Chapter 6

Chapter

Six

F en followed Rory as he went to deliver wool to the weaver and spinners, food to the elderly pack members, and toys to a family who had just had a new baby and thus had a bunch of jealous older siblings.

Rory was a wonderful giver. So kind. And so driven to help people. He truly missed the dragons that had been his calling, Fen thought.

He wanted to just tuck Rory away with him and love him and let him know he wasn’t alone in a crowd anymore.

But he also wanted Rory to have his place in this pack. So he stayed close, but once they were at the big house, where Rory had joined John in order to make cookies, he found a spot where he could watch and waited for the alphas, Jameson and Keegan.

“Ah, Fen. All healed?” Jameson came to sit across from him, smiling.

“Mostly, yes. I still have a bit of stiffness, but you have fine healers.”

“We do. And Rory comes from healer stock as well.”

He raised an eyebrow. “That stands to reason. He’s very invested in caring for others.”

Jameson’s lips curved in more of a wry grin. “Are you saying we overwork him?”

“I’m not. I’m saying he’s a wolf and my mate, and I have questions.”

Jameson chuckled. “I imagine so. It’s a fine line we’ve had to walk with him.”

Fen blinked. “Explain.”

“Well, Rory smells like pack. But until you came along, he never even came close to presenting as a wolf. You heard him. He fully believes he’s merely human.”

“What about the others? His brothers?” Fen had heard him talk about them. It seemed like an entire pack full of brothers. Surely if one was a wolf, then the others ought to be.

“Like I said, until you, Rory smelled like pack but that was it. We’ve always had a good relationship with the Calhouns.”

Keegan, who had joined them, handing him a cup of coffee, shook his head. “I don’t know what the details are, of course. I mean, it’s possible that their mother stepped out with a wolf once. But over and over and over? It just doesn’t seem to make any sense.”

Fen pondered that. “One has to assume that the bloodline is buried, and then once you activate it, once the mate bond has been made obvious? That is when the wolf comes to the fore.”

“It’s how it worked with the dragons.” Jameson admitted, scratching his chin. “The first…well goodness, all four of the first dragon mates that came believed they were purely human. Only Gareth, who’s Zeke’s dragon mate didn’t. He was raised here in the pack.”

Fen blinked. “Pardon me?”

That didn’t make any sense. A wolf would know if their child wasn’t a wolf. The scent had to be different, if it was a dragon. How did that even happen?

“It’s a long story, but suffice it to say that Gareth was ill-used by the old alpha and his adopted family. I hope that they’re very happy now, wherever they are.” A hint of loss crossed Jameson’s face.

“I wish I had been able to see a dragon.” Fen had seen selkies before, and a mermaid once as he ran along the beach. It had very large teeth and scared him, badly. He would like to say that it was only because he had been a little pup, but the fact was, had he seen it again?

Fen would still have the good sense to be scared.

Keegan shook his head. “Do they matter, the whys?”

Fen tilted his head, pondering that question. It seemed to be an important one, but it was also an incredibly easy one to answer. “No. No, it doesn’t matter at all. He’s my mate, and I intend to keep him.” He lifted his chin, holding the alphas’ gazes, one after the other. “So then the question is, am I welcome in your pack? And if so, what should you have me do? Because I will not leave him, and he is happy here.”

Fen knew that as well as he knew anything. Rory had a house, friends, a life here. Fen had been alone and lost, there was no pack for him to return to, and the life of a solitary wolf was at best a challenge.

“You are welcome here,” Jameson said. “It is always good to have another strong male to help. And as far as how you contribute, what do you do?”

“I was a carver by trade.”

“A carver?” Keegan sounded surprised.

“Yes. I work with wood. I make big things and small things, but I have lost all of my tools. I will have to do something else until I can replace them.”

Keegan shook his head. “Nonsense. If you are part of the pack, and you need something to do your job, the pack provides. Tell Rory what you need. That’s his job, or if he cannot get it, then I will get you what you need. Having another woodworker would be a great blessing. Furniture. Do you do furniture?”

“I make furniture beautiful. I’m not a carpenter. I can make furniture, in necessity, but what I do is I make it beautiful.” He could also make bowls, spoons, toys. Working with wood gave him great joy.

Keegan and Jameson looked at one another. “We need to get you together with Timothy. Timothy is our woodworker. He has a workshop. Perhaps you two could collaborate.”

Fen nodded. “Of course.”

Whatever it was he needed to do, he would do it. Fen was eager to become part of the pack, to show Rory that he would also be a good provider. He would be the wolf that Rory needed him to be.

“If it’s all right with you, we’ll have him stop by at Rory’s?—”

Keegan nudged Jameson.

“Right. At your house.”

He blinked at the words, letting them fill him. “Of course, of course. Perhaps he could come for a beer.”

Surely Rory wouldn’t mind that. They could even sit out on the front porch and talk if they needed to.

“Who are we having a beer with?” Rory bounced up, cookies in hand. He passed out cookies to everyone and then sat. “So who are we having a beer with?”

“Your mate was telling us that he was a carver. We thought that perhaps he and Timothy could work together on projects. Collaborate.”

Rory nodded, eyes lit with a pleasure Fen could feel. “Oh, I can totally see that. Timothy is such a sweetheart—a very kind man. And why doesn’t he come to supper? We can have stew and bread. It doesn’t have to be fancy. And also, do you need tools? I can totally get you some tools. I’m making a big order.”

Jameson blinked at him. “You are?”

“I am. I have some things at the house, at the old house, that I can trade, but I need to get my mate clothes and shoes. Books. Tools, obviously, things that he can use to make himself happy, to make this a home for him.”

Fen was honored. His mate was good to him.

“If there’s anything that you guys need, just let me know. I’m going to have them bring a truck,” Rory said.

“Then we should absolutely discuss our Yule situation before the snows come.” Jameson chuckled. “We have lots of kids to make happy now.”

For the first time in he didn’t remember how long, he got excited.

About the idea of having Yule together with a pack with children, with his mate.

This was a dream—an odd, amazing dream.

He leaned back. Just listening to Rory and the alphas plan and plot. This was his life. This was going to be his life.

He wished his sister had been here to see it.