Page 99 of What a Wolf Wants
Ethan smiled. “Just what I wanted to hear.” He grabbed Charlene’s and his bags, and they headed to the pack leaders’ ranch.
It was time to have a celebration of becoming mated wolves and joining the wolf pack and to celebrate the capture of so many of the bad guys. Then work on having their own family in the most pleasurable way possible.
Chapter 29
The celebration at the pack leaders’ ranch turned out beautifully. A feast of trout, hot dogs, grilled burgers, fresh fruits, potato salad, and corn on the cob was laid out on tables. Music was playing in the background. The kids in the pack were playing ribbon tag, ring toss, and just plain chase.
Everyone was welcoming to Charlene and Noah to the pack, and congratulations were given in abundance for Ethan and Charlene’s mating.
“Do you think Kroner will come here?” Charlene asked.
“None of us saw any sign of anyone following us to the ranch,” Brad told Ethan and Charlene.
Janice squeezed Brad’s hand. “My mate has to be at the heart of the excitement whenever he can be. He was thrilled to help you all out. That’s his Navy SEAL training coming to play.”
“We were glad he was there for me,” Charlene said.
Maverick said, “We were all watching for any sign of anyone following us all the way to the ranch, but we figured if Kroner was watching the house, he would have waited until Ethan and Charlene were alone.”
Maverick’s mate, Gina, snuggled up to him. “I’m just glad you all were okay. When Maverick told me he was assisting you with this case, I was relieved he was helping to take care of Charlene.”
Josh’s mate, Brooke, said, “At least Maverick stayed with Charlene and didn’t run off with Noah and Ethan to try and take down a bunch of the wanted men.”
“Right, then Maverick was taking down one of Ethan’s fellow agents,” Gina said, shaking her head.
Sierra reached over the table and patted Charlene’s arm. “I’m thankful you were safe. When Adam told me he and Tori were serving in protection mode, I was sweating it out. I know they’re good at their jobs, but they were going after quite a lot of bad guys.”
Tori said, “You know I always watch out for Adam.”
Adam laughed. “Yeah, she does.”
“I’m glad for it,” Sierra said.
Leidolf and Cassie joined them at the table. “We have men watching the gate to the acreage and security videos out there. Usually, whoever is on guard duty won’t let anyone on the property without checking them out and making sure they’re wolves, but in this case, they’ll let Kroner onto the property and warn us he’s on his way. That way we have him for trespassing and you can arrest him for all the myriad of crimes he has committed.”
Charlene glanced at the children who were playing and hoped they didn’t get into any trouble if Kroner came in shooting. Though she couldn’t imagine him doing that in front of tons of witnesses. Trying to follow them home would probably be a better bet, but they were staying here overnight with Leidolf and Cassie.
Unless, of course, Kroner waited for them at their home. But her security cameras were working, and she and Ethanwere both monitoring them from time to time to make sure no one entered the house.
“What if Kroner did come onto the property and we were removing our clothes and shifting into wolves to go running?” Charlene asked.
“We’ll change at Leidolf and Cassie’s ranch house,” Ethan said.
“Yes, exactly,” Cassie said. “We’ll run out the wolf door and head to the woods. We’ll have fun.”
Charlene couldn’t wait. “Well, if everyone’s done eating, I would love to run as a wolf.”
“Yeah, I’m ready,” Cassie said.
Charlene couldn’t believe she would be running with not only her mate, but also a large wolf pack. After losing her family, she hadn’t expected to have a mate and a whole pack of wolves who treated her like family. Coming here to reconnect with her fond memories of her vacations here with her grandfather had opened up a whole new world for her.
She realized Noah hadn’t sat with them at their table while they were eating. She smiled when she saw he was busy talking to three different she-wolves.
Ethan followed her gaze and smiled. “Looks like Noah’s glad to be part of the pack.”
“Yeah, and he’s getting a nice welcome.”
Then Ethan took her hand and everyone who wanted to run headed into the homes on the ranch to remove their clothes and shift, then raced out wolf doors and began running, spreading out, barking, while a few stopped to howl.
