CHAPTER SEVEN
The next morning, Adam wandered downstairs when he heard activity and smelled coffee. Hillary gave him a warm smile and held out the mug she’d just poured.
“Thanks.”
She poured another and took an appreciative drink, then gave him a once over. “Doing okay?”
“The only thing I’m not okay with is how often people keep asking me if I’m doing okay.”
She laughed. “All right, I’m done with that now, I promise. I’ve got some guys coming over today to help me finish setting up the new shop. Moving has been annoying, but I get Zach out of the deal, and now that it’s mostly finished, I’m really excited with the new space. You want to come over, or do you have something else in mind?”
He wasn’t feeling antsy with all the social activity, but he figured maybe he should be proactive and go for a run on his own before getting antsy. “How about I go explore the woods this morning, then come see your place and take you to lunch?”
She smiled. “Good plan. I’ll leave my car here for you, catch a ride into town with Zach.” She raised her hand when he started to object. “It’s easy enough, I promise. I’ll feel better knowing you’re mobile and not feeling trapped.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
She wandered away and he took the mug outside to gauge the day. It was a brisk morning, promising to be cool, not cold, which he appreciated. He’d mostly gotten used to the northern climates, but sometimes he missed baking in the Arizona sun. Might be a bitch with fur, though.
He finished his coffee, took the cup back to the kitchen and loaded it into the dishwasher. It felt weird to just strip naked on their porch, so he walked for a bit until he was comfortably surrounded by trees. He found a good branch to tuck his clothes onto and let the wolf take over.
Things were simpler as the wolf. The pleasure of a beautiful day, the joy of running through the woods, chasing small creatures, knowing his place in the scheme of things when he ran across any other animals. It was all so uncomplicated.
He nosed around for a bit, getting a sense of the area, then took off, running where his nose, his instincts, his nature dictated. After an hour or so, he slowed to a stop and found a nice sunny patch. He stretched his body, then lay in the sun and breathed deeply. It was beautiful country up here, not so different from where he’d spent the last three years. His ear twitched to catch a sound now and again but nothing intruded close enough to concern him and he napped easily, enjoying the morning sun.
After a while he rose, stretched again, and loped back in the direction he’d come. He picked up the trail of three werewolves. Of course, there had been scents all over the woods, but this was recent, so he followed until he caught sight of three naked teenagers walking away from him. Amused, he followed for a minute to see if there was a clue what they were up to, but they just trudged along in the general direction of the pack house.
He edged closer until they realized he was there, stopped and turned to look at him. They kept their heads low. He cocked his head in question and one of them cleared his throat.
“We, uh, ran out to the river a ways back. It’s not the spot most of the pack uses to swim in on a regular run, it’s a farther out, so we could have it to ourselves.” He was practically shuffling his feet but he seemed more embarrassed than anxious so Adam just waited. “So we swam for a while, horsed around, you know, and rested. We, uh, well, we thought we’d be able to turn back to wolf and get home, but turns out we weren’t strong enough, so we’re walking.”
He blinked at that. He understood the idea in theory, but had never felt like he couldn’t turn when he needed to. These boys were young, though, maybe fifteen, and maybe not going to be particularly powerful, even when grown. He gave a soft woof in understanding and walked closer, rubbing along their legs. Touching gave a better connection and he circled back to sit in front of them. Holding the connection strong in his head, he gave a yip and a nod.
Looking hopeful, the boys each concentrated on themselves, and began to turn. He fed them enough power and energy to make it happen, though he was careful not to overwhelm them with too much. It drained him a bit, but soon enough they were all wolves, setting an easy pace back to civilization, much quicker and safer than walking naked and barefoot through the woods.
He let them lead the way but knew they were on point to hit the pack house when he picked up sounds of a couple of wolves heading toward them. It took a few moments before the boys slowed to a stop and waited for the new wolves to approach. Adam hadn’t met any of the pack in wolf form yet, but he was fairly certain the male wolf was Alex, Zach’s second and security guy. He didn’t think he’d met the female wolf. His trio of teenagers gave submission to Alex, who huffed at them then jerked his head back the way they’d come. Two of them headed out, the third rubbing his nose along the female wolf’s muzzle. She nipped at him, but then herded him back toward the house.
Alex turned his attention to Adam, gave a little bow, then turned toward the house. Adam loped up to him, and they ran together after the others. It didn’t take long to get to the house where he saw a woman holding a mini-van door open for the wolves to get into. She waved cheerfully at Alex and him and drove away. Alex led him to a stash of sweats and they changed.
