A low growl erupted from me.
The woman just smiled. “You must be Olivia. I’m Kelsey.”
She seemed entirely unaffected by my little outburst and graciously didn’t even point it out. The lady before me was nothing like I imagined Kelsey Westin would be. I was having trouble reconciling the two.
“Who are these cuties?” I asked trying to divert the attention off of me.
“This is little Jason and Zander.”
“Are you here for the cookie party?” I asked the older boy.
He smiled. “Yeah, grandma makes the best.”
“I have a little girl about your age, she’s in there helping Mary now.”
“Cool. Is she a bear like Baine?”
I hesitantly nodded.
“That’s so cool. Are you one too?”
“I am.”
“Awesome. Can I go meet her? Her name’s Macie, right?”
“Uh, yeah.” I was surprised he already knew that and that he seemed excited to meet a bear.
I turned questioning eyes towards Baine.
“I promise, O, she’s perfectly safe here.”
“Nothing will happen to her in my territory, Olivia. You have my word. She’s under my full protection.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I simply nodded.
“Come on, let them deal with business. We can hang out and chat,” Kelsey said as she led the way to the living room.
I stopped at the entry and looked around surprised by the open floor concept and homey feeling of the room.
“It’s great, isn’t it?”
I nodded. There was a big TV, several couches, a giant dining room table and a huge stack of toys in the corner. It was comfortable and there was a feeling of love and family within the walls. Just off the dining room side, I could see Macie and Zander chatting away in the large kitchen.
“This is definitely a great room.”
We settled down on one of the couches and little Jason scrambled off his mother’s lap to attack the toys.
“I know it’s your first day here and you haven’t even begun to settle in, but we’re all so excited you’re here, and more than a little curious. There’s a few others that want to stop by and meet you, but only if you’re up for it.”
“Um, yeah, sure. Might as well get it over with.”
She grinned. “Like ripping off a band-aid.”
“Exactly.”
In no time at all, the room was filled with new faces.
“Hi, I’m Elise, Kyle’s sister. You look so normal.”
Kelsey snorted. “What did you expect, E?”
“I don’t know. Magical superpowers or something. She tamed Baine.” She spoke as if I weren’t even sitting right there. It was funny though. “He doesn’t even look at women. I assumed he was gay.”
It was my turn to laugh. “I assure you, he is most definitely not gay.”
“They’re true mates,” a dark-haired girl blurted out.
“Really?” Elise asked. “Are you sure, Emma? I heard he had rekindled with his childhood sweetheart.”
“Emma? Are you Painter’s mate?”
The girl smiled brightly. “I am. These three are Ben and Shelby’s kids. I watch them during the week.”
I smiled back at her. “It’s nice to meet you and put a face to the name.”
Out of everyone in attendance, I was most excited to meet her because her mate was also on the Force and I had a million questions on what to expect.
“Taylor’s free tomorrow night. If you are too, why don’t we plan to do dinner at Shelby’s tomorrow? Us girls of the Force have to stick together.”
I nodded appreciatively. “I’d love that. I’ll check with Baine.”
A pregnant lady waddled in with a toddler and an older child with her.
“Sorry I’m late to the party. I’m Maddie. This is Oscar and Sarah.” She set the little girl down as I watched her run to where little Jason was playing.
Macie had friends back home, but I knew first-hand how difficult it could be to really make friends as the Alpha’s daughter, or in her case granddaughter, or now niece even. People were always looking for ways to advance their position within the Clan and I doubted the wolves were any different.
Growing up, I’d always had my brothers and cousins, as well as Baine. Watching Oscar head to the kitchen to help with the cookies and all the littles playing on the floor reminded me of life growing up in the Clan. None of my siblings or cousins had kids yet, and it hurt my heart knowing she would never have this. Yet, when she finally emerged laughing with Zander I wondered if just maybe there was hope she’d find a piece of that here.
“They seem to have hit it off nicely,” Kelsey said happily.
“I’m glad for it,” I told her honestly.
“Zander has plenty of friends, but he learned at far too young of an age to keep them at arm’s length.” She gave me an apologetic look.
“I may not be a wolf, but I was an Alpha’s kid too. I get it.”
She nodded. “I know you do.”
“It’s hard on a mama’s heart to watch though.”
“It really is. Macie is the only grandchild of the Alpha, well, former Alpha. My brother was forced to assume the position when our father was captured.”
I could tell she truly understood that. “Is he mated?”
“No,” I sighed.
“Oh wow, that’s gotta be hard on him,” Elise said. “I mean, when that happened to Kyle, at least he had Kelsey to help him through it.”
“I’ve never really considered that.”
“Pack Mother’s do so much more than people give them credit for,” Elise insisted.
“I wouldn’t know. My mother died when I was very young. I don’t remember her at all. My parents’ bond hadn’t fully sealed, leaving my father behind to raise us, and run the Clan all on his own.”
“Wow, that’s really impressive. He must be a great man,” Kelsey said.
“He is,” I told her proudly.
“Mom, can Macie come over tomorrow and play?” Zander ran into the room and asked.
Kelsey looked to me for approval. “I’m honestly not sure what we’re doing tomorrow.”
“If you come to dinner, you could drop her off at Kelsey’s for a bit,” Emma suggested.
Maddie laughed. “When Emma sets her mind to something, consider it done. She’s already convinced me to take the triplets for the evening so it’ll be just you ladies.”
“What about Ben?”
Emma shrugged. “He can find something to do for a few hours.”
“Um, okay.”
I was still a little overwhelmed meeting everyone, but it was easy to forget I was in a room full of wolves. They all went out of their way to make me feel welcome and soon we were laughing and chatting like old friends.
When Baine and Kyle finally came out, I was all smiles. He stood in the door and watched me with a look of wonder on his face.
“Are you ready to go check out the house?” he asked.
“Sure. Let me see if I can wrestle Macie away from the kitchen.”
I got up and walked in to see Mary surrounded by kids as she handed out fresh baked cookies.