His mother and grandmother lived only fifteen minutes from the lodge, on land Nolan’s father had purchased. Nolan hated this community. Not because it was filled with elderly Lupines, but because they should be living with the pack.

Yet for as long as he had known, the elderly Lupines were segregated. They couldn’t run as fast, shift as quickly, or contribute to work, so more than one hundred years ago, Nolan’s grandfather had built these cabins.

At least Craig had spent money renovating and updating the homes. Each cabin sat on a quarter acre of flat land, with a good view of the Smoky Mountains. The elderly didn’t want for anything.

All their needs were cared for, except their basic need for pack and family.

Nolan released a heavy sigh as he shut off the truck engine after parking in the driveway before his grandmother’s cabin. Here was the one place where he could truly be himself. He enjoyed sitting with them in the evening hours and listening to their stories of days past.

Sometimes he gleaned nuggets of wisdom he tucked away for later. Those nuggets came in hand with the biggest dilemma he faced as alpha – being tough enough to lead without being a total prick, like his father.

MeeMaw’s cabin was the largest, honoring the fact that she was Craig’s mother.

As they entered the spacious cabin, Nolan hugged his mother. He stepped aside for Jordan and Sue to greet each other. His mother had always liked Jordan and approval shone in her dark gaze now.

Sue wiped her hands on a checked apron. “Lunch should be ready soon. Why don’t you go inside, say hello to MeeMaw?”

Nolan’s grandmother was ancient. No one knew her exact age. She sat in her favorite chair by the fireplace, her wooden cane at her side. Face a roadmap of wrinkles, she looked frail as newly blown glass. But her rheumy blue eyes were bright.

Nolan crouched down and kissed her hand. “Meemaw, this is Jordan, my mate. You remember Jordan?”

The old woman squinted at Jordan. “Come closer, child, my old eyes can’t see that well.”

Jordan bent down before her, and Meemaw ran a hand over her face. “Good bones, strong character. You’re a wild one still.”

Pink tinted Jordan’s cheeks. “Yes, m’mam.”

“But polite. I like that.” Meemaw turned to him and Nolan felt the uncomfortable weight of her sharp scrutiny. His granny might not see too well, but she saw some things far too well.

“You’ve been treating her well, Nolan Mitchell? Feeding her well, making sure she’s comfortable, bedding her each night? That old iron bed has made many mated females happy over generations, and you had better not be the first to disappoint your mate.”

Honesty was always best with the old ones. “I’m doing my best, Meemaw.”

The old lady sank back against the chair. “Your best may be good enough for sex, but that ain’t why you’re here. Tell me child…” she turned to Jordan, who had backed off and stood by the fireplace. “What ails your heart?”

Jordan shrugged. “I was forced into this marriage. It doesn’t matter.”

“No one forces anyone into anything, least of all a strong female like you.” Such sage observation made Nolan smile.

Jordan bristled. “It was marriage to him or prison.”

“Not a bad choice, mating with my grandson. Nolan’s a good alpha. Now his brother Bryce, he was a bad one.”

At Bryce’s name, Jordan stiffened. She turned toward the fireplace.

“Bryce was a bastard,” she burst out. “You’re the first person to admit it.”

Nolan wondered what Bryce had done to cause such an outburst. His brother had always vexed him. But Jordan never had a problem with Bryce.

“Tell me child what hangs heavy on your heart. I can feel the weight of your misery. It’s like a fog in here.” Meemaw beckoned to Jordan, who sat on the fireplace hearth. She let the old woman take her hand. Meemaw’s hands were paper white, the skin like velvet, blue veins roadmapping her frail flesh. But her spirit was strong and Nolan knew taking Jordan here was the best thing he could have done.

Jordan shrugged.

“You always were a feisty lil thing, even when you first came to us. You remember that?”

She nodded. “I don’t recall my folks, though. I have brief memories of living with wolves in the wild, and men with guns who hunted them. I guess that was my folks who hid me in the hollow of that tree to protect me from Skins finding me.”

“Then Tristan found you and brought you here. He said you were orphaned when Skins shot and killed your folks.”Meemaw sighed. “Times can be tough for our kind. But what you make of yourself after is your choice.”

Jordan’s lower lip wobbled. “I made the most of it. I… grew to love it in the pack. Sue was always good to me, like a real mother.”

“Then why did you run?”

Meemaw’s question made Jordan stiffen. “That’s something I can’t discuss.”

“Not with me. But you sure as darn hecky better talk with Nolan here or you’ll never be happy. Tell him, child. Get it out of your system before it eats you alive.”

“Yes m’mam,” she whispered.

Meemaw patted her hand. “Heard you stirred up quite a few things, too. You’re a strong one and don’t stand for much.”

Jordan stood, kissed her cheek. “Thank you.”

Nolan’s mother, Sue, gestured to the kitchen. “Jordan, lunch is almost ready. Would you like to help me?”

“Of course.” She glanced at MeeMaw and Nolan. “Please excuse me.”