“Thanks, I left my stuff over at Hillary’s.”
“I figured. You find the boys in any trouble?”
“No, just too tired to turn back to wolf. They were headed back, it was just a slower journey until I helped them change back.”
“Ah, that makes sense. Though, why change to human? Testing their strength?”
“Actually, I think they just wanted to go swimming.”
“There’s a part of the river that’s good for swimming, on a day like today there’s usually others there. They should have been able to get help to change. They must have gone to a different part of the river for some privacy.”
“That’s the impression I got.”
They’d walked to the house and Alex led them to an office, coded in at the locked door, and closed it behind him. Adam took a seat on the sofa and accepted the bottle of water Alex offered.
“Thanks.”
“My guess is they didn’t realize that changing back when you’re out with the pack, they’re getting a boost from everyone changing together, especially the stronger ones.”
Adam hadn’t known that either, though he couldn’t say he’d given it much thought. He also didn’t figure this conversation was the reason Alex had led him to the private office. He waited.
“I have a friend out in Los Angeles who’s looking at where she can move on. Her power’s growing and she doesn’t see a place for herself in her pack for much longer. She’s fourth, ex-military, and a security specialist, like I am. I use her for the business sometimes when I need someone out that way on the ground and don’t want to send someone.”
Adam had no clue where this conversation was headed. “Okay.”
Alex studied him for a moment. “You’re not thinking of going out there?”
He didn’t hide his surprise. “Los Angeles?”
“Arizona. Or New Mexico.”
“Why would you think that?” A flash of distaste colored his question.
“I didn’t mean disrespect,” Alex assured him.
Adam waived that away. “No, really, why would you think that?”
“Until the pack is reformed and solidified in some way, the hot topic is going to be who’s moving there. It’s rare for there to be essentially a whole pack forming from scratch. So people, like my friend Jen, start to get that itch inside, and think that if there isn’t a way for them to move up in their home pack, maybe it’s time to move on. If there weren’t this possibility of a new pack, she’d probably start thinking about traveling more, visiting other packs that she has a connection to, see if there’s a place, maybe even a mate, out there waiting for her to find.”
“All right, that makes sense. But I don’t know what it has to do with me.”
“Well, they’re going to need an alpha. A strong one. Nothing will really happen until then, and the rest will sort of flow from there.”
“I’m not an alpha.”
Alex’s laugh was genuine, but he bit it off when he saw that Adam was serious. “I want to call you sir, that’s how much of an alpha you are.”
“I don’t mean power,” Adam argued. “It takes more than that to lead a pack.”
“Yeah, it does.” Alex studied him over his water bottle as he took a drink. “Weren’t you a teacher?”
“Yes.”
“A good one?”
“Yes.”
“Hm. All right, well, I appreciate you giving me a few minutes of your time.” He stood and opened the door.
Adam just looked at him for a moment, gave a mental shrug, and walked out. He left the borrowed sweats in a pile of dirty clothes by the back door and changed back to wolf. It didn’t take long to return to Hillary’s house.
He checked his phone, but there were no messages from Myra about when she might be coming out. Thoughts about seeing her again, being with her again, had him setting the shower to colder than he usually preferred, but he didn’t think playing the masturbation game with her again was a good idea. For either of them.
It didn’t take long to follow the directions Hillary had left to her shop, and soon he was pulling up to a small warehouse east of Main Street. Hard rock music, the kind he’d never had a particular fondness for, blared through the space, competing with the sound of some sort of electric saw. It looked to him as though they’d finished setting everything up and she’d decided to get some work done. Her hair was pulled into a French braid and she wore protective glasses as she bent low over the noisy machine that was spitting out sawdust at an alarming rate. A man was at an angled table, pencil in one hand, coffee mug in another, as he studied a paper on the desk.
He was pretty sure Hillary knew he’d come in, but she focused on her task. The man looked up as Adam moved farther inside. He blinked a bit, then offered a smile, gaze fixed on Adam’s chin.
“Hey,” Adam said.
“Hi. You must be Adam. I’m Stephen.”
“Nice to meet you.”
They looked over at Hillary as her machine turned off and the rock music became the only sound. She picked up a tiny remote and aimed, the sound pulling down to reasonable volume.
“Adam, hey, how was your morning run?”
She pulled her glasses off and wiped her face with a cloth she pulled from her back pocket. Stephen pointed all over his own face, indicating she’d missed a few dozen spots, and she stuck her tongue out at him. She looked at her watch.
