Her Pack by Tamara White
Chapter Nine
Peteand I spent the next few hours just talking and spending some quality time together. Something I was thankful that my other mates gave us. They could have all lingered outside and then came back in when we resolved the matter between us but they gave Pete and I some alone time which was very much needed.
When the rest of my mates finally did come back, it was well past dark and they all carried with them a couple of pizzas that they had picked up from Eli’s restaurant.
Rather than sit around a dining table though, we set ourselves up in the living room with pillows and blankets, and enjoyed the warm pizza, watching mindless TV until I eventually fell asleep snuggled against Mitch.
Now it's a new day and I’m burning up from being surrounded on all sides by male bodies. I know Jake and Rick opted for one of the bedrooms last night. When I insisted that they could stay with us, Rick felt it necessary to point out that a female with seven mates needed privacy or some crap like that. He sure as hell made it sound sleazy though and I wasn’t impressed at the time. I remember flipping him off but I didn’t argue much after that. I think I relaxed back between Mitch and Jonnie, and fell asleep smooshed between their heat. Considering I had been out for a month, I couldn’t quite understand how I was still tired beyond belief.
A yawn escapes my lips but my stomach growling is enough to have me searching for escape. Judging from the soft light outside, the sun has only risen recently but I’m ready to get up and start sorting some things out. Jason and I will be leaving soon, plus I need to find a chance to talk to Vivienne about me going back for the cleansing. I know the guys don’t want me to but I just can’t give up. I don’t want to do it in secret, but if they don’t understand the need for it to be done, then I will hide it from them. For the sake of us all.
I wiggle and squirm on the floor, trying not to wake up anyone but all I manage to do is roll to my side. I frown, trying to figure out just how the hell I’m going to get out of this tangled mess of bodies when a pair of bright blue eyes appear in my view. Nate grins down at me, holding out a hand.
I take it gratefully and let him pull me to my feet. Still even where we stand, there isn't enough room for us both to walk out of the room without tripping over the packed bodies. As it is, I have no clue how he got up to help me without waking one of the others.
I open my mouth to tell Nate that we're gonna have to wake everyone up to leave, when he simply bends down and scoops me up into his arms. He’s somehow able to tiptoe us over everyone and from the room before I even have a chance to say so.
Once we're outside the room, he places me on my feet, takes my hand and begins guiding me back to the kitchen.
I open my mouth about to ask him how the hell he did that so effortlessly when I simply close it and sigh. He's a wolf, a teenage wolf. My bet is he's perfected the art of sneaking out so his parents would never hear him sneaking off into the night.
"What about if someone else wakes up? Shouldn’t we tell them where we’re going?" I ask, keeping my voice low so as to not disturb them all. Not that I think they’ll hear a peep this far away. I think all my mates were more exhausted than they let on.
Rick suddenly appears from a door a few steps ahead of us. He must have heard me.
"It's fine," he murmurs, waving me away. "If they wake up, I'll let them know you're with Nathaniel."
Nate nods his head in respect, a small smile gracing his lips. “See? Rick can let them know. Besides, we’re not leaving pack lands. They can cope without you for an hour or two.”
He’s right. Just because I have seven mates, doesn’t mean I need to let them all know where I’m going every time I leave, especially if I’m with one of my other mates. They gave me alone time with Pete yesterday, maybe Nate taking me early is his way of asking for his own time. Something which is perfectly understandable.
"Thanks, Rick," I say as Nate continues to drag me past him.
He winks at me, his eyes sparkling in mirth. “No worries, Dani. Go, have fun and relax a little. The world will still be here when you come back.”
Man, if only that was my only worry. I know shit is always going to be going on. That's a given for being the Queen of a whole race of beings. I just feel bad for leaving the rest of my mates to wake up without me. Especially after the month long sleep like coma I endured. I imagine none of them are gonna want to let me out of their sights too often after such an experience.
Nate tugs on my hand. “Come on, Dani. I’m sure you must be hungry by now. Let’s grab some food, then we can go outside and get some air.”
You would think after all the pizza last night I would be full, but I’m not. "Honestly, I don’t want to sit down. Do you mind if we just grab some leftovers and walk around a bit? Maybe do some training then we can come back in and eat with the others?”
“Yeah, sure, but we can sit and wait for them now, if you want? You’ve had a trying couple of weeks, then you were in a coma. I don’t want you to over do it.”
“No, it’s not that,” I explain as we pass the kitchen so I can grab some pizza from the fridge. “I’ve been resting enough. I got too lax in my training, even before the coma. It makes sense that I start to pick back up my routine. Dad would be ashamed to know I let myself get so reliant on having you guys and enforcers all the time. I mean it's nice to have people who are ready and willing to defend me but I would like to not have to rely on others for my protection. Especially if I am to rule over the packs soon. Having Enforcers is one thing, but not being able to protect myself to the best of my ability, well that’s unacceptable.”
