“I agree,” Adam said.
“And anytime Adam’s tied up at work, he’s fine with me taking the boat out. We can all go out together,” Adam’s dad said.
Adam was glad his dad was making Sierra’s parents feel welcome.
Sierra suddenly joined them on the back porch and slipped her arm around Adam’s waist. He immediately settled his arm around her shoulders, leaned down, and kissed her uplifted lips. She was smiling at him, and he thought she had come out to rescue him.
“We’re just talking about boating as a family again,” Kirk said as Brad served up the steaks and they headed inside to eat.
“Oh, really,” Sierra said to her dad.
Adam laughed.
She kissed him again. “We sure had a great time.”
“We did,” Adam said, remembering a day long ago when his father would take his family boating on the Willamette River. “We’ll do it again when you all get settled in.”
“Sounds good to me. We’re all running as wolves on the ranch after dinner, right?” Kirk asked as they joined the others inside the house.
“Yeah,” Brad said. “We’ll probably have some other wolves join us too. But we’ll go as a family.”
“That’s what we’ve missed while living in San Antonio.” Rhonda, Sierra’s mom, set out the plates and silverware. “A safe place like this to run wild. We’ve been running every night with Adam’s parents since we arrived here, and we’re thoroughly enjoying it. Leidolf showed us the stream and the waterfall, the forested land, all of it.”
“Well, I couldn’t be any gladder,” Sierra said.
“Me either,” Brad said, Janice agreeing.
“Where will you be living?” Sierra asked.
Adam was wondering that too.
“We’re going to build a home on the ranch. Leidolf hired us to provide security for around the property. Adam’s parents are already providing some of the security, so we’ll swap off days. We’ll be chasing down hunters, watching the security videos. With our military police backgrounds, they were eager to hire us,” Kirk said.
Adam was glad they would be working with his parents in security.
“The best thing about it is that we can run as wolves sometimes while we’re doing it.” Rhonda took Kirk’s hand and squeezed, looking up at him, and he smiled back at her. “We’ve missed running as wolves so this will be an enjoyable change of pace for us. We’ll also be able to monitor things from the house, once it’s built. We’ll be watching things from Leidolf and Cassie’s house until then. We have to return to put the house up for sale and move our household goods here. The whole pack has offered to help us get things sorted out once the house is built. Because of military personnel coming and going all the time in San Antonio, the market is good, and we should be able to sell the house quickly.”
“We already picked a location and have agreed on the house plans. The building will begin soon,” Kirk said.
Adam thought Sierra’s parents really looked happy about the prospect. He was glad they would be living here soon.
When they finished up their dinner, Janice and Sierra hurried to clear away dishes, but Brad and Adam began helping too.
“Just set everything on the counter. We’ll clean up later,” Janice said. “We’re going to run now so the two of you can return home and have the rest of the night to yourselves.”
Brad chuckled.
Sierra blushed and Adam smiled. He was all for it.
Then they were going to different rooms and stripping out of their clothes. This time, Adam and Sierra were together. She didn’t seem to want him to give her space this time, despite her parents being in the house. He was glad their relationship had truly changed. As soon as they were naked, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. He couldn’t help himself. He wanted to make love to her and spend the rest of the night with her in bed.
But running with the family as wolves was important too, and he loved to run with her as a wolf. This time, Brad and Janice and her sister would run with them, not on guard duty, and her mom and dad and his parents would be with them too.
Sierra smiled up at him and whispered, “Thanks for making my parents love you.”
“They do?” He was glad to hear it.
She smiled again. “Yeah. And of course Dad loves your boat.” Then she kissed Adam back and sighed, releasing him. “Let’s race off to the falls.”
They both shifted and licked each other’s faces as if they had to kiss in a wolf’s way too before they headed out. Then she led the way and they found everyone sitting in their wolf forms waiting on them.
Rhonda led the way, Kirk following his mate out the door, then Adam’s parents, Sierra, Adam, Janice, and Brad next. When everyone was outside, Brad and Janice were in the lead.
Adam wasn’t sure how to behave with Sierra now that her parents and his were here. It was funny how a change in a group would make such a difference in the dynamics. He would have bitten her and played with her, but he didn’t want to look foolish. He and Sierra were following behind the crowd, and he was watching where they were going when Sierra bumped into him.
At first, he thought she wasn’t watching where she was going, and she had bumped him by accident. But then she nipped his ear, her eyes bright with excitement, and he was ready to play with her and forget his and her parents, her brother and sister-in-law. He was ready to enjoy this. That was part of what being a wolf meant to them. Being protective, sure. Loyal, yes. But playful too? Definitely.
He chased after her and she raced off, away from the rest of the family. He was bound and determined to catch her, and she was just as determined to keep out of his reach. This was so great, and they were working off their dinner at the same time so they could have dessert. He loved her, he realized. Unconditionally. He couldn’t have found a better mate in Sierra, but he still wanted to give her time to feel the same way about him.
He finally reached her tail and nipped at the tip, and she wheeled around and tackled him with a woof and a growl.
* * *
Sierra loved Adam. She knew he was hesitant to play with her in front of the rest of her family and maybe his, but she wanted him to know that no matter who they were with, he could be himself—either as a human or in wolf form. Still, she moved him away from her family, just so he would feel comfortable playing with her.
She loved being aggressive with him, like she’d been with her brother growing up.
Adam tackled her right back, gentler than he would with his male wolf friends because she was smaller. Her brother had been really rambunctious with her, but her parents had made him settle down if he got too wild.