Come Out Swinging (Reach for the Moon Book 2) by Sam Hall (sight word readers TXT) 📕

his mother, but then there was you.” Her smile became sweet. “You took him as your mate?”

She knew, had seen the scar, but she was giving me an opportunity to acknowledge that.

“They are my pack.” I gestured to the guys, feeling a shock of shame at that. It just seemed…greedy somehow. When other people weren’t around, I could accept, even glory in it, but now? “I’ve formalised things with Zack, Lorcan, and Micah.”

As if summoned, the guys got up and walked over.

“And you will with more.” She eyed the men, then her eyes narrowed down. “More than this.”

“What?” Declan asked, stiffening.

“Aidan knots for her,” Micah reminded him, but he didn’t look pleased about it. “That’s who you mean.”

“I don’t know this Aidan or any of you,” she replied. “I can just sense the nature of this pack like most…nix do.” Her lips thinned down. “I prefer the older term, ulva. It literally means she-wolf, so it could be used with any female wolf shifter, but I think it is a better one for us. You have fought your nature for some time, consciously and subconsciously wanting to block what you are. It’s probably what saved you here, that and your Zack.” He flushed at that comment. “When you fully accept what you are, your sense of your pack and of other’s packs will strengthen.”

“So…” I leaned forward, clasping my hands as I stared at the carpet. “You’re an…ulva.” I remembered the words of Mother Moon, not having paid much attention to it at the time, but… My eyes slid to Zack. “And that’s how you always knew what to do or say.” I nodded to myself, then let out a long breath. “Then maybe you can help. We’ve had some interesting things happen since I formed my pack. Some of it weird, some of it fucking scary. I dunno if that’s just the way of being an ulva or what but… We have to go back to my hometown, we need to sort out a situation where a family member is doing some really bloody awful things, but we can’t until we understand what’s going on.”

“OK,” Margaret said, frowning slightly. “Apart from the relationships all settling and the men learning to mesh with each other, it’s usually a fairly easy process. Self-acceptance is a big part of your journey, but… Why don’t you tell me what’s been happening?”

So I did.

Margaret’s skin was bleached to a fine porcelain colour by the mid-morning light. I watched her blink as she tried to process everything, then reach for her phone, scrolling through her contacts.

“With your permission, I’d like to reach out to some people,” she said finally.

“Like who?” Zack said, instantly on the alert.

“There’s a group of us ulva that meet regularly. A support group if you will. There’s also my mentor.” Her eyes flicked from me to Zack. “She’s the matriarch of a big pack. She came over from the old country, much more recently than most of our families. She… Most of what I know about what we are comes from her. She has…other contacts as well that are beyond my reach.”

“She sounds like some kind of mafia don,” I said with a grin, but that soon faltered. Margaret didn’t return my smile, she just frowned slightly.

“Otherwise, I’m no help to you. I feel stronger, more vital when I’m around my mates, the pull towards them settling the closer I am, but what you described…” She looked over at Micah. “Father Wolf?”

“That…feels right,” he replied, “but I don’t know why.”

“Reach out to your contacts and let me know how it goes,” Zack said. “But I’ve gotta ask—”

“Keep this confidential? I know.” Margaret’s gaze returned to me. “Controlling your narrative after all of this misinformation? It would be what I would want.” She got to her feet, then moved towards me when I stood as well, taking my hands in hers and squeezing them. “It’s a hard path, but it’s the only one for us, being an ulva. I’m glad you’ve taken your first steps upon it. We’ll discover what’s going on with your pack soon enough.” She pulled away with a final nod. “I’ll be in touch.”

“Jesus, did you put the word out already, Zack?” Bridget asked, stomping up the stairs after Margaret had left, finding the lot of us just standing there, still. “Because damn, those guys in your gym are flirty. I’ve gotten…” —she scrolled through her contacts— “seven phone numbers? What? Shouldn’t I have—?”

“It’s fine, Bridge,” I said, finally breaking the silence. “And of course you’ve got a heap of offers. You’re gorgeous. Who could resist all this?”

It was a line we often used when we were younger, trying to bolster each other up under Nance’s scrutiny. She struck her customary pin-up pose, and I grinned.

We needed more of this. More laughs, more silly, more family, more love. A pall had fallen over the room after Margaret left, but I didn’t want it to stay there. I could see the sun shining through the windows, a beautiful sunny day out there waiting for us.

“So, you got too many dates lined up to wanna spend the day at the beach with us?” I asked.

“Beach?” Declan asked in a low mutter. We had things to do, people to see, but I remembered what it was like, coming from the country. Lupindorf was well away from the coastline, so days at the seaside were few and far between.

“God, on a day like this? I didn’t want to ask, but…”

“C’mon, let’s see what Zack has tucked away in these cupboards.”

Every day introduced me to new challenges with the pack. Now we needed to take two cars to the beach, because one wasn’t enough to fit all of us, but the worst part? We were standing outside the gym, watching my guys file out in just low-slung board shorts that seemed to have been designed solely to showcase those damn Vs of their hip muscles. I had to learn to keep my hands