Dana Bell: Finding Forgiveness

“And he might run into Grandma again?” The Luna leaned into Rick, her green eyes dancing with laughter. “ I like your shirt, Ben.”

Dave’s scent drifted over him, surrounded him. It soothed him, kept Rick’s barely bottled laughter from bothering him too much. “I do too.”

“I gather your vacation went well?” Belle waggled her brows.

“Oh hell yes.” Ben’s answering smirk was full of satisfaction. “Let’s just say Space Mountain was most definitely conquered.”

“Oh, hey, Ben! How was Disney—” Chela, the Pack Omega, stopped just in the doorway to Ben’s office, her eyes glued to Ben’s T-shirt. “Holy hell. He’s been Stepfordized. Before you know it he’ll be making crème brûlèe and doing dishes. With a smile .”

The Alpha pair burst into laughter.

“My God.” Ted, his Second, followed Chela into the office. “What the hell did he do to you?” Ted was grinning. “Is this penance?”

“It started out that way, yeah.” Ben stroked his shirt, Dave’s scent drifting once more to his nose. “But not anymore.”

The ruling hierarchy of the Pack, minus the Beta, laughed at him on their way out the door. “See you in a few, Ben.” Ted winked at him. “I think I saw Dave headed this way.”

Ben couldn’t help it. He straightened up, earning another laugh from his Second before the man left him alone in the office. He’d been smiling since they’d come home from Disney, and he didn’t think he’d be stopping any time soon.

This was their first Pack meeting since coming home a mated pair. Dave had been running around ever since, finalizing a summer wedding, dealing with Pack issues Rick needed his assistance on and dealing with moving into Ben’s cabin. Ben hadn’t wanted to move; he loved his view off his back porch, and Dave hadn’t cared enough to fight him on it. Once Chela heard Dave’s cabin would soon be empty she’d promptly claimed the larger space for her own.

The only thing that marred his happiness was Dave falling into bed every night exhausted. Ben hadn’t realized how much pressure his mate was under until they’d come home. The man ran himself ragged, barely able to eat the meals Ben had prepared before damn near passing out.

Ben was going to have a chat with Rick about that soon. If he had to he’d pull the Marshall card, because this directly involved Dave’s health. Dave needed someone to take the stress off him. They needed to hire someone to be Dave’s assistant. Ben didn’t care if it was a Wolf, a human or a goddamn Grizzly, just so long Dave could breathe again.

Hell, maybe Charlie the Lion would be willing to take the post. The two got along like a house afire, and was someone Ben could tolerate close to his mate. She was almost as protective of Dave as Ben himself.

“Hey, Ben. What’s with the frown?”

Ben pulled his smiling mate between his legs and accepted the kiss Dave gave him. Man, his mate knew how to use his mouth. “I’m worried about you.”

Dave frowned and tilted his head. “Why?”

“Your work load. I don’t want you to stress too much.” Dave hadn’t had a migraine since the aborted one while on vacation. Ben didn’t want his mate to suffer through another one.

Dave’s expression became serious, the way it did only when he discussed the truly important things. “It’s my job, Ben.”

“I know. Which is why I’m thinking we should talk Rick into hiring an assistant for you.”

Dave looked surprised, but only for a moment. “Oh, for the event planning. Not a bad idea. We’d have to get Belle in on it too, since the restaurant hosts a lot of the dinners for these events, and she’d have to work with whoever we hired.”

Ben grimaced. “Hell. I was gonna suggest Charlie, but maybe we should hire a Grizzly instead.”

Dave choked on a laugh and patted Ben’s ass. “C’mon, we’re going to be late for the Pack meeting.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ben started to follow his mate out the door but stopped dead at the sight of something white sticking out of the top of Dave’s jeans. “What the hell?”

Dave winked and raced off, flashing that little bit of white tulle behind him, but not before Ben collapsed in laughter. Oh yeah. The mocking would be bad.

But it would be so worth it.