After we were both completely sexually spent, I swept my hair into a quick up-do and checked my make-up in the framed mirror on the wall. It wasn’t like me to throw caution to the wind and have wild, uninhibited sex in an unfamiliar place. And especially not at the Lodge, aka shifter headquarters. Who had I become? I hardly recognized myself.

I looked into the mirror and smiled when I saw my flushed cheeks, and the look of absolute calm across my face. For the first time in so long, I looked relaxed. I wasn’t on edge about the case, or nervous about my professional life. I didn’t have a want in the world, besides staying close to Aidan.

Aidan sidled up behind me and nuzzled my neck playfully. The feeling I had when I was in his arms was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. He made me feel safe. He made me feel at home.

“The council members will be having dinner together soon. They were just getting ready to cook up some meat when I came to get you,” he smiled. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve worked up quite the appetite.”

“You are so cheesy,” I smiled. “What’s on the menu? Let me guess. Meat, meat, and more meat.”

“Close. We have moose, salmon, and elk.”

“Wow, that’s quite the variety,” I rolled my eyes before he pinched me on my ass.

When we came out to the dining room, a bunch of the council members were seated around the long, oak conference table. They had large steins of water, and they were eating meat, practically raw, with their hands. My stomach churned.

Jameson waved and caught my attention. He had two empty seats next to him. He’d probably saved them for us. I wondered if he’d know what we were doing in that back room. Probably. How embarrassing.

“We’ve left some food for you,” Jameson said as he motioned towards the kitchen. “Salmon and elk’s mostly gone, but there’s some moose.”

“Great. Moose,” Aidan wrinkled his nose. He turned towards me and scooted out of my chair before kissing me gently on the forehead. “Have a seat and I’ll bring you a plate of food.”

Jameson laughed. “Wow, Aidan. I haven’t seen you like this before. Ever. Scooting out chairs for a lady. What’s next? Handkerchiefs and tea parties?”

“Shut it,” Aidan glared.

“I’m just teasing you. It’s so different seeing you in love, that’s all. Nobody ever thought it would happen.” He paused as he caught the look in Aidan’s eyes. “We never thought it’d happen again.”

“Well, it has so you’d better get used to seeing me happy,” Aidan winked at his brother. “Happy and hungry.”

With that, he disappeared towards the kitchen and came back a few moments later with a plate piled high with salmon…their heads still intact. Oh boy, this was quite a steep learning curve I was on with Aidan.

“Turns out they had some left,” he said gleefully.

“You eat the heads?”

“Of course, that’s the best part,” Aidan said as he snapped the head off a long piece of salmon, probably two pounds worth easily. “The bear shifters eat these fresh, but we cook ‘em. Smoke ‘em. Makes them last longer in the cold. Otherwise they go bad in three days, and we’re not like bears. We don’t hibernate for the winter.”

“I can tell,” I said as I looked around at the room now filling with more shifters. It was turning out to be quite the crowd. I guessed that’s why they called them a pack. I wasn’t used to so much social activity. I’d been by myself these last few years, studying during law school and then moving up to Alaska on my own. It was so strange to see the generations of shifters and their closeness. They had an ease to them that I’d never witnessed before in the human world.

“Whatcha looking at?” Aidan said as he poked my ribs gently. “You’re looking off into space like you’ve got something on your mind.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just thinking about how close you guys are. As a pack. I always thought wolves were more independent than that.” I stopped myself. “No, that’s not the right word. I don’t know what I mean exactly.”

Aidan dabbed his mouth with the edge of his shirt sleeve and then caught my reaction. “Sorry. Force of habit.” He licked his lips clean. “Shifters aren’t meant to be alone. Humans aren’t either. I see so many of the humans off by themselves, isolated for months at a time. It does something to a person to be without community ties. We’re not meant to go through life alone – none of us. I don’t know what I’d do without my pack.”

“So you’re not a lone wolf, then?”

