"That's why he's a beta." I say putting boxes of cereal in the pantry. "You're in charge now so you should charge what you want."
"Shirley lives there." He looks at me. I shrug.
"Who else lives there?" If they're wolves, maybe that's why they've kept it cheap.
"All humans, no one associated with the pack." He raises his eyebrow at me and I grin. He's already turning into the pack alpha.
"She'll be putting her unit up for sale soon. Send a letter to the residents and tell them that on the first of the year the fee will go up to two hundred and will continue to rise over the next five years until it is comparable to the surrounding buildings. The pack can't support a building without an income." He nods sharply. "How about the cabinet place, did that go well?"
"Yeah, it's great. They're undercharging too. I want to put that on the internet. Sell the old world charm angle. They will need apprentices to keep up with business when it hits. So I want them in place before we put it out there for the world." I nod then I heard a horn outside and then another. "I think your sister has arrived." I nod and head for the front door. Autumn nearly knocks me down when I open it. Tim is laughing from the bottom of the stairs and Jackson grabs him in a bear hug. They've been friends forever too.
"Sissy!" We both say at once. "We're starved, is there food?" Autumn asks. That's Autumn, no ‘Hi how are you?' just ‘feed me.' Well, what did I expect?
"Yeah bring your crew in and you can help me make sandwiches." Kelly was suddenly smarter than I'd thought. Autumn brought her group in with her. There were five cars all-together, and twelve new wolves, two newly mated pairs besides Tim and Autumn. Five mated pairs were here now including mine and that meant that Jackson and I were keeping up our end of the deal. The pack required mated pairs and new members, we certainly achieved that. Autumn's friend Claire was unmated but handy in the kitchen. She organized an assembly line to make the sandwiches. I was on mustard and mayo duty, Autumn had meats and Claire handled vegetables and cutting. We made enough to feed everyone in no time. I brought out two bags of chips and several bottles of soda from the pantry. The boys put the leaves in the table and brought chairs into the dining room. By the time that Shirley and Dad appeared in the doorway we were mid lunch.
"Did you all have a nice drive?" My father's voice boomed from the doorway. Every member of the pack stilled. "Well?" Several of them nodded. "Good. I want you all to make me proud. You are now under Jackson and Summer's care but they will need your help. This pack has been dwindling for a long time but you're here now. You will need to pitch in and work together to make this pack profitable and productive again. Do you understand?" They nodded. "I enjoyed being your alpha but I am turning you over to Jackson now. Remember you are always welcome back home to visit or stay. I wish each of you the best lives and the best of luck." Dad smiled. "Now, I am some kind of hungry, who's going to pass me a sandwich?" The others made room at the table for Dad and Shirley to sit down and passed the food down the table. Dad laughed and joked with them. I was proud of him. He was so different than he was at home. I wasn't sure, if it was Shirley's influence or if it was because there was no pressure here. I put a chip in my mouth and chewed. This was going to turn out okay. I grew up with these pups. We were a great team when we needed to be. I watched them laughing and talking. When most of them had finished I asked for their attention.
"We think it's best if we take a tour of the housing that is available. Mated couples get first pick of the houses. Shirley, will you come with us and conduct the tour, tell us about the houses, which are empty, any interesting points?" She nodded and wadded her napkin. "Good. Is everyone finished? The trash can is over there." I point to the can in the corner. "Assemble at the front of the house." I make a face at Jackson and he smirks. "It's like camp." He shakes his head and holds his hand out to me.
We take the tour and it doesn't matter that the roof is half-rotten, or the plumbing is in need of repair, Autumn chooses the Victorian. Jackson and I both tried to warn her but she wasn't having it. As soon as she saw it, it belonged to her. She was in love with the turrets and castle like exterior. Originally, the Victorian was the alpha house Shirley said. Two alphas before Mark, there was an alpha that refused to live in what he called a girly house.
By the end of the day, all of the pairs had chosen a house and were settling in. I had six unmated wolves using my remaining guest rooms. It was as if I were running a hotel. Single wolves could occupy the remaining houses, sixteen in all and if we ran out of housing, they would need to double up. We still had ten empty houses to fill with werewolves. I wondered if anyone from Kelly's old pack would show up and fill them. I would get Autumn on the internet tomorrow to recruit. Jackson and I fell into bed exhausted.
I spent the next week learning the books from Shirley. Once my father left for home, Shirley wanted to hurry to join him. She taught me by day and packed by night. It was cute. She was like a teenager with a crush except that before he left, he'd marked her. It made me happy that they were going to be happy together. Dad hadn't had much of a life since my mother died and I was finally seeing it. I know if anything happened to Jackson, I would be lost and lonely too. I tried to learn the books, the website, and the store procedures as quickly as I could. Claire moved into the apartment over the store and we were training her to run the store too. Shirley said that I needed a back up because I wouldn't always be available. Jackson spent most days learning the cabinet business or learning to fix things at the condominium building. He'd had to settle one fight between the single wolves but he solved it easily. All three of the unmated males showed an interested in creating the cabinets. I think it's because they have power tools. I still hoped that from the six single wolves we would get at least one pair. Jackson thought that the tall and lanky wolf named Mike was interested in Sandy but it seemed like Sandy was more interested in Daniel. I hoped that she would stop waiting for Daniel to notice her and she would notice Mike. I would have to suggest that gently to her. Kelly and Earl spent most of their time at his house alone. Autumn and Tim were trying to fix up their house. There was a lot of banging over there. Gregory took a shine to Autumn like she was his long lost granddaughter. He stopped by every evening to help. It didn't hurt that when it came to flirtation and manipulation, Autumn was a natural. His motives may have been selfish though because he had his rookie crew helping. They were learning while they helped Tim fix things. This way, if it was wrong or got broken, they wouldn't have to start over on furniture that would be for sale.
Chapter 10
I watched the three pickup trucks ease down the gravel road. All three were newer than my car and the leader had two big wolves in it. The truck rumbled to a stop at the foot of my front steps. The big passenger rolled his window down and smiled at me. I trembled. Something was off. "Hi. I'm Donny. I heard that your pack is taking new members. I know Kelly, Frank's mate. Are you the female alpha?" I stayed on the middle step. I should've shaken his hand but something was still off and to be honest I was a little scared. Where is Jackson? He should be here with me if they want to be pack.
"I'm Summer and yes I am the female alpha." I wonder for half a second if I can take him the way I took Frank. He's big, huge. As big as he is though he isn't an alpha, he's a beta at best. He's still twice the size that Frank was but in the end it wouldn't have mattered how big Frank was I would've went after him anyway. The wolf in the driver's seat though, I'm suspicious of him, he has that alpha feel about him.
"Where is your alpha?" He asks as if I am not good enough all of the sudden for him. I look him over and pull out my new cell phone that Jackson bought for me. It's the latest tech and it matches his. I text Jackson and Kelly at the same time and tell them about the five big wolves from Frank's pack and that I'm scared. Kelly comes first with Earl. Earl is great. I really respect him as her mate and my new brother in law. He takes such good care of my sister. He pampers her and treats her like a princess. I am Earl's biggest fan. He is also Jackson's beta with Larry and Tim. They're a good team. Jackson texts back that he is on his way. I relay that to the new wolves as Earl and Kelly approach. I can see from her face that she's nervous. She eyes the driver of the first truck after waving at the two in the rear.
"Christian." Kelly says sharply. "What are you doing here? I thought that you were going to be the alpha now." He got out and towered over her. Shit. He was bigger than I thought. Kelly melted into Earl's side.