Chapter 10
Five hours later, I crossed the Pine Peak town limits, my sedan loaded with the last of my possessions. The “Welcome to Pine Peak” sign seemed to wink at me in the late afternoon sunlight, as if sharing a private joke.
I drove straight to Klaus’s cabin—our cabin now, I supposed. We’d decided I would move in with him rather than finding my own place, a decision that had felt surprisingly natural despite its significance.
He was waiting on the porch as I pulled up, looking like every fantasy I’d ever had—flannel shirt rolled up to expose muscular forearms, beard neatly trimmed, those amber eyes locked on me with an intensity that still made my stomach flip.
Before I could even turn off the engine, he was at my door, opening it and pulling me into his arms.
“You’re here,” he murmured into my hair. “Finally.”
I melted into his embrace, the last of my doubts evaporating at his touch. “Sorry I’m late. Traffic outside Indianapolis was a nightmare.”
“You’re here now,” he repeated, pulling back to look at me. “That’s all that matters.”
He kissed me then, and it felt like coming home in a way my Chicago apartment never had.
“The pack dinner isn’t for a couple of hours,” he said when we broke apart. “Plenty of time to get you settled.” His eyes darkened. “And properly welcomed.”
I laughed, happiness bubbling up inside me. “My luggage can wait.”
It was fully dark by the time we made it to the main house, where the entire pack had gathered to welcome me. The atmosphere was festive—tables groaning with food, music playing, children running between adults with the boundless energy of young wolves.
Lucy approached as we entered, pulling me into a surprisingly strong hug. “Welcome home,” she said simply.
Home. The word resonated through me, unfamiliar but right.
The evening passed in a blur of introductions, food, and so much physical contact that my city-trained personal space boundaries completely surrendered.
Pack members touched constantly—an arm around shoulders, a hand on my back, casual embraces from people I’d just met.
Klaus stayed close, his pride evident as he introduced me to extended family members.
“So you’re really staying,” Theo said, cornering me by the dessert table. “Giving up the big city for our little wolf den.”
I nodded, sipping from a glass of surprisingly good local wine. “Seems that way.”
He studied me with those family-trademark amber eyes. “Because of Klaus?”
“Partially,” I admitted. “But also because… I don’t know. It feels right here.”
Theo’s face broke into a wide grin. “Pack recognizes pack,” he said cryptically, then clapped me on the shoulder hard enough to make me stagger. “Welcome to the family, city boy.”
Later, as Klaus drove us back to the cabin, fatigue finally catching up with me, I found myself smiling at nothing in particular.
“Good day?” Klaus asked, reaching across the console to take my hand.
“Good day,” I confirmed. “Slightly overwhelming, but good.”
He squeezed my fingers gently. “It gets easier. The pack can be… a lot.”
“I like them,” I said, surprising myself with the truth of it. “They’re nothing like what I’m used to, but I like them.”
Klaus brought my hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to my knuckles. “They like you too. More importantly, they respect you.”
“Because I’m your mate?” The term still felt foreign on my tongue, but less so with each passing day.
“Because you accepted us—accepted me—without fear,” he corrected. “That earns respect in pack circles.”
Back at the cabin, we unloaded the essentials from my car and left the rest for morning. As I unpacked my toiletries in the bathroom, arranging them beside Klaus’s, the domesticity of the moment struck me.
I live with a werewolf now, I thought, meeting my own eyes in the mirror. This is my life.
And strangely, it didn’t feel wrong or strange anymore. It just felt like where I was supposed to be.