Must be those priestess vibes. That had to be the reason she’d picked up on his swift change in moods.
“It’s all good,” he assured her. “That tree wasn’t here yesterday,” he went on, nodding toward the behemoth pine along the far wall. “I thought the Pack wasn’t going to have one this year, but I guess I was wrong.”
“What? You mean, you don’t decree things on high as Alpha and they’re done?” Enid teased him.
“Nope. I leave decisions about decorating for holidays up to the maternal contingent. My mate used to lead them, of course, but now, there are a few elders who do the job. I’d thought they’d decided against going to all the effort this year since we weren’t going to have an official ceremony, but now that you’re going to be here, I guess they changed their minds.”
Joe spent the next hour showing Enid around the Pack house and introducing her to everyone who’d turned out to help decorate. At one point, Enid was swept off to one side to render an opinion on the ceremonial space they were creating for her, near the giant Christmas tree. Joe just stood back and watched everything unfold, pleased with the way his Pack was coming together to welcome the priestess who had donated her time and talents to help them celebrate the solstice in style.
When Tracy, Hank and little Em arrived, Joe and his inner wolf felt the warm satisfaction of having not only Pack, but family around him. After greeting Joe, Tracy and Em joined the decorating group while Hank hung back with Joe. They got some coffee and sat at one of the communal tables in the dining hall, and watched the action unfold.
“You know, Enid is quite a pilot. The people they selected for me to train were all top ranked in combat flights. Most were shifters, of course, but there were a few humans who had the hand-eye coordination and quick reaction time to qualify,” Hank said matter-of-factly. “I didn’t know Enid had magical connections, though. She was actually one of only two women pilots they ever sent me for special training. The other was a young eagle shifter.”
“Her crosswind landing with an iffy engine was a thing of beauty,” Joe replied. “It was clear she had skill, and luck, on her side. If that engine had given out…” Joe shuddered, thinking of the possible consequences.
“She would have glided in, no problem,” Hank said, shrugging. “Plane that size, she could land almost anywhere, including the parking lot of the airport. She’d have been okay.”
Joe thought about it for a moment and realized Hank was right. Enid had been in one major airplane crash—the same one that had killed Tess. She’d been a fighter pilot and knew how to handle herself and her airplane. Flying herself when she needed to go somewhere meant that, like Joe and the rest of his Pack, they weren’t depending on commercial pilots flying behemoth airplanes to get them to their destination in one piece.
Enid would not die in a fiery crash like Tess had. Enid had been there and had survived, and she would not fly commercial again. It was amazing that she flew at all, after her experience, but Enid had guts. That went without question. Guts and heart and a strong connection to the Mother of All. Enid would not die before her time, as Tess had, and somehow, that was incredibly liberating. Somehow, it meant Joe could enjoy his time with her and not worry that she would be taken from him too soon.
“Did you know,” Joe asked Hank, willing to share with his son-in-law as he hadn’t shared with anyone else, “that Enid was in the same crash as my mate? Enid held Tess’s hand as she left this realm and prayed with her and for her.”
Hank didn’t reply, and Joe looked up to meet his gaze. Hank was clearly stunned, his mouth open as if to speak, but no words formed.
“I know,” Joe said, one corner of his mouth lifting in an ironic half-smile. “It was a shock to us both to discover it. Enid never knew who Tess was because she spent weeks in the hospital after the crash, but it’s clear now.”
“That’s…” Hank cleared his throat and tried again. “That’s…incredible. Almost miraculous.” Hank looked over at Enid, his gaze wide with awe. “Then again, she is a priestess. They say the Mother of All works in mysterious ways.”
Joe sighed. “You can say that again. Enid is…” Joe shook his head, not sure how to express himself. “She’s different. Older. Mature. Firm in her convictions of who she is and what she can do. She has a sort of calm competence that is so different from my mate. Tess was wild and free. Young and full of life. She never thought much beyond the moment, and frankly, back then, neither did I.”
Hank’s gaze returned to Joe. “Are you…uh…involved with Enid?” he asked in a low voice.
“I’m not sure how to answer that,” Joe admitted after a pause. “I like her. I’m interested in her, which came as a huge surprise to me. It shouldn’t be possible. I lost my mate. I haven’t looked at another woman since I found Tess, then lost her, but Enid…” Joe shook his head. “Things are different, all of a sudden, and I don’t know why or how. It shouldn’t be possible.”
“You’re right,” Hank replied. “Everything I’ve ever been told says it shouldn’t, but who knows? Maybe the Goddess is giving you a second chance? Like Enid was given a second chance to survive that miserable crash when almost nobody else came out of that wreck alive?”
“I have no idea,” Joe said. “I don’t understand what I’m feeling at all, and I’m only sharing this with you because you’re old enough to have seen a few things in your lifetime. I’m not sure my pups will understand if I suddenly take up with Enid.”
“Oh, I think they’ll be more understanding than you think. Tracy was already speculating about the two of you, and she was genuinely happy to see you socializing. She’s been worried about you, you know. She wants you to be happy. If Enid makes you happy, I doubt Tracy would object. Far from it. And look how Em is.” Hank pointed to his little daughter, being held in Enid’s arms as she placed decorations on the higher boughs of the tree.
Em was clearly enjoying herself, and she seemed to really hit it off with Enid. Unlike almost everyone else in town, Em was a cat shifter. Like her father, she shifted into a jaguar, which made most of the wolf shifters in town a bit standoffish. Em didn’t warm to many people, and never so quickly, but she sure seemed to like Enid a whole lot.
“Now, that’s something,” Joe agreed, noticing how Em clung to Enid and smiled up at her between decorating and giggles.
“Enid’s a natural. Many priestesses have that same vibe, though there are always exceptions, of course. A lot of the priestesses I’ve met in my time have been like Enid, with an open heart and a willingness to help everyone,” Hank observed. “Notice how the Pack is taking to her already.”
Joe did notice. They seemed to be rallying around Enid, even though they’d only just met her. The decorations were taking on epic proportions, as if the Pack was truly happy to celebrate the holiday with a real priestess—and even more so, with Enid, in particular.
Joe thought hard about all the implications of Enid’s reception the rest of the time they were at the Pack house. He talked with various members of the Pack who wanted to bend his ear over one thing or another, but mostly, he sat and sipped coffee, and watched Enid. Someone brought out cookies at one point and put them on the table, but they didn’t last long.