Finding the Fire Within

by C. C. Masters

  James didn’t even grumble or complain, he just pulled out his phone and started texting. That was a little too easy; I was very suspicious of him now. I shooed James away from the counter space where he was standing, I needed that for my chocolate crème pie workstation.

  He wandered off, still texting, but took a seat at the counter. I shrugged to myself. I would wait until he was done getting the pack here before I tried to make him help me cook. He was probably just hanging around for cookies.

  James and I both worked in silence for some time. Our peaceful time together was interrupted when Reagan entered. James didn’t look up, but his nostrils flared. A part of me was annoyed, but another part of me realized that he probably could teach me more than just fighting. Identifying someone in a room by their scent while I was in my human form would be a useful skill to have. It was probably easier with Reagan since she seemed to have a preference for one scent of perfume that she sprayed on liberally.

  I wanted to get to the point where my wolf was just a part of me, not separate. All of the other guys used their senses instinctively; no one else had to practically meditate before they could do it.

  “James.” Reagan said in a demanding voice.

  He reluctantly turned to face her. “Reagan.” He said flatly.

  His lack of a response seemed to annoy her. “My husband sent someone to escort me home, I need my things brought downstairs.”

  He shrugged. “The twins are out on an errand, they will be back in an hour or so.”

  That just annoyed her further. I could see her clench her teeth. “You don’t look busy.”

  I kind of wanted to volunteer him just to be annoying, but he was helping me without complaint, so I resisted the urge. “I have him working on something for me right now, Reagan.” I told her. “Could the wolf from your pack get your bags for you when he gets here?”

  She huffed in annoyance. “I suppose. I would rather not linger here any longer than I have to. Some of the females have been acting up in my absence.”

  She took a seat at the counter and looked over the mess that I had made in the kitchen. “What are you doing?” She asked haughtily.

  “Making food for when the guys get back.” I told her vaguely. Even if I invited her to the party she wouldn’t want to come anyway.

  She just sniffed in distain. I had already heard her thoughts on me cooking for the pack, so I was ready for her to move on.

  There was an uncomfortable silence and I tried to focus on what I was doing and ignore her staring at me. I was surprised when she was the one to break the silence. “You’re lucky that you are the only female here.” She told me forlornly.

  I gave James a quick glance, but he had gone back to ignoring her. It looked like I was on my own to deal with whatever this was.

  “Why’s that?” I asked her curiously. I would like to think that if we did have females in the pack they would be friends with me just like the guys were.

  “Males just fight for dominance and then it’s over.” She stated. “With females, the power struggle is all about the petty barbs and snarky comments. It’s really exhausting.” She confessed.

  I looked at her dubiously. That sounded like the type of environment that she would excel in.

  “Plus, with females you always have to worry about defending your position with the pack-master.” She added with a sigh.

  “Huh,” I said in surprise. Was she confessing to me that she was worried about her mate cheating on her in her absence? I shifted uncomfortably. What was I supposed to say in this situation?

  She waved a hand to me, oblivious to my discomfort. “That’s nothing that you have to worry about now, but there will come a day when Austin’s attention shifts to someone younger and prettier than you.”

  “I doubt that.” James interjected, still working on his phone. I turned to him in surprise, I didn’t think he was even listening.

  James raised his head to look at Reagan. “Your wolf is at the gate.”

  She nodded. “Very well. I’m going out to meet him, but I will send him in for my luggage. Be a dear and make sure he collects it all and brings it out properly.” Reagan rose and glided out of the kitchen with her head held high.

  I felt a pang of pity for her. I couldn’t imagine living my life like that, being surrounded by vicious females and unable to trust my mate to have my back. Some of her behavior made more sense now. She probably had to become tough to deal with the other females in her pack constantly trying to bring her down from her place at the top. She was probably so acidic because she had gotten used to going on the offensive before anyone else could beat her to it.

  What would I be like if I had grown up in that environment? What would I be like if Austin let a group of females in the pack and I found myself in Reagan’s position? What if I had a mate and constantly had to worry about him putting me aside for a younger and more attractive female? Could I really blame Reagan without having to face the same struggles that she had?

  “You are nothing like her.” James assured me as if he could hear my thoughts. “And Austin will never allow females like that into the pack.”

  I smiled at him gratefully. Sometimes it was good to hear that spoken out loud.

  I gave him a spoonful of chocolate chip cookie dough as a thank you. And I didn’t even throw it at him.

  Chapter 13

  Anna

  The twins had come back with the ridiculous amount of meat that I had asked them to get. I had to really stuff the two fridges to get it all in there, but I had quickly learned that you really could not be over prepared when it came to feeding a pack of hungry wolves. I had sent the twins out to fire up the two grills that we had so we could start grilling as soon as Caleb and the guys got here.

  Our pack mates had already started to arrive, thanks to James. I put them all to work as they arrived. But I made sure I had cookies fresh out of the oven to keep them motivated. All the work of preparing for a welcome home party went a lot quicker when I had group of fifteen guys to help out.

  James had watched me hand out assignments to the guys quietly without saying a word. I didn’t miss when I few of them glanced at him for confirmation and waited for his nod of approval before agreeing to the assignment I gave them.

