Her Pack by Tamara White

Chapter Eighteen

I'min the kitchen doing the final preparations for dinner when I hear the front door open, followed by the sound of laughter and talking. It warms my heart to hear them all talking as if they were old friends, Eli included. It just makes me more certain that I can make this work with them, so long as we all get along. Which is all the more reason why we need to start having some time together, one on one.

The smell of lasagne cooking lures them to me in the kitchen. I didn't have much choice in what to make for dinner, mainly because Eli's refrigerator and pantry weren't too well stocked but with what I found, I collected enough to make three lasagnes and a salad, not that I think anyone will touch the green monstrosity. We're all meat eaters in this house, but I don't mind a salad every now and then. If the guys don't eat it, at least I know I will.

Mitch is the first one to reach me in the kitchen, his scent proceeding him. He wraps his arms around my waist, his head nuzzling between my shoulder and my neck. "Mmmm, what's the smell?" he moans, taking in a deep breath.

It takes me a moment to answer, my heart racing from the close proximity. I clear my throat to answer him. "I made lasagne. I thought you'd all be hungry when you got back."

He chuckles in my ear. "What makes you think I was talking about the food, Dani?"

His nose runs a trail up my neck, to nibble on my ear lobe. I yelp and jump away, my body on fire. I don't need a mirror to know my face is bright red from the attention Mitch is giving me. It's the first time he's shown me such notice. For the most part it's just been watching, most likely waiting for the right moment. But this feels like we've hit a new level in our relationship. For him to be so open with me compared to usual.

He grins at me, his eyes sparkling playfully. "What's wrong, Dani?" His words are innocent, but the intention in his eyes is anything but. He takes a step towards me, my wolf excited to see this more dominant and eager side of him. "Haven't you read Little Red Riding Hood? Don't you know sooner or later the big bad wolf gets to eat the girl?"

He lunges and playfully snaps his teeth. I let out a girly squeal when his arms wrap around me and he growls, pretending to maul me. Laughter bubbles up out of me as he nuzzles into the ticklish point between my neck and collarbone until I squirm free and push him towards the dining room. "Go get ready for dinner, you fiend."

Mitch pouts, his eyes lit up with mischief. "Oh, you're no fun."

"I'm an extremely fun person," I respond with fake seriousness. "But if you don't want your dinner burnt, then you better stop distracting me," I smirk, the threat of ruining his dinner having a real impact. No wolf wants his food taken away from him. "Now go wash up, and sit at the table like a good wolf. Otherwise everyone will starve while I enjoy the three trays of lasagne on my own.”

"Oi! Don't you make me lose out on food because you're being an ass, Mitchell! Get your ass in the bathroom and wash up or I'll make you," Pete calls from the dining room, having heard everything. And he will make Mitch. He loves his food more than he loves me. Hell, he probably loves food more than he loves being a wolf.

Mitch chuckles lightly, glancing back at Pete. When he sees the glare his friend is giving him, he sighs in defeat. "Fine, I'm going." He turns back to me, winking before he leaves the kitchen and heads towards the bathroom.

I turn my attention to Pete, who’s sitting at the long twelve seater table, his feet propped up on the chair next to him. "Did you wash up yet?"

He rolls his eyes as if it's the most stupidest thing I could have asked him. "Ah, no! I'm hungry, Dani. I'll just wash up after."

"You don't wash up after dinner, you wash up before. It stops you from getting sick from all the germs. Now go on, get moving."

"Dani, I'm a wolf. If we get sick, and that's a big if, we don't stay sick for long. It'll be fine. Just feed me my food woman!"

I put my hands on my hips, staring him down. "Right, well that may be fine for you but the rest of us have to eat with you. So you either wash up, or you don't eat. Simple."

He rolls his eyes, putting his hands up placatingly. "Fine, I'll go wash up." The chair scrapes across the floor as he gets to his feet. "This time," he mutters under his breath.

"You do realize we're mates, right? That means any time we have dinner, I'm going to demand you to wash up. It's not just tonight," I point out, enjoying the look of horror on his face as he stops in the doorway.

He mock gasps, his eyes wide. "How dare you even suggest such a thing!"

I just roll my eyes and go back to the task at hand. He chuckles, the sound of his receding footsteps making a smile grace my lips. He's going to make it a battle every night, of that much I'm sure. If he pushes too hard, then I can always sweeten the pot, offer him something to make him give in sooner.

Maybe a night in my bed alone? Or I can offer him a day of me all to himself? I'm not sure, but if he's going to be this irritating when it comes to simply washing up, then how is he going to be when it comes to regular household chores, like doing laundry, or cleaning up after himself, or simply tidying the house when we have visitors coming over?

Dear god, where are we going to live?

I freeze, the reality setting in. I've been so occupied with everything else going on in my life that I didn't stop to think about what would happen after everything was all over. I don't have money, I can't buy a house. And I doubt dad kept the lease on the place we were renting.

I don't know about the guys, but we can't go living in their parents home for the rest of our lives. How will that even work? Will we spend a week with one of their families, before moving on to the next and so on? That’ll be annoying as hell.

No, we need our own home, somewhere we can have to ourselves. Somewhere that we can make a future.

"Dani, you alright?" I startle at the sound of Jason's voice, closer than I expected.

"Huh, sorry what?" I blink, realizing I've zoned out.

