Oh. Lynn suddenly understood what Ken’s plan was. He was going to ask his old commanding officer for help.
Help. Of course.
It was such a foreign concept to Lynn. She’d always been so sure she had to stand on her own two feet, especially after Grandmother had passed away. After all, no one was going to do anything for her, were they? And she had to prove that she could make it on her own.
Why, though? Why did she have to make it on her own? That wasn’t how people worked—humans or shifters. People lived in towns. Shifters had packs.
Lynn had never had a pack. The idea suddenly seemed amazing. Having a whole group of people to rely on—and people she could help, if they needed it. People who all relied on each other.
And enough people so that if one left, like Stella always did, or passed on, like Grandmother had, no one would be left all alone.
Ken was explaining the situation in a low voice. Then he said, “Yes, sir. Yes, sir, I’d appreciate that. You can? Thank you, sir.” He hung up.
“Colonel Hanes?” Lynn asked, eyebrows raised.
Ken nodded. “I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up before I heard back, because God knows he’s not under any obligation to drop everything and help one of his former Marines. And I didn’t even know if he was currently in town.”
“You could’ve asked me,” Lynn said, smiling. “I work with his stepdaughter, after all.”
Ken looked startled. “That’s right. You mentioned that, and I didn’t even think of it. Wow, small towns really are all interconnected, aren’t they?”
“They are.” It occurred to Lynn that she could’ve called Nina, or Cal, and asked for the Glacier leopard pack to come help. They would have come, she thought.
Maybe she’d been less alone than she realized, even before Ken arrived.
“So he’s coming?” she asked Ken.
“I shouldn’t have had a second of doubt,” Ken said ruefully. “Of course he’s not going to leave one of his Marines to face trouble alone. That’s how he always was, and he hasn’t changed.”
And in fact, it wasn’t long at all before a car was pulling into the driveway, and out came Colonel Wilson Hanes (retired), of the United States Marine Corps—and his mate, Mavis, Nina’s mother.
Both of them were snow leopard shifters, although Mavis had only been changed recently, after she and Wilson met. Lynn had only met Mavis in her professional capacity as a financial advisor, and only spoken to Wilson a few times, but she heard Nina talk about them so often, it seemed like she knew them well.
They came up the drive and knocked, and Lynn opened the door with Ken standing at her side. “Come in,” she told them. “Thank you for stopping by on such short notice. I really appreciate the help that you’ve offered. You didn’t have to.”
“Turner here asked me to come, and I wasn’t about to say no,” Wilson said. His voice was deep and warm, and he held out his hand for first Lynn, and then Ken to shake. He had a strong grip, but none of the attempts at showing off that some men would put into handshakes.
Mavis smiled at Lynn. “And I wasn’t about to stay behind. Hello, Lynn, it’s always good to see you.”
“You as well.” Lynn smiled back, feeling the same thing she always felt around Mavis: a little rough and unkempt. Mavis was only a few years older than Lynn, maybe fifty or so, but she was still beautiful, and—more intimidatingly—graceful. She had a sort of understated elegance about her that Lynn would never, ever be able to emulate.
And would always have sworn that she didn’t want, of course, but when she saw Mavis, she always had a moment of wistfulness, wondering how the ot
her woman achieved such a stunning effect.
And she looked happy, too, which was always nice to see. She and Nina had had such a tragic history. Even though Lynn only knew a little bit about it, she was so glad that mother and daughter had finally found each other again, and that Mavis had a mate like Wilson to care for her, after what sounded like a truly awful marriage in her past.
“Let’s have a sit-down and talk tactics, then,” Wilson rumbled, and they all somehow found themselves in the front room, with Stella and Eva sitting on the chairs by the fireplace, and Ken and Wilson positioned with their eyes on the windows. Lynn narrowed her eyes and seated herself next to Ken.
She might not have been a Marine, but she knew enough to keep an eye out for trouble, and she wasn’t going to be left out of defending her little sister, if it was necessary.
“So we’ve got a pack of wolves,” Wilson was saying. “We know how many?”
“Six at least,” Ken answered. “Don’t know how many would bother to show up here.”
“Maybe they won’t come,” Stella piped up, sounding a little desperate. “There’s no reason to mess with us. They’re not all bad guys, just a little—rowdy.”
Perpetual optimism again, Lynn thought.