In The Pack

Chapter 4

"Thank you, Layla," Ian said on the way up the stairs. "Thank you for giving me a chance."

"No problem," I replied with a smile. "Your pack was unreasonable when they kicked you out. Who did they set you up with?"

He grimaced. "The alpha's daughter."

I laughed. "You rejected the alpha's daughter, huh? Well they should have realized she wasn't the girl for you."

"He didn't."

"His loss," I chimed. "I think you'll like this pack. We know how to have fun," I said with a grin.

He laughed, a rich, deep sound. "So who was the other person Jason adopted into the pack?"

I glanced at him over my shoulder as I opened the door to a guest room. "Me."

He was shocked. "You? But you're the alpha's daughter!"

I smiled at his shock. "I'm the alpha's adopted daughter," I clarified.

"Wow. How old were you when he took you in?" he asked.

"I was five. I'd been living with the wolf pack since I was three. I didn't know what I was or that there were others like me. Lee found me in the woods and brought me here. Alice can't conceive, so she and Jason took me in as their own."

"Now that is one amazing story," he told me. "And it explains a lot about what happened in the woods today."

I smiled gently. "I know that was probably confusing for you. Nate is probably ecstatic that he got to see it and I know Lee is kicking himself for missing it," I joked.

He nodded in agreement.

"So what do you think?" I asked, gesturing around the room.

He looked around and said, "I like it."

I smiled again. "Good. This will be your room then. Mine's across the hall and Jason and Alice are at the end."

"Does anyone else live here?" Ian asked.

"Not on a regular basis, but Jason makes sure the pack knows that they're all welcome to stay if they need or want to."

He nodded. "That makes sense."

I agreed. "The bathroom is through that door over there," I said, gesturing, "and the closet is the other door. Let's head back downstairs and I'll properly introduce you to my friends."

I led the way back downstairs and to the living room. Lee, Nate and Xena were sitting around in robes, waiting for me to bring them news. They all sat up straighter when I walked into the room with Ian.

"Alright guys. Ian has been accepted into the pack and will be staying upstairs. Ian, this is Xena, Nate and Lee."

They greeted Ian with welcoming smiles and all took turns shaking his hand. "Welcome to the pack!" they chorused.

Ian smiled back at them. "Thanks everyone."

Alice breezed into the room. "Welcome to the pack, Ian!" she told him, pulling him in for a hug. "Why don't you guys go out for another run and show Ian around?"

"Yeah!" chimed in Lee. "And introduce us to the wolf pack while you're at it? It's not fair that Nate got to see you with them and not Xena and I!"

"I gotta agree with Lee," Xena added. "It just isn't fair."

Alice laughed at their pleading expressions.

I shook my head. "Not a chance."

"Oh, come on!" Lee complained.

"Yeah, you can't show favoritism amongst your friends, Layla!" Xena pleaded.

Ian grinned at their begging. "You guys missed a pretty spectacular scene."

Lee groaned. "You just have to, Layla! Now even the new guy has seen it!"

"No I don't," I replied, standing firm. "They don't like werewolves and you guys know it."

Xena sighed, flopping back against the couch. "Give it up, Lee. We've been trying for years. It's not gonna happen."

"You couldn't talk to them anyway," Nate commented. "They have their own language."

"It is SO unfair that you know that!" Lee cried. "You couldn't have howled for back up so we could be there too?"

Nate laughed and slapped him on the back. "Sorry, man."

"It doesn't matter right now anyway," Xena said. "We're going to be late for training if we don't go now."

The three of them rushed off. Dylan was heartless during training if you're late. Today was my day off though, so I didn't follow them.

Dylan only trains us four. We all get Sundays off and all four of us train together of Fridays and Saturdays. Then we all have one more day off. I get Mondays, Xena gets Tuesdays, Lee gets Wednesdays, and Nate gets Thursdays.

"Well it looks like it's just me and you, Ian. What do you want to do?" I asked him.

"That run still sounds good. How about that?" he asked.

I smiled. "I was hoping you would say that. You interrupted our run earlier," I joked. "Follow me."

I led the way outside and to the meeting place Xena, the guys and I use. "There aren't any packs close by. The subdivision and the town are strictly our territory. The woods we share with the wolf pack but no other werewolf pack has a claim to the woods."

"That's a large territory," he commented.

I nodded. "Let's get to exploring it, shall we?"

He grinned. "Let's."

We spent three hours in the woods. We ran, we relaxed by the river, we wrestled and played tag. I had the best time ever. Ian was fun and playful and I was starting to really like him. And if the way he was acting was any indication, the feeling was mutual.

When we shifted back and put on our robes, he said, "I had a great time. Thank you, Layla." He took my hand as he said it.

I don't know what happened when he took my hand, only that from the moment he touched me, things began to darken and then everything went black. When I opened my eyes again, I was laying on the ground, still holding hands with Ian who was right beside me on the ground. I looked over at him. His eyelids began to flutter, so he must be waking up.

I was confused. Really confused. No, wait, I was double confused. Part of the emotion I was feeling wasn't mine. I was feeling my confusion, but also-Ian's? We sat up and looked at each other.

"What's happening?" Ian asked, almost to himself.

"I don't know," I responded.

He looked over at me with wide eyes. "Layla, I didn't ask that question out loud."

For a second, I didn't understand what he was saying. Then it hit me-he'd thought that, not said it. But how was that possible?

Ian nodded in answer to my thoughts.

To test it, I thought, we can read each other's mind?

Ian nodded in answer to my thoughts. "It appears that we can," he said quietly.

We sat there quietly, staring into each other's eyes and feeling the other's emotions. "So, now what?" Ian asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I don't know. I think we should take a few days to get used to this and then ask Jason about it. See if he knows anything."

"Yeah, that sounds good," he said. When I moved to stand, he took my hand to stop me. "Look, Layla. I know this is strange, what's happening, and I know we haven't known each other long, but I like you and I'd really like to get to know you better."

I could feel his sincerity in his thoughts and I smiled happily. "I'd like that too. Let's get back to the house, find some snacks since we probably missed dinner and put in a movie."