TJ scratched his face to hide his own smile. Yup, this was going to work out fine, once he took his lumps, because Keil was right about the safety issues.
Keil hauled a cell phone out of his pocket and slapped it into TJ’s palm. “You’ll probably need this—I found it back at base camp after you took off. Oh, and did you even try the satellite phone you took with you? The batteries on that one were nearly dead.”
A solid smack landed on his arm as Pam hit him. “Dead? What if I’d wanted to call for the chopper?”
“But you broke…” TJ buttoned his lip. There was no way he was even going to touch this one.
Pam growled at him, her eyes flashing. “Next time, let me do the trip planning.”
TJ tried to hide his smile. “Of course.”
“Holy crap, she’s the most alpha human I’ve ever met,” one of the observer wolves piped up.
Pam frowned. “Alpha? Isn’t that your position?” she asked Keil.
He shook his head. “Yes and no. Alpha isn’t just about leadership, it also refers to how strong you are, mentally as well as physically. There’s more than one alpha wolf in any pack. Heck, Erik and Maggie, the pack Betas, are as strong as Robyn and I, but they’ve chosen to use their strengths in a different way. We can’t all be bad-asses, you know.”
“So there’s no trouble with us being together?” Pam returned to TJ’s side.
Keil shrugged. “There are a few old-timers in the pack who are whining about how the world is going to hell in a hand basket, but it’s nothing I can’t take care of.”
Robyn clapped her hands and Keil pulled a face. “Oh yeah, and Robyn plans on having a long talk with your mate about some advice she gave that he ignored.”
Oh shit. Okay, that was scarier than getting called on the carpet by Keil. TJ waved at Robyn tentatively and she flipped him the bird.
Pam grinned at TJ. “You know how I said I wasn’t sure about dealing with your pack? No problem, I got it figured it. This is like hanging out at headquarters with the boys.”
Tad stepped forward and gestured to the couch. “If you’d like to relax, I think the formal hazing is over. I do have one last question I’m curious about, and maybe someone with more experience can answer. What’s up with TJ’s strength? I’d swear he’s gotten stronger since he left.”
“Shaun said the same thing. What the hell are you talking about? I don’t feel any different.” TJ sat next to Pam. She kicked off her shoes and curled up almost in his lap. She tucked a hand under his arm and tickled his ribs lightly. “The only thing I know is I don’t seem to be nearly as clumsy anymore. Well, relatively speaking.”
Tad’s mate, Missy, paced the floor to sit on the second couch across from them, one of her two-month-old babies cuddled against her shoulder. “Your wolf never has been clumsy.”
Pam leaned forward. “I think his wolf is more grown up. Matured a bit. If TJ is twenty-two, that means his wolf is…” She turned to face him and asked, “What are wolf years, seven like dogs?”
He groaned. “You promised you wouldn’t do that anymore.”
Pam smirked at him. “If you’re gonna play with the big dogs, you use every tool you can.”
He opened his mouth to protest and suddenly the cell phone Keil had returned to him rang. Some joker had reprogrammed the phone tones to “Who Let the Dogs Out” and Pam cracked up.
He stood to answer it, leaving Pam and Missy giggling together furiously.
“Hello?”
“You idiot. You couldn’t wait until we were done our honeymoon? Sheesh.”
“Hi, Maggie.” TJ took a deep breath. So much for him being stronger. There was no way he could get a word in edgewise with all these women around. He listened to her scolding for a minute before he had the most brilliant idea. “Hey, Maggie. I bet you need to talk to Pam. She’s right here.”
He held out the phone to his mate and she took it with surprise. Her surprise turned to delight and she rose to find a quieter spot to chat with her best friend.
TJ glanced around the room. Missy rocked one baby in her arms while Tad paced with her twin sister. Robyn was holding a conversation with someone, her hands moving rapidly.
Kara, Keil and Robyn’s two-year-old daughter, crossed the room to Pam’s side. She tugged on Pam’s pant leg then reached her arms up. Pam leaned over and picked up the little girl who immediately wrapped herself close, her face buried in Pam’s neck. Pam resumed her phone conversation.
Deep satisfaction filled TJ as everywhere he looked he saw family. Sharing together, laughing together. Little Jamie, Missy and Tad’s oldest child, rolled on the floor with a couple of the pack in their wolf forms.
It wasn’t the Waltons but it was home.
He glanced back at Pam to find her staring at him, a burning light in her eyes. She adjusted the girl in her arms and waggled her brows, tilting her head toward the child.
Oh shit. Oh shit, yeah. Well, maybe not this minute, but…
TJ winked at her and she grinned, blowing him a kiss.