"How long do you think you'll be?" asked Eliza as Karano, Hazel, and Melashka finished loading up their car the next morning. "Will you be back before spring?"

The three of them shared a look before Hazel shrugged. "I hope so, but its hard to say since we have no real idea if we can get the help from the Selkies yet. If we're lucky, we can do it in a little over two months, because we can travel faster together than Melashka could on her own, and we already know the way."

"The bus from Florida will be here within a week," Karano told her. They'd got the text from Wesley the previous night, and knew the charter bus was already arranged and would be on the road within a few days. "It might be hard for Lucia to not see us when she gets here, so give her a lot of hugs, okay?" Since they had originally expected to be gone for less than a week, the new trip would keep them away from her a lot longer.

"We will. If you like, we can put you all up in one of the family houses but keep Lucia with us until you're back. Then you have a home ready and waiting for you." Kenzie pointed at a row of houses that were set up for families but were currently unoccupied. With the change in leadership, they would hopefully have new families living in them soon.

"That would be great, thanks." Karano was so proud of the young pair, who had quickly made everyone feel confident in their leadership. It was easy to see that they would do great things once they got their bearings and a little confidence.

They had time for a bunch of hugs, and then they drove away in their rental car. Kenzie and Eliza both watched until they were gone, and that was when the situation truly hit Eliza. She only had Kenzie to rely on, and neither of them had been trained for this. They'd just have to use common sense and their instincts to do the best they could.

"You have me too. I'm always with you," reminded Cobium. Eliza breathed out a sigh of relief, knowing that with all of his experience, he might be the best resource available to them.

"I'll be talking to you about a lot of things then, dear Cobium. Do you have any ideas on where to start?"

"Get a tour so we can see what is available. A lot has changed since I was here last. Then we can set pack officers, like your Betas, Deltas and Gammas." He sounded sad, but Eliza understood what he meant. Things had changed a lot since her father, and Cobium, had been killed.

"Hey Kenzie, can you show me around? I barely remember this place from when we were kids." There were a few more buildings, and some seemed to have been repurposed from when she was growing up. If they were going to run this pack together, then they needed to know what they had to work with.

"Of course, babe." Kenzie threaded her fingers through Eliza's and started leading her around the various buildings. The pack was already more active than normal, with several kids outside along with many women who hadn't been able to live their lives as they'd liked to in a long time. Many of them nodded at their new young leaders, even while wondering if they'd be up to the task. They all hoped so!

There was a lot to see in the pack complex. The main pack house had an underground garage with a pair of ramps to go in and out of. There was also a two bay car garage for mechanics to work on the vehicles, but Kenzie explained that they hadn't had a mechanic in a while because the last one was killed by Jackson. Outside of the pack house itself, there were over a dozen family homes that had multiple bedrooms, a small school, a building with recreation equipment storage, a greenhouse for growing vegetables, and a large hall for parties with an attached kitchen.

The rest of the facilities were inside the mammoth packhouse, where the pack members could retreat if attacked, and spent the majority of their time. Many of the wolves stayed there, especially the single ones, but there were also several multi-room apartments that worked for families too. The enclosed cinema was popular, as were the gym and dining facilities. A children's nursery was there, with a door that opened out to a playground as well. The infirmary was on the lower level, next to the nursery, as many of the kids ended up with little bumps and bruises. It was a well designed facility; it had just been under horrible management.

Eliza could only shake her head at the riches that were before her. Though it wasn't well maintained, the sheer number of wolves that could be housed there, and the land needed to support them, was staggering. "How do you pay for all this?" she asked Kenzie. "It's huge!"

"Gold," Kenzie replied with a giggle. "The pack has been mining here for centuries, and while there isn't much found anymore, there is still a lot in our vault, and we did a very good job investing. Luckily, neither Rodney nor his father cared about the money as long as things were running okay, so they never looked into the finances. But we'll be able to take in your old pack, Melashka's pack, and the rogues, with no issues. We are doing great in that department."

Eliza just stared at her, with her mouth open. "Gold? Seriously?"

