She told him about her first scraped knee, her first fistfight, her first kiss. Then she told him how she’d been made Outcast, abandoned by Pack and kin. She told them how she had lived like a Wolf for years, found her way to Halle and met Mrs. Anderson. She described Gabe, Julian, Alex, Ryan, Cyn, Glory, and Brit, the girl who couldn’t handle a drunken Wolf. She told him about Gary’s stalking and how the Pumas had saved her and claimed her as their own.

She almost told them about all the sex she and Alex had been having. She decided at the last minute they probably weren’t interested, since by that point, both Rick and Belle’s eyes had begun to glaze over.

By the time she was done, Emma’s mouth was hanging open. “Note to self. Never ask Tabby to tell me everything.”

“Can I have a drink of water?” Tabby croaked. Her mouth was parched, but at least that heavy weight of the Alpha’s power was gone.

Rick had a bemused look on his face. “Are you done?”


“God I hope so.” Belle limped toward the sofa, ignoring the way Rick nearly jumped to her side. “I don’t know if I can handle another round of This Is Your Life.” She settled in with a sigh, rubbing her hip with a wince.

“Who was your old Alpha?”

She stared at Rick. Hell, at least he won’t head to Georgia and try to eat him.

“Dennis Boyd, sir.”

“Out of?”

“Marietta, Georgia.”

“Address.”

She supplied it with a wince. She figured he’d check up on her story and decide for himself whether or not she could stay.

“Calm down, Fido. You’re scaring the crap out of her.”

Tabby blinked and turned toward the Luna. “Ma’am?”

Belle glared at her. “Don’t ma’am me. Makes me sound like my mother.” Belle’s glare turned into an evil grin that had Tabby backing up a step. “Tell her, Rick.”

“We’ve already checked out your story, Tabitha.” She turned back to look at the Wolf Alpha. His expression had softened significantly, making him much more approachable. He might even be likeable. “Dennis Boyd is no longer the Marietta Pack Alpha. His son has taken over for him. He’s been Alpha for about two years now, and he’s been trying to find you. He wants to make amends for what was done to you.”

“He wants you to go home. Even your parents want to see you again. They know now what the Alpha did was wrong.” Belle patted the cushion next to her. Tabby fell into the seat, stunned by what she was hearing. “You have options. One, you can do what Micah wants and return to Marietta. No doubt everyone will want to fawn all over you and show you the boo-hoo, oh-how-sorry-we-ares. Two, you can stay here in Halle and tell them to go fuck themselves, thank you very much.

Which, frankly, is the option I would personally go for.” Belle gave her the most vacuous grin she’d ever seen, morphing from powerful Luna to bimbo Barbie in the span of seconds. The sharp intelligence behind those green eyes belied the look, leaving Tabby feeling bewildered and not a little off balance. “Make sure you use an air horn to drive the point home. They hate that.”

“Belle.”

The Luna grinned up at her mate, the empty-headed look completely gone. The Wolf Alpha sighed, but the sound was full of fondness for his blonde mate.

“Three, you can come to the Poconos with us. I’ve already spoken to the Pack and explained your circumstances. They’re willing to waive Protocol in light of what’s been done to you and what you’ve done since then.”

She gasped. Go to the Poconos? Leave Halle?

Join a new Pack? One that might actually want her?

“I mean, what self-respecting Wolf would want to live with all these…cats?”

She growled until she saw the wicked grin on the Alpha’s face.

“Them’s fightin’ words, Fido.” The Luna was laughing with him. “Besides, from the sound of that growl, I think she’s made a decision.”

“No one said she can’t be both Pack and Pride.” Rick lifted Belle’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “You’ve proven that.”

Belle tilted her head. “True. Emma?”

“Hmm?” The Curana calmly poured tea from the silver tea service, her brown eyes dancing with glee.

“Care to share her?”

Share? Me? Tabby’s head was spinning. She hadn’t done anything to prove herself to the Pack. Why would they want her?

“I haven’t done anything to earn my way into your Pack.”

“You helped defeat a rogue Wolf. That’s all we need to know.” Belle patted her knee.

Rick nodded. “You could have done anything during those years you were alone.

You could have caused a lot of damage, done a lot of mischief. Instead, you chose to make your way as a Wolf, living off the land. Not once did you cause trouble.

And when you did rejoin the human race, you started working toward your GED, got your driver’s license, a job, and an apartment. That does not scream threat to me or to my Pack.”

“But…” Only one thing was really clear in her mind. “I don’t want to leave Halle.”

Halle was home.

“No one says you have to.” Rick’s eyes narrowed in thought. “You could be our ambassador to Halle.”

Emma snorted and handed over a cup of tea to Belle. “Ambassador? Rick, we see each other once a month.”

“So? I like the thought of having an ambassador.” Rick winked at Tabby.

She was pretty sure she looked like a landed fish, gaping and gasping like crazy.

“How about I’m just the resident Wolf?”

“Works for me.” Rick clapped his hands.

And just like that another mantle settled over her, one of acceptance. It was similar in feel to the Pride, but was somehow wilder, more earthy. More integrated.

“I’ll satisfy Protocol and set up your formal introduction to the Pack later. For now, welcome to the Pack.”

The mental voice of her Pack Alpha was strong and sure. Tabby buried her face in her hands and cried.

She’d gone from unwanted and unneeded to fought over and loved. The only thing that could have made her happier was if Alex were there with her.

“When do we get to meet the grizzlies?” Belle practically bounced in her seat. “I’ve always wanted to meet Bears.”

