“Everything go okay, honey?” His arms slid around her and pulled her tight against his chest, his lips brushing the side of her neck softly. He inhaled deeply and then sighed. “God, I love the scent of cherry blossoms.”
Freya could feel herself melting under his touch, his own scent of pine trees and the forest sinking into her pores and making her feel safe. “I am reporting to begin my Beta training,” she laughed softly, trying not to moan out loud as his hand slid to the nape of her neck and tilted her face up to his.
“You’ve been crying.” The words were terse as he examined her face minutely, waiting for her to deny it.
“Nors and I had a talk after the meeting with Rafe. It was a bit emotional but therapeutic too. Your Alpha did not upset me, Dayton, quite they opposite in fact. I think I may even find myself liking him a little.”
A slow smile crossed his lips before he bent his head to graze her mouth gently against hers. “I love you,” he whispered. “Thank you, sweetness.”
She knew why he was thanking her and it made her heart soar that she’d pleased him, made him proud of her. It was for this very reason that she would succeed with her integration into the pack. Because this feeling inside was priceless and something she wanted to experience every day for the rest of her life.
“I love you too… honey.” The endearment felt strange on her lips but the total joy in his eyes was worth the awkwardness she felt saying it. Still she flushed, conscious of intruding eyes on them. Turning her head she saw the young males she’d growled at earlier trying very hard to look as if they weren’t watching them.
Slipping out of Dayton’s arms she took a deep breath. “Go back to what you were doing. I will help as best I can.”
Dayton wanted to laugh at the disgruntled expression on her face. She looked like someone was about to torture her but he couldn’t help grinning at her calling him honey. It was the most perfect thing he’d heard in a long time.
“Let me get finished up here and then we’ll get to work on what you need to be learning. It won’t take me long.” He kissed her again and then headed back over to finish helping with the evacuation of the tunnels beneath the centre.
Freya watched him leave and then turned to face the youths again. The community centre was obviously a focal place and there was a kitchen area off to the side. Not wanting to be standing around doing nothing, she headed over to the boys. They immediately went to scatter and she hissed in frustration before she took a deep breath.
“Stand still.” It was nothing short of an order and the four young males froze on the spot, fear crossing their faces. Not the desired result she’d been hoping for but it was a start.
“Names and make it quick. I don’t have all day.”
The sandy haired male swallowed loudly but squared his shoulders. They looked around eighteen; young men rather than little ones.
“I’m Foster; this is Squid, Moose and Dawg.” He indicated his friends as he spoke.
Freya’s eyebrows rose sharply as she stared at them. She seriously doubted their parents had named them anything so ridiculous. They had most probably picked the names for themselves thinking it made them special in some way. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell them just how stupid the names were but she took another deep breath instead and bit down the urge.
“I’m Freya. Seeing as you four are so interested in what I get up to in this compound you’re as well as helping me. That way you can stare all you want without being sneaky about it.”
Her words had them blushing furiously and looking away, making her feel slightly chagrined at her bluntness. It was hard to be subtle about things when she was used to just saying what came to mind. She didn’t sense any malice in the boys, just too many hormones for them to think straight.
“I’m sure you had some food in the tunnels but it probably wasn’t nutritious enough for the little ones,” she said in a more gentle tone. “We should make ourselves useful by preparing something for the pack to eat. You will come with me to the kitchen area.”
“Girls cook,” the one called Moose exclaimed in complaint, obviously feeling brave because of her softer tone. He appeared to feel the task was beneath him and a quick look at his friends echoed that impression.
Freya gave him a hard stare and slowly elongated her fangs. She held them out for a full ten seconds before she put them away. The boys appeared both fascinated and fearful at the same time.
“Those fangs mean I don’t have to eat,” she answered levelly. “And yet I still know how to cook. It is not a gender thing but a need to provide for those you care about. If a vampire can learn to cook then a male Were can too. Protecting your future mates and offspring is not all about fighting and being a dominant male. It is about nurturing and loving your family. A real man knows how to do that without worrying about how ‘manly’ he looks. Anyone interested in learning that can join me in the kitchen.”
She turned her back on them and headed over to the cooking area, smiling as she heard four pairs of feet begin to follow her. She was right; they weren’t bad kids, just misguided. They could be taught.
Dayton choked back laughter as he watched Freya shame the boys into following her. He’d never seen four young males be so obedient before and yet she had them in the kitchen and going about tasks they would most likely have kicked up a fuss about if anyone else had tried to get them to do it.
As he continued on with his own tasks he kept shooting a glance into the kitchen to see how she was doing. His heart turned over as he watched Freya’s beautiful face light up with a smile when Dawg did something which she approved of. The young male almost puffed up with pride under her approval and his friends were suddenly more dedicated in their own tasks.
His woman was simply amazing the way she unconsciously wove her spell around the boys and taught them to have pride in what they were achieving. He was so damned proud of her he wanted to go over and kiss her senseless. Instead he decided to wait until later and show her just how proud she’d made him. When they were alone…