Jenna and Daniel left the apartment with Noelle. The pack had box trucks for moving, and they took one, first to the diner so Jenna could quit her job, then on to her home where her father was waiting with lunch. She could tell he had missed Noelle quite a bit.
"Growing like a weed," he'd said, cuddling her in his arms.
Daniel had discussed security of the house with him, and Jenna wasn't surprised that her father had already been thinking about it. Mitch was a little upset that the wolves had gotten a jump on the old Marine. Daniel told him it would be easy for them to extend the perimeter of their lands and security to include his land as well given that the property was right up against pack lands. "You'll know if a squirrel moves on your property."
Mitch had smiled at that. He likes the idea of being able to know if danger was approaching. Plus, if Jenna and Noelle were here, they'd be safe.
"Daddy, there's something I need to tell you that I don't think you're going to like, but I've made up my mind. This isn't a decision I just made, it's something I've been thinking about for three years now, though I never knew it was possible until a few days ago." Jenna took a deep breath, hoping her father wouldn't be furious with her. "I'm going to become a werewolf."
Mitch's eyebrows shot up and his mouth dropped open. "I didn't know that was possible." He looked at Daniel.
"It's not. Unless you are King." Daniel smiled at him. "She'll also be immortal as long as she's in my pack."
Mitch's eyebrows shot up even further. "And Noelle?"
"Her too."
"I'm not sure what your mother would have thought about this, Jenna, but knowing what I know about werewolves, and after what happened this week, I'd prefer it." He looked at Daniel. "What about Tyler?"
"I haven't spoken to him or Charity, but if he wants to turn, I'll turn him too." Daniel told him.
"He's coming home today," Mitch told him. "Nick agreed to take over the Virginia pack, and Tyler has to go back to work Monday. He couldn't get a flight tomorrow."
"I could send my plane to get him," Daniel offered.
Mitch shook his head, glancing at his watch. "He'll be landing soon. Plane took off an hour ago."
Daniel glanced around the house. "If Tyler wants to turn, I'd imagine he will come to live in my pack house. Mitch, you're more than welcome to come live there too."
Mitch sat back in his seat, surprised by Daniel's offer. "I wouldn't want to intrude."
"You wouldn't be. You'd have your own apartment, but you'd also be surrounded by my pack. We generally eat together, and do other things together. And you could work with my security team if you'd like."
"I'll think about it," he conceded. "Jonah doesn't come home much, and I think Michael is going to move out. If Tyler moves in with Charity, I'll be here by myself."
"Jonah is welcome to visit. Your apartment will have three rooms, so he could have one if he wanted. And Michael."
Mitch nodded, thinking. "How would your pack feel about having a human living there?"
"It wouldn't be the first time. My mother was human when she first came to the pack and there have been others. But if you ever decided to become a werewolf, I would be willing to turn you," Daniel told him.
Mitch's eyebrows shot up again as he studied the man who had stolen his daughter's heart. His generosity to someone he had just met, and who had actively prevented him from reconnecting with Jenna, spoke volumes of his love for her. "I'll think about it," he repeated though he was already leaning towards saying yes. This big house was going to be so empty without Tyler and Jenna. Plus he wanted to see Noelle as much as possible.
"Just say the word, and we'll come get you moved in," Daniel smiled at him.
"Daddy you know I'm going to bug you," Jenna laughed. She was just as surprised by Daniel's offer as Mitch was, but she was glad Daniel had made it. She'd been a bit worried about her father being left alone in the big house.
"Speaking of, we'd better get started moving your stuff," Mitch said, standing up.
A few hours later, Jenna's stuff was loaded on the truck. Daniel had done most of the lifting, and Tyler had returned home, and helped him, updating him on everything that had happened in Virginia.
Jenna finished emptying her closet, realizing she needed to try on most of the clothes and see what still fit her. Daniel had mentioned a gym. Perhaps after she was settled, she could make use of it.
She walked out of the closet to find Tyler in her room staring out the window, a sleeping Noelle in his arms. Her father and Daniel had been talking outside while she finished packing her bag.
"I don't know how you did it for a year," Tyler said. "I don't know how you handled being away from him."
"It was different from your situation, I think. I only was with him one evening, and I never expected to see him again. But I still missed him like crazy. I could never get him out of my mind, especially once I found out I was pregnant," Jenna mused. "I also had no way to communicate with him."
Tyler was silent for a moment. "Jenna, did he mark you?"
"Yes, he did on the first night," Jenna reached up and gently touched the spot on her neck.
Tyler turned, and glanced at the spot on her neck. "You told me you got bit by a puppy," he chuckled.
"What else was I supposed to tell you? My werewolf one-night stand bit me and the mark still hasn't gone away? I didn't even really know what it meant at that point," She laughed.
"It was a good spur-of-the-moment answer." He was still chuckling at her.
Jenna rolled her eyes. "Has Charity marked you yet?"
