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“I’m going to like being your pup,” Wren declared, making Roark’s heart swell.

With tiny pups, it was easy to tell when you’d settled whatever had them frazzled, they stopped crying and usually fell asleep, but Roark could already tell that Wren was an intuitive pup who’d learned to be cautious, so it would be important to be extra sensitive to their worries while they were getting settled in.

“And I’m going to like being your Papa,” Roark replied.

“I would like to learn to weave,” Wren admitted. “After we moved away from that pack, I never got to watch anyone doing it again, except during a school demonstration.”

“Then I’ll introduce you to Mama G, and she’ll teach you everything you want to know about weaving,” Roark said.

“Even if I don’t have a loom?”

Roark chuckled. “You do now. There are several at the house. We’ll find the right size for you to start with.”

“Do you weave too?”

Roark shook his head, immediately picturing himself tangled in yarn when he was supposed to be setting up the loom.

“I am not that creative or coordinated,” Roark said. “But when we were trying to decide which looms to order for the shops here and in the Badlands, several vendors sent samples. I’d intended to donate them to the weaving workshop but kept forgetting to load them in the SUV before I headed to town. It’s a good thing I’m absentminded sometimes.”

“Yay!” Wren declared, holding Quackers over their head and waving him around in celebration.

Roark felt like celebrating too and pausing beneath the moon tonight when he went on his run, to send up a howl of thanks to the Goddess for the new mate and pup she’d brought into their lives.

Chapter Four

(Logan)

“I’m never going to remember the names of everyone I met today,” Logan groaned. “There were three dozen people, at least.”

“Probably closer to four,” Roark said. “And no one expects you to.”

“Are we going home now?” Wren asked, a bit of whine creeping into their voice.

“We’ll be there in just a few minutes,” Roark replied. “I’m afraid our string of just a few more stops got out of hand.”

“I’m hungry,” Wren groaned.

“We’ll get you fed as soon as we get there,” Roark promised.

As far as Logan could tell, there was nothing but trees out here. This dirt road was like all the rest, hard-packed and well-worn, while the forest on either side of it was thick with trees. The way the wolves had built their homes into the vast wilderness, with their houses surrounded by evergreens, even in the residential neighborhoods, had left him in awe of the sheer beauty of their town.

His town now.

He was still reeling and knew it was going to take days before he came to terms with what had taken place today.

And not just meeting his mates.

When Rusty had gone into the bank with him, Logan had bristled, fearing this would turn out to be one of those packs where they insisted upon the head of household controlling everything. It turned out, Rusty had just wanted a piece of paper to write the address on before waiting out front with Roark and Wren. As for the bank associate who helped him, she was an older wolf and an absolute gem, with pictures of her grandpups all over the walls of her office.

She’d set him up with his new account and debit card that included the stipend given to all new members while they got situated among the pack. Then she contacted the bank manager at his previous bank and arranged the transfer of all his funds, as well as the closing of his old account.

Relieved didn’t begin to describe the way he’d felt when he’d stepped out of the bank. But when he’d gone to swipe the card at the furniture store after Wren had chosen their new bedroom set, since there was more than enough on the card to cover it, the wolf writing down the delivery instructions waved him off.

“Remember what I told you about credits?” Rusty said.

“I thought that’s what this was?” Logan asked, holding up the debit card.

“It is, but we’ve already got plenty of credit banked here,” Rusty explained.