“Also, Aurora is the owner of a non-profit company called Safe Haven. It’s a domestic violence shelter for women and children. They teach self-defense classes as well.”

The pack was now looking at me with respect. Some of the more submissive members tilted their heads to me.

“Her main office is in Portland which will now be staffed by humans so we don’t start a territory war. We will purchase a second location in Gresham on the border of our territory. From now on, I ask that the pack members volunteer at the Gresham location on a rotation schedule. This is important to Aurora and to me.”

The pack raised their glasses. “Cheers!” called Devon.

I stared across the lawn at Kai. He met my eyes. The walls deep inside of me, that I had built to keep me safe, crumbled. In that moment, the look he gave me, I could see my future with him. I could see what it truly meant to find your mate. He would never hurt me, more than that, he would protect me, support me. I had spent so many years learning to protect myself, teaching others to protect themselves. I didn’t realize that I had been searching for someone to protect me, to make me feel safe.

We held our gaze with each other. I slowly crossed the yard towards him as his lips curled into a smile. He licked his lips to wet them and I took stock of his tall muscular physique. His teeth were perfectly straight and bright white; his canines were just a little larger than a human. The dark brown stubble looked so sexy on his medium brown skin. I reached him and he lifted me up as I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him in for a kiss. We could hear whistling from the pack as we spun around kissing. I laughed as he sat me down.

“Meri Pyari.” He pulled my long blonde hair away from my face.

“What does it mean?” I queried.

“If I told you, then I would have no secrets.” He gave a devilish smile.

Anna and Jake approached us. “Aurora, I’m going to move in with Jake now, so you can have your room back.” She paused looking at Kai and I wrapped in each other’s arms. “If you want.” She smiled and they left holding hands.

After the bonfire, Kai and I were cleaning up. “So, I told my parents about you too,” he said with a hint of nervousness to his voice.

I dropped the plate I was scrubbing in the sink. It landed it a loud thunk but didn’t shatter.

“Your parents are alive?!” I asked in shock. “Oh my God, I feel so selfish. I haven’t asked you anything about your family. I figured they were long gone. Are they werewolves? What did you tell them about me? Where do they live?”

He laughed. “Slow down. It’s okay. My mother, father, sister and I were all changed in a werewolf attack in Delhi.” He paused thinking. “My sister didn’t survive the change.” A look of sadness crossed his face and it was gone. “My mother and father turned out to be mates. They have since given birth to my twelve siblings including Akash. They still live in India and I told them you were my mate.” He smiled.

My mouth dropped open. “You have twelve brothers and sisters?”

He smiled. “Eleven rowdy brothers split between six packs and one sister. She is the princess of the family and is still a member of my father’s pack in Delhi. He’s the Alpha of the New Delhi pack.”

“Whoa.” I let that information sink in. “Isn’t the population of New Delhi like ten million people?”

Kai took a deep breath. “Yes, and my father’s pack is about three hundred strong.”

“Three hundred wolves in one pack? It must be hard to be an Alpha of a pack that large.” I pondered.

A look crossed Kai’s face as if he contemplated telling me something. “Fights break out daily and my father spends his time keeping the peace. There are constant battles for territory as my father’s pack grows and they fight other packs to open their land. My father is a traditional wolf and a traditional Indian. My sister won’t leave the pack until she is mated, and even then my father will fight to have her mate transferred so he can keep an eye on her.”

I nodded. “So you left then? Transferred packs?”

Kai ran a hand through his hair. “You’re a dominant wolf, you know that feeling you get when someone tries to hold you down or order you around and you just want to jump out of your skin?”

“Like earlier in your office when you told me I couldn’t see Sylvia anymore?” I reminded him.

He laughed. “Yeah, like that. Well, I battled with more dominate wolves in my father’s pack daily. As I grew older, my dominance grew stronger. Brother wolf didn’t like being told what to do. I eventually fought my way to becoming my father’s second. That wasn’t high enough for brother wolf. We wanted to be Alpha. I knew I could be Alpha. My mother could sense my feelings and asked me to leave before it sparked a challenge fight with my father. I agreed. I transferred to a pack in Australia for a while and then to a pack with Shamus and eventually took over Mount Hood. I didn’t want a huge pack that couldn’t be controlled. I wanted to do things differently.”

“That must have been hard leaving your family like that.” I finished the dishes and came to sit on his lap.

“I’m more at peace with the decision than my father is. I think he struggles between his human side wanting me to have my own pack, and his wolf wanting to challenge me to prove he could have won a fight. He wants to prove I would always be his second in command and never above him. Eventually, Akash transferred here and my mother visits twice a year. So I guess it has worked out.”