Her mate nodded swiftly. "Oh yeah, our ancestors mined a lot, and we never really needed too much once everything was built. We're pretty self sufficient here, and have a lot of solid investments. Other than the occasional food run and paying for internet and taxes, we don't need to spend much. We've spent money on sending some people to college, like the pack doctor, but we haven't done that lately with Rodney in charge."

That made sense, but it also made Eliza wonder if more should go to school. Would it help the pack be stronger if their members were able to learn more? What if they were able to get people to make the greenhouse grow food more efficiently? What if the women that managed the money were able to get classes in business or economics? There were a lot of possibilities that were there to be explored.

The pack was woefully small now though, and so many rooms were empty. Even with the expected influx of new members, it would take decades to replace the losses brought on from the tyranny of the old pack leaders. There was a long way to go before they could consider doing all of the things that Eliza could see for them.

"Damn, there is so much that we need to do," Eliza whispered to herself.

"And we'll do it together." Kenzie heard her, of course, and hugged her tightly. "I know we're going to make this pack better than it's ever been. Now come on, my mom wants to meet you."

Eliza grinned as she was pulled into the pack house, where they took the stairs up to the top floor. Down at the end of the hallway, she could see Esther and Emerson standing with a woman who she remembered as Eliza's mom, Julie, and a younger boy, who she didn't know at all.

"Oh, Eliza!" Julie held her arms out happily, and Eliza couldn't help but to rush over and give the woman a long overdue hug. When growing up with Kenzie, their moms both doted on them, so coming back to the pack and being Kenzie's mate included getting another mother out of the deal. "It's so nice to see you!"

"I'm happy to be back, and even more so to be mated to Kenzie."

"I always hoped the two of you would end up as mates. You were adorable together as kids, and I can tell you'll make a wonderful couple." She finally released me and gestured to the young boy next to her. "This is my son Connor. I was thinking that since Emerson and Ethel lost their parents, they could stay with Connor and I. We have room now that Kenzie will be staying with you in the Alpha quarters."

Eliza looked over at the twins, and they were looking at her expectantly. It looked like they'd really bonded with Connor quickly, and I couldn't help but agree to it. Besides, they'd still see them a lot. "Of course. As long as they're happy and comfortable, then I love that idea. I bet Connor will be a great friend to them. We'll move into the Alpha's quarters as quickly as we can."

"Babe, we can go there now," Kenzie said with a happy smile. "My mom was kind enough to get it all set up for us last night so we could move in tonight. That's why she wasn't around while you were meeting everyone."

"You did?" Eliza squawked, looking back at Julie. "Thank you so much!" It meant a lot to her that there was already some acceptance, though she was sure that having Kenzie as her mate and the new Luna had a lot to do with that. Kenzie seemed to be friends with everyone, and that would go a long way in helping to run the pack.

"It was my pleasure to get the stench of that boy out of that room. We needed a real Alpha, and just hearing you talk to the pack let me know that you're the one for the job." She turned and opened the door to the room and beckoned me inside. "Why don't you check it out and then come downstairs. Darla mentioned that her son and his group should be here soon."

"We will, thank you." The young couple stepped into their new home. There was an immense bed dominating the far wall, and several wardrobes, dressers and closets for storage. An attached bathroom gave them plenty of privacy, and there were two smaller bedrooms that were attached that reminded them that Alphas were expected to have kids.

Yes, they both blushed as soon as they thought that, while their wolves howled in desire.

"I think Cobium is ready for us to have kids already," Eliza snickered.

Kenzie hugged her tight, tilting her head up for a soft kiss. "So is Sybil. Are we? Or should we wait? I wouldn't mind that."

"How about we just practice a lot for a bit," suggested Eliza while grabbing Kenzie's butt and making her squeal. "Once we get my moms back and settled in with the tigers, we can start trying for little pups."

"Can we practice right now?" Kenzie gave her mate a look that could melt a glacier, and Eliza knew she'd never turn her down.

"Get in that bed, love. We'll have a little practice till we go meet the rogues that will hopefully join us."