“Actually, tell me at lunch, I’m starving.”
He waited while they put stuff away, locked up, and then they walked a couple of blocks over to an Italian restaurant. A woman greeted Hillary and Stephen by name and they were quickly seated with waters and menus. Hillary gave him a minute to make a selection, then popped her chin in her hand and repeated the question.
“It was a nice morning. Good run. Nice woods.”
She laughed. “Word’s already out that you found three miserable boys walking the walk of shame.”
“The walk of shame?”
“Naked through the woods because they overestimated their ability to change back,” Stephen said.
He frowned. “People will really give them a hard time about that?”
“Nah.” Stephen shook his head. “It’s just what they’re feeling. They might get a little teasing from their friends, but that’s it.”
“It’s not altogether unusual,” Hillary added. “Part of growing up. Though, they were deliberately vague when they told Jason’s mom that they were going to run out to the river and go swimming. They knew she was going to assume they meant the pack swimming spot, not that they were going to find their own spot.”
Adam shook his head. “We only got back half an hour ago, and you already know everything?”
“The joys of pack life,” Hillary laughed.
“Sounds great,” Adam said with skepticism.
Stephen smiled. “It definitely has its upsides, I promise.”
They ordered their food and Adam resumed the conversation. “Alex says there’s talk about making a new pack in Arizona.”
Hillary frowned but Stephen nodded. “He told me wolves all across the country that are in the hierarchy, or ready to join the hierarchy, will do like a self-evaluation. Take a minute to look at their situation and decide if it’s time to consider a move.”
“But, nobody from here would leave, would they?”
Stephen laughed. “It’s not all about you, Larry, no matter how much Zach tries to let you think otherwise.”
She smacked him on the back of the head. Mildly.
“Okay, I guess I can see how people would want to evaluate. But we should be good here. I don’t think anyone is coming up to a power level where they might think hierarchy, and the current hierarchy is good.”
“Yeah, that’s what Alex said. But the way he explained it to me is think about how Molly and Travis are growing in power now that they’re mated. They’re strong, but you guys are stronger, and growing as well, so it’s not an issue. But if you’d topped out, which you will eventually, and they were still growing, getting closer and closer to your power level, you’d all start to evaluate. If this was years in the future and you were older than them, you might consider retiring. If not, they would need to consider where they could go.”
Hillary pursed her lips. “Okay, I guess I can see that. They would check to see if there’s another alpha out there that is ready to retire, but doesn’t have a strong enough first to take over.”
“Exactly.”
“And the possibility of a new pack has everyone taking a look at their situations,” Adam added.
“Right.”
“I thought Myra disbanded the pack, though. Why would she do that if there was just going to be another one?”
“I think her first priority was to find healthy and safe homes for all the current wolves, get that situated. But the territory itself still needs to be covered. Neighboring packs can divide it up, but then they have a lot of acreage to keep an eye on,” Stee mused.
“Alex said nothing can happen until there’s an alpha,” Adam said.
“I wonder if Myra has to approve someone. Or the National Council?” Hillary suddenly got a big grin on her face and looked to the door. Zach walked in and headed straight for them, his gaze locked on his wife.
Adam glanced at Stephen, who rolled his eyes as the two kissed hello.
“We were just talking about what’s going to happen in Arizona. If they want to form a new pack,” Hillary told Zach. “Would Myra have to approve an alpha?”
He stole her water and considered his answer. “Myra, or Marco, if it’s after next week. If she approved an alpha, it would be pretty much up to that person to gather a pack, though I imagine because of the situation, she would be more hands-on than normal. It would depend on who it was, really.”
Hillary frowned, so Zach continued. “Say you and I decided we were done with Idaho, and we thought Molly and Travis were ready to be alphas. If we went to Myra and said we wanted to be alphas of Mesa, she would probably approve and just ask us to keep her updated on who we accepted into the pack, especially any wolves from the original Mesa pack. She might make some suggestions, or ask us to consider some particular candidates, but that would be about it.”
He paused as someone walked past their table, then continued. “But say it was the first of, I don’t know, Miami, who approached her. Her name is Taneesha. I’ve met her, she’s pretty strong. But she’s not experienced as an alpha, isn’t mated, so maybe if Myra thought she would be good as the Mesa alpha, she would approve it, but be more actively involved in the pack’s development.”
“Okay, I guess that makes sense,” Hillary said.
