Chapter 2 #2
The living room was open, with enough room for a couch, love seat and two chairs near the fireplace, and a smaller sitting area by the back door, which led to a spacious patio.
She helped Adam haul the meat to the barbecue outside and get it fired up, and tasted the guacamole that Myra was putting out as the first guests arrived. She took a deep breath and went out to meet her potential new packmates.
An hour later, she was laughing with Jen, the fourth from Los Angeles, who was telling her a story about getting stuck in a strange city, naked.
She glanced over at Adam to see how he was doing, but he seemed completely at ease as he spoke to a couple from Florida.
It amused her that her alpha had ever thought he wasn’t a people person, when he was such a natural leader.
She’d opened her mouth to respond to Jen when a scent hit her. Something about it was so intriguing she forgot what she was about to say and turned her head to find the source.
A man was standing at the door with an older couple, the group obviously having just arrived.
Myra was introducing herself and leading them into the house.
The man looked around, met Cindy’s gaze—and stopped walking.
The woman with him grabbed his arm impatiently and tugged him along, out of the room.
Cindy blinked, turning back to Jen, who simply raised an eyebrow at her.
“Know them?” Jen asked.
“No, you?”
“Not a clue. He’s hella handsome, though.”
“Yes, yes he is.”
“I need another drink,” Jen said, holding up her empty margarita glass. “You want anything?”
“I’m still good, thanks.” She turned to see who she should talk to next, to find a woman and teenager walking up to her.
“Excuse me, are you Cindy? I’m Olivia Keogh, and this is my daughter, Tasha. We were led to believe the new pack was going to be in Arizona, but you seem to be settling here, in New Mexico.”
The words were just shy of being argumentative, which Cindy thought was a bit cheeky, but she just smiled. This was the woman she’d been concerned about meeting Adam.
“The territory for the old pack was all of Arizona and half of New Mexico. That’s a lot of territory to choose from, and to see what works best for the new pack.”
“So you’re not intending to let the old pack members of Mesa, the ones innocent of any wrongdoing, go back to their homes?”
“Mom,” Tasha mumbled in protest.
“The innocence—or lack thereof—of the pack members has already been decided by the National President at that time. That has nothing to do with settling a new pack. Any wolf in the country interested in joining the new pack is welcome to make their interest known. That’s why you were invited to this party, Olivia.
Your email didn’t make any mention of wanting to return to a specific area. ”
The woman’s lips pursed tightly. “We had to sell our house.”
Cindy nodded. “That was probably very distressing. Where have you settled?”
“She sent us to Chicago,” Olivia said, visibly trying to suppress her annoyance. “We don’t like the snow.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Even if you don’t choose to join our pack here, you can petition the National President to join another.”
“He’s said that he won’t be making any changes to the Mesa Pack members until they’ve been in place twelve months,” Tasha interjected, putting a hand on her mother’s arm.
“That makes sense,” Cindy mused. “Gives everyone a chance to try and settle in before making any further moves. To ensure they give their new pack a fair try, and the new pack gives them the same.” She felt for the girl, who was clearly embarrassed by her mother.
“It means my daughter would be uprooted again. Nobody seems to be considering the children in this mess,” Olivia argued.
Cindy didn’t really see how that would be different if the Keogh’s moved now, or after the year was up, but it didn’t seem like the right time to argue the issue.
“That’s a good point. If you decide you’d like to join us, feel free to mention that to Myra and Adam, I’m sure it would be an important consideration.
If you’ll excuse me, it looks like we need more chips.
” She gestured to the table laden with food, gave an encouraging smile to Tasha, and walked to the kitchen.
Okay, maybe she could have handled that better, but she’d liked the girl and wanted to give her a chance.
She opened the pantry and pulled out a bag of tortilla chips, ripped it open and stuck one in her mouth as she headed back out. And nearly walked into the man she’d seen entering the house not long ago.
“Mmph, sorry,” she mumbled around her food, managing to stop just short of his chest.
“No need.” His voice was deep, and it sent a tiny shiver down her spine.
She blinked up at him and stared. His eyes were grayish-green with a dark green circle around the iris. She blinked again, blushed at having been staring at his eyes, and managed to swallow her chip without choking on it.