He nods in understanding. He probably knows exactly what I mean when I talk about not relying on others for protection.
As the son of an Alpha, he would have had Enforcers following him everywhere in life, watching his every move, and ready to jump in and defend him from every threat but the truth is, no one can be everywhere at once.
Look at what happened to me when we were visiting with Lily. Someone came right up into the pack and kidnapped me. I still don’t quite understand how that happened but I’m beginning to believe it had something to do with Sonja. Everything that seems to have happened when I was visiting with other packs always seemed to involve that bitch. Maybe now with her dead, life might run a bit more smoothly but I have a feeling it won’t happen until Luke is dead too.
"That’s actually probably a really good idea, Dani. Would you mind if I join you for training, though? I'll do my best to not get in your way but you aren't the only one who hasn't held up to their personal standards," he admits with embarrassment.
Ah, of course. He’s the next in line to be Alpha of his pack. It’s just as important for him to keep in shape and be capable of protecting not only himself but his pack if the need ever calls for it.
I frown the moment it clicks that they are all future Alpha’s and rather than encourage them to keep up their regular training, I’ve let them all get lax in their duties.
They've been so distracted with me since we met that who knows what else they’ve been neglecting. Are there other more important parts of their lives they have shoved to the side for me, and my journey to become queen? I make a mental note to sit down with them all and discuss it. Like Jason. I know he was given a few days off school but surely he can’t be okay with this much time away from the classroom? Or everyone else's studies? How the hell are we going to go back after all this and explain where we’ve been all this time?
Focusing on the here and now, I decide training is something I can control. I’ll discuss it with them and insist it would be a great idea to get back into daily training. Thanks to my father, I have the necessary skills I need to survive but if you don’t hone those skills, they can become useless. Maybe I can pass on some of my father’s knowledge of sparring to my mates, and they can teach me more about the pack and how it’s run. It may take care of two problems at the same time.
I finish the first slice of pizza, and give him a smile. "Do you want to be my sparring partner today?" I suggest. I could do normal training drills but I like the idea of spending one on one time with Nate, even if it is just to train. Maybe I can even suggest it with the others too so we can spend more time together?
Which tells me just how much time I haven't been spending with them. They are supposed to be my mates, but I feel as if I’ve been using them, not getting to know them as I should have been.
I’ve barely taken the time to get to know them as individual people. My father would be ashamed of me. I'm treating them just as I feared I would be treated. I vow right now to change that.
Nate's eyes are filled with happiness, his cheeks flushed a soft pink with excitement. "That sounds great! Before we go though, I have something for you.” He rubs a hand nervously on his neck. “Mom wouldn't let me leave the pack without promising to bring you a bag of stuff. She wanted you to have everything you could need, including your own clothes. Though I'm pretty sure we’d have enough clothes of yours between all of us guys to last you a lifetime. We each smuggled bits of your stuff in our own bags. Mom insisted that you'd need more than whatever we had, which just seems crazy.” He suddenly stops as if he realizes he was rambling. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
I stuff the second slice of pizza in my mouth as he grips hold of my free hand. He leads me to the small guest room past the one Rick and Jake are sharing. Inside is a simple single bed with white covers. Though the surface is almost completely covered by the many different sized bags piled on it.
Some are closed but most of them are open and have various different clothes spilling out of it, which tells me they have most likely been living out of them since they got here. Maybe they’ve only moved a few things around so I had clothes to change into when I woke up.
Nate moves a few of the larger ones on top around until he pulls a familiar bag from the pile and holds it out to me. It’s my school bag.
I reach for it excitedly, scenting my scent, and a tinge of Laura and Nate on the bag but still, it’s great to have something that is purely mine in my hands.
I rip open my bag as Nate digs through his own and we each get dressed. Neither one of us worries about the other’s body, though I admit I sneak a quick peek. Not that it was a good idea to do so when my wolf is so unpredictable at the moment but thankfully she’s able to keep it in her pants so we can get changed.
I really need to get used to the nudity sooner or later though because it happens so casually in the packs that this won’t be the last time we get dressed, or undressed, in front of one another. It also means I’m going to have to try and learn to control that hormonal reaction that comes with seeing my mates naked. I would hate to set off my heat in a crowded place with other wolves but it's something I still don’t know when or where to expect. I wish there was an internal sensor that told me before it happened, and not for it to just happen spontaneously.
After Eli satisfied my wolfs mating needs for the moment, she has been pretty content to just sit back and let things progress but now that all my mates are here in one place, I have no idea how she'll react, or when she’ll try to trigger that urge again.
