Omegas were easily stressed, but Ian and Grey had noticed early on that Gabriel seemed particularly so and had wondered if the darting was to blame for that too.
Finally, Grey stopped and gathered the omega into his arms. “Shh. That’s not going to happen, I promise you. All right?”
Gabriel nodded, but Ian could see the uncertainty lingering in the omega’s eyes.
“You don’t have to worry about what happened there happening here, Gabe. Angel Hills is different from River Wolf pack. Remember, our pack alphas are born into their duties. Pack members are more trusting because of that. It would take extremely unusual and threatening circumstances for them to question a pack alpha’s right to lead, and without another family member to replace him if he were to step down, well, I can’t even imagine that happening.”
Grey chucked Gabriel’s chin with his finger. “Ian’s right. The pack trusts me to keep them safe, and I will. Always. You need to trust me too.”
“I do.” Gabriel buried his face in Grey’s chest.
When the three werewolves walked into the nursery a few minutes later, Finny jumped from his seat at the kitchen table and came running, a peanut butter sandwich clutched in his hand. He threw himself into Ian’s arms.
“Where have you been?” he asked.
“Da!” Forrest toddled over and held his hands up to Gabriel. “Up! Up!”
Gabriel lifted the little boy into his arms and kissed him.
“Sorry, boys, we got waylaid,” Grey said. “I see you’re eating. Got anymore of those sandwiches, Barry? We’re starved.”
“Plenty,” Barry said, cutting up more fresh bread while they gathered in the kitchen.
The group chatted about what Finny and Forrest had been playing that morning. Ian noticed Gabriel was distracted. They’d had such a serene morning by the creek. He wished he could recapture those moments for the omega.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Emory
“You seem healthy,” the human doctor announced after she’d poked and prodded Emory for nearly half an hour.
Emory looked at Roanan, who smiled at his mate and helped Emory climb off the examination table.
“You’ll be happy to know there is absolutely no sign that Emory has been darted or given the harmful substance in any other form. He’s indicated he’s feeling well, and the pregnancy seems to be proceeding as it should.”
In the past few weeks, Emory’s baby bump had swelled to the size of a large head of lettuce. He was excited to think about the baby growing inside him. A baby he and Roanan had created together.
But there was something else Emory wanted to know.
Pointing to his throat, he made a sound from it that reminded him of a bullfrog. He felt his cheeks color.
Dr. Newman smiled.
“Ah. Roanan wrote to me about the loss of your voice. An injury?”
Emory nodded.
“How did it happen?”
Walking over to the desk on the other side of the room, Emory took a pen and paper from its drawer and started writing. He could feel Roanan’s eyes on him. When he was finished, he handed the pad to the doctor.
Dr. Newman read the words and then looked at Emory.
Emory braced himself. His mate would not be happy.
“Someone strangled you?” Dr. Newman asked. “That’s how you lost your voice?”
Again, Emory tried to form a word, but it came out sounding like a croak. He glanced at his mate.
Roanan looked furious.
“All right,” Dr. Newman said. “Well, an X-ray would be helpful, but that’s impossible here. The fact you can make those sounds makes me hopeful the damage isn’t too great. How long ago did this happen?” She handed Emory the pad so he could write his answer, then peered over his shoulder. “A year or so. And have you tried to speak much since then?”
Emory wrote, and Dr. Newman read aloud, “It hurt too much to try, and the smoke from the fire made it much worse. Afraid I’d never be able to speak again, I stayed quiet. It wasn’t until I mated with Roanan that I really began to experiment.”
Emory waited while Dr. Newman read the message. He wanted so much to be able to have conversations with Roanan and his sons. But if he would never be able to, he was ready to face that and move on.
