Intransigent

Intransigent | 22

My dad nodded and stepped back beside my mom, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as we climbed into the car. I waved to everyone standing outside as Ashton pulled away from the house and then I settled back into my seat.

"You ready to meet your new pack?" Dane asked from the backseat.

I turned around slightly so that I could see him while I was talking to him. "I am," I assured him confidently. "It was nice to be able to see my old pack again, but now it's time for me to learn about my new one."

Dane nodded in approval and smiled at me. "That's what I like to hear."

I rolled my eyes and turned around. "So who do you have treaties with right now?" I asked Ashton.

Dane groaned in the backseat and I laughed.

We spent the next couple hours discussing pack business. I wanted to know what was going on in my pack so that I could help. Dane and Rick sat in the backseat in silence, occasionally whispering to each other. Ashton seemed very happy that I wanted to learn about the pack and was more than happy to give me all the details that I wanted to know.

Around the time we stopped for lunch, I ended my questioning. Anything else could wait until later. I knew that Rick and Dane were practically dying of boredom in the backseat; it was time to include them in our discussions.

Eventually the topic moved on to the welcoming party.

"We have to have one for you," Dane informed me. "You're our new Luna and everyone is going to want to get to know you."

I nodded in agreement. It would be a good chance for me to get to know everyone in the pack. I would require more time to get to know them on a closer lever, but it would be a good meet and greet.

"That sounds good," I replied. "I can meet everyone at the party and follow up with them throughout the rest of the week when I'm not helping Ashton."

"Follow up?" Dane asked.

"Visit," I replied. "I need to get to know the pack on a close level if I am to help provide for their needs. I'll go around and visit with families and get to know everyone."

Ashton grinned happily next to me and Dane seemed surprised.

"Did you think I was just going to go to the party and call it good?" I asked of him.

He shook his head quickly and then said, "Well, sort of. I didn't expect you to not talk to them again, but I didn't expect you to go out of your way to meet with them."

"I have to," I replied. "I don't know any of them and they don't know me. I want them to be comfortable coming to me with their problems or I won't be able to help them."

We continued with meaningless chatter the rest of the way back to the pack. We got to know each other a little bit more and just kept ourselves entertained for the rest of the ride.

"We're home," Ashton announced with a smile as we pulled up in front of the pack house. He glanced over at a black SUV that was parked next to us. "And my parents are home, too."

Nerves fluttered in my stomach at the thought of meeting his parents and his sister. He grinned over at me as if he could feel it.

"You'll be fine," he assured me, squeezing my hand before shutting off the car and getting out. I opened my door and met him in front of the car. He took my hand and we both looked up as the door opened and three people came outside.

A tall, blonde woman led the way outside with a teenage mini-me behind her. Behind them was a tall, dark-haired man that shared some resemblance with Ashton. He was a more even mix of his parents than his sister, who looked almost exactly like her mother.