fast asleep, with his hair adorably mussed and one arm thrown up haphazardly.

  I was thinking of ways I could potentially prank the twins while they were vulnerable when I heard a knock on my door. I was more than a little surprised, I wasn’t expecting anyone else to come looking for me.

  The door opened, and I saw Austin peering into the room. “Ah, Anna. There they are. I was suspicious when neither of them were in bed this morning. There’s no way they would wake up before me.” He spoke quietly, so as not to wake them.

  He walked closer to the bed, and I turned bright red. This was weird, right? I hadn’t thought about it last night because it had just seemed right, but now that Austin was looking down at the three of us in the bed, I realized this was probably really inappropriate.

  He didn’t seem to think anything was wrong with it because he just gestured at me. “Do you think you can manage to extract yourself without waking them?” he asked quietly.

  I nodded and carefully scooted out from beneath the blankets and stood on the bed. I was probably going to have to jump over one of them or climb over the footboard to get to the ground. Austin saw the deliberation on my face and walked over to Mason’s side of the bed.

  He waved a hand at me to come closer and held up his arms to me. I moved as close as I could to Mason. Austin lifted me up, over Mason, and to the ground. My eyebrows rose. I was definitely not one of those 90-pound girls; I was tall, athletic, and curvy, so I was very surprised at his strength.

  Jason mumbled something and turned over on his side. Mason grunted when he opened one eye halfway and saw Austin, but neither of the twins looked like they were going to get up anytime soon. They were both back asleep when I followed Austin to the door.

  The house was chilly last night, so I had worn sweatpants and a long sleeved T-shirt over my cami to bed. The cami had a built-in shelf bra that didn’t give as much support as one of my sport bras, but it was enough to make me feel comfortable with wandering around the house in my PJs.

  Austin closed the bedroom door behind me and motioned for me to follow him. “Let’s go down and get some coffee started for everyone.”

  I gave him a startled look. I wasn’t expecting that from the pack-master.

  He smiled at my surprise. “Normally I drag the twins downstairs with me in the mornings
, otherwise they will sleep the morning away.”

  Austin grinned at me. “They worked hard last night, so I can let them sleep. Plus, I wanted to have you to myself for a little while.”

  I was even more taken aback. “Oh?” I asked lamely.

  Austin didn’t seem to mind my lack of response and just smiled warmly at me as we walked down the stairs. I was glad I had worn socks to bed last night, because I could feel the chill of the floor beneath my feet.

  He gestured for me to have a seat at the counter when we walked in the kitchen. I sat and watched him as he busied himself making a pot of coffee. He joined me at the counter when the coffeemaker started to do its thing. “I wanted to talk to you, one on one.”

  I swallowed nervously; this couldn’t be good.

  “I thought you handled yourself really well last night,” he started.

  I was relieved; it didn’t sound like I was in trouble. He continued. “A lot of the pack members commented on how you were calm, collected, and helpful. Alex and Tony spent a good portion of the night talking you up to the other pack members.”

  I blinked. “I didn’t really do anything impressive…”

  He smiled at me. “You weren’t screaming in hysteria or trying to create drama to keep yourself at the center of attention, which is what most of us are used to seeing from females.”

  “You know, I’ve never met a female wolf before, but I’m starting to really not like them,” I told him seriously.

  Austin threw his head back and laughed. “I’m glad you’re here,” he told me and patted my hand. I think at this point I had a permanently surprised look on my face. He just chuckled at me. “Let’s get coffee.”

  We made our cups, and I wrapped my hand around the mug that was radiating warmth. “Can we sit outside?” I asked hopefully.

  “It’s going to be cool out there,” he warned.

  I nodded. “I like being in the cooler air.”

  He smiled and waved me for to go out ahead of him. I hesitated with my hand on the door. “It’s safe, right?”