“Can I try one of those?” Mom asked from where she sat in a heated chair on the other side of the cooler.
“Be a shame if you didn’t,” Nory assured her.
Mom had been quiet most of the night, but she smiled a lot. This was probably just overwhelming. That or she was worried dad would snap on one of Dodger’s Pack members.
Even now, Dad was standing off to the side, talking low to Liam, Dodger’s Alpha.
Dodger’s attention drifted from his Alpha to Destiny, and in the halo of glowing firelight, he smiled as he met her eyes. God, he was so handsome in his element. That man was made for the outdoors.
She’d been having trouble taking her eyes off him tonight with the snowy-pine-tree-back-drop of the forest behind him.
Mom grabbed the strawberry margarita out of the cooler and popped the top. “I figure if my husband is going to fight, he would’ve done it already. I can relax, right ladies?”
“Absolutely,” Delta assured her. “Even if they did end up fighting, I don’t think they would kill each other. I don’t feel any bad vibes here.”
“Phew,” Mom said with a nervous laugh. “I’ll be honest, I haven’t been around werewolves other than my husband in over twenty-five years. Other than an occasional visit by the Elders, but Behren doesn’t let me talk to them. I was a little nervous coming up here tonight, but this is good,” she said, looking around. “You all are building something solid here.”
“I know who your husband is,” Delta said. “Probably every one of those boys has heard of him too, even if they haven’t put it together yet.”
Mom gave a shy smile. “To me, he’s just Behren.”
“And to me, he’s Dad,” Destiny said.
“How are you not a werewolf?” Delta asked. “If either parent is a werewolf, the offspring will be too.”
“Oh, he’s my stepdad, but he’s the dad I’ve known. It’s just easier to say he’s my dad. It’s what he feels like to me.”
“You should’ve seen him when he figured out Destiny was going after a werewolf,” Mom said. “I thought he would tear up our entire garage.”
“Oh gosh,” Nory said. “I couldn’t even imagine Liam raising a little girl. Those protective instincts are overwhelming.”
“What’s up, sluts?” Vic said, returning from his walk across the clearing. He had a six pack of beer in his hand.
“That’s rude!” Nory griped. “We have guests.”
Vic walked backward, holding his hands out in surrender. “It’s a term of endearment.”
“I’m sorry,” Delta said, shaking her head. “He was raised in a barn.”
“Barn-dominium,” Vic corrected her over his shoulder.
“Hey, can I have one of those?” Nory asked.
“One of what?” Vic asked, standing splay legged with the cardboard beer box dangling from his hand.
“A beer?”
“Oh, this isn’t beer.” He reached into the top of the box and pulled out what looked suspiciously like a hamster. “This is earl’s travel cage.”
“Oh my gosh,” Nory exclaimed. “Why do you have your hamster out here? He is going to freeze.”
“That’s why I made him a sweater,” Vic said, looking at Nory like she was dumb.
Indeed, the little hamster had a tiny knitted green sweater on its body as it scurried around in Vic’s hand.
“Dude, you better not have brought my hamster out here,” Tabian called from where he stood near the back of the truck.
“I made him a sweater too!” Vic barked. He put Earl the hamster back into the box and pulled out a darker one with a blue sweater.