“How much interest do you think there is in starting another pack?” Adam asked.
“I’d say it’s unlikely it will go more than six months without one. Or to officially parcel out the territory to neighboring packs. But Myra is probably figuring it makes more sense to let Marco make the initial decision, since he’ll need to do the follow-up. So she’s not actively searching for anyone. I haven’t talked to Marco to see if he thinks it’s better to let the momentum build on its own for a bit, or try to direct it from the beginning.”
Adam thought about what he’d learned, and what Alex had said, as the food arrived and the others discussed a new business that was moving into town. The surprise on Alex’s face when he’d said he wasn’t an alpha. And then asking if he’d been a teacher. He’d enjoyed being a teacher, very much. Had worked with high school students and mostly managed to earn their respect as well as that of his fellow teachers.
Still, he’d pulled so far back from that life, after the attack, he hadn’t even considered ever being in that kind of situation again. The kind where people looked up to him, relied on him, respected him.
He pushed the thoughts away, shook his head at Hillary when she gave him a questioning look, and returned his attention to the group.
When Cindy opened her door to Myra, she did so with a martini in hand. Myra loved her best friend and had to laugh. Cindy always seemed able to read her mood and know if Myra needed iced tea, beer, wine, or something fruity. She’d never made martini’s before, but Myra knew instantly it was exactly right.
They managed a good hug without spilling the drink, which Myra accepted and moved into the living room. She kicked off her shoes, curled up on the couch and took a healthy sip. Yeah, just right. She sighed and looked to Cindy who mimicked her on the other end of the couch.
“I don’t know where I’m at. I feel like I’m at some sort of crossroads and I don’t know why or what to do.”
“You do know why.”
Damn it. “Adam.”
“Definitely Adam,” Cindy agreed. “I’m surprised you’re having such a strong reaction to someone who’s not your mate, but I think you need to acknowledge it for what it is. Just because you’re not mates doesn’t mean you can’t have a fantastic relationship.”
“But what if he then finds his mate?”
“Okay, that would suck, big time. But it doesn’t seem likely that both of you would be having such strong feelings for each other if he had a mate out there. And besides, are you going to turn away from this on a what-if?”
“Honestly, Cyn, I don’t know if I would survive. At least with Eric, I was young, and I knew he’d had no choice, that if he could have stayed with me he would have.”
“You didn’t have to feel rejected, on top of the loss,” Cindy guessed.
“Exactly.”
“I get what you’re saying, and I certainly understand why it scares you, I just don’t think it’s very likely. You’ve known people who’ve been in relationships when they met their mates. Those original relationships are never really serious. Ever. It’s just not how it works.”
Myra thought about it. “No, I guess not.”
“It’s just not the way it works. There’s magic involved, you can’t forget that. Don’t discount it.”
“It’s not the only concern, though. I don’t think he’s ready for anything like this. I want him to be. Not just ready for a relationship with me, but ready to join a pack and experience all the amazingness of that, of who and what we are.”
“Why don’t you think he’s ready?”
“Uh, because he basically lives as a hermit? He’s stayed away from all wolves, and packs, to the point that Bitterroot didn’t even know he was living nearby?”
“That was before. Didn’t you say he went to the pack to discuss the problem in the woods?”
“Yeah, but then he ended up solving it himself and not even letting us help. And practically pushing me out the door.”
“Mm, hmm,” Cindy said significantly, watching Myra over her drink as she took a sip.
“What? Oh. You think that was about running away from me, not the pack. Well that’s not exactly flattering.”
“I beg to differ. He wasn’t scared of the pack. He was scared of what was happening between the two of you.”
Myra leaned back at that. “Huh.”
Cindy raised her eyebrows at her.
“Okay, you might be right.”
They drank in silence for a minute before she blurted out, “He called me last night.”
“Is that right?”
“I sort of pushed him into agreeing to me coming out there.”
“How much pushing was involved.”
“Not much.”
“Mm, hmm.”
Myra laughed. “Maybe he is ready. But he doesn’t know it.”
“Now that I’ll agree with. I mean, it took him a while to recover from what happened. Understandable. And the way he dealt with it was to burrow in, protect himself. Also understandable. But it’s hard to know when the time comes to pull yourself out of that. I’d say it usually takes some outside influence to make that happen.”
She set her drink on the table and hopped off the couch. “Be right back.”
