Page 37 of Fifty & Feral

They didn’t come out to the porch to greet us, to my surprise.

I went into the house first, and the two kids followed behind me.

I smiled when I saw Jack sitting at the large dining room table, a carafe of coffee and several mugs out. Enough for the two sets of parents and us.

“Hi,” I said.

Amanda went to her mom first and gave her a big hug. I recognized her as Madison, the lady from the cafe that morning.

“I’m sorry, Mom.” There was a slight break in her voice, and I had to smile. I got the feeling not many of the pack kids broke the rules. They had an inherent drive to be with their pack, and disappointing the pack wasn’t in their nature.

They hugged like the girl had made a trek across the country and not just across town.

“Why did you bother Connor with this, Amanda? You should have come to us.”

“He’s the alpha consort. You always said that the alpha consort provides a safe place to talk and he was really helpful! We understand why you don’t want us to go, and he said he’d try to convince you to let us!”

I chuckled, settling next to Jack. “That is not what I said, I said we could all have a conversation about it so we can all understand everyone’s point of view and hopefully come to a consensus that we all agreed on.”

“Alph— Jack, we didn’t want to concern you with this right now, you have enough on your plate,” the other mom, who I assumed was Janet, said.

“I may not know a lot about the pack just yet, but I am more than happy to help if there is something we need to chat about,” Jack said, looking pointedly at the two kids.

They both looked to me with a slight plea in their eyes.

I sighed. “Benjamin and Amanda are studying German in high school, and there is an opportunity for them to participate in a study abroad program in Germany this summer. Two weeks with a host family in Hamburg, and a school trip to Berlin at the end.”

Madison’s mouth went thin. “Two weeks is a long time to be away from home, especially for young wolves.”

“We don’t know any of the packs there,” Janet added, as if that settled it.

“That’s the point,” Benjamin muttered. “We never get to go anywhere and we never meet anyone! It’s boring here.”

“Benjamin,” Janet warned.

I put a hand up, and to my surprise, everyone actually stopped talking. “Can I say something? Not as a vote, just a thought.”

Jack’s knee bumped mine under the table. I took it as encouragement.

“I don’t know anything about the rules, so correct me if I’m wrong. But it sounds like the real problem isn’t Germany. It’s traveling without pack adults in a place where we don’t know the local packs? Those are two things you could actually solve.”

Madison’s eyes narrowed, though not unkindly. “Go on.”

“Is there a pack in Germany? Or anywhere near Hamburg? If Jack reached out to their alpha and asked for someone to look after them during the trip, would that change anything? Mason made it seem like most packs are on good terms with each other.”

The silence stretched. Janet and Madison looked at each other, one of those wordless parent conversations I was beginning to recognize.

“That’s... not an unreasonable idea,” Janet admitted slowly. “We just haven’t had a lot of inter-pack relationships because we haven’t had an alpha for a long time.”

Jack leaned back in his chair, studying me with an expression I couldn’t quite read. Pride, maybe. Or something warmer. “Then I suppose it’s a good thing I’m here. I know a thing or two about reaching out and making connections with people.” He turned to the two kids, and his voice softened but didn’t lose its weight. “I’m not promising anything. I’ll make a few calls and see if there is anything we can do. We can also see if other pack adults could go as chaperones. It won’t be the solo trip you might want, but it is a fair compromise.”

“Yes, Alpha,” they said in unison, shoulders already lifting. “Thank you.”

“And you will not leave again without telling your parents where you’re going, please.” He glanced at me. “Even if the person you’re visiting makes excellent coffee.”

I fought a smile. “I didn’t even give them coffee, just ice cream.”

Madison made a strangled noise that might have been a laugh. “You took them for ice cream?”