The corners of my lips turned up without my permission. No one had ever called Mom pack before. “Does that mean we’re members of your pack now?”
Abraham glanced at Beatrice again, who just shrugged. “I don’t see why not. There will be a probationary period of thirty days, of course, but barring any unforeseen issues, we’d be honored to have you join the Asheville pack.”
The air gusted out of my lungs as my shoulders slumped and I felt Wes do the same next to me. Finally, after all this time, it looked like we were going to have a safe place to live. A safe place for our mom. Things were looking up for the first time since we’d lost our dad.
Chapter 2
Wyatt
“So, when can you all move in?”
My mouth fell open at Abraham’s abrupt question. I turned to look at my brother and found a similar expression on his face. Truthfully, I was still shocked we’d gotten this far. That an alpha had actually accepted us into his pack knowing what our mother was. It was a lot to take in in such a short amount of time.
“Um. Tomorrow?” Wes finally said.
“Sounds good. I’m assuming you two would prefer to live in a pack house with your mother rather than here in the lodge.”
I swallowed, still not believing he was speaking about our mom in such a nonchalant way. Our whole lives she’d been this dirty secret. Someone that was whispered about, someone that was treated with revulsion and contempt by our whole pack.
At one point, when I was younger and much stupider, I’d even started hating her myself. Although I wasn’t sure if it was really her I hated or what she was. I just wanted to be a normal werewolf with normal werewolf problems. Not a half-breed who had to fight twice as hard as everyone else for the acceptance that came so easily for them. Every day was a struggle, but it wasn’t until I was older that I stopped to think about how hard it must have been for her.
She practically lived in isolation our whole lives. Her only escape had been when she’d leave pack lands to work as a nurse at the local hospital. But as soon as her shift was over, she came straight home and basically hid inside our house. She didn’t have friends, she didn’t talk to the other pack members. All she had was our dad and us.
It wasn’t fair that she’d had to live like that, but there hadn’t really been another option. With us and our dad being werewolves, we needed to live somewhere we would be safe and able to shift when we needed to. Unfortunately, that meant she was forced to live as an outsider in a place that wasn’t ever truly safe for her. And she did all that because of how deeply she loved my dad and us.
When I’d finally grown up enough to pull my head out of my ass, I’d realized the kind of sacrifices she’d made for us and did my best to make her life as easy as possible. I finally understood how much we owed her and swore to repay it any way I could. I still felt that debt weighing me down to this day.
“Wyatt?”
I shook my head and looked into the alpha’s blue eyes. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I was just asking if you all would be more comfortable living in a pack house.”
“Oh, uh, yeah. That would probably be safest for her.”
Abraham frowned and shot a glance at his sister, who looked equally troubled. “You won’t have those kinds of issues here. This pack is full of wolves who had trouble finding a place to belong. No one’s going to give you trouble over your mother being human.”
His words sounded good, but having lived all my life seeing the way wolves treated humans, I’d believe it when I saw it. But all I said was, “That’ll be a nice change.”
I could tell he didn’t believe me when he narrowed his eyes, but thankfully he dropped it. “I’ll have a pack house cleaned up for you today. It’ll be ready for you by tomorrow morning.”
The vice that felt like it was permanently squeezing my chest loosened the smallest bit. This was really happening.
“And I’ll have Doc Monroe stop by your new place tomorrow once you’re settled and take a look at your mom.”
That vice loosened even more. “You have a doctor on pack lands?”
Abraham had an easy smile on his face. “We do. He’s a great guy. I know he’ll be more than happy to take care of your mom.”
My shoulders drooped as the weight that had settled on them finally fell off. A weight I’d felt bearing down on me ever since our dad died. It had always been his job to take care of Mom, but with him gone, that role fell to us. Honestly, it felt like we’d been doing a shitty job of it up until now.
Abraham turned to Beatrice again. “Can you have Aubrey go work on house three for them?”
She nodded and left the office. When she was gone, Abraham turned to us and clapped his hands. “Do you two have any questions for me?”
My brother and I looked at each other before he spoke up. “What about us joining the enforcers?”
“Ah, yes. We can have Bea evaluate the two of you sometime this week. If she’s satisfied with your abilities, you’ll be more than welcome to join.”
“What does the position entail?” I asked. From what I’d heard, every alpha had different expectations for their enforcers, and I wanted to know what we were getting into before accepting a position like this.
“Well, obviously your main job is to protect the pack. That means you’ll be put on a rotating shift running patrols with the other enforcers. You’ll also be expected to join weekly trainings to keep you at peak physical performance. Those are run by Bea and occasionally me. Usually my enforcers live and eat here, but since you’ll be in a pack house, things will be a bit different. You’ll still be welcome to take your meals here as often as you like and have full access to any of the amenities the lodge has to offer. In addition to food and lodging, you’ll also receive a stipend for your services.”
My jaw basically hit my lap. Abraham went on to state a figure for our salaries and my mouth continued to hang open. It was more than twice what we’d been paid at our old pack. This place was starting to seem too good to be true.
“How about I give you two a tour now?”
Wes and I stood when Abraham did. “That sounds great.”
He led us to his office door and waved us out ahead of him. “This is my wing. You can usually find me in my office, but I’ll also give you both my cell number just in case you need me and can’t find me.”
He went on to explain that his sisters’ rooms were down the other hallway on that floor before leading us to the staircase. “Most of the enforcers live on the second floor, but a few have rooms on the ground level,” he continued as we walked.
When we reached the first floor, he turned down a hall and opened a door to another set of stairs leading into the basement. “Down there is a game room, a movie room, and some basic lounge areas. Feel free to use any of them any time you like.”
He closed the door and turned to head back the way we came. We followed him, and if I knew my brother, he was as lost in thought as I was. Never had I imagined an alpha opening his home to his pack like this. It was unheard of.
“We’ll see who’s around that I can introduce you to,” Abraham called over his shoulder as he headed toward the kitchen. When we got there, the two chatting women were gone, but the card players were still at is as well as the lone woman with the thick book in front of her.