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?”

He nodded. “We’re going to stay right under the alcove, plus the property is packed with our wolves right now.” He looked at me sternly. “But I don’t want you out here without me. Don’t let the twins talk you into anything.”

“OK,” I answered. “Did you get in touch with any of the council members?” I asked as we sat. The cool air of the morning felt good as it gently moved around my body. I was still very warm from being in bed surrounded by the body heat of two big guys, so it felt great.

The sun shone warmly on my face, and the lawn that stretched out in front of us sparked with tiny dew drops that caught the morning light. It was a beautiful morning.

Austin watched me take in the view. “I did,” he said before he took a sip of his coffee.

“So that’s good news?” I tried to prompt him into telling me more.

“Yes and no. They want to meet you. Two of the council members want time to investigate your background further. They are convinced that your original pack would have never agreed to give you to humans to raise.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. A part of me wanted all of this to just go away so I could stay here with the pack, but another part of me was curious about my past. What if I was stolen away from my parents at birth? What if they were out there looking for me, mourning the daughter they had lost?

I wanted to buy into the fantasy that I had a loving family out there, just waiting for me. But if life had taught me anything, it was that things like that didn’t happen to me. With my luck, I would have an abusive alcoholic of a father and a mother who was eager to get rid of an unwanted baby. They had probably thrown me in the trash and left me for dead.

I sighed sadly. Austin must have thought I was worrying about meeting the council, but I hadn’t even started worrying about that yet until he brought it up.

“The council isn’t that bad,” he told me. “It’s made up of some of the more powerful pack-masters in the country. They deal with major issues that might affect our community as a whole, and they also assist with disputes among packs. Their goal is to make sure the fighting doesn’t get out of control or attract human attention.”

I nodded. “So how can I prepare for the meeting?” I asked.

“Be polite, be honest, and be respectful,” he told me.

“That’s it?” I asked questioningly.

He chuckled. “That’s it. You are very sweet and likable; I’m sure you will charm them.”

I looked at him doubtfully. No one had ever called me sweet and likable before. I was always, ’the nice one’ when people described me. I always thought ‘nice’ was the word people used when they really meant ‘plain and boring’ but didn’t want to sound rude.

I observed Austin out of the corner of my eye. The morning sun was glinting off his tawny dark blond hair, and his face was peaceful and relaxed as he looked over the grounds.

He was tan, as if he spent a lot of time outdoors, and he was very well built. Most of the guys I met last night were. I wondered if that was one of the requirements for Austin’s pack, or if all male wolves were like that.

“What kind of questions are the council members going to ask me?”

He brought his attention back to me. “They will ask you questions about what you remember about your early childhood, if you had ever exposed yourself to humans, things like that. I have already provided them with all the information I have on you, so they will mainly be asking questions to see if what I gave them is accurate and to get a sense of who you are as a person.”

I was starting to get more nervous as I pictured how this interview was going to go. I could see me sitting in a lone chair under a hot spotlight while a group of intimidating men sat on thrones up on a dais and glared down at me with disapproval.

I groaned as I thought about it. “When is the meeting going to take place?” I asked.

“In a few hours,” he told me casually.

I almost spat out my coffee in shock, and my heart started to pound. “Hours?” I squeaked out.

“The council is already meeting nearby to discuss some other issues, so they decided to squeeze you in. Everyone is very curious about you, females are rare. It is extremely rare to find an unknown female that’s not part of a pack. You are the talk of the wolf community right now.”

I sank down in my chair. “I just brought jeans and stuff. I didn’t really pack fancy clothes for meeting important people.”

“I can have someone go out and get you some ‘fancy clothes’ while you are getting ready for the meeting,” he told me with a glint of humor in his eye.

Great, I would be attending a meeting in clothing picked out by a random dude that probably wouldn’t even fit correctly.

Austin picked up his phone and started texting. “What’s your size?”

“Eight,” I answered with a blush. I’m sure that the type of girls he usually dated were a size zero or two and looked like they belonged on the Victoria’s Secret runway.

“Shoe size?”

“Eight.”

He grinned at me. “That’s easy to remember.”

I nodded as he continued to text.

He looked over at me, and his eyes flicked down to my chest. “C cup?”

“Uh, yeah,” I answered with my face turning an even deeper shade of red. “34C,” I mumbled in embarrassment. I probably would need to wear a bra that was not a sports bra if I were wearing nice clothes.

He nodded and set down his phone to finish his coffee. “If you want to get ready, you can send the twins down to make breakfast.” I grinned a little, thinking of them having to cook on their own.

I set down my mug to stand but hesitated. I had Austin alone; now was my time to ask him questions.

