“We need to find Lilith and destroy her body,” Romeo said when they’d all gathered for dinner. The entire pack was still staying on Traverse land, a precaution that would continue until they’d taken out every facet of Lilith and Fenris’ army. Romeo knew their forces had been decimated when the Radiants had done their finest work, but it didn’t seal the deal for their pack resettling in their homes.
“How can we be sure she’s even been stripped of her soul?” asked Brody.
“We can’t,” Sarina said, grabbing Brody’s hand. “But I would think that if she sold her soul, it would be the price to pay, considering she didn’t succeed in sacrificing our children.”
“What if she was given a deadline and wants to try again?”
“No one’s leaving those babies for a minute. We’ve got around the clock surveillance both inside the house and out. We’ve got pack members right outside their room and two wolves inside the room at all times. She won’t get near those sweet babies again,” Amanda said, her own green eyes sharp and deadly serious.
“What if she doesn’t need just them? What if it can be any of us as long as we come from the Traverse line?”
“Lilith, for all her faults, isn’t dumb,” Romeo said, stepping into the conversation. “If she could’ve chosen any of us, she would have gone after your mother and me, or you and your siblings. Stealing babies, while seemingly easy, simply isn’t. Adults will be quiet to spite their captor, babies won’t. I’m sure it grated on her nerves that your two little boys cried so much and it’s a blessing that you were able to get them in the fashion which you did. I think though, that your mother is right. We have this one chance to destroy her body and we need to take it.”
“I just…” Sarina stuttered, looking back up to the room where her boys slept. “I can’t leave them.”
“Oh, honey,” Amanda cooed. “No one is asking you to. You’re as much a part of this as anyone, but no one’s asking you to leave your sons. You and Brody are both staying here to protect them and this home. Wade, Shawna, and Joshua are all going. Your cousin, Gina, is going to be here though, to keep you company. She can also watch the babies when they’re awake.”
Sarina smiled then. Gina was just younger than Wade and had come into the world with some complications. Recently moving from abroad and unable to live with her immediate family as they were travelling extensively and had no permanent home for Gina to return to, the Traverse family welcomed her to live with them as one of their own children. She was about to turn twenty-one and although she was stunning like her female cousins, she would never be a breeder. It was something Sarina had envied in her, although times had changed that, especially when Brody entered her world. Born with no detectable reproductive system, Gina took daily hormone shots to keep her system aligned with her anatomy and so far, things seemed solid, although the lack of self-regulated hormones had stunted Gina’s growth and she suffered both physically and mentally from it.
“Alright,” Sarina said, releasing a pent up sigh of relief. “So what’s the plan?”
“We’re going to take out Fenris and the rest of his pack. With Lilith gone, I’m sure Fenris isn’t fairing too well with the meager wolves he’s got left. It shouldn’t be overly difficult to dispatch him.”
“And,” Amanda added. “Once their alpha is gone, the remaining wolves will be given a choice. Join the Delta pack willingly, humbly or die.”
Sarina nearly laughed. Her mother was always so to the point about business matters. She could get flustered about the silliest things, but when it came to matters that affected the pack, she was the strongest woman Sarina had ever known. “How will we know it went well?”
“You’ll know,” Amanda assured her. “Now, get some rest and let Gina help take care of you and your babies. We’ll be back before you know it.”
***
“Ready?” Romeo asked, looking at the core of his pack. Over the years, when the children were small, he’d always thought in broader terms when it came to his pack, but now he knew how truly blessed he was to have his children close. His legacy would live on through them, just as he and his siblings carried the weight of their father, Jeremiah’s, legacy.
“As we’ll ever be,” Amanda said, smiling. She stepped closer to him and in a way he’d grown accustomed to, slid her hand into his. He gave it a squeeze and kissed her fully before making the change. When he’d fully turned, she rested that same hand on his back, running her fingers through his coat. He’d never told her how comforting that was. If staying the wolf was as comfortable and sexually fulfilling as being human, he might just consider never changing back, although it’d take her powers to keep him in his changed form for longer than necessary.
Sitting down, Romeo gave a low howl that signaled everyone who’d been briefed to meet at the front entrance. He stepped over to Sarina and Brody, placing a huge paw on his daughter’s shoulder. She smiled and stroked his muzzle with affection. Brody grinned and reached behind Romeo’s ear for a scratch that made the man inside the beast laugh.
They headed out shortly after that, Romeo leading the way and keeping his other wolves back a good distance. If anything, a trap or entanglement caught him, he didn’t want to take any others down with him. Only Amanda walked with him, something he’d never been able to dissuade her from doing. She’d changed since their first heated days of arguments and sex. She’d become immovable on some things, like walking with him when they went about pack business. Whether he was a wolf or a man, she was at his side. Now he considered it a blessing, although he hadn’t always seen it that way, particularly when she had carried their children in her womb.