When she trotted off to the kitchen, Nolan sank into the chair next to his grandmother. “After lunch, will you talk alone with her? She might confide in you. Woman to woman.”

His grandmother’s gaze sharpened. “Doubt it. That one has a heavy burden and she needs to share it with you, honey. Not this old body.”

“She won’t talk with me. She’s out of control, MeeMaw, wanting to break with tradition.”

“Traditions aren’t what make us, Nolan. Love does. Don’t be so determined to mimic your pa. He wasn’t perfect. Times change and you change, too.”

Nolan slowly absorbed this. “I’ve been running the pack since Dad died as best as I know how. You suggesting I stir things up, change everything? I don’t know if they’ll listen.”

“They’ll listen,” MeeMaw said in her croaking voice. She placed her thin hand over his and he felt alarm at how fragile she appeared.

Yet inside beat the heart of a strong female who had survived tragedy and challenges.

“You’re the alpha,” she reminded him.

“There are traditions I’m not fond of.”

“Then why keep them?”

“Because some days I feel like if I change things too much, the pack will slip through my fingers,” he admitted.

“Uh huh. Too much change all at once isn’t good for any community. But some traditions should be abandoned.”

“Such as?”

“Talk to your new mate. I’m sure she’ll know.” MeeMaw’s nose twitched. “Sue’s ham, gravy and fresh biscuits are calling me. Give an old wolf a hand, will you?”

He helped her into the kitchen, and onto a wide wood chair with a padded cushion. His grandmother sat with a heavy sigh and they began to eat.

Nolan remained silent throughout much of the meal. When his mother got up to serve more sweet tea, he turned to Jordan.

“Pixie, if you ran the pack, what traditions would you eliminate?”

Jordan paused, staring at him. She set her fork down. “Is this a trick question?”

“No,” he said quietly. “I really want to know. Here, in the privacy of my mother and grandmother’s home.”

Warmth filled him as he looked at both of them. “The two most important women in my life, next to you.”

She looked suspicious. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Well, you already know how I feel about being on the dais with you at meetings. Except you were pretty firm on not changing that.”

He nodded. Maybe her way of addressing it had irked him, but he agreed with her. “I never give ground to anyone challenging me in meetings. Not even my own mate.”

“Oh.” Jordan’s face fell. “I disregarded your authority in front of everyone. Didn’t realize it appeared that way.”

With Nolan fighting Palmer and Todd last month, her outburst at the meeting could have fueled the pair’s restless itch to take on Nolan once more. Would it always be like that, Nolan struggling to prove himself as strong of an alpha as his father?

Maybe that’s why Craig kept up the spring tradition of the alpha run. Maybe Craig himself was always trying to prove his strength.

“I’m sorry.”

“You could have told me in private,” he said gently. “Then we could have discussed it first. What else?”

“That tradition of spanking a youngster with a leather belt is stupid. Let the parents handle the discipline or the child will grow dependent on you instead of having his parents set the guidelines.”

Good advice. He’d always hated that tradition.

“And of course…” She glanced at his mother. “That asinine tradition of the alpha doing the spring run every year to prove he’s physically fit.”

His mother’s eyes filled with tears. “Yes. Nolan, please, get rid of that one. I can’t bear to lose you as well if something happened.”

Stopping that tradition would be hard. “If I end it, the pack will think I’m weak.” He flexed his arms.

“You’re 28 years old, Nolan, not in your seventies like your poor fool pa,” MeeMaw snapped. “Lupines aren’t even elderly until they live past 200 years. Your pa was still a spring chicken, but he was too proud.”

“No one could call him weak,” Nolan pointed out.

“If anyone thinks you’re weak, beat him up.”

He grinned. “Love you, MeeMaw.”

She harrumphed. “You’re the alpha now. Make new traditions. Have a challenge each spring so the foolish young bucks itching to move up in the pack will fight each other and the winner fights you. You can easily win. You’re a Mitchell and Mitchell’s ain’t fools, and they ain’t weak.”

Nolan glanced at Jordan. “Are you okay with that?”

She sounded uncertain. Nolan went to her, took a knee and then slid his hand into hers.

“Listen, pixie. I want to do what it takes to make this marriage work, and make the pack strong. I can’t do it alone. Will you help me?”

Her gaze softened. “Of course I will. I want you to succeed, Nolan. Never wanted anything else for you.”

Jordan’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I do want to be a good alpha female mate for you. Just as long as I can be at your side as you rule.”

The kiss he pressed into her palm was gentle, lingering. Then he licked her palm and winked.

“As long as you’re under me naked in bed, that’s fine with me.”

Jordan blushed and MeeMaw laughed. Then a spark ignited her eyes. “I think I can stay on top of that situation,” she sassed him back.

Nolan grinned, tapping her nose. “Let’s wrestle for it.”

“That’s just like a Mitchell. Go on now, git you two, and find a room. Make me a great-granny before I pass from this life.”

As they drove away, waving good-bye, his spirits lifted. Surely now things would be all right between himself and his mate.

Maybe now Jordan would finally confide in him what had happened to her. Because he needed her badly.

He hoped she needed him as much.