  I wondered if they would have agreed so readily if he wasn’t there? I shook off the little threads of doubt that went through my mind. This was the beginning of the new Anna. I needed to be confident if I wanted my pack to put their trust in me. I knew what I was doing, there was no reason for me to be projecting uncertainty.

  Hopefully, the guys were just looking to him because he was technically in charge. Once the pack got used to me being here, and in a position of leadership when it came to things that fell into my area of responsibility, I wouldn’t need any of the males to back me up.

  I opened the oven door to check on my brownies and the smell of chocolate wafted through the kitchen. Rich paused as he was walking by to take in the scent. I closed the door and he looked disappointed. I smiled at him, “I promise I’ll let you know when they’re ready.”

  He grinned back at me. “There’s nothing better than brownies fresh out of the oven.

  I laughed. “What about after they cool, and I frost them?”

  He frowned playfully. “Difficult choice, I’m probably going to need to sample both before I can get back to you on that.” He gave me a sly grin which made me laugh.

  His eyes glazed over, and I could tell he was using the pack bond. “They are at the gate.” He told me cheerfully.

  I bounced a little bit. I wanted to run out there to meet them, but these brownies would be done in about two minutes and I didn’t want them to burn. I sighed, it would probably take them about two minutes to come up the driveway, park, and come up to the house anyway.

  “Do the rest of the guys already know?” I asked, trying to keep the little bit of jealousy out of my voice.

  “Nah, that was just Trevor giving me orders. I told him I w
as already under orders from the prettiest wolf in the pack.”

  I blushed. “I would be flattered if I wasn’t the only female in the pack.”

  He chuckled. “I’ll go gather up the rest of the pack that’s here so we can give them a hero’s welcome.”

  I smiled at him in thanks. After he left I stared at the clock, this was seriously the slowest two minutes in the history of the universe. The scent of chocolate had filled the kitchen and if the guys hadn’t been heading up to the front door now, I would probably have indulged in a couple bites myself.

  Finally, the timer went off and I pulled the pans of brownies out of the hot oven. I carefully set them down to cool before heading to the front door to meet the guys. My two puppies happily bounded after me and followed me outside when I held the door open for them. Trevor had just parked the SUV and Caleb was opening his door to step out.

  I pounced on him as soon as he was free of the car. He took a step back to get his balance and wrapped his arms around me in surprise. I didn’t usually pounce on people unless I was in my wolf form, but this was a special occasion.

  I gave him a tight hug and inhaled his scent. “I’m glad you’re okay.” I murmured to him. “I was so worried.” He pressed his face into my hair and inhaled deeply. My heart rate sped up a little as he squeezed me tight. This felt like more than a hug from a friend, I pulled back a little. What was I thinking? Caleb didn’t like me like that.

  “You smell like chocolate.” He chuckled.

  “Where’s my hug?” Cody interrupted as he came around the side of the vehicle.

  I grinned at him. “Thanks for keeping him safe for us.” I told him as I released Caleb. I held my arms out to Cody and he wrapped me up in a giant bear hug, my feet lifting off the ground as he held me close.

  “Hey now,” Austin teased. “I thought we were trying to teach you that the pack-master always gets the first of everything.”

  Cody laughed and set me down, stepping away.

  “What if I told you that I saved the best for last?” I teased him.

  “I guess that’s acceptable,” he jokingly grumbled at me as he gathered me up in his arms. I relaxed in his embrace and gave a peaceful sigh. This was everything that I could ever want, all of my guys were here with me and safe.

  He let me go and I smiled at the sight of Caleb greeting the puppies who were happily dancing at his feet for attention. Caleb was trying to pet them both at the same time as they tried their best to lick his face.

  “We have a surprise for you!” I told the group enthusiastically.

  Austin smiled at me indulgently. I knew James would have already told him what was going on, but I appreciated him letting me have my moment of joy. I was really proud of the way our pack celebration was coming together.

  “Most of the pack is on their way over to celebrate your triumphant return.” I told Caleb proudly.

  “And we have already started grilling,” I directed to Cody.

  That got a huge grin from Cody. “What are we having? Burgers? Steaks? Ribs?”

  “Yes, yes, and yes.” I told him with a smile. “We have some of everything since the whole pack might be here throughout the day and night.”

  “Alright!” Cody said enthusiastically. “I had better go supervise the grilling process if you put the twins on that.” He headed to the back and Austin grinned at me.

  “Thanks for organizing all of this, Anna. I think that some team spirit is exactly what this pack needs right now.” Austin gave me a warm smile and leaned closer. “I really appreciate you taking the initiative to bring the pack here tonight. I think we need a female around to make us come together as a family more often.” He held out his arm for me and we started to walk back to the house. Trevor had already gone inside while I had been hugging everyone.

  Trevor really didn’t look like the hugging type with the whole Viking warrior look he had going on, so that didn’t surprise me. Honestly, I would have been uncomfortable giving him a hug. I was just starting to be comfortable with the six guys who lived here, it was a little too soon for me to extend that to anyone outside my inner circle.