Tabby laughed through her tears. “Wait until you get a load of Julian.” The Luna was going to love her friend. She had the feeling they were two of a kind.


“How are you feeling?”

Tabby watched Julian shuffle around his tiny bedroom. He still wasn’t fully recovered from the fight with Gary, or his healing of Chloe. She followed him in, pausing in the doorway. “I’ve been better.” He settled on the edge of the bed with a wince.

From the amount of white in his hair, she should have known not to ask. Luckily, he was now working for Jamie Howard in his private practice. The man had taken one look at the nearly white hair and pale gray eyes, and put him on bed rest for the next two weeks. For once Julian hadn’t argued. That let her know more than anything how poorly he was feeling. “We’re going to take care of you.”

“It’s the least we can do.” Alex strode into the room carrying a mug of Julian’s favorite tea. Two days had passed since the incident in the woods and he still hadn’t left her side for more than a few minutes. It was cute, in an overprotective, caveman sort of way, but she knew it was going to get old real fast. “Besides, you’re family. Remember?”

Julian flopped back against the pillows with a weary groan. “Your aunts and mother are driving me insane.”

“Aunts?” Alex put the mug next to Julian on the nightstand and stood back.

“Aunt Stacey is here?”

Tabby settled on the bed next to Julian. From the amused look on Alex’s face, he knew this was something the two had done more than once. Alex had nothing to worry about, and apparently he knew it. She’d fallen asleep in Julian’s bed once, and he’d never touched her. He’d moved into the living room and slept on the couch, leaving her the queen-size bed. Of course, he’d forced her to cook breakfast by claiming a sore back. He’d been so pathetic, she’d agreed and made him pancakes.

Damn that boy could put it away. She’d wound up making three batches. She’d gotten two whole pancakes out of them. She felt lucky she still had all her fingers.

At least she’d gotten her fair share of the bacon. Sometimes it paid to cook.

Julian nodded and flung his arm over his eyes. “I swear, if I get one more bowl of chicken soup, I’m going to scream.”

“Chicken soup?”

Julian lifted his arm long enough to glare at her. “For breakfast.” The arm flopped back down when she began to giggle.

“I’ll go get you pastries, maybe a burger from Frank’s.” She patted his knee, trying to soothe the poor, wounded baby.

“If Aunt Stacey is here then the cousins are all here, too.”

“Cousins?” Julian moaned.

“Heather, Keith, and Tiffany.” Alex clucked his teeth in mock sympathy. “You’re gonna get so sick of chicken.”

“Shit.” Julian struggled out of bed. “I just remembered I have to go to Alaska for about sixty years.”

“Cyn wouldn’t like that.”


Julian frowned. “Where is Cyn, by the way?”

“The shop’s finally open again. We’re getting wooden counters installed with glass on top and only part of the way down the sides. The carpenter’s been there for the last two days.” She didn’t say anything, but she thought the carpenter had a thing for Cyn. Julian could deal with that when he was feeling better.

“And Chloe?” Julian turned to Alex. “I know she’s feeling a little better but she seems…fuzzy.”

Alex blinked. “She’s having some trouble keeping things straight. The doc says it should wear off over time.”

“Is she having problems with one of her hands?” Julian clenched his left one into a fist.

“Yeah. Shit. How tightly are you two tied together?”

“I know how she feels, and I think I can talk to her.” He frowned. “She’s not a very sympathetic person, is she?”

Alex shrugged. “She can be. It depends. Why do you ask?”

“I mentioned chicken soup and she started giggling.”

Alex just smiled, but the expression was weary. Not all was right in his cousin’s world, and the strain was showing in the whole family. “Jim finally got here. He’s been to see her twice so far.”

“I know.” Julian grimaced. “He told her again that she’s too young for him. Just what she needed to hear when she’s got a long recovery ahead of her.”

“Fuck.” Alex ran his hand over his shaved head. Tabby had taken care of the stubble for him that morning. “No wonder she seemed a little depressed this morning.”

“She’ll figure something out. And if she doesn’t, well.” Tabby allowed her fangs to show. “That’s what family is for.”

The evil grin the three of them shared did not bode well for Chloe’s reluctant mate.

“There’s something you two need to tell Max for me.”

“What?” Alex finally took the one chair Julian had.

“Something is still wrong. It’s tied into what happened with Gary, and he’s only the beginning. I think there will be trouble with the Poconos Pack as well.”

“Trouble from them, or they’re going to have similar problems?” Tabby rolled over and settled her head on her hand.

“They’re tied to the Halle Pumas. The problems of one will become the problems of the other.” Julian frowned and looked confused. “I think.”

“Shit, I hate that cryptic crap.” Alex rubbed his eyes. “What the hell does that mean, you think?”

Julian opened his mouth to reply when Alex’s phone rang.

“Hold that thought.” He flipped open his phone. “Bunny here.”

Tabby watched the play of emotion crossing Alex’s face. She could tell it was Gabe on the phone, but couldn’t quite hear what he was saying. When he hung up, he looked dazed. “Well, I think I know one of the answers. Gary was definitely working for someone out in the Midwest. Turns out he and his friends were hired to come here. Their records were doctored so they’d be listed in the university computers as new transfers.”

“What were they doing here?”

Tabby pulled on Julian’s arm when he tried to sit up, but he ignored her. “More importantly, did Gary say who sent them?”

Alex shook his head. “He’s refusing to tell them anything more. All Gabe knows is that they were here to observe, but they wouldn’t say why. Gabe’s hoping that the Tribunal will get more out of them.” If anyone was capable of finding out the truth, it would be the men and women who made up the Tribunal.