Myra took another healthy sip of her martini and considered her decision to go see Adam, rather than give him more time. The question had popped out of her mouth yesterday before she’d had time to censor herself, but she was glad it had. Especially since he’d said yes. But it was time to admit to herself that she had strong feelings for him, stronger than she’d ever experienced for a wolf that wasn’t her mate, and that had to mean something. She’d be failing herself, and Adam, if she didn’t explore those feelings.
Cindy returned with a carefully balanced plate of fruit, cheese and chocolate. It was beautifully put together, and Myra gave it much appreciation before snatching up a piece of chocolate. Dark-chocolate-covered marzipan, her absolute favorite. It was good having a best friend who was into food.
“Thanks, Cindy.”
“You’re welcome.” Her friend made a couple of cheese-and-cracker combos, then sat back on the couch, popped one into her mouth, and looked at Myra. “I’ve been thinking about change.”
Myra blinked. “Okay. In what way?”
Cindy ate another cracker, looked thoughtful. “It started with the news about Mesa Pack. I was looking on the database to see what information we had about them, you know, just to get an idea?”
Myra nodded. “Sure, I did the same thing.”
“There wasn’t a lot on there, as I’m sure you saw, so I looked online, at the area.”
Myra laughed. “Me, too. I should have asked you to just do the research for me.”
Cindy shook her head. “You would have wanted to see it all for yourself, too.”
“Good point.”
“I guess it was just interesting, looking at the photos of desert and forest, so close together, so unlike here. And I realized I didn’t know any of the people listed on the pack roster, not a single one of them. Which wasn’t surprising, of course, given what we learned, but it made me think how complacent I’ve become, growing up here and never moving more than a few miles from my parents’ house. Going to school nearby and then coming right back home.”
“We’ve traveled,” Myra pointed out, though she understood Cindy’s point. “We went to New York, London, Copenhagen.”
“Yeah, and that was enough to feel like we were doing interesting things, not stuck in a rut. And we’ve done a good job of setting up our lives, becoming good at what we do. We’re successful women, who’ve planned for our futures, our retirements, settled into a good pack that works well and loves us.”
“So what are we going to do with the next forty-plus years of our lives?”
“Exactly!” Cindy said, putting her drink on the table and clasping her hands together. “I mean, I’m sure we’d be happy and there would be new challenges of some sort that we could come up with, but I was looking at my future and it suddenly seemed so…stale. Maybe part of it is that I haven’t found my mate, and that would change things. But I’ve always refused to live my life in a holding pattern, waiting to see what this supposed guy was going to bring to the table. And I realized I’d sort of settled into that, by accident.”
Myra finished off her drink and grabbed some cheese. “Only because you’ve achieved everything you set out to do.”
“Right. So, now I have no more goals?”
There was a reason she and Cindy were best friends, and Myra could feel the tiny tingle of rightness moving through her blood. She scooted closer on the couch.
“I wasn’t in Mesa for long, and I was disappointed that I didn’t get to explore it more. It’s hard to balance being close enough to a city to keep your pack employed and healthy, and yet close enough to the forest to have the room to run and grow, but Mesa seemed to have what it takes. Plus, I mean, how cool would it be to run in the desert and the pine forest on the same day?”
“You really thought about all of that? About what it would be like to live there?”
“Yeah. Not necessarily because it was Arizona. I mean, I have nothing against the state, it was just…somewhere new.”
Cindy seemed eager, but wary. “You’ve been to several new places this year. Have you considered what any of them would be like to live in.”
“All those places were great. I enjoyed running in the different pack lands, meeting the different packs. But none of them…” She hesitated, wanting to get the right feeling across without sounding pretentious. “I think, none of them needed me.”
Cindy smiled. “Us. None of them needed us.”
Myra reached out and Cindy was there, hugging her with a squeal of excitement.
The feeling of peace settled into Myra like she’d just been waiting to hear those words. The way she’d felt off, ever since Arizona had happened. She’d blamed some of that disconnect, that uncertainty, on meeting Adam. Before that, she’d blamed it on needing to find him, on not wanting to leave that loose thread hanging before the end of her term. But now she knew the real reason. Her heart had started to shift its loyalties from the St. Louis pack to a new one.
“Thank god for you,” she said. “I don’t know that I would’ve even realized what it was I was searching for; and now to find it, and know that we’ll be figuring it out together, that’s so huge.”
“I know, I didn’t know if you would think I was crazy but I’ve been doing all this searching online, for Arizona and New Mexico, and looking at every post in the forum written by any of the pack, and even though I love it here, our pack, our families, I’m ready to try something new. And I remembered that I’ve been clever enough to succeed at a career that I can do from anywhere I want. I had no clue you’d consider leaving, and walking away from you as my alpha was going to be tough.”
