Wild Invitation

fact the “civilian” chiefs in the pack had to keep constantly in mind when they created work teams.
    Because when it came down to it, they weren’t human; they were changeling, they were wolf.
    “Was Coop here? I love the depth of his scent.” It was a cheerful comment as Vivienne took the seat Grace had offered. “It’s so quintessentially male, you know? If my wolf wasn’t half terrified of him, I’d be tempted to serve myself up to him on a platter.” She sighed. “That scar of his should detract from his looks, but it only adds to his sex appeal. God, can you imagine what he’d be like in bed?”
    Grace opened her mouth and the words just fell out, sounding as surreal as the first time she’d heard them. “He says he’s going to court me.”
    Vivienne’s head snapped toward her. “I
knew
it!” Rampant glee. “I told Todd not to flirt with you, but would my dumbass twin listen? No! Hah! I can’t wait to see the look on his face when I tell him he was attempting to make time with the lieutenant’s woman.”
    Grace blinked at the unexpected response. “You did not know. And I’m not his woman.” It sounded so strange to say those words, to even consider the idea outside of her fantasies.
    Vivienne waved away the qualification. “Okay, fine, I didn’t
know
know, but I suspected. I grew up in this den, was seventeen when Coop took over, and let me tell you: the man might’ve kept his distance since you arrived, but he’s never looked at a woman the way he looks at you. All kind of intense and protective and ravenous”—a shiver—“like he’s waiting to take a bite.”
    The idea of Cooper’s mouth on her skin made Grace squeezeher thighs together, even as another part of her yelled that she’d lost her mind. She did not have the tools to handle a man like that—strong, raw, demanding—in bed. “You’re not helping.”
    “I’m sorry.” Voice solicitous, Vivienne patted her thigh. “It’s just that he’s so hot, I lost my marbles for a second.”
    Grace snorted a surprised laugh and it was a needed release. “You’re an idiot.”
    Vivienne winked, asked, “You don’t like him?”
    “Like’s not the word I’d use,” Grace said, her voice husky with remembered emotion. “I…he
is
hot. Extremely.” The kind of hot that could ruin her for other men even as it burned her to a cinder. “But, he’s a lieutenant.”
    “Is he using his position to pressure you?” A frown. “I can’t see Coop—”
    “No! No, he’d never do that.” He might be rough around the edges, bad in a way her sensible side warned her put him way out of her sexual league, and definitely dangerous, but he was also honorable to the core.
    “If you want me to stop anytime, anywhere, the only word you ever need to use is ‘No.’”
    Vivienne nudged her shoulder, one long leg bent at the knee, the foot of the other pressing against the opposite wall. “Then what?”
    “I’m a submissive.” An obvious, unalterable fact. “Always have been—and I’m happy with my place in the hierarchy.” She was needed, her role in SnowDancer no less important than any other. For one, the pups were utterly unafraid of her. In an emergency, she could grab any child and run, knowing that child would cling to her rather than fight.
    On a day-to-day basis, and without throwing the dynamite of passion into the mix, Grace and those like her helped their stronger brethren maintain control of their aggressive natures by inciting an intense and often unconscious protectiveness.
    Though, from the submissive end, the effect wasn’t always by chance.
    More than once, Grace had asked an angry and frustrated dominant to assist her in some task she could just as well do herself, aware the influence of her wolf would calm theirs. Such things were part of the rhythm of a healthy pack. Those packs that lost their natural complement of submissives—whetherthrough accidents or a lack of care and respect—and didn’t redress the imbalance eventually splintered, the energy in the den turning violent.
    “Always remember”—a warm hand stroking over her hair—“as we need their strength to make us feel safe deep inside, the soldiers and other dominants need us to retain their humanity. That’s why SnowDancer is such a powerful pack. Because one is not considered more or less than the other.”
    “But,” she continued, heart clenching at the echo of her lost father’s gentle voice, “wolves like me don’t date