He smiled at her, and she was pretty sure her heart skipped a beat. His dark brown hair flopped over his forehead in messy curls that she wanted to brush through with her fingers.
“Any idea where a guy might find a bottle opener around here?” he asked, holding up a dark ale.
She frowned, having left two of the darn things on the drinks table.
“Yes, they should be over here somewhere,” she said, leading the way back to the table.
She found one underneath a damp napkin and held it out for him, then searched out the second one, which had somehow ended up behind the tub of ice and beer.
“Thanks, you’re a life saver. My name’s Jonas. Jonas Toland.” He held his hand out to her after wiping the dampness from the bottle onto his jeans.
“Cindy McCarthy.” She took his hand—and felt a burst of warmth deep in her belly.
He squeezed gently, then rubbed at her hand a bit with his thumb. A move she’d found gross from another man years before now felt like just the thing she needed to know that this guy was as interested in her as she was in him.
The sound of someone clearing their throat next to her startled her. She pulled on her hand, but he didn’t release it, merely turned his attention to Adam and Myra, who’d walked up to them. Adam introduced Myra, and only when Jonas had to shake the alpha’s hand did he release his hold on Cindy.
“So, Jonas. You’re thinking about moving packs?” Adam asked. “You didn’t mention anything when I was in Mountain View.”
“Well, no, I wasn’t. My parents are thinking of leaving New York, though.
I met them here, wanted to introduce them to you, give them a chance to take a look around.
” He motioned to the older couple he’d come in with, in deep conversation with someone on the other side of the room.
“Where are you from, Cindy? Are you thinking of joining up with this lot, too?”
“Actually, I already have.”
“She’s our first official member. And my best friend,” Myra told him.
“New Mexico’s charms are growing on me,” Jonas said, his gaze on Cindy filled with a heat that she felt like a brand.
“Well. Okay then,” Adam said. “We’ll just go introduce ourselves to your parents.”
“I would love if we can get some elders to join,” Myra said. “A pack needs the right balance of experience and youth, wisdom and energy.”
Jonas nodded, but didn’t say anything. Didn’t take his eyes off Cindy.
“Maybe you’d like a tour of the house,” she suggested.
“Absolutely, if you’re the one giving it.”
She offered her hand, girlishly pleased when he took it without hesitation and followed her out of the room.
Jonas took the offered hand of the gorgeous wolf in front of him.
She turned and led the way out of the crowded room, down a hallway and into a room that was clearly being set up as a library.
He resisted the urge to tug on the hair that hovered a bit above her shoulders, sort through the strands that seemed to vary between rich brown and gold.
She was holding his hand, and that was going to have to be good enough… for now.
He’d never wanted to bury his nose in someone’s neck so soon after meeting them before.
Could she be his mate? If so, he was ready, willing and able, that was for sure.
Her bright blue eyes had called to him from across the room, and he’d waited until she’d detached herself from first one woman, then a pair of them, and had headed into the kitchen alone.
He’d made his move, only to be caught off guard with the punch-to-the-gut sensation when he was close to her.
And when he’d shaken her hand. And gotten a good whiff of her amazing scent.
Damn, if she wasn’t his mate, he still wanted her.
He listened to her explain how they were setting the room up to be a good place for kids to do schoolwork and young adults to take online courses if they wanted to learn a new skill.
It was fairly standard for a pack house, so he just nodded, letting her talk through her nerves.
He couldn’t deny he was feeling a bit of the butterflies as well.
Was this it? Was she the one?
He wanted to know, but found he was sort of enjoying the mystery.
“You guys have accomplished a lot in a short amount of time,” he complimented.
“It was a lot of work, but we thought it was important for people coming to the party to feel they’re being welcomed into a real pack house, not a temporary or transitory situation.”
“So you feel pretty sure this will be the permanent home? Alicante, I mean.”
“I think so. It’s early, I know, but it does feel right. It’s always possible we’ll need to move for some reason, but so far, we’re pleased.”
“It’s such an odd thing, starting a pack from scratch like this.” He leaned against the back of the couch, still holding her hand, but resisting further touch. For now.
“It really is. It’s kind of cool being involved from the beginning, I’m enjoying it.”
“It must feel good to have your opinion so valued by your alphas.”