“I think that’s part of what’s been growing inside of me,” Myra admitted. “The pack is ready for Kendra and Deacon to take over. They didn’t need me at all this year, it’s almost as if I’ve already taken on an advisory role rather than being the true alpha.”
“And you haven’t heard from anyone thinking about offering up to be alpha out there?”
“No one. And I know the current hierarchies. There really isn’t anyone ready to make this kind of move. Except me, because of Kendra and Deacon, and because I’ve been alpha here for a long time, because I started young, but I’m not ready to retire.”
“Do you think Kendra and Deacon were considering it?”
“I’m sure they thought about it, but I don’t think they’d want to leave their families here. The kids are still so young and both of their parents are very active with them. But they must have talked about it, because they’ve been feeling that push to be more, do more. I’m sure of it.”
“It’s meant to be. This calls for a change-up.” Cindy grabbed their empty glasses and marched to the kitchen, Myra at her heals. She put the glasses in the dishwasher and opened the fridge, pulling out a bottle of champagne. Myra got them flutes while Cindy popped the bottle open with expertise. She poured with a flourish and they toasted.
“To new adventures and not being fuddy-duddy old ladies,” Cindy said.
“To embarking on our mid-life crises together,” Myra added.
They drank and danced around the kitchen like fools for a good five minutes before Cindy grabbed the bottle and led the way back to the couch.
“So. What does this mean for you and Adam?”
Myra frowned. “Well, like you said, I can’t hold off on planning my life for what might happen with a guy. And if he was going to fall madly in love with me and move to St. Louis, he can fall madly in love with me and move to Arizona or New Mexico. I mean, even if we’d been mates, I wouldn’t have been able to just go lone wolf and live with him in a tiny cabin on someone else’s territory.” She nibbled her lip. “But, bad shit happened to him in Phoenix, maybe he would hate being in that part of the country.”
Cindy nodded her agreement, handing over a cracker and cheese. “Maybe. Maybe not. Will you tell me about him?”
“I think he’s convinced himself he’s a loner, not a team player. But inside, he’s still a high school teacher, I’m sure of it. He was his brother’s best friend, and port in the storm. His instincts are to help, to be involved, even when his brain tells him to walk away.”
She stretched out on the couch, back against the arm, feet bumping Cindy’s thigh. “He’s charming, though I doubt he realizes it. Holds doors open for strangers, super polite to waitstaff, doesn’t start eating until I do, that kind of thing.”
“Okay, he might be good enough for you,” Cindy said with a smile.
“He reads. A lot. A lot a lot.”
“Better and better.”
“I wasn’t exactly paying attention because I was kind of out of my mind at the time, but I’m pretty sure I got at least two orgasms for every one of his.”
“Now we’re talking!” Cindy tipped her glass to Myra, then emptied it in one gulp.
Laughing, Myra continued, “He makes my insides shiver and my lady parts quiver.”
“Woo!” Cindy poured them both full glasses. “Tell me more!”
Myra was laughing so hard she was worried she would spill, so she quieted down long enough to take a big drink, then screeched, “Lady parts!”
Cindy collapsed against her and picked up Myra’s phone from where she’d tossed it on the table. “Selfie!”
Myra grinned at their image on the screen. “We’re blurry, that’s not going to look right.”
“I think that’s you, not the picture.”
“Remember when we were young and we thought forty was old and that old people sat around their living rooms drinking tea and discussing politics and gardens?”
Cindy snorted, snapped a couple more pics. “Of course, if we were actually cool, we’d be doing this on Snapchat with dog ears and bunny noses and stuff.”
“I don’t even know what that means.” Myra howled with laughter.
“That’s ’cause you’re old.”
“Not as old as you,” she said indignantly.
“Yes, but I work online and I’m hip to these things.”
“I don’t think you can be hip if you’re saying hip.”
They dissolved into giggles and finished off the bottle of champagne.
Cindy weaved her way to the kitchen with the empty bottle and Myra picked up the phone. She scrolled through the pictures, squinting to try to make the pictures focus better, selected one that had Cindy holding the bottle of champagne up to her lips, Myra raising her glass to the camera, and texted it to Adam before she could stop herself. See, forty really wasn’t that different than twenty.
