Chapter Seven

"Here's your last box," Kyle said as he hauled the box into Jennifer's room.

"I'm glad it's over," she said as he flopped onto her new bed. It was already made with her favorite blanket thrown on top. Their mom had knit it, and it made the room look like Jennifer belonged in it.

Kyle looked around. The room was nice, maybe even nicer than the one she'd had in their house in pack territory. That house had belonged to their family, but this one didn't.

They were moving into the pride house. Kyle and his family had talked, and it felt like the best thing to do. That way they wouldn't have to look for a house to rent, especially when Christopher and Jennifer might eventually decide they wanted to live on their own. They were young, but they were adults, and they could make that kind of decision, even though it terrified Kyle.

They'd always be Kyle's baby siblings, especially Jennifer. Christopher was older than her by several years, so Kyle had been younger when he'd been born, but he was old enough to be Jennifer's father if he'd had a kid as a teenager. He'd taken care of her a lot growing up. Back at the pack, he used to spend most of his time with his family, since the pack had never accepted him.

But it was time to let go.

Jennifer was a young woman now, and she was ready to spread her wings. She'd become instant best friends with Dennis's sister, and the two of them were always getting into trouble. Kyle couldn't complain about that. He'd wanted his sister to find a place where she could belong, and she had.

She was having much less trouble than the rest of their family to settle in. Between her friendship with Dennis's sister and her youth, it felt like she'd always lived here. Christopher, on the other hand, was still wary of the pride and kept everyone at a distance except for his family. He accepted help when he needed it, and he was moving into one of the rooms, too, but Kyle wouldn't be surprised if he eventually decided to move out. It would take him time to trust the pride, but hopefully, he would eventually.

"Everything all right in here?" Grandpa asked as he knocked on the open door of the bedroom.

Jennifer beamed at him. "It was the last box, so I'm all moved in."

Grandpa's smile was gentle. "That's good."

"What about you?" Kyle asked. "Do you need any more help?"

"I've had plenty, so don't worry. I'll unpack later. Where are your brother and your mate?"

"Christopher's grabbing more stuff from the car, but I don't know about Dennis. I'm sure he'll find me."

He'd taken a day off from the bakery to help Kyle and his family move in, so Kyle knew he had to be around here somewhere. Probably in the kitchen. Dennis seemed to love his time there more than Kyle would have expected considering he spent most of his days at the bakery. Dennis had mentioned something about not being allowed to cook and bake in the pride house kitchen until recently, which was confusing, but it was probably the reason he kept on baking and cooking stuff for the pride.

It would take some time to get used to. When they'd lived with the pack, they'd had their own home, and they didn't have to deal with most pack members on a regular basis. They'd met for pack runs, but even there, everyone gave Kyle a wide berth. Sometimes he'd wondered if it was because he was a tiger shifter or because they thought he might tear them down as they ran. His tiger form was almost twice as big as the wolves, so of course they'd be afraid. If they'd known Kyle, though, they'd have known he would never hurt them.

That was never what Kyle wanted. All of his life, he'd dreamed of being a true member of the pack and being happy. That dream had been broken after Alpha Davis had kicked him out, and he'd thought he would never have all of that. He couldn't have known that leaving the pack would only be the first step toward his new life.

A life he desperately wanted now.

"If you don't need anything else, I'll go back to get my stuff," he told Jennifer.

She waved him away, her gaze firmly on her phone. He wouldn't get anything else out of her, so he left her to it.

His grandfather followed him into the hallway. Grandpa was always checking in on Kyle, which was sweet but unnecessary. Kyle knew it would be useless to point that out, though. Grandpa viewed himself as the only parent Kyle and his siblings still had, and in a way, he was. Kyle had lost his mother, and he'd never had a father. He hoped he wouldn't lose his grandfather for years to come.

"Everything all right?" Grandpa asked.

"Everything's perfect," Kyle reassured him.

"Are you sure? I know you were hesitant to move into the pride house."

Kyle had been. He hadn't known if it was the right thing to do for himself, and he'd taken a few days to think things over. He'd already known that whatever he decided, his family would follow, even though it had been clear that Jennifer and Grandpa wanted to move in. Christopher was more of a mystery, but he was here, too.

In the end, it had been easy for Kyle to choose to move into the pride house. It was what his family wanted, and it was where Dennis was. They weren't living in the same room yet, but eventually, they would.

"It's a bit odd to live with so many people, but I'll get used to it," Kyle told his grandfather.

"It is odd," Grandpa agreed. "It's also made me realize that even though we were part of the pack, we were never truly pack members. They never accepted us."

"Not me, anyway. I'm sure that if you'd put distance between us, they would have welcomed you back with open arms."

Grandpa glared. "And why would I have wanted that? I wasn't going to abandon my grandson just because he could turn into a big cat. And for people who demanded that of me? I'd rather lose them."

Grandpa always teased Kyle about being a big kitty cat, and even though Kyle grumbled when he did, he loved it. His grandfather didn't give a shit what kind of animal Kyle could turn into. He loved Kyle for who he was, not for what he was.

That was how things should have been with the pack, too. Kyle had seen how the pride members treated his family, and it wasn't any different than the way they treated each other. They didn't care that Kyle's family turned into wolves.

The pride was an odd mix. Most members were tigers, but since Gal had arrived, more people had been pulled in. Gal and his beta were bear shifters, but that wasn't where things stopped. Kyle hadn't met everyone yet, but Dennis had told him about Billy, who was a fainting goat shifter, and about a couple of deer shifters. Here, Kyle wasn't the exception.

He headed back to his car to grab the last few things in the trunk, but he stopped as soon as he reached the porch. A massive tiger was stretched out in the almost empty trunk, looking smug and satisfied even though his tail and legs hung out. Kyle didn't have to ask to know who it was.

He quickly climbed down the stairs and leaned into the trunk to poke at Dennis's side. "What do you think you're doing? You're supposed to help me get my stuff into the house."

Dennis yawned. He didn't seem interested in what he was supposed to do. Kyle didn't know what was going on, but when Dennis batted at his finger, he realized what his mate wanted.

Here, no one would care if Kyle shifted. He'd avoided shifting as much as he could when he'd been with the pack because he hadn't wanted the wolves to see his tiger form, but he didn't have to hide it here. No one would care. Hell, it would be nothing new since there were tiger shifters all over the place.

With a grin, Kyle pulled off his t-shirt. Dennis cocked his big furry head and scrambled to get into a sitting position, maybe to watch Kyle. Kyle didn't slow down to give him a show, though. He was more interested in playing, so as soon as he was free of his clothes, he shifted.

Dennis barely waited until the shift was over to pounce. He jumped out of the car and straight onto Kyle's body. Kyle flipped back, growling as they landed. He bit Dennis's shoulder, making sure his teeth didn't break the skin. Dennis didn't seem to care. He rolled, trying to get him more firmly under him. Since Kyle couldn't allow that to happen, he rolled them again, ending up on top of Dennis. Dennis gave him a wide, toothy grin.

Kyle did the same.

This was his life now. He was a Green Hill pride member, and he had a mate.

Alpha Davis kicking him out of the pack was the best thing that had ever happened to him.