“You aren’t disowned, and we’ll speak to Hans about it right after we finish this call. How do you feel about Bentley? Is there any hope for reconciliation?” her dad asked.
Everyone waited for Sheri to respond. She stuck her chin up. “No. Even if I never find a wolf to mate, I wouldn’t mate him.”
“Are there any male prospects there?” Georgia asked.
Elizabeth knew Sheri’s mother wanted to have grandkids.
“Possibly.” Sheri glanced at the door leading back inside. Leading back to Slade. “We’ll have to see.”
Elizabeth thought it was too much to hope for that Georgia and Fred, and even Sheri’s brother, would join their pack, but Georgia was a midwife, and they could certainly use her. Fred built homes for pack members, and he would be a real help with the pack too. She wasn’t sure Cameron and the others would want to increase the pack size that much, but if they did, all of them were royals, so that could be a good thing.
“Mate or no, I have a future here. Friends. A pack that needs me. A job. I’m going to be a PI… Can you believe it? I miss you both already, but this is where I want to be. I hope you can understand that.”
That seemed to stun her parents into silence for a moment. Then Sheri’s dad said, “That’s wonderful. We love you so much. We’re here for you, whatever you need.”
They finally said their good nights, with Georgia saying, “And you keep her safe, David, you and your partners. We’re counting on you.”
He smiled. “We have every intention of doing so. They’re part of the pack now.”
“By the way,” Elizabeth asked before they hung up, “how did you get my new phone number?”
“Kintail told us about the White Wolf Investigative Services near Ely, Minnesota, that Cameron and the others were running,” Sheri’s mother said. “We found Cameron MacPherson’s number, called it, and a helpful little boy answered the phone, by the name of—”
“Corey?” Elizabeth asked.
“Uh, yes, and he gave us your number and Sheri’s from his momma’s list of contacts,” she said.
They all looked at each other in laughing exasperation. That pup was lucky he was so cute, because man, he caused more than his share of trouble.
Chapter 25
David didn’t know what he’d been expecting from the conversation he just heard, but it wasn’t that. Sheri’s parents clearly loved and supported her, of that he had no doubt. He even wondered if they might be open to coming to Ely to join their pack.
He wasn’t going to act on that now—it would take the whole pack agreeing to it, and figuring out the logistics of such a move—but he definitely wanted to come back to that idea. It would be amazing to continue to grow the pack, especially with people who clearly loved and wanted the best for their children.
They headed inside, ready to settle back in for the night. David really hoped there’d be no more surprises.
“You know they want me to be mated though,” he heard Sheri whisper to Elizabeth as they entered the house.
“We’ll work on it,” Elizabeth said. She and David watched her walk back to the room where she was staying, and then they slipped into the sleeping bag they were sharing.
“Maybe her parents will come to live with us too,” Elizabeth said.
“Are you sure you can’t read my mind? That was exactly what I was thinking too.” Elizabeth snuggled against him, and he pressed against her, wishing they were in his bed and not in a sleeping bag, sleeping among his friends.
He was restless that night, and not just because he wanted to ravish his mate. Kintail, unfortunately, was never far from his mind.
But thankfully, they didn’t have any trouble. Thunderstorms pummeled the area, just as Amelia had predicted, and lightning lit up the house over and over again, the thunder booming loudly, some of it shaking foundations. David never complained about his wolf hearing, but for once he wished he could dial it down a notch. As it was, the storm sounded as if it was on top of them more or less all night long.
The next morning, they all had a big breakfast together, everyone looking a little bleary-eyed. The storms partially cleared, though Amelia said they would return later that day. Everyone helped clean up and organize the sleeping bags spread out everywhere.
“I called my uncle Strom last night,” Candice said, “telling him I would love to see him and that we have some new pack members, and I of course mentioned Kintail and his men.”
“You know he’ll be flying up here in his private jet in a heartbeat, right? With reinforcements?” Cameron asked. “And what if Kintail and his men leave without causing any further trouble? He will have come up here for no good reason.”
“Ha! He’s always looking for a good excuse to visit me. If nothing comes of it, fine. We get to have a big pack celebration for their visit. And we’re always up for that. Besides, if my uncle didn’t come and anything happened to any of us, he would feel terrible,” Candice said.
“So he’s coming?” Elizabeth asked.
“Do jaguars have rosettes? I imagine so. He didn’t say he was for sure, but I can’t imagine he won’t be here as soon as he can.” Candice shook out a blanket and started folding it up.
Elizabeth hated anyone else being put at risk for her, but if Kintail called for reinforcements, the wolves here could be at a disadvantage. It’d be good to have more backup, just in case.
“Okay, well, I have to admit, I called my dad in Portland and told him the same thing as far as wanting to see him, and that we had an issue with the white wolf pack that had turned us. He said he was going to confer with Leidolf and get back to me,” Faith said.
Everyone smiled at the news, and David even chuckled.
“If we get reinforcements from the jaguars and the red wolves, Kintail won’t know what hit him,” he said, reaching over to rub Elizabeth’s back.
“Well,” Elizabeth said. “And here I once thought it was just our small pack against the world.”
“No way,” David said. “We’re not like the gray wolf pack out of Seattle or your former pack. We help others out as much as we can. And sometimes, we get help too. We’ve got each other’s backs, no matter what.”
And hopefully their backup arrived soon, Elizabeth thought.
***
They all gathered at the office later that morning. The PIs were going to search the local rental agencies to see if they could locate Kintail and his men. Faith and the kids would hang out there until they could have more protection at home later. Reluctantly, even Candice went to the office to write on her book, sequestering herself in Owen’s office since he wasn’t using it, afraid she wouldn’t get any writing done with all the distractions. But she closed his door and the blinds in his office window that looked out into the seating area, and they could hear her typing away on her laptop.