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“I’m happy to meet a fellow Pack member, as I try to get to know everyone over time. Do I know you?” She couldn’t help asking as she caught a whiff of his scent and noticed an interesting combination that made her believe she’d smelled him before.

A wicked smile tilted the man’s mouth. “In a way. I’m Conan. Father to the Alpha.”

Morlie’s mouth dropped. “Oh, my word. I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know—”

Everyone else, backed away and gave them some space.

“It’s fine, Morlie.” He chuckled, low and textured with a light growl at the end as he held his palm out to her across the bar. “Do not fret, mate of my son. It’s alright. Chanin already communicated with his mother and me about us getting together for a meal and a run soon.”

The man had a calming presence and warm eyes—nothing like the fierce intensity of his mate and son. She lay her hands in his and accepted the comforting squeeze he gave when his strong fingers closed around hers, firm but not compressing.

Chanin looked nothing like his father in coloring or manners, but in build, they were the same now that she knew who she was seeing. The Alpha was uncannily tall and broad-shouldered, even by most Lupines' standard sleek frame and muscles.

“Your scent is familiar, and now I remember it from your wife, Rieka.”

“Oh, yes. I’m aware of your interaction.” He gave a slight shake of his head but the smile in his eyes didn’t fade. “She can be rather intense regarding her love and care of her family.”

Rather intense weren’t the words Morlie would have used, physically brutal were more like it.

“I understood her intent. For that I was grateful for her assistance, she helped build my level of confidence quickly .”

Conan chuckled. “She has that effect on those she cares about.”

“Well, she just met me. And how Chanin is perceived is important to Rieka. She’s his mother.

” Morlie shrugged. She figured Rieka cared that her son, the Alpha, wasn’t embarrassed by his mate before the pack.

Morlie wasn’t sure that the woman’s training and action had anything to do with her emotions toward Morlie specifically.

“Trust me when I say it, Morlie. My wife would never have taken time to begin your training if she didn’t sense something in you. She would have made the introduction and left. But she stayed.” He placed another hand on Morlie’s, blanketing her in warmth.

His supportive touch made her eyes burn a little, and when she blinked, there was dampness.

This man, so tall and imposing, reminded her of her father.

She’d thought about her parents off and on, but since she’d been so sick after their deaths, she never took time to process the pain associated with their absence.

However, in that moment with Conan, she missed the small, intimate moments with her father as a child.

Hearing the sincerity in his voice and seeing it etched across his face and the approval in his gaze, it squeezed around her heart.

In her silence, he continued, “When Rieka returned home, she was impressed and filled with many wonderful things she thought about you. If we could have chosen for our son, we would have chosen you.”

Her throat was swelled tight with emotions, and she struggled with the words as a single tear ran from her eyes.

There was a slight gasp a few feet away, but Morlie didn’t turn to see which of the women it had come from.

She placed her hand on the stack he had made with her other hand. It took her a few times to get the lump down and breathe. “Thank you, Conan. Your words mean a lot.”

“Believe in yourself and know you’ve got this.” After a firm nod and one final squeeze, he let her go. “I’ve rabbits to tend to while Wolcott is out.”

After a final glance at her and a brief wave to the others, he opened the door and returned to his work.

Morlie took a shuddering breath and rapidly blinked away the tear before turning to the group, now larger by one man and a caged rabbit.

Amira was wiping away the wetness streaming down her cheek.

“You ready?” asked Rudie, who had rounded the bar with Wolcott while Morlie had spoken to Chanin’s father.

“Yes. I’m ready.” She glanced at the rabbit and sniffed, her wolf’s stomach growled as the beast whined wanting the succulent snack.

Morlie preferred her rabbit cooked on a plate and hoped her small group would return to her house to start the fixings.

She hadn’t eaten since breakfast and she was starving.

They all left the bar.

“This is where I leave you all. A nap is calling my name. But I’ll make sure to get all the items you chose from the clothing storage to your house, Morlie. I’m sure you want to wear something nice for tonight,” Amira teased, rubbed her protruding belly.

“Maybe.“ Morlie shrugged but smiled as she continued in a different direction with the others.

