MasukJOSH POV As they say on SpongeBob SquarePants, (Yes, I’ve watched the show. It’s very popular with the foster kids of my foundation.)… ‘Three hours later…’ we’re finally on the road to Green Bay. I glance over at Maddie in my passenger seat as we pass through the pack’s front gate and I see her looking down at her clasped hands, gnawing on her lower lip. “Hey now, what’s with the face?” I ask as I reach over and caress the back of her neck. Maddie looks up at me with worry and I can see Infinity faintly blinking back at me too. “I’m sorry about them, Josh.” “That wasn’t your fault, Mads. It’s more mine than yours.” “No. They’ve been wanting to meet you and apparently I didn’t convey my ‘no’ well enough when they’ve been asking in order to properly keep them away. If I had, we wouldn’t have been interrupted… again.” “But if I wasn’t famous, they wouldn’t have been chomping at the bit to meet me.” I tell her, wanting to easy th
MADDIE POV I’ve really missed Josh this last week and a half. When Infinity and I decided to give him his space, I didn’t realize just how much I would miss him. So, in that regard, it really didn’t take much for me to convince myself to come see him today. I only wanted to have lunch with Josh and to speak with him about coming with me to Simone’s Luna ceremony. Okay fine… that was just an excuse. I simply wanted, no needed, to be in his presence again. I had no other motives. Seriously. Honestly. I had no idea that he would pull me to him with a sizzling kiss and it lead to giving him head. I mean, I’m not complaining that it has. Absolutely not! And you won’t EVER hear me complain about servicing my mate. I like knowing I can bring him to the brink and over the edge of pleasure with just my hands and mouth. But after our last conversation outside of the hospital, getting naked together, even just partially naked, was the l
JOSH POV I smile faintly at that. “Thank you.” I tell her as I reach over and grasp her hand. The bond sparks are there, and I can feel myself relaxing as they erupt into my body. Maddie smiles back and I can tell she’s relaxing too, the emotional equivalent of a massage, everything inside turning itself back to how it should be. “Anywho…” Maddie shakes off our awkward moment. “I wanted to speak with you about an event happening in the next few days. My youngest brother, Samuel, has found his Luna and they’re having her Luna ceremony this Saturday. I wanted to ask if you would go with me… as my date?” I blink for a second to absorb her words. “You want me to be your date to a Luna ceremony for your sister-in-law at another pack?” “Yes. My entire family is excited to meet you, and this’ll give you an opportunity to see how other packs are run. I have the pack tailor on standby to fit you for a formal tux if you agree; my dress is already
JOSH POV I sigh in resignation that the decision regarding staying and mating with Maddie is, once again, not being made today. I head into the packhouse and up the stairs to the Alpha’s quarters to take my shower and come back down for lunch. As I enter the security door, I sense a presence inside that wasn’t here when I left this morning. Cautiously, I move toward the living room. Across the large space, I see Maddie sitting at the dining room table. There is a meal set out and it seems she is waiting, most likely, for me. She looks up and gives me a sweet, gentle smile. “Hi Josh. How are you?” she asks. I make my way over to the table, “I’m good. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.” “I wanted to give you some thinking space. Is it okay if we have lunch together today? There is something I want to discuss with you… you don’t have to worry. It’s not about our bond.” She reassures me as she holds up her hands in a peaceful
JOSH POV When not training, I’ve spent a lot of my down time with the other human mates in the pack. They’ve shared the stories of their journeys with me, and they haven’t sugar coated any situation, which I very much appreciate. I’ve come to learn that the issues I’ve been concerned with are the same things most of the human mates also struggled with. Unfortunately, no one has dealt with those conflicts in the same way, so there’s no hard and fast rule on how to ease the consciousness. It seems, everyone approaches the problem in their own ways or looks at it differently than I do. And there are those, like Holly, who don’t have any conflicting emotions about the violence of wolf pack life. She accepts that life in a pack can be violent, but the feelings of family, support and love in a pack are totally worth the risks. But the biggest take-away is that everyone adjusts and accepts in their own way, in their own timeframe. Anita, one of the pack ac
JOSH POV Just over a week has gone by. I haven’t seen Maddie during that entire time. I’ve seen Infinity, from a distance, running through the trees or on the streets of the pack with her patrol units, but I haven’t seen her human half at all. Rose says she’s giving me space to have my own thoughts. Ones that aren’t influenced by the bond. I appreciate her giving me my space and letting me make decisions without that influence. I’m glad she understands that is what I need right now. I’ve spent most of this week with Tyson, Greta, and Maddox. They have all been helping me with sparing, calisthenics and running, aiding me in improving my performance times. Shifters tend to focus on using all of their senses versus just sight, like humans tend to do. I have learned quite a bit from them and because their training is most usually about pack protection, the physical aspects they’ve focused on are entirely different than what I focus on when working out with the Packe