“Without medical testing, it’s difficult for me to give you an answer,” Dr. Newman said. “Of course you can go to the hospital and have those tests, and I would be glad to supervise, but my guess is the damage was done to your larynx, rendering you unable to speak after it happened, and the smoke damage exacerbated the problem. However, you’re a shifter, and that damage should have healed by now. Long disuse of your voice has made it necessary to regain it with therapy. We can do some voice exercises together that you should repeat daily. Don’t overdo things, or you’ll set yourself back. I think maybe it would benefit you if Roanan was present for the exercises so he can help you in the future.”
Emory nodded eagerly, relief turning his limbs to jelly.
“I’m going to give you two a moment, and then I’ll show you the exercises.” Dr. Newman left the room.
Emory turned to his angry mate. He knew Roanan wasn’t angry at him, but he still cowed a little and offered his neck to his alpha.
Roanan approached and sniffed at Emory’s neck before wrapping his arms around the omega.
“I’m not happy to hear that someone hurt you,” he said quietly. “We’ll talk more about it later. For now, I want to learn what to do to help you.” He kissed Emory possessively.
When Dr. Newman stepped into the room again, she smiled encouragingly at them both. “Shall we begin?”
Carefully, the doctor went through each exercise, making sure both Roanan and Emory understood how to do them exactly right. By the time they left, Emory’s throat ached and he and Roanan had promised the doctor they wouldn’t try again until the next day.
The sun was dipping low in the sky when the three stepped outside the compound’s recreation center, and Roanan closed the door to the building where Dr. Newman had done the examination. They walked with her to the dining hall where the doctor met up with Grey, Ian, and Gabriel.
“Was there any particular reason you didn’t tell me about how you had gotten hurt?” Roanan asked when he and Emory were seated side by side at the table. Lake, Landon, and Josh were eating at another table with friends, and no one was close enough to hear the conversation.
Emory squeezed Roanan’s hand before bringing it to his mouth for a soft kiss. He hoped his alpha could see the love in his eyes.
“Were you afraid I’d blame you somehow?” Roanan asked softly.
Emory quickly shook his head and then shrugged. He wished he could explain that he just hadn’t known how to tell him.
The alpha’s jaw tightened and his normally kind eyes grew hard with anger. “Who was it?” he asked hoarsely.
Emory swallowed and looked away.
“An alpha,” Roanan guessed, and when Emory reluctantly nodded, the alpha’s voice rose in volume. “I want to know who.”
Emory made a slashing motion with his hand, hoping Roanan would understand the finality of it.
“The alpha’s dead?” Roanan asked, and Emory nodded.
“Good.” The word held so much emotion, Emory automatically titled his head, and Roanan leaned down and bit into the mating mark, sending ripples of sensation all the way to Emory’s toes. When he disengaged his teeth, he said, “You’re mine now, Emory. I’ll keep you safe.”
Emory leaned into his alpha, pressing his nose to Roanan’s sternum. He knew he was safe. And he was relieved to have the truth out. The alpha who had hurt him had planned to mate Emory, but the fire had happened first. Emory would write those details for his alpha later, but for now they were good.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Grey
Grey sat at his desk, chair turned so he could look out the window. The Eufaula mountains were now bare, except for the pines. Winter was closing in.
&n
bsp; Christopher and Xavier had just left after giving Grey the news that they planned to leave the pack to join River’s. Grey hated to lose them. Christopher was like family, and Xavier had been a welcome addition to the pack. Grey had only half-heartedly tried to dissuade them, sensing that Xavier had his heart set on returning to his old pack leader. He didn’t fault the other alpha for it. Pack ties were strong for an alpha, and Christopher didn’t have any family holding him to Angel Hills.
Now Grey was faced with the tasks of finding Tarz a new stable hand and the omega den a new caretaker. The latter would have to be a beta, and Grey ran his choices through his mind.
He was interrupted by a knock at the door just before Ian poked his head inside the room.
“Busy?”
“Never too busy for you,” Grey said warmly, and Ian smiled and walked inside, shutting the door behind him.
“To what do I owe this pleasure?”
Ian circled the desk and sat on the edge, facing Grey.
“Do I have to have a reason to visit my mate who works much too hard?” he asked.