“We’re close,” she whispered to him, laying a hand on his fur. He twitched to respond and felt that hand slide down his back a few times, her own signal that she’d understood. She stopped and Romeo went ahead a few paces, watching carefully. His eyes scanned the foggy ground and rock crevices before he stepped into the clearing.
Movement caught her eye to the left just before a silver-tipped arrow hit him in the shoulder. He howled both in pain and in warning as another arrow hit him in his hip. Turning, he bolted back into the woods, hot behind Amanda’s trail. They reached their pack and Romeo made the change back to the man, cussing as the change only made the pain that much worse. “Let me see,” Amanda said, coming to stand beside him once he’d changed.
She knelt down and examined the arrows without touching them. “Neither can be pushed through. They both have bones blocking their progress.”
“Terrific,” Romeo groaned, pushing a breath of pain past his mouth. “Can you get them out? They’re burning the hell out of me.”
“Hold on,” Amanda said. With a grim face and a toughness he’d taken for granted once upon a time. She braced him against a tree, pressed his arm to his side and yanked the first arrow out. Giving a grunt as she did so, Romeo winced at her.
“Thanks, doll,” he said, grinning in relief. Her green eyes met his and Romeo saw a mixture of worry and hunger in those beautiful irises. The hip came next and Romeo nearly fell over in exhaustion after both arrows were out. He examined the tips, careful not to touch them. Made of pure silver, they were expertly crafted. The real question now though, was whether it was a one man show, or whether there were others. Surely Fenris didn’t have that many archers left. “Any suggestions?”
“We need to find whoever hit you, make him talk,” Wade said, furious in his own right. He’d always been the straight shooter, saying exactly what he meant and standing behind it.
“Agreed,” Romeo said, slapping his second oldest son on the shoulder. As a beta, Wade was invaluable to the pack, walking the fine line between the alphas like Jason and Sarina and the omegas like Shawna and Joshua.
Romeo took a few steps away from his pack when he heard a whisper to his right. Turning, he saw a tall, handsome young man. Pushing Amanda behind him, he made the change almost instantly. He let out a low growl before the stranger held up both hands in peace. “I’m not looking for a fight. I was wondering if you might be the Delta pack?”
Curious now, Romeo simply sat down, feeling Amanda step up beside him. “I’m Amanda Traverse, Queen of the Delta pack. This is my husband, Romeo and some of our pack. What can we do for you?”
Romeo could tell the kid was nervous and wondered what he could possibly be so upset about. Then the kid opened his mouth. “My name is Brandt. I… I knew your daughter not so long ago. She helped my wife with the delivery of our twins. I was hoping to thank her and let her know that they are thriving.”
“I’m sure she’ll be happy to know your babies are faring well,” said Amanda.
“Yeah,” the man said as his wife stepped up next to him. “This is my wife, Carly.”
Romeo watched as he tucked her close to his side and pressed a kiss to her hair, obviously taking care with her. Then Romeo noticed that she was expecting. Before he could make the change and ask the stranger about it, Amanda did so.
“How long has it been since the twins were born?”
“About six months,” the man said, obviously worried for his wife. “We weren’t aware that she’d get pregnant again so soon.”
Romeo watched Amanda step up to the slight woman and smile. “Hi,” she soothed. “I’m Amanda. How about we come sit over here and talk for a moment?”
The woman shook her head and Romeo could tell she was having a hard time breathing with the weight of the baby in her womb.
“Romeo, why don’t you leave me Shawna and then get on about our business?” asked Amanda.
He stepped over, licked her cheek and then turned toward his pack as Shawna stepped closer to her mother.
“So, you knew my daughter, Sarina?”
“Yes,” the man said, not elaborating. Amanda picked up on his nervous twitches and understood there was something or several something’s this kid wasn’t telling her.
“And she helped you with your twins?”
“Yes,” he said, keeping to the one word answers. Amanda could credit her woman’s intuition or that of being a mother, but she knew deep down that his man was scared of what would happen if she knew exactly how he’d known Sarina.
“Brandt,” she said. “Whatever past you have with Sarina, you two obviously dealt with it. You have nothing to fear from me.”
“Is it true that you’re a witch?”
Amanda grinned when the question seemed to bubble out from him.
“I am,” she smiled. “Although I won’t turn you into a toad, if that’s what’s worrying you.”
“No, ma’am,” he said. Just then two little boys toddled up next to him, looking very much like their father. Instantly Amanda melted, easily remembering her grandsons who were hopefully home, sleeping. Reaching down, she scooped one of the boys onto her lap while she examined the man’s wife.
