The Woodland Packs

“Can you give us a hint about what to look for with our mate, since it appears we all need to be on the hunt for a human now.”

Ah. They wanted their own mates. Of course, they did. I was nothing to them beyond a source of information.

Some of my internal fears relaxed. These men didn’t want me, I just represented what they were looking for.

“Well, for one thing, I wouldn’t use the word hunt when you’re talking to a potential human mate.” I grinned at him to let him know I was joking and he smiled back. “But to be honest, I’m not sure what to tell you. Did Dexter mention the fainting thing?”

Grayson nodded. “Yes. But I was wondering if you had an idea before that. When you first saw them. Something I can look for in my mate, because I’ve met human women before and no one has ever fainted at my touch.”

I assessed the big hunk and made some conclusions—fair or not, I wasn’t sure.

“Maybe that’s because your mate has a brain, like me, and you’ve been picking up tiny blondes with more boobs than anything else?”

A grin stretched across Grayson’s face, a cheeky light entering his eyes.

“They weren’t all blonde.”

Some of his pack mates laughed and then tension in the whole group began to ease.

“Look, I honestly don’t know what to tell you. I’m a doctor who has barely dated in a decade. Maybe your mates are the same? Women who work too much and never get out, not to the places you’d go, anyway.”

“Then how am I meant to find her??

?

I couldn’t believe I was going to say it, but there was no other answer.

“Fate. You have to trust that you’ll stumble across her when the time is right. But I wouldn’t be avoiding going to town during the day. If you guys can start going in more often, you’d have much a better chance of meeting the right one.”

The men looked amongst themselves and nodded in agreement.

“Any other tips?” One of the other guys asked, and by his lesser size I’d guess he was one of the Omegas.

“Well, I will tell you that I knew there was something special about Dexter the moment I saw him. My heart was pounding and I could barely breathe. I’ve never had a response like that to any man before and I’m sure your mates will feel the same.”

They thanked me and headed off. Dexter pulled me into the circle of his arms and kissed the top of my head.

“Thanks for that, Claire.”

“Oh, no problem. Happy to help.” And I was. Why I was, I had no idea. I didn’t belong here, and I certainly didn’t know if I was going to stay.

But at the moment, I was going with the flow.

“Let’s go to the woods to watch them shift and run,” Mary said, holding her hand out to me.

I pushed out of Dexter’s embrace and linked arms with his mother, a small amount of terror weaving through my blood.

“Okay. Sure.”

We walked around the back of their house towards where I guessed their shifting area was. The whole town was cut into the woods in a natural way. Very little clearing had been done for the houses, which looked great.

Another older woman walked on my other side. She had long brown hair pulled up into a ponytail, with streaks of grey lightening her temples.

“I’m Sue. Taylor’s mom.” She introduced herself with a bright smile.

“Hi. It’s nice to meet you.”

We continued walking and my mind balked at the weirdness of the situation. If this was a traditional type of relationship, I’d have three mothers-in-law. How strange would that be?