Grey ran his hands up Ian’s long legs, wishing the thick denim wasn’t between them.
“Of course not.” He leaned up to meet Ian’s kiss.
“What were Xavier and Chris here for?” Ian asked curiously.
When Grey told him, Ian nodded. “I can’t say I’m surprised, are you?”
Grey shook his head. “I gave them my blessing. Where’s Gabriel?”
“He’s behind the house with the boys. They wanted to dig for worms.”
“Is he feeling all right?”
“Yes, and Dr. Newman said he seems healthy.”
“I’ve never scented pregnancy on him.”
“Nor have I,” Ian said. Grey knew that didn’t necessarily mean Gabriel wasn’t pregnant since the substance from the dart could have disguised that. Dr. Newman had told them that even if Gabriel was carrying, she didn’t believe the antidote would harm the fetus, as it would be putting right what had been messed up in the omega’s system and nothing more. Grey would rather have certainty, but in the face of Gabriel’s excitement, he’d allowed the omega to take the first treatment which had merely involved a painful injection during which Grey and Ian had each held the omega’s hands.
“Grey,” Ian said, and Grey jerked his eyes to Ian’s. “I just spoke to Angela about my infertility.”
Grey raised a brow. He knew this was a subject that had long bothered Ian, and he was eager for his mate to have an answer. “And?”
“And…she wants to do some tests. I wanted to know if you’d help.”
“Of course. I’ll help any way that I can. But what can I do?”
Ian smirked. “Quite a lot, actually.”
“You’re being very mysterious, professor.”
Ian grinned. “Let’s just say she needs to do some hands on work that will be much more successful if you do it instead.”
Well, that didn’t clear things up much, but it didn’t matter. Grey would do whatever it took to find the answers Ian needed.
“When do you need me?” he asked.
“This afternoon. Do you have much more work to do?”
“No. Let me just finish up a couple of things, and I’ll be right with you.”
“Great. See you in a few.”
Grey hurried to complete his paperwork.
****
“That should do it,” Angela said. “All right. You can get dressed, gentlemen.”
Grey left Ian to pull on his clothes, and walked into the kitchen where Gabriel was feeding the boys.
“All done?” Gabriel asked.
“Yep.” Grey took a seat. Ian came in a few minutes later and sank onto a chair. “Thanks for your help in there,” he said to the alpha.
“No problem at all.” Grey winked at him, and Ian grinned.
“What did she do?” Gabriel asked.
Ian took a banana out of the bowl and peeled it. “She just needed a sperm sample to test. Grey was kind enough to help me give it.”
Gabriel chuckled. “Nice of him.”
Ian glanced at Grey, sobering. “But she did mention something else that we found really interesting.”
Grey nodded. “I feel kind of stupid for not having thought about it, don’t you?”
Ian nodded. “But it was so long ago.”
“What is it?” Gabriel asked, looking worried.
Wanting to put his omega’s mind at ease, Grey smiled and squeezed Gabriel’s hand.
“You’ve heard about the Great Sickness.”
Gabriel nodded. “The sickness that wiped out the omegas in your pack years ago.” He glanced at Ian. “Including Roanan’s mate.”
“That’s right,” Grey said. “Well, Angela said there’s good reason to believe the humans were responsible for that.”
Gabriel’s eyes widened. “All that time ago?”
Grey nodded. “Who knows how long the humans have wanted us gone?” The three mates sat in silence a moment, digesting the information.
“Daddum, eggy!” Forrest said loudly, breaking the solemnity that had fallen over the table as he made grabby motions with his hand.
Grey placed a hard boiled egg on Forrest’s plate, and the little boy squealed before picking it up and immediately dropping it onto the table. He looked at his fathers with big eyes. “Oops!”
“It’s slippery,” Grey said, taking the egg to the sink and washing it off before placing it on Forrest’s plate once more.
Forrest nudged the egg with his finger, watching it roll around on the dish.
