and no matter how stressed his life was at any given time, Jaryn always looked forward to spending time with his family, friends, and pack members.
They all congregated at the two thousand square foot lodge the pack had funded and built on their land. That reminded Jaryn—he really needed to talk to Shaun about organising a committee to tackle the proposed small meeting house for more intimate gatherings. Jaryn had been tossing around the idea of possibly opening up the lodge to the public. Maybe even finding the funding to design and build a small-to-medium sized chalet with guest rooms groups could rent for corporate retreats or weddings. Jaryn didn't want the pack to be responsible for running a full time resort, but corporate retreats or weddings would be acceptable. The rest of the time the rooms could be used for visitors to pack members or housing the occasional dignitary from the council. Phantom River's land backed up to Glacier National Park, so he suspected they wouldn't have a hard time selling the location. There were natural creeks that bubbled in the spring, grassy meadows, and certain areas where there were enough trees that any structure built would maintain a secluded feel. The pack had enough land that a small parcel allotted to be open to public use wouldn't encroach on the members’ homes and lives. The income generated would add to the already successful pack-owned businesses in the area, and it would allow Jaryn to provide jobs for both pack members and non-pack residents. He'd have to run some numbers and see if something of that nature would be feasible.
God, he hated accounting, but unfortunately being Alpha included the tedious job of balancing and managing the pack's accounts. Too bad they didn't have a member who was an accountant or financial planner. Jaryn would love to delegate this part of his responsibilities.
Jaryn's head jerked up as the door to his office hit the wall with a bang and saw Shaun standing in the doorway with his feet braced apart, arms crossed and a decisively annoyed frown on his face. It seemed it was time to pay the piper.
"And when were you planning on telling me—your Beta, not to mention your best friend—that you'd found your mate? I had to hear it from Gillian at the diner over my stack of pancakes. I nearly incinerated my throat inhaling scalding hot coffee!"
Jaryn smiled and leant back in his chair. “Good morning to you too, Shaun."
"Well?"
"Have a seat. I wanted to talk to you about the possibility of a new business venture for the pack, and then there's—"
"Jaryn! So help me God...” Shaun clenched his fists at his sides.
Jaryn couldn't help the smile from spreading across his face even further. It was one of his greatest perverse pleasures to rile up Shaun. That, and thoughts of his dinner with Nicole last night had immensely lightened his mood from a few moments ago at the prospect of tackling the accounting.
"Her name is Nicole Holland, and I met her yesterday at the bank when I was there to make the deposit from the Anderson project."
Shaun came into the room and sat in the chair across the desk from Jaryn. “So that's why I couldn't reach you for the pack run? Everyone was looking for you. Is she a shifter?"
"No, Nicole is human. Well, mostly human. Sorry about bailing on the pack run. I meant to message you, but one thing led to another and the day got away from me. Then it was time to meet Nicole for our date, and quite frankly I forgot about everything else."
"What do you mean mostly human? It's kind of an either-or situation."
"She swears up and down that she's one hundred per cent human, but her body responded to mine as if it recognised her mate, and I can sense wolf in her somewhere. It's faint but definitely present."
"Maybe she had a wolf shifter in her family several generations removed or something? So what happened?"
"We shared a very nice dinner at Cureso's."
"Did you claim her?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Jaryn stood and
They all congregated at the two thousand square foot lodge the pack had funded and built on their land. That reminded Jaryn—he really needed to talk to Shaun about organising a committee to tackle the proposed small meeting house for more intimate gatherings. Jaryn had been tossing around the idea of possibly opening up the lodge to the public. Maybe even finding the funding to design and build a small-to-medium sized chalet with guest rooms groups could rent for corporate retreats or weddings. Jaryn didn't want the pack to be responsible for running a full time resort, but corporate retreats or weddings would be acceptable. The rest of the time the rooms could be used for visitors to pack members or housing the occasional dignitary from the council. Phantom River's land backed up to Glacier National Park, so he suspected they wouldn't have a hard time selling the location. There were natural creeks that bubbled in the spring, grassy meadows, and certain areas where there were enough trees that any structure built would maintain a secluded feel. The pack had enough land that a small parcel allotted to be open to public use wouldn't encroach on the members’ homes and lives. The income generated would add to the already successful pack-owned businesses in the area, and it would allow Jaryn to provide jobs for both pack members and non-pack residents. He'd have to run some numbers and see if something of that nature would be feasible.
God, he hated accounting, but unfortunately being Alpha included the tedious job of balancing and managing the pack's accounts. Too bad they didn't have a member who was an accountant or financial planner. Jaryn would love to delegate this part of his responsibilities.
Jaryn's head jerked up as the door to his office hit the wall with a bang and saw Shaun standing in the doorway with his feet braced apart, arms crossed and a decisively annoyed frown on his face. It seemed it was time to pay the piper.
"And when were you planning on telling me—your Beta, not to mention your best friend—that you'd found your mate? I had to hear it from Gillian at the diner over my stack of pancakes. I nearly incinerated my throat inhaling scalding hot coffee!"
Jaryn smiled and leant back in his chair. “Good morning to you too, Shaun."
"Well?"
"Have a seat. I wanted to talk to you about the possibility of a new business venture for the pack, and then there's—"
"Jaryn! So help me God...” Shaun clenched his fists at his sides.
Jaryn couldn't help the smile from spreading across his face even further. It was one of his greatest perverse pleasures to rile up Shaun. That, and thoughts of his dinner with Nicole last night had immensely lightened his mood from a few moments ago at the prospect of tackling the accounting.
"Her name is Nicole Holland, and I met her yesterday at the bank when I was there to make the deposit from the Anderson project."
Shaun came into the room and sat in the chair across the desk from Jaryn. “So that's why I couldn't reach you for the pack run? Everyone was looking for you. Is she a shifter?"
"No, Nicole is human. Well, mostly human. Sorry about bailing on the pack run. I meant to message you, but one thing led to another and the day got away from me. Then it was time to meet Nicole for our date, and quite frankly I forgot about everything else."
"What do you mean mostly human? It's kind of an either-or situation."
"She swears up and down that she's one hundred per cent human, but her body responded to mine as if it recognised her mate, and I can sense wolf in her somewhere. It's faint but definitely present."
"Maybe she had a wolf shifter in her family several generations removed or something? So what happened?"
"We shared a very nice dinner at Cureso's."
"Did you claim her?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Jaryn stood and
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