36 Name

Jason

I showed Andrea and her mate around the territory. It wasn’t much yet, the setup was rudimentary with many of the pack members living in temporary shelters. No one complained. The former rogues who joined my pack tended to be the ones who were more stable and therefore better capable of adjusting to pack life, but they had still been shaped by their years as unattached rogues. Unlike my mate who had managed to build a life for herself in human society, many didn’t have the control and ability to risk passing among the humans, so once they were thrown from their packs they had little choice but to make do in the wilds. As depressing as it sounded, trailers, campers, or even tents in a decently secure permanent location was an upgrade for many of them.

Carrie’s life amongst the humans was just another sign of how amazing my gorgeous mate was, not that I didn’t have plenty of reasons to think that besides. More and more I appreciated how she had this way of organizing things to make them run smoothly that I hadn’t even known was needed before I met her. I didn’t like clutter in my life so I wasn’t messy, but she could take a complicated mess and streamline it like nothing else. It was yet another reason I was glad that I hadn’t completely chased her off.

My thoughts kept straying to her even as I showed Andrea and Trevor around our territory.

Rather than focusing on what was currently there which wasn’t all that much, I spoke of our plans for the future. “This is the foundation for the pack house and we’re hoping to really get working on it in the next couple of weeks, assuming everything stays on schedule at our main jobsite. Ideally, we’ll get everyone in there before the weather cools off again. At least those who want to be. My pack members can be pretty stubborn.”

Trevor was far more interested in the nuts and bolts of the territory than his mate. Andrea wandered a short distance away and started talking to Krystal about something related to her children and Rosella. Her father would be at peace to know that his daughter had survived and seemed to be prospering in spite of the massacre.

“This really sounds like an interesting challenge,” he agreed.

“It is, but since my luna’s gotten here, everything seems possible.”

“Well, mates, you know? But she balances me out.”

It did tend to be true. He seemed to be calm consideration to Andrea’s reckless enthusiasm, and they seemed happy together. He’d been as annoyed as Carrie had when Andrea had hugged me, but he’d relaxed since. It would be a surprise if it was the first time she’d innocently made him jealous with her physically expressive nature. I wasn’t complaining, I enjoyed that glimpse of the territorial side of Carrie.

My wolf was even more pleased when we met up for lunch in the pack dining hall. Like everything else in the territory, it was small and unfinished, although it at least had walls and roof, which was better than most of the other planned buildings. We had plans to expand to a larger one once we were more established and the need for space grew. At the moment, it was almost empty with a significant proportion of our wolves off at the job site.

I gave Carrie a very subpar chaste kiss since we had an audience, since she gave me shit when I got too into it when other people were around. I sat beside her, not letting my hands wander further than her leg. Andrea and her mate sat across from us. Andrea began pelting Carrie with questions about the pack and luna duties and talking about their own pack, and even a bit about Glenhaven, while Trevor and I largely listened to our ladies interact. Carrie gradually warmed up to my former pack mate. The best part was hearing her take on the pack, and it made my wolf swell with pride at her attachment to the territory. The mate who had once tried to reject me clearly wasn’t going anywhere willingly now.

Which was good, because I was attached enough to hunt her down if she tried. Guess I wasn’t that much different than the born alphas after all.

“Ah, starting a pack seems like so much work,” Andrea said, slightly more dramatic than would be strictly necessary. “I don’t know how you manage to be luna on top of it all.”

Carrie shrugged slightly. “Someone’s got to do it. You just learn how, over time.”

It was time to put my two cents in and rack up some bonus points with my mate. “She’s too modest. Having her here has already made life better for everyone, and me most of all.”

“You don’t have to say that,” she said, waving me off. It was almost funny how bad she could be at taking compliments when she was so self-assured the rest of the time.

I shrugged. “It’s true.”

“Thanks,” she said begrudgingly.

Andrea’s smile widened. “I swear the two of you are just the cutest thing. Well, besides my babies.”

“I’m sure your babies are far cuter,” Carrie was quick to deflect. She was lucky she quickly continued, because by the gleam in Andrea’s eye I could tell the cell phone with all the pictures was about to come out. “Anyway, it was good talking to you, but I’ve got more work to do. There’s a pile of paperwork with my name on it, and more research to get done before we stand before the assembly. And there’s less than a month left.”

“Need my help?” I asked into her mind.

“No, but thanks.” She smiled at me. “You can enjoy time with your old pack mate.”

“Well, at least let me walk you over.” I’d been forced to be away from her so much lately, and today was supposed to be different. I wasn’t complaining about the visit from an old friend, but...

“I’ll see you all at supper.” She got up and dropped her tray off on the stack.

“I’ll be right back,” I told them as I got up and followed her. They didn’t mind, but instead exchanged knowing glances.

Carrie walked in the direction of the trailer that served as a temporary office for pack and business work. I took her hand, appreciating how delicate her fingers were compared to mine. She seemed so much more breakable than me on the surface, but deep down she was seriously tough.

“You know, we really need to settle on a name for the pack, Jason. It’ll give everyone something to rally behind.” She was right, but it wasn’t that easy.

“We’ve been trying, haven’t we?” Nothing had fit so far.

She nodded. “Actually, Andrea got me thinking. What if we called it something related to your old pack?”

“Glenhaven?”

“Exactly. I mean, this is sort of the regrowth of your old pack in a way, isn’t it? Like if a tree falls down, but you plant one of its branches and it grows into a new tree.”

“That’s not a bad idea, babe.”

She smiled. “It was just a thought. I’m also tired of putting TBD in the spots for pack name on all the forms. Having a name will make us look more well established and less indecisive.”

I chuckled at that. “Well, if it will make your life easier... Glenborough? Glenclaw? Woodhaven? Greenhaven?”

She wrinkled her nose at the last suggestion. “I don’t think my old pack needs to be involved at all. Ew.”

The walk hadn’t been nearly long enough, and she climbed up a stair and turned to kiss me. I stepped closer, wanting more connection before another miserable period away from her. My wolf was way too dependent on her now, but what could I do? It was wound up in our natures, and it came with a lot of excellent sex, so I wasn’t going to complain. I threw out a few more suggestions to buy myself more seconds before she’d kick me away. “Glenmoon? Moonglen? Glenshade? Glenshadow?”

“I actually like those last couple.”

“We’ll see what the pack thinks then.”

She nodded. “Alright, I’ve got work to do. And you’ve got visitors to entertain. Off you go. I’ll see you for supper.”

My wolf complained, but I smiled as I did what she had told me to do.