“What about the commitments you made to Tex? The website?”
“Come on, Jinx. You know that’s not going to be anything time consuming. Hell, you could do it in your sleep.”
“There’s a reason I don’t do the computer stuff any longer. It’s too time consuming with my duties as an Alpha.” There were days when he missed geeking it out with Lukas but those days were in the past. He had responsibilities to his clan, to Ty, to Tex, and now a family.
“That’s because you were trying to do it all on your own. Even small clans are starting to promote Lieutenants so the Alpha isn’t doing everything. What about Eric? What if I bring him on to help with the Nerd Crew duties, the website for Tex? I’ll oversee him, and pick and choose the projects I work on personally but at least my hand is still in it.”
“Eric is good, but he doesn’t have your skills.” Jinx thought about Eric. He was a true computer geek, and it showed in everything from the way he talked to his clothes. He was a good kid, if someone that was twenty-two was even considered a kid.
“He has the skills. With some direction he’ll pick up on what he doesn’t know. The website won’t be any problem for him.”
“I’m not concerned about the website.” He stood and paced the room, careful to avoid the piles of Summer’s belongings. “He can’t do much until Tabitha makes her announcement, and he’d have to be approved by Connor and Ty. You get them to approve him and it’s fine by me. Otherwise if you take the position you’re going to have to cut down on what you do for them. You put in long hours on the computer, it’s not something you can do full time along with the clan duties you’ll have.”
“See, I was right, a compromise wasn’t so bad,” a soft feminine voice intoned.
Jinx turned to find Summer standing in the doorway in a pair of plaid pajama bottoms and a black tank top, her wet hair curling slightly.
“What, you didn’t expect me to miss everything, did you?” She smirked.
He held his arm out to her; she came and snuggled next to him and he turned his attention back to Lukas. “Does that mean you’re going to take the position?”
“I wanted to say yes when you offered it, I just didn’t want to give up everything I’ve been working for these last few months.” Lukas smiled at them and gave a little nod. “With your agreement that I can work with Connor as long as it doesn’t interfere with my clan duties, then yes, I’ll take it.”
“You have my word, but the first sign of neglect when it comes to the clan, you give up your Nerd Crew duties. Understand?”
Lukas stood. “Yes.”
“Very well.” He slipped his arm out from around her and held his hand out to Lukas. “You’ll need to come home to West Virginia with us, and we’ll announce it then.”
Once they shook hands, Summer beamed at him. “Congratulations. I told you it would work out.”
“That you did.” He stepped back, gathering up his stuff. “I’ll let you get some rest. We’ll have a lot to do to get things finished for us to leave.” Lukas strolled from the suite, leaving them alone.
“Let’s go to bed.” He slid his hand down her body, pulled her close, and slipped beneath the material of her pajamas.
“Oh no, none of that. We’ve got a sleeping little girl in our room,” she reminded him.
“I just want to feel you next to me.” He took her hand, tugging her to the bedroom.
* * *
While snuggling with her mate, she couldn’t believe how quickly things had changed. Weeks ago she had been a prisoner, scared of everything, now here she was full of life and love. She had a mate she adored with all her heart, and a daughter she was devoted to.
“What’s on your mind, lass?”
She cradled her head in the nook of his arm and looked up at him. “I’m just appreciating how everything turned out. I have to say I wanted to but never believed Autumn when she said Tex would come back for us. He’s made sure we were safe.”
“Why?”
“I guess I felt that if he had a chance to get away and put it all behind him that he’d take it. That he wouldn’t risk coming back and getting stuck under Avery’s thumb again, or worse yet…killed. I never thought he’d find people to help him free the clan.” She let out a deep sigh. “I guess with all I saw, I lost faith in people. That was until I found you. Now I believe there’s good in people. That others will do the right thing.”
He ran his hand down her arm in long lazy circles. “I’ll be honest, some days it seems like an endless battle, that there’s more bad than good in the world. When I see how far people have come after our help, I can’t help but feel honored to have a part in it.”