Waking up on her best friend’s couch wasn’t exactly a normal occurrence for Myra, but it wasn’t completely unheard of. The good news was she only had a very mild headache, thanks to her fabulous metabolism. She cracked open the bottle of water Cindy had left for her and took a couple of long drinks. She heard the shower turn on and smelled coffee brewing in the automatic coffee maker, and promised herself she could have a cup after she finished the water.
She reached over for her phone and pressed the button to see what time it was. The clock showed seven-ten, but her eyes were riveted to the little notification screen that said only two words.
Challenge accepted.
Hastily she swiped the screen to get to the text messages from Adam. The last message had been received at one in the morning, with those two simple words. The only activity previous to that was the picture she’d forgotten she’d texted, until now. It wasn’t blurry at all, Cindy had been right. Myra was laughing in a way that mostly only Cindy managed to bring out in her, her eyes sparkling as she held her champagne glass toward the phone. Cindy had tipped the bottle back and was pretending to drink directly from it.
Myra finished her water and struggled to understand Adam’s message. She remembered her words. Would never forget standing on his cabin porch, telling Adam that she wanted more for him than existence. She wanted him to actually experience life, to be happy, not just alive. “I challenge you to live,” she’d said. And he was accepting her challenge.
In response to her picture? Or was that just a coincidence?
“What?” Cindy asked.
Myra nearly jumped. She’d been so focused, she hadn’t heard her friend come into the room. She looked up and her eyes were huge, she could feel it, as she tried to process what he’d meant.
“I don’t—I’m not sure. Adam texted me, but I don’t know what he means exactly. I think,” she swallowed. “I think he means he wants to try. Being together. But I could be wrong.”
“Call him.”
Myra bit her lip. “Maybe. But maybe it would be better in person.”
“Hmm. Could be. Finish your water and take a shower, don’t try and make any decisions when your brain isn’t awake.”
Myra thought the message had shocked her brain as awake as it had ever been, but she did as Cindy suggested anyway, taking the mug of coffee her friend offered her. She tossed the water bottle into the recycle bin and headed to the bathroom. She hadn’t come up with a single plan of action by the time she was dressed and back in the kitchen. Her wonderful, amazing, fabulous best friend was just putting two plates on the table, which already held a carafe of orange juice and a platter of melon slices.
Of course, all of it was presented beautifully, and Cindy took a minute to snap some photos before they dug in.
“I probably shouldn’t be thinking of this as a done-deal yet, right?”
“Not quite. I need to speak to Deacon and Kendra, see how they feel. Talk to my mom and dad, just because. I think Kyle might not be ready to move from fourth to third, but the pack is plenty strong enough to have that position vacant for a while.”
She ate some of the delicious omelet and looked at her friend. “Seriously, you managed a crab-meat omelet in the short time I was in the shower?”
“What can I say, I’m magical.”
“Truth. Anyway, I don’t foresee any issues, but you never know.”
“Also, truth,” Cindy agreed. “You going to see your parents today?”
“Yeah. And then I think I’m going to fly to Idaho. I’ll only have a day before I head over to California for the ceremony, but I’d rather take that day now than wait until after to go see him.”
“Okay, well, keep me up to date and let me know if there’s anything I can do on my end.”
Myra swallowed another bite of deliciousness. “I think you’ve done your part, here,” she said, forking up more.
It was early enough that she could be reasonably certain her parents hadn’t gone anywhere yet, but late enough that they would be up, so she headed straight for their house. On the way, she called one of her pack members who was a travel agent. They worked out the flights and when she pulled up to her parents’ house, she texted Adam.
Arriving today 5:25pm; leaving for CA Sun 11:25am.
One night, one full day, and one morning. Hopefully that wasn’t asking for too much. Pushing too hard. She turned the phone to silent and went inside.
Her parents were at the table, clearly just finishing breakfast, but her mother offered to make her more.
“No, thanks Mom, I stayed at Cindy’s last night, and she made breakfast.”
“That’s okay then. That girl certainly can cook. It amazes me she prefers to spend her time typing stuff on the internet rather than actually cooking.”
“She likes the cooking to be for fun, and not having the pressure of making her living from it.”
“I know, I just don’t understand these blog things and how she can make money from it.”
“That’s all right, her accountant understands it well enough,” Myra said with a laugh.
Her father folded his newspaper shut and gave her his attention. “What’s up, sweetpea?”
“Cindy and I are thinking about making a change. It’s…pretty radical.” She drew in a breath. “We’re actually thinking of moving to Arizona. Or New Mexico. The new pack.”