“I never got a chance to tell your daughter thank you. She helped me when she had every right not to,” said Brandt.
“Sarina has always been a headstrong young woman. If she helped you, there was no thanks necessary. I’ll tell her you said so though. Where were your sons born?”
“We have a small cottage not too far from here,” the man said.
“You’re alone out here?”
“I left my pack when I found my wife. She was exiled from her pack and had been wandering for a while. I felt she needed me more than my pack.”
“Why didn’t you just take her back?” Amanda asked, not showing her surprise at his mention of a pack. Clearly a werewolf, his children would have inherited the gene as well.
“I was afraid that they would have tried to use her as her old pack had. She had several miscarriages before the twins.”
“I’m sorry,” Amanda said, squeezing the woman’s hand. “Well, the good news is that your baby is doing perfectly fine. Your boys are lovely and seem right on track for the little wolves they are. I’m wondering though, if you might like to live in an actual home? We have several empty properties and one I’m sure would be perfect for your family.”
“I’m not so sure that’d be a good idea,” Brandt replied. “I wasn’t exactly nice to Sarina when I knew her. I’m lucky she saw past all of that to help my wife.”
“I don’t suppose you want to elaborate on that?” asked Amanda.
“Not particularly,” he said, his dark eyes regretful. “After I realized I’d played right into Fenris’ ploy, I left and never looked back.”
“You were part of Fenris’ pack?”
“A long time ago. I haven’t been there since before the siege on the caves after Sarina was taken.”
“How did you know about it if you weren’t there?”
“No offense intended ma’am, but your pack doesn’t travel lightly and you tromp right past my cottage,” said Brandt.
“Where? I’ve never seen a cottage in these woods.”
“Seriously?” he chuckled. “You can’t miss it. It’s about a thousand yards that way.” Brandt raised his arm and pointed in the direction of his cottage.
Amanda looked where the man pointed, but even her keen eyes couldn’t pick it out in the dark. “Will you take me there? I’d like to see what you have to work with, should this little darling come when it’s just the two of you.”
“Certainly,” he agreed. He helped his wife up and supported her while the two little boys walked on either side of their parents. Lone wolves or not, they had a beautiful family. Amanda wasn’t yet convinced that they shouldn’t join the Delta pack. She followed them and was more than a little perturbed when she still didn’t see anything.
“Shawna,” she called, looking over at her daughter. “You see the cabin he’s talking about?”
“If you can call it that. It looks as if there was some work done recently to add more space, but it’s barely standing,” said Shawna.
Flustered, Amanda tried a quick spell to encourage her vision and still the cabin remained invisible to her. “Okay,” she said at last. “Shawna, you’re going to have to be my eyes and describe this place to me. I need to know details, things like the number of rooms, approximate size, appliances, etc.”
Turning to Brandt, Amanda said, “If I don’t deem it suitable, your family will come with me for the time being. I can understand your wanting privacy and all, but your child needs a clean, healthy environment, as does your wife. My husband’s pack can provide everything you need to bring this child into the world in an environment that’s healthy and full of love and acceptance.”
“You don’t quite understand,” Brandt said, sitting on what must have been steps, not that Amanda could see them. “Please don’t kill me for what I’m about to tell you, but I was the man who tricked Sarina into sleeping with me. I’m the man who caused her so much trouble when she was first with Brody. I didn’t realize then how I’d played right into Fenris’ plans to destroy you.”
Amanda had a hard time hearing through the blood that roared through her ears. She closed her eyes tight to fight the urge to turn this man into the toad she’d promised just a little while ago not to. He deserved as much. Then she remembered this man’s wife who had been used by wolves who had no sense of family and instantly she knew she had to help them. “My daughter spoke of you only a few times. She was impossibly hurt by your actions and I assume by our last conversation that she’s forgiven you. I will also extend forgiveness to you, although you should know that she is my daughter, my firstborn, and I will do whatever it takes to protect her and her family. That being said, I believe she would extend the same invitation to your family. She’s sure to love seeing the twins she helped bring into this world and we can always let bygones be bygones.”
The man struggled with his decision and kindly asked for a moment to speak with his wife. Amanda pulled Shawna away and asked. “So you really see a cabin there?”
“Yep,” she said grinning. “Scary that they brought two little pups into the world in such a rundown shamble of a cottage, but it’s there, plain as the nose on my—”
“I get it,” Amanda said as she chuckled. “And the nose on your face is plenty plain.”
“Hey,” Shawna said, pretending to pout. Still, it bothered Amanda that even with her powers, she was unable to see the cottage that was apparently smack dab in the middle of the woods just outside the Delta pack’s range.