"No, she wants to wait until I become a wolf, so we can mark each other at the same time," He adjusted Noelle in his arms. "Is Daniel going to turn you?"
"Tomorrow," Jenna told him.
"So soon?" Tyler asked in surprise. "Charity told me how it works."
"I'm nervous about it. Charlotte told me that it's amazing, but really weird at the same time."
"What are Caleb and Charlotte like?"
"I really like them. They're taking care of Talia. They love Noelle," Jenna said softly as she walked over to her brother and peered down at her sleeping baby.
"I hope they like me," her brother muttered.
"Jenna, you ready to go?" Daniel appeared in the doorway.
"Yes." She took Noelle from Tyler and gave her brother a hug. "I'll see you soon."
He nodded and watched them leave.
Jenna followed Daniel down the steps and out of the house. She felt a bit nostalgic leaving. While she had only lived here a year, a lot had happened during that year. She would always think of this house with sadness, and a few happy moments mixed in.
Daniel put Noelle into her car seat while Jenna said good bye to her father, then they both climbed in and headed back to the pack house.
"You're father is more than likely going to move in to the pack house," Daniel informed her. "He wants to talk to your brothers first. Jonah is coming home in three weeks on leave."
"Really?" Jenna was a bit surprised by the news. She hadn't seen him since her mother's funeral.
"Mhmm. He'll make a final decision then."
"Do you think he will want to turn?" Jenna asked.
"That one I'm not sure of. He did ask me about the process but I think it was more out of concern for you and Tyler." Daniel was quiet for several long moments after that, and Jenna glanced up at him. He seemed to be zoned out.
"Daniel?"
"Sorry, I was mind linking Ragnar to get help with moving your stuff in. He said Talia is up and taking care of Matthew."
"What's up with him and Talia?" Jenna asked. She'd pushed their situation to the back of her mind but she was very curious about them.
"That's complicated. Talia is Ragnar's mate." Daniel glanced at Jenna as he pulled out on the main road.
"How is that possible? Talia told me this morning that there are no second chances," Jenna said.
"What did she say?"
"Ragnar calms her, like a mate, and she feels guilty about it. But she said there are no second chances," Jenna informed him.
"She's not wrong," Daniel confirmed.
"Then how is she Ragar's mate?"
"Honestly, I've never seen this happen before. Our pack does get second chance mates because of our immortality," Daniel explained.
"So why doesn't Talia know?"
"I'm not sure, but my guess is that she's meant to join my pack." Daniel had been trying to work out the whole mess since Ragnar had told him. It was the only thing they could come up with. And while Ragnar was well aware that Talia was his mate, Talia wouldn't know until she joined Regal Eclipse. If she joined. If she didn't, then who knew what would happen.
"Ragnar is the oldest being on Earth. He's older than both me and my father. He's never had a mate, and he had never met Talia until after James's death."
"Is he going to tell her?" Jenna asked. She felt bad for both of them. Talia, who was still trying to cope with losing her mate, and Ragnar who had finally found his mate, but couldn't truly have her.
"No. She needs to discover that on her own. And apparently I need to invite her to join Regal Eclipse," Daniel mused.
"Do you think she will?" Jenna asked.
Daniel pulled up to the pack house. "I think so. She's not keen on moving home because of the memories, but if she has some time, she might change her mind. I'd also tell her ahead of time that she is going to get a second chance. She may not want one."
"I think she will," Jenna told him.
Daniel looked at her quietly. "You know her better than any of us. But losing your mate is.." he stopped, realizing that Jenna knew.
She leaned over and kissed him. "I don't envy her."
"Me neither," he said softly. "For now, Ragnar will just have to watch his mate from a distance. I don't envy him either." Daniel stared at the blond wolf standing on the porch, his tattooed arms crossed over his massive chest. Ragnar was a force to be reckoned with, but he knew the man was hurting inside, watching his mate fall apart while he could do nothing about it.
"She's drawn to him," Jenna said as she too stared at Ragnar, wondering about him and the things he had seen in his life. He reminded her of a Viking.
Ragnar suddenly stepped off the porch and approached Daniel's side of the vehicle and Daniel rolled his window down.
"Are you going to sit there and stare at me, or are we going to get this done?"
He had an accent too, Jenna noticed, though it was a bit different from Daniel's. Neither was very noticeable, but they were there.
"Did you bring any help?" Daniel asked him.
Ragnar looked to the door as it opened and Elijah and Caleb came out, followed by several other wolves Jenna had never seen before.
"Jenna, why don't you head on up to see my mom and Talia, and we'll make quick work of this. We'll bring everything up, but we can decide where it all goes later." Daniel said, unstrapping Noelle's car seat.
"Okay." Jenna grabbed the diaper bag and Noelle and headed inside. The wolves on the porch all bowed their heads towards her and she nodded to them before stepping inside the pack house. At some point, she needed to meet them all.