Jason grabs me by the waist, and moves me off to the side, grabbing the pair of oven mitts I'd left on the bench top. He pulls the lasagnes out of the oven, all while I watch on in a daze. My internal dilemma over our future is playing over and over in my mind. I didn't realize just how screwed we are until this moment.

I shake myself out the doom and gloom just as he's pulling the third tray out. "Shit, I am so sorry. I got totally lost in my thoughts."

"Hey, it's fine. You go ahead and take a seat, relax a little. I can take care of this for you."

I snatch the oven mitts from him after he's placed the third tray down. "Uh, uh! No, I'll handle this, you go sit down. I want to give you guys the special treatment tonight. Go sit down and relax, grab a soda or something. Just take a moment to enjoy the time we have together alone."

"Are you sure? I don't mind helping you get dinner ready. You've used up a lot of energy today. You should really be resting more than I should."

I give him a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, Jason. I rested enough while you were out helping the wolves from your pack. This is the least I can do for you all. Now go, relax." I shoo him, waving my hands towards the table where Eli and Cam are already sitting down.

He frowns, not pleased at being told to leave me to handle everything on my own, but this is nothing. This is the least I can do for them for all they've done for me.

I wait for him to give in. Finally he concedes, and takes a seat between Cam and Eli. I turn back to dinner eager to get everything sorted and feed my mates.

I carve slices in the lasagne, and pull a metal spatula from the drawer so it can be served from the trays with ease. Then I go to the fridge and grab out the salad I made earlier and carry it to the table.

Jonnie and Nate come back in and call hello, taking a seat at the table too. They each pour themselves a glass of water from the pitcher I put out before they came home. I wanted to have everything perfect for them. I set the table, made sure everything was just perfect and hoped like hell I didn't mess up the lasagne.

I haven't cooked it in a long time but I remember the basics. Hopefully it's enough to tide them over. I carry each tray of lasagne over and place them in the middle of the table, within reach of everyone. Mitch and Pete trail in not long after the third tray is set, and take their seats.

"Go ahead and dig in guys." I smile around at each of them, before taking a seat between Nate and Eli. The moment I'm settled in my seat, each of them reaches under the table to rest a hand on my leg, the move feeling very territorial. I fight not to flush, to control my heartbeat at their touch, but I know it doesn't go unnoticed by the way everyone's gaze suddenly lands on me.

Jonnie smiles across at me, obviously seeing my unease from the sudden attention. "Thanks for cooking for us Dani. You didn't have to."

"It was no problem," I mutter, looking down at my empty plate.

I move to help myself to a slice of lasagne, but Nate grips my leg firmly, keeping me in place. "Stay. You've done enough." He lets go, rises to his feet and scoops me up two slices from the first tray, places them on my plate and then serves me some salad too.

He smiles down at me, serves himself and then sits back down. Once he's served himself, one by one, the others get up and mumble their thanks and then sit down and dig in.

We all eat in silence, the guys all devouring their food ravenously. I watch in bemused admiration as they clear a whole pan of lasagne in two minutes flat. I'm glad I made three, I think as they go in for seconds. Anyone would think they'd never eaten a day in their life if they were to see them eat like this.

Though, I admit, even I'm eating a little more heartily than I normally would. I think being drained of energy really affected me.

As everyone finishes off the food, we all start to lean back, our bellies full and the mood relaxed. "How did everything go today? Is everyone doing alright?"

Eli gives my leg a squeeze. "Yeah, most of them are doing great, thanks to you. Some of them still have a long road to go but thankfully they'll all recover sooner or later."

"Yeah, it's a miracle so many are alive at all. Thanks to you, Dani. Many of them kept talking about how much they wished to thank you. It's safe to say, you've got some new fans among Jason's pack."

I flush from embarrassment, uncomfortable with the praise. "They don't need to thank me. Anyone would have done what I did if given the chance."

"No, they wouldn't have. Which is just another reason why people love you. You could demand something in return, you could drag out people’s pain in order to get what you wanted first, but you just dive right in head first and think only of everyone else, regardless of the consequences," Cam says, his voice filled with admiration.

I fidget in my seat, not liking all the attention over something I would consider common decency. I decide to redirect the conversation. "What about Anthony and Aiden? Did you guys go and find out anything yet?"

All eyes go to Eli. Now it's Eli's turn to squirm from the attention. "I dropped by to check in on them but neither one was willing to talk to me. They insisted they would talk with Dani, or they wouldn't talk with anyone."

Jonnie groans in annoyance. "Of course they did. Can't we just leave them stew in the cages and hope they'll talk sooner or later?"

"If my grandfather is as stubborn as I remember him, then leaving him in the cages will just make him angry. When we finally talk to him next, he may not say anything just to spite us from leaving him in there so long." Cam looks nervous at the very idea of letting his grandfather stew longer than he has to.

"It's okay, I don't mind going to see them before we go to bed. Maybe we can get an idea of what they know so we can prepare ourselves," I point out. "Besides, I don't think I would sleep well if I didn't know what they had on Luke."

Nate smiles over at me, his eyes showing me his understanding. "Right, then we'll go see them so we can get a good nights sleep."

Everyone agrees, and climbs to their feet. Jason and Eli both reach for the food trays, while Jonnie and Pete start stacking our dirty dishes and carry them into the kitchen. Mitch and Cam grab all the glasses and water pitcher leaving me with Nate and nothing to do. They do it so quickly, like they know I would have started cleaning up if they hadn't beaten me to it.

It's yet another reason I love my mates.