  “Where are Mike and Davis?” I asked Austin worriedly. “Weren’t they with you?”

  He smiled at me. “They followed in a second vehicle and had to stop for gas. They should be right behind us.”

  Sure enough, I saw the vehicle pulling up the driveway as we went inside. I gave them a wave before I led Austin and Caleb into the house.

  “How have the pups been doing with all the extra people in the house?” Caleb asked.

  “Oh, they were beyond excited when people started coming in.” I told him. “They have been greeting everyone but staying close to me.”

  Austin frowned. “No one has been giving them a hard time, right?”

  “Nope.” I said happily. I had gotten quite a few strange looks, but Caleb had already warned me that it was not normal for a wolf to have pet dogs. Caleb had just given me a rueful shake of the head and a grin when I informed him they were more like children than pets. Luckily, my pups were super friendly and cute, so they would quickly win over any doubters.

  A cheer went up in the dining area when we walked in. Austin let go of my arm with a pat so that he could greet all of his pack members. Caleb was getting slaps on the back and shoulder bumps from everyone. I could see grins all around. It warmed my heart to see the camaraderie all around us; it put a goofy smile on my face.

  I let the guys have their moment and went back to the kitchen to finish preparing our feast. Cody and the twins should have the first batch of meat on the grill now, so I decided to bring some serving dishes out to them to place it on. The puppies had abandoned Caleb to follow me outside.

  They ran ahead of me to surround Jason and he leaned down to give them both a pat on the head. “How’s it going out here?” I asked Mason.

  He rolled his eyes and gestured to Cody, who had one of the grills open and was carefully inspecting the cooking meat. “Someone’s grading our work as we speak.” He reached to take the serving dishes from me and place them on a nearby table.

  “You didn’t bring us any cookies?” Jason pouted.

  “My last batch was cleaned out just as quickly as I could take them out of the oven.” I laughed. “You would think that this pack had never seen a cookie before.”

  The twins both laughed. “Is it okay if the pups stay out here with you guys for a little bit?” I asked. “I don’t want them to get underfoot since everyone is crowded inside.”

  “I think we would need a much larger pack before that monstrous house got crowded.” Jason laughed. “But yeah, toss out some of their toys when you go in.”

  “Okay. I’m going to set up the dining table inside as a buffet, so bring some of the meat in when it’s done.” I instructed them.

  Jason gave me a mock salute, but Mason just grinned at me.

  I headed back inside to see that even more of the pack had arrived. Now that the greetings were winding down I could see some of them looking around hungrily for the food that had been promised. I smiled to myself but started giving the guys instructions, so we could get the buffet set up. Austin didn’t object to me ordering the pack around, he just nodded with approval.

  The afternoon went by fast. The twins had some of the other guys take over their grilling responsibilities, so they could set up some outdoor games. We also had a bunch of the pack members at the pool table and scattered through the house at the bar and in the garage.

  Austin’s grin never faded as he moved from group to group, spending a little bit of time with everyone in the pack. By the evening everyone had eaten their fill and I had already gotten the guys to clean up the kitchen and dining area. I left some snacks out for the guys to enjoy along with their beer and went in search of Caleb with the chocolate crème pie that I had hidden in the back of the fridge.

  Caleb had disappeared after a couple hours and I didn’t blame him after the ordeal he had just done through. While I
’m sure that he appreciated the show of support, he was not really comfortable hanging out in large crowds of people. The two pups followed me up to his room and I gave my secret knock before going in.

  “Hey, Anna.” Caleb stood up from where he had been laying on his bed with his iPad. I gave him a wave, so he would sit back down and plopped on his bed. He settled back down and gave each of the pups an affectionate pat before they settled down in exhaustion.

  He grinned at me. “They look tired out.”

  I smiled. “They have been playing for hours. A lot of the guys warmed up to them after a while.”

  I sat down with the crème pie between us and handed him a fork before I yawned. “It looks like they are not the only ones tired out.” Caleb teased me.

  “I’m exhausted.” I confessed. “I’m planning on going to bed early tonight, even if that makes me a party-pooper.”

  “That’s fine with me,” Caleb murmured. “This pie looks amazing!” He told me with a huge grin.

  “Try it.” I encouraged him.

  He took a bite and gave me a grin. “Perfect.” He murmured. We both dug into the pie with our forks, enjoying the chocolate and the whipped crème. I have to admit, it was pretty good.

  “Stay here with me tonight.” Caleb blurted out after a couple minutes of eating in silence.

  I looked at him in surprise and he blushed. “I just meant that it would make me feel better to have you close by after everything that happened…”

  I smiled at him. “Of course.” I could completely understand his desire not to be alone right now. If I had been put on trial and almost condemned to death I would not want to be left alone either.

  I yawned again and set down my fork before I snuggled into his pillow. I could probably just rest here for a couple of minutes until I had to get up and get ready for bed.

  “Can I ask you something?” Caleb said hesitantly.

  “Yeah.” I answered in the middle of a yawn.

  “Austin mentioned that he found the twins with you… in the morning.” He said cautiously.