Once both Nate and I are dressed in workout gear, we simply stare at each other. My gaze runs over his bare upper body, and I wonder how I never noticed his abs of steel before now or just how damn tempting they were. I want to reach out and run a hand over his chest, and trail it down to that v that dips below his pants.
I shake my head cursing myself. Damn it, I jinxed myself by thinking about not having a heat cycle, and now it’s rearing itself. I concentrate on pushing her back when I realize she was content all along. It’s just my lust for him that is showing itself.
I flush in embarrassment. If I keep staring at him though, I may accidentally trigger the heat myself.
Rather than keep my gaze fixed to the waistband of his pants, I raise my eyes and meet his smoldering gaze.
Plastering a smile on my face, I hold out a hand for him to take. "Shall we go?"
He takes it without a word, but I see the desire in his eyes and the sparkle of laughter.
Damn him for laughing at me. I want to defend myself that I am not some raging horny wolf but what good would that do? He'll think I’m just lying in an attempt to save my dignity. Then again, this is Nate, not Pete. Maybe he would be sympathetic? But will it be the truth if I say I’m not some horny wolf because while sex hasn’t been on the table yet, I can’t help but think we’re all going to make it to that step sooner or later.
We walk quietly through the house and out into the front yard, which may not be the perfect training ground, but it's better than none. Still, we need to warm up first. Usually, I would do that by going for a run. It may not be the best idea though considering my mates are still asleep, my enforcers are in the house and we’re on pack lands that while Eli says we’re welcome on, could be hiding spies for Luke.
"We need to warm up," Nate states, looking around the small green yard with a frown. My guess is he too knows this is not the best warmup area. If we were in a gym, we could use a treadmill to get our bodies going but there are no gyms here. I imagine there would be at least one home gym on pack lands somewhere but I don't want to have to wake Eli up to ask. He too needs his rest.
They all do. I imagine they’ve spent the past month worrying over me so much that last night was the first night of decent sleep they’ve all gotten.
"Do you think we’ll be safe if we go for a run on our own? I think we need to warm up before we spar otherwise I'll probably pull a muscle but if we go without saying something to Jake or Rick, they may kick our asses."
Nate nods, looking up at the house with a frown. "Yeah, it should be fine. You'll be with me the whole time so the others will know you're safe. We just shouldn't take too long. But to be sure, I’ll just run up and let Rick know. Don't really want everyone to send out a search party if we're gone for a couple of minutes."
He turns on his heel and quickly heads back inside. The guys would all freak if they woke up and we had left without letting them know. Jake and Rick more than the others. It’s their job to keep us all safe and while Rick said it was okay for us to be alone, I don’t think he meant that we had free rein to go off without telling him or Jake first.
A moment later, Nate comes back outside with a grin plastered on his face. "We have an hour until the cavalry will come searching. Eli said if we go a few houses down, we'll find the path that the pack uses for running. It may not be secluded at this time of the day but it's a good track to get the blood pumping."
"Eli's awake?" I ask, wondering whether I should go up and say good morning. Maybe invite him along? I mean, he's my mate too. Shouldn't it be something we do? Say hello to each other when we wake? Spend time together?
Nate smiles in understanding, like he knows where my thoughts went. "Yes, he's up. But he said he'll talk to you when we get back. He knows I want this time with you."
My shoulders droop in relief. I hate that I’m so happy about something so small. It just goes to show once again, how much we need to work on this relationship dynamic. To figure out how our lives will work. I'm in a relationship with each of them, well, I don't even know if it would be classed as a relationship at this point or more a friendship. That's something we need to all figure out, I guess. Being mates doesn't automatically make a relationship. I need to be sure this is what they all want. And if it is, I need to be sure of what they need to make this work between us individually and as a whole.
They may have thought that they were sure about being with me but I've come to realize that no matter what happens, I will always have a target on my back.
Not like this, what we are facing with Luke, but there is always going to be a minority of people who disagree with something I do as Queen. Why else would they blindly follow Luke, a killer? They have to agree with some of his ideals to support such a man, which makes me believe I will never get the support of all the packs and their members.
Which means my guys and I will always be questioned as rulers. I don't want them dealing with that if I can avoid it but if they are in my life, then it will be inevitable.
Nate and I leave the house, walking side by side until we reach the so-called running path. We don't speak as we walk, each of us lost in our own thoughts.
A few people are jogging in their human form, but there are also pack members in wolf form too.
I smirk over at Nate, feeling the need for a little fun today. "Last one back to the house is a rotten egg." Then I'm off. The challenge has been set.
I feel him running after me and true happiness envelops me. This is the first time in ages where I've been able to let free and just have a little fun.