Lovel hung back to kiss and speak with her mate before she jogged and caught up with them. Wolcott and Rudie led the group while Faolan held up the rear.

Morlie couldn’t help but observe the pair. They walked so close that the backs of Wolcott and Rudie’s hands brushed together. There was even a brief moment where she could have sworn their pinkies interlocked, but the tiny hold released the next instant.

Thirty minutes later, they were away from the noisy sounds of town and deep in the woods on the opposite side of the territory from her place.

So, no rabbit stew, got it. Morlie groaned.

“What are we doing here?” She glanced around and saw nothing but dense woods in every direction.

“We are going to do some training.” Rudie set her hands on her hips and faced Morlie.

“What kind of training?” Morlie folded her arms over her chest.

Wolcott stepped before her and held up the mesh cage with the rabbit. “How hungry are you?”

Morlie’s stomach answered loudly for her. “I had two slices of toast at Lovel’s house before we set out...with a promise that I’d be fed later. It’s way past noon, now.” She shot her friend a glare.

Lovel shrugged not appearing repentant at all.

“Great,” Wolcott cheered. “Then your wolf is more than ready to hunt.”

Morlie’s wolf’s piercing whine and scratching within was proof she agreed with the livestock manager.

“I don’t know the first thing about hunting.” Morlie glanced around at them and hoped someone would offer some training advice.

“You don’t have to. You’re Lupine, it's in your beast’s blood. Let it guide you.” Faolan, who, like always, found something to lean on in the background, was propped against a wide, tall tree as he scanned the land around them, as if searching for something of his own.

“That’s right.” Wolcott walked more than a few paces away, then set the cage down.

“Okay, so if I shift and catch the rabbit, can my wolf eat it?”

“No shifting. And you have to catch the rabbit first if you want to eat.” Wolcott unlatched the small door and pulled out the animal.

Morlie hadn’t realized how big the brown furball with tall ears was, and it was cute. She wasn’t sure if they caught it; she’d want to have it killed for eating.

Her beast growled at her.

Hey, I’m just as hungry as you are , Morlie yelled back.

“This training is about agility and acumen, Morlie. As shifters, we have to not only run as fast, track as fast, but outsmart our enemies as sure as our wolves can.”

“Okay.” Morlie lowered her arms and shook them out, trying to relax. “What if I can’t catch it? Then it’s gone.”

“Lovel and I will hold the perimeter, keep it blocked enough that if it gets away from you, one of us will snatch it up and we’ll begin again.”

Begin again . Tension pulled along Morlie’s spine. She would do her best to get the rabbit the first time.

“Alright,” Morlie set one foot back and leaned her weight forward balancing on the ball of her front foot. “I’m ready. Let it go.”

Wolcott held the rabbit tight in his hands, as the big feet of the animal pumped and kicked as if it sensed danger and was ready to flee.

“One thing about Black-tailed Jackrabbits, Morlie, is that they are the fastest and can outrun most predators.” He lowered the rabbit and opened his hands.

In an instant, there was nothing but a brown blur as the rabbit shot off.

“Good luck,” Wolcott called out.

“Shit!” Morlie took off running after it.

Left. Right. The rabbit had Morlie retracing her steps backwards, then forward, and then sprinting off in another direction again.

Morlie could be honest with herself that she thought it was within reach every time she had the rabbit in her sights. Even with Lovel and Wolcott helping her, her hands slapped together empty time, after time, again.

Yes, she could run much faster with her exceptional Lupine strength, but it took seven times for Lovel or Wolcott to step in and bring them back to the starting area.

Morlie had to admit she’d missed the jackrabbit the seventh time because a fleeting scent caught her attention in the forest. For a moment, she glanced away, trying to decipher what pulled at her senses, but it was gone, and so was the rabbit.

“Focus!” Rudie barked.

At the eighth start, Rudie told Morlie that she needed to stop depending on speed and sight, instead she needed to use her sense of smell and wits to anticipate the rabbit’s next move.

When she followed that logic, Morlie finally grasped the rabbit just enough by the soft black tail to grab one rabbit foot with her other hand.

“Yes! Yes!” Morlie held the rabbit over her head as she stumbled back toward the area where Rudie and Faolan stood over two miles away.

Lovel and Wolcott came up alongside her.