“So,” I started hesitantly. “I’m slowly picking up on things about the pack as I spend time with you guys, but I’m not really sure how the rank structure really works.”

Austin smiled and thought for a moment. “You can think of me as the CO, James as the XO, and Cody as kind of a CMC.”

I nodded. That made sense to me. James always seemed to be taking charge if Austin was not around. Cody seemed friendly with most of the guys but was definitely an authority figure within the pack. It was obvious that most of the pack members liked and respected him.

He tilted his head to the side. “Although Cody is more of an officer than enlisted, so maybe that is not a perfect analogy. Think of Cody as my third in command but with the typical duties of the CMC.”

That made sense. All three of them seemed close and made most of the decisions for the pack.

“The twins are like…” He paused and thought. “Lieutenants who just graduated and are learning the ropes but get stuck with a lot of shitty work details.”

I laughed. The twins did get a lot of the odd jobs around here.

“Mason and Jason are responsible for making sure the household runs smoothly so the three of us can focus on pack responsibilities. I can honestly say that all of us are very grateful to have you in the house right now. You have been a really good influence on them.”

I smiled. I can only imagine the shenanigans they usually caused on a daily basis.

“They have really been helping me a lot,” I confessed to Austin. “I’ve been struggling with melding my human side to my wolf side and adjusting to being around other wolves.”

“I know I have a lot to learn, and the twins have helped me get to the root of some of the things I have been struggling with.” I looked down at my coffee that was already halfway gone. “They have a way of coming up with unique solutions.”

Austin nodded. “That’s one reason I assigned you to them. I could tell you were nervous at the idea of being around the pack, and I thought those two would be a good introduction for you. They have a unique way of looking at the world and can always manage to find enjoyment in what they do. I thought that would help you relax and see wolves aren’t that bad.”

I smiled. “I’m glad you picked them, too,” I said shyly. “If you had assigned me to James, I think I would have been afraid to come back after the first day.”

Austin laughed. “James might seem intimidating, but he is very loyal and protective of those he gives his affection to. He doesn’t love easily, and he has a difficult time showing that he cares sometimes, but he has a big heart.”

“Hmmm,” I said. I doubted I would ever make the list of people he cared about, but I was hoping I could at least be moved up to neutral.

Austin continued, getting back to explaining the answer to my original question. “Of course, you have met Caleb. He’s our communications expert, technology guru, occasional hacker, and he handles the tech aspects of security. If it’s electrical, he manages it.”

Austin set his empty cup down. “That is everyone in the main core of the pack that lives here in the house. Trevor oversees the wolves that live in houses scattered around our pack lands. They live in small teams and work to keep our territory safe. We have interests in several businesses in the area as well.”

I nodded. I had heard about the various companies that the pack was involved in.

“We have wolves that work for our businesses but are more loosely affiliated with the pack. They live normal lives but still attend pack functions and respond if the pack needs them.”

“Like reservists?”

“Exactly!” Austin gave me a surprised smile.

“The last part of our pack are the wolves that are involved in the contracted jobs we take on. Those guys spend their time here in the states training, in-between their overseas missions.”

“What kind of missions?” I asked curiously.

Austin smiled mysteriously. “Let’s get you integrated with the pack members here in the US first before we start talking about that.

I sighed, I wasn’t really expecting him to go into detail about all the secret missions they may or may not be involved in, but I had to try.

“Where do I fit in here?” I asked Austin.

He thought for a moment. “I’m still tossing ideas around in my head. I want to give you some time to see how you fit in with everyone and where you fit naturally. So far, you are doing a great job.” He smiled at me encouragingly.

Trevor walked out on the patio and gave me a friendly nod. “Hey, Anna. Hey, Boss, can I go over some things with you?”

“Sure,” Austin told him. He turned to me. “Go get ready for the meeting, your clothes will be here soon,” he told me with an affectionate smile.

I gave them both a small wave and brought my mug back inside. I got a refill and started another pot to brew for whomever was going to be needing coffee next. I gave friendly ‘good mornings’ to the couple of guys I passed on my way back to my room.

Everyone seemed friendly but tired, which was not surprising after last night’s events. I understood how they felt; I would be more than happy to snuggle back in my bed with the two boys and sleep for hours. I set my coffee down carefully before I pounced on the bed to wake them both up.

“Hey! Austin wants you guys to make breakfast!” I pestered them as I tried to get them up. Mason groaned and pulled a pillow over his head. Jason ignored me and pretended to snore loudly. I pulled the pillow off Mason and used it to smack Jason.

“Hey!” he said, laughing. He hit me back with his pillow, and then it was on. They ganged up on me, which was not fair at all in a pillow fight. I eventually decided retreat was my best option, and I ran to the bathroom and locked myself in to start getting ready.