“Use your napkin,” Finny said when Grey put a plated egg in front of him. He showed his little brother how to pick up the egg with the napkin and take a bite.
Forrest emulated the move, and then grinned, white and yolk spilling from his mouth. “I eat eggy!”
“Good job,” Finny said.
“What a good brother you are,” Ian praised.
As Grey looked at the boy, he noticed something he’d never noticed before. Finny’s blue eyes had always been a darker shade than either his own or Gabriel’s, but now they appeared even darker. Grey almost thought…Could they be turning brown?
Brown was dominant, and Ian had brown eyes.
Which would mean that Finny was Ian’s.
He glanced up at Ian and then at Gabriel, but both his mates were paying attention to their food. Grey wondered if he should say anything. They would have an answer soon from Angela.
“Where did Angela go?” he asked.
“She’s eating out on the balcony while looking through her notes. She’ll be leaving for home in a couple hours.”
Ian glanced at Gabriel. “You still feeling okay?”
Gabriel grinned. “I feel great. Really. Grey, did you ask Dr. Newman about how I shifted when I went into heat early?”
Grey nodded and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “She thinks it’s just one more strange effect from the dart and should disappear with the completion of the antidote.”
Grey informed Gabriel about Christopher and X’s plans to leave, hoping the omega wouldn’t be too upset about it.
“Oh. I’ll really miss them,” the omega said. He glanced at Grey. “And you won’t even let me visit them in Cascade City.”
“You can as soon as the danger’s over,” Grey promised. “Professor, what are you thinking so hard about?” He’d noticed Ian staring at Finny.
Ian blinked. “What? I’ve been listening to you two. But…have you guys noticed Finny’s eyes lately?”
So Ian had noticed.
Gabriel turned to the little boy. “Finny, look at Da.” When the little boy complied, the omega drew in a breath. “They’ve gotten so dark.”
“I know,” Ian said. He looked so excited, Grey had to smile.
“Fin,” Grey said, and the boy turned to the pack alpha. “Yes. They do appear to be turning brown.” He smiled fondly at Ian. “Like yours.”
“Can I go play with my blocks?” Fin
ny asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin.
“Me!” Forrest shouted, spewing egg all over the table.
“Chew and swallow,” Gabriel said, and when Forrest had, he gave the boy a drink and helped him get down from the chair so he could toddle after his brother.
“Well, professor, we may not need Angela to run those tests after all,” Grey said.
“And after all that hard work,” Gabriel teased, happiness lighting his eyes. He hugged Ian hard.
“If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to see the results of the tests. We can’t be sure otherwise.”
“Of course,” Grey said. Leaning in, he kissed Ian warmly on the mouth.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Canaan
Canaan had spent the past several weeks between his own house and Duncan’s. Since the day the alpha had come by his house when Canaan had been feeling so low, the two had fallen into a pattern of sleeping together, spending every night with each other in one of the two places. They didn’t even question it anymore. It just happened.
Canaan had chickened out of going to Cascade City with X and Christopher. He didn’t want to stir up old shit. Everyone had moved on. But thinking about it had caused him to go through his box of memories, and that had brought tears. He had so many regrets. Duncan’s care that day had seemed odd. The alpha had never been interested in anything other than their sexual agreement, but on that day he’d asked why Canaan was upset and if he wanted to talk about it. Canaan hadn’t, but since then he’d mentioned Teddy a few times to Duncan, and the alpha had been receptive. What did it mean?
“Are you and Duncan going to mate?” Justin asked Canaan one day when he’d come to pick his kids up from school.
Canaan laughed. “No.” He helped Justin’s older twins put their coats on while Justin struggled with the younger two, who kept shifting into wolf form, which would make it difficult to carry their books home. Werewolves were naturally warm creatures, but children and the elderly required some protection from the cold, and even adults sometimes wore light jackets in the winter.
“Why not?” Justin glanced up at him before grabbing Oscar and telling him to shift back.
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