Wolcott took the rabbit from Morlie, locking it tight beneath one of his arms.

Even as the others praised her efforts, Morlie barely listened, because her body’s hunger shifted to second place after her fatigue.

She envied the pregnant wolf-shifter, Amira, who was home napping, because all Morlie could think about was climbing in bed and letting her weary body shut down for a bit.

“Great job, Morlie.” Rudie smiled when they got back.

Faolan was no longer at his perch, but was standing off, scanning the area with an intense scowl on his face and his wolfen ears set high on his head, listening.

She ignored him.

“Glad that’s over,” Morlie declared. Not waiting for the others, she turned back down the path that would take them to town.

“How exhausted are you?” Lovel inquired.

Morlie frowned, at what she thought was an insane question, they all may be used to pulling from their wolves' powers to accomplish something, but she certainly wasn’t. This run had taken every bit of her old and new abilities and strength.

Glancing over her shoulder, she expected to see that the others were not far behind.

However, Morlie paused when she noticed the trio hadn’t moved from the spot where Wolcott had the rabbit caged once again.

She shook her head, planning to leave them there. “Real tired. Can we get back to town, now?”

Lovel took two steps toward her.

Morlie almost smiled in relief until she heard her friend's words.

“Fight me.”

“What?” She couldn’t have heard her correctly. Morlie took a step towards Lovel.

“Should I hit you like Rieka to get your mind in the fight?”

In a flash, Morlie closed the distance and stood in her friend's face. “No one is slapping me, ever again.” The growl that came out of Morlie punctuated her statement with her beast’s agreement.

Lovel laughed as she stepped back and took up a fight stance. “Then fight me.”

“Didn’t we just discuss I was tired?”

Raising an eyebrow, Lovel met her gaze with a hard but compassionate expression. “Do you think for one moment that Minsi would care if you were drained. Hell, no. That’s exactly when she’d try and come after you. Catch you off guard.”

Minsi . Morlie didn’t look left or right, but at Faolan. Seeing how the man's gaze was locked at a single point in the dense woods.

A shiver ran along her spine at the memory of the whiff she’d caught while chasing the rabbit. The she-wolf had been somewhere, watching her.

There was no way the bitch was going to take her unprepared.

Without another word, Morlie took her position before Lovel and readied herself for the fight.

Two hours later, Morlie walked into the house, her legs as unsteady and weak as a new fawn.

She didn’t even attempt to stifle a yawn as she walked with one eye open toward the main bedroom.

She had bruises on her body, from Lovel’s fast, sure hands, but Morlie had blocked every one aimed at her face and struck out often on offense, connecting with Lovel's body in one place or another.

However, now, she was too worn out to keep more than one eye open.

The sound of Rudie entering behind her and shutting the door barely registered in her tired brain.

Morlie was so thankful when she finally saw the bed that she wasted zero time getting out of her sweaty, dirty clothes. She wanted to cry because she was so filthy she needed a shower and that meant it would be longer before she could crawl into the tempting sheets.

She stumbled into the bathroom and turned on the water.

Getting in, Morlie took the quickest shower ever, short of just walking through the water and back out. Soon she was out and towel dried, and because the water had awakened her just enough, she was able to focus both eyes on the bed this time.

As soon as she was beside the mattress, she dropped like lead.

At that moment, she wished she and Chanin were already claimed mates so she didn’t have to speak out loud to his assistant.

“Rudie,” she whispered, counting on the she-wolf’s keen hearing.

“What’s up?” she responded down the hall.

Morlie sighed. “Rudie, don’t wake me until the festivities start tonight. And you better have food in your hand. Or I will let my wolf bite it off.”

A chuckle echoed in the distance from within the house. “Will do. Get some rest.”

Morlie didn’t need that advice, as she dragged the blanket up her naked body and sank deeper into the mattress, her body was systematically shutting down.

Mate . The powerful and demanding voice in her mind was like a balm on a raw, deep wound. Soothing, but not healing at first contact.

Not now, Chanin . She settled deeper beneath the covers and slid the pillow over her head.

Are you alright, little rabbit? he demanded.

Morlie wasn’t sure if she answered him before sleep encased her in darkness.