Her father blinked at her and her mother gasped. “Leave St. Louis?”
“That’s right. Try something new, change things up a bit.”
“Us downsizing the house is a bit. You changing packs is a lot more than a bit.”
“But is it a bad idea?” she asked, knowing the answer, but wanting to hear her parents’ opinion.
Her mom sighed. “No, it’s not a bad idea. And it will mean more travel for us, which is good. Get us off our rumps occasionally.”
“Maybe we can get one of those RV things,” Dad said. “Drive out that way, see the country.”
She listened to them debate the merits of various methods of travel, gave her opinion on how many miles a day it might be reasonable to drive, and what the ideal turn radius might be. Eventually, she gave them both hugs. “I have to head out, I’m flying to Idaho this afternoon and then California Sunday for the transfer. I need to talk to Deacon and Kendra first, see what they think.”
“You know they’re ready. That’s partly why you want to leave, isn’t it? Need to leave, because you feel them ready to take over.”
She kissed her dad’s cheek. “Yes, I’ve been feeling it for a while but couldn’t quite pin it down. Now it all makes sense. But I need to talk to them.” And she needed to call Marco in California, make sure he was on board with the plan. It wasn’t her intention to saddle him with a decision as she exited the leadership. She wanted his input.
Her conversation with her firsts went exactly how she’d expected. Surprise and even a little upset at the idea of her leaving, then a calm understanding, a knowing that it was right. By the time she left, they were excited, though a little tearful. Well, Kendra and Myra were, at least. She would miss them, greatly, and knew it would be some time before she found such easy cohesion with her new hierarchy, whoever they might be.
She checked her phone, which had beeped while they were talking, pulled up a text from Hillary. A picture appeared, of Alexis and Adam playing cards at a table, a huge grin on Alexis’ face, Adam’s tipped back as he laughed. Her heart fluttered. She studied Alexis’ expression, so happy with how far the girl had come. Then she double-tapped on Adams face, making it big enough to fill the screen.
His laughing face, his pleasure, his happiness, did funny things to her insides. Her nose tingled and she pulled the phone away, took a deep breath. Now was not the time to get emotional. She needed to call Marco and discuss her thoughts on being the alpha for Arizona, it was a call that deserved her full attention and shouldn’t be made while packing or driving to the airport.
She went to her office and set her cell phone aside so she wouldn’t be tempted to pull up the picture again. Though she hadn’t expected any opposition, Marco’s enthusiastic support and the sense of relief that the Arizona problem wouldn’t actually be a problem, were gratifying. He assured her that he would be around to help in any way possible, but that he couldn’t think of anyone more capable to tackle a brand-new pack.
Pleased to be appreciated, she got up to go pack, grabbing the phone. Hillary she could talk to while she was packing.
Her friend answered immediately. “I just heard you’re coming out to visit before heading to California, that’s so great.”
“I’m excited, too. Although, I have to be totally honest and admit that you’re not the one I’m most looking forward to spending my time with.”
Hillary laughed. “I’m really, really glad things seemed to have progressed with you two. I was about to try introducing Adam to some single women to get his head out of his ass, but you brought it home yourself.”
Myra growled.
Hillary laughed again. “He insisted on picking you up at the airport by himself, but I made him promise to have you here in time for dinner. It’s supposed to be dinner with the hierarchy, but they won’t mind you two being there.” She lowered her voice, though Myra was pretty sure she was alone on the other end. “I didn’t tell Adam this, but I thought it would be good for him to be at the dinner, just see how the hierarchy gets along, you know?”
Myra thought it wasn’t a bad idea at all. “That works for me. And that reminds me, I didn’t even ask you if I could stay at your house again.”
“Well, you can, of course, but I was thinking you guys might want to drive out to the cabin that Peter owns. It’s about an hour and a half from town, but it’s not a terrible drive and it will give you guys privacy.”
“That’s very generous, thank you so much.”
“Absolutely.”
“And thanks for sending that picture earlier. I just…I don’t want you to get too far ahead of yourself. Or of us. I’m not certain he’s ready for—”
“No, don’t say it. I promise I won’t push anyone anywhere they don’t want to go. I’m just excited to see two people I like be happier than they were before.”
Myra wasn’t entirely sure she believed Hillary would manage to not push, but she let it go. “All right, I need to finish packing and head out to the airport. I’ll see you for dinner.”
She finished quickly, made a couple more phone calls, and headed out the door.