“Yes,” she said firmly. “We’re happy. I would’ve sworn up and down that I didn’t want a mate, before, but—well, things change.”
Nina smiled. “Good. And I’m really happy that you’re hanging out with my mom and Wilson. I know they’ve been wanting some friends that are their age, not their kids’ age.”
Lynn hadn’t thought about that. “I guess the rest of the snow leopards are mostly young. Except Cal and his mate, maybe.” Cal was in his forties, and his mate Lillian was a little younger, young enough to have had a baby recently, but not that much younger.
Nina made a face. “Yeah, but Wilson doesn’t like spending too much time around Cal, because he doesn’t want to get in his way. Since Cal’s the alpha of our pack, and Wilson’s a snow leopard too, Wilson’s afraid that it’ll seem like he’s trying to take over. When that’s the last thing he wants.”
Lynn supposed that made sense. Cal had been an enlisted man under Wilson, back in the Marine Corps, just like Ken. And if Cal was the leader of the snow leopards, and Wilson was a snow leopard, but Cal was used to following Wilson’s orders… “That sounds like a tangle.”
Nina nodded. “Joel thinks it’s all kind of silly, but he’s never had to deal with stupid pack hierarchy stuff before. I’m just glad they’re trying so hard not to make it a problem.”
Lynn had a vague idea that Nina had drifted around for a while before settling in with the Glacier pack; she wondered what sort of stupid pack hierarchy stuff she might’ve had to deal with, back then. It must’ve been unpleasant.
“Anyway,” Nina said, “I’m glad you guys are hanging out. Speaking of, Mom said you were all meeting for dinner tonight. Want me to finish up in here so you can get going?”
Lynn looked around. “Would you mind? It’s just a few things…”
Nina shook her head, smiling. “Not at all. You’ve finished stuff up so I could get home to Joel more times than I can count. It’s my turn. Besides, I’m your assistant—aren’t you supposed to give me all the boring paperwork stuff?”
“I don’t think that’s how I want to work,” Lynn said, gathering up her things with a vaguely guilty sense of freedom. “But thanks for doing it tonight.”
“My pleasure.” Nina took her place behind the desk and waved a cheerful goodbye as Lynn left the office.
She went straight to Oliver’s, and found Ken just pulling up in his truck. “Hi, honey,” he said with a grin, coming up to her for a kiss. “Did you have a good day at work?”
“I did.” She grinned back. How was it possible to be so happy all the time? “What about you?”
“It was fantastic, except for the part where I pined for you every moment.” He kissed her again.
Lynn pulled away and eyed him.
“See, I’m joking but I’m also sort of serious,” he explained. “My day was good, but I missed you. Why aren’t we kissing anymore?”
She gave in, and leaned forward again. The temptation to just neck in the parking lot like teenagers until everyone else showed up was strong, but Lynn finally resisted it enough to pull away. “Let’s go inside and get a table.”
Ken reached for her hand, and Lynn twined their fingers together, reflecting that this was already becoming familiar, warm and comforting. She knew the feeling of Ken’s hand in hers, and that was just…right.
They went inside and got a booth, and soon enough, Mavis and Wilson came in. Lynn got a text from Eva a few minutes past six: We’re running a little late, sorry!
It was classic Stella—she always had a hard time being punctual. But Lynn found that it didn’t annoy her as much as it used to. Maybe it was because it wasn’t just the two of them, with Lynn waiting alone until Stella showed up to wherever she was supposed to be. Lynn was happy enough to relax with Ken, Mavis, and Wilson, sipping drinks and perusing the menu, until Stella and Eva arrived.
“What’re you having, sir?” Ken was asking Wilson.
“Ken, it’s been over ten years since I was your commanding officer,” Wilson said. “Can it with the sir.”
“Yes—uh.” Ken stopped what must have been his automatic response, but clearly didn’t know how to finish the sentence otherwise. Then he laughed at himself. “Yes, boss? Yes, alpha shifter?”
“Just use my name, how about it,” Wilson said.
“That might be a work in progress, but I’ll give it my best shot,” Ken said, grinning.
Lynn could see, now, how it might be awkward to have Wilson in the Glacier pack under Cal, since this was how even a humorous and—if she was being honest—slightly irreverent former subordinate reacted. Cal was serious and sincere, and she was sure he’d have a hard time not deferring to Wilson, if they were in the same pack.
But—hmm. Were they forming some kind of new, separate proto-pack here? Maybe it was too early to tell.
All she could say was that she liked spending time with them. Wilson was just as big a fan of the outdoors as Lynn was, and he’d already asked her to join Nina in teaching him the local terrain. She appreciated how no-nonsense and to the point he was. She knew they could easily become good friends.
And Mavis…well, Mavis wasn’t too similar to Lynn at all. She always struck Lynn as too refined, too well-dressed and graceful to want to spend time with someone like Lynn.