His eyes shot me a serious look. “Don’t say that. No, of course not. I’d die without my pack.”

“Wow.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I didn’t know you were so loyal. I mean, I figured, but…”

“I’d die for them. Any one of them. That’s what it means to be a leader.”

“But doesn’t death scare you?”

“There are some things worse than death. Far worse.” He squinted a little and then cleared his throat. “This is a heavy conversation for dinner, don’t you think?”

“Look at you, teaching me about manners,” I laughed. “That’s ironic.”

“I think quite the opposite. It’s the shifters that have manners and the humans that are the barbarians. But that’s a topic for another day.”

“Oh really? We can agree to disagree about that.” I glared at him playfully.

Jameson came back from the kitchen with a cold beer and popped the lid. “So, what are you going to do about Dominic, brother? The council thinks you should step down as alpha.”

“Not happening,” Aidan gritted his teeth. “Besides, there’s no one who can challenge me. No one on my level in our pack, and you know it.”

Jameson sighed. “No one? Wow, you’re a tad bit arrogant. But we already knew that,” he narrowed his eyes at him. I couldn’t tell if he was teasing Aidan or if he was actually mad.

“Look, I’ll convince them to let me stay as alpha, even if it means standing up to Dominic. I can fight Dominic. I mean, I don’t want to. But I could.”

“You’d die,” Jameson said. “Why don’t you just go off with Olivia here and live a nice, quiet life in Bond? We’d miss you, but I don’t want to see you get yourself killed.”

“What, so you can be alpha?” Aidan snapped. “Look, no one is pushing me out. The pack is my life, and now, so is Olivia. I’m not bending over for Dominic so he can screw me up the ass. I’m a big boy. If I have to go to war with him, I will. I’m not afraid to fight.”

“Calm down. I was just teasing, brother,” Jameson exhaled. “You know what it would do to the pack if you challenged Dominic. We’d have to back you up, and Dominic’s supporters are stronger than us.” Jameson leaned back and sighed heavily. “Is this still about Chase Reynolds? You don’t have to help him. Better him be sacrificed than you. If your lady steps off the case, I’m sure Dominic would back off, too.”

“Maybe.” Aidan huffed. “But it’s not the point. This is about principle. And the fact that Dominic thinks he can control us.”

“Well, duh, he can,” Jameson shot back.

“Stop it,” I sighed. “I’m not backing off the case no matter what. Dominic can’t punish Aidan because of me.”

“Yes, he can,” Jameson laughed. “Wow, the human doesn’t even respect shifter laws. You have a lot to learn, Gumby.”

“Gumby?”

“That’s what we call humans,” Aidan said quietly.

“It doesn’t sound like a nice word,” I shot back at him.

“That’s because it isn’t,” Jameson said. “Humans are spineless, malleable, and capricious to the whims of whichever way the wind blows. You stand up for nothing. You fall for everything. And you destroy whatever’s in your path.”

“Wow. You’re going to be a great brother-in-law,” my eyes widened. “I’d be so happy to be in your family with such a warm welcome.”

Aidan’s nostrils flared and he growled. “Jameson. You know that I love you and I’ll always have your back. But you disrespect my woman again, and I’ll end you.”

“Jeez, sorry. Didn’t meant to get your panties wadded up your butt crack.”

“Remember who is alpha here,” Aidan said firmly.

“You’d never let me forget it.”

“I’m going to pretend…” Aidan started to say before Jameson backed down.

“I’m sorry, Olivia. It looks like I have a lot to learn about humans. I was just shooting my mouth off. I didn’t mean anything by it. Truly.”

“No offense taken,” I smiled. “I think we both have a lot to learn. How about you teach me about shifters and I’ll show you that humans aren’t all bad apples. Does that sound fair?”

“More than fair,” Jameson smiled.

Aidan pulled me into a tight hug, and I relaxed in his arms. Whatever I needed to learn about shifters, I would in time. All that mattered for now was how at home I felt when he wrapped his arms snugly around me.