Mr. Red Riding Hoode: Poconos Pack, Book 2 Read Online Free PDF Page B

member of the Pack turned their gazes on her.
    Rick knew, of course, but until he gave his official blessing the Pack might not accept her mate, an outsider, the way they’d accepted Ben and Dave’s mating. As both were already members of the Pack they hadn’t needed Rick or the Pack’s approval, although Chela could have told them they had it. Rick could override the Pack if he felt Steve would ultimately benefit them, but he might not be willing to risk the Pack’s displeasure. They could make his life a living hell if they decided he’d stepped over the line.
    It was a fine dance an Alpha stepped with his Pack, one Chela was glad she didn’t have to deal with.
    Rick would go the formal route for Steve, a man he’d once denied Pack status. The Pack had been far too unstable to introduce a new, human member when Ben had asked, but it would work against Steve in this instance. Ben had understood why Steve had been refused, but the rest of the Pack would only know that he’d been denied. It could lead to all sorts of problems if the Pack felt he’d been denied due to, say, an unstable personality like the one Ben’s father had suffered from. They could try and force Chela not to mate him, or worse, not to bite him.
    They would lose, but they could try .
    She was proven right when the Alpha spoke. “State his name and whether he is Pack.”
    Chela straightened her shoulders. Here we go. Thanks to Ben blurting out about her mating to the Pack, she’d had no time to inform Rick privately. She just prayed Belle had said something to the Alpha. Rick hated surprises. “Steven Hoode. He is human, from New York, and our Marshal’s best friend.”
    The Pack grumbled a bit at that. While human mates were not unheard of, she could sense that not all of them were happy at the thought of adding another mouth to feed or another soul to house.
    “Why should the Pack accept him?”
    “I can answer that.” Ben stepped forward, glancing toward Dave for a moment before smiling at the rest of the Pack.
    Chela gulped. If the Pack refused to hear Ben’s reasons she’d be forced to either give up her mate or leave the Pack.
    Really, there was no option. Her Pack was no longer her top priority. The blond with the smiling blue eyes was.
    Ben stared Rick straight in the eye, a gesture that could be viewed by some as a challenge. “Steve is a good man who shielded me more than once when my father came after me.”
    The Pack’s grumbles stilled. Rick had made clear Ben’s past while Ben had chased his mate to Disney World to claim him. They all knew now how Ben had been abused by his father and neglected by the previous Alpha. That Steven had shielded Ben from his father’s rage spoke well of him. A recommendation such as this would go a long way toward getting Steve accepted as an Omega’s mate. His compassion, fearlessness and loyalty would ease many of their fears.
    Rick nodded. “Anyone else?”
    Surprisingly, Dave stepped forward. “He enabled Ben to come after me when he could have denied Ben the use of his timeshare. He gave selflessly to a friend in need.”
    Selflessly might not have been entirely accurate. He’d bargained for rooms at the lodge in exchange, but he’d given up the warmth of Orlando for the cold of the Poconos. Chela had seen the way he shivered. That was not a man who was fond of snow.
    “Anyone else?”
    No one else stepped forward, so she did. She gathered her courage, the part of her that Belle had helped strengthen, and squared her shoulders. “He’s mine.”
    The entire Pack turned to face her, almost causing her to panic. Too often she’d been under a Pack member’s scrutiny only to have someone strike out at her.
    Belle had definitively put a stop to that, standing at her side and showing her exactly who Chela was meant to be.
    She tilted her chin, allowing her power to flow through her. She would claim her mate, with the blessing of the Pack, or without it. “Steven Hoode is my mate, and