“Don’t you think I know that? I struggled with the decision, but male weres outnumber our women three to one. We won’t put a single she-wolf in jeopardy. It’s not open for discussion.”
Oh but it was. She prodded gently, “If you’re so inflexible on this matter, how are you going to reconcile the fact that you’re going to have to take the Silverwolf women into battle? Or are your safeguards reserved for your blood kin.”
“I’m working on that. I figured you’d do your thing and step back.”
Did he now? She’d soon disabuse him of that little idea. Silverwolves did not step back. “You never did tell me how they managed to get their hands on your sister.”
“We believe they drugged Aimee with something to incapacitate her in order to abduct her. Aimee is small, but she would’ve fought. She is sneaky and mean when riled. Like another she-wolf I know.” He shot her a reproving glare. Sabine studiously ignored it.
“Yet she was taken, and that is a blow to your pack’s self-esteem. And I’d like to say, as a representative for the females of our species, we’re not sneakier or meaner, just more inventive.”
“Yeah, like I said, sneakier and meaner.” His empathic assertion had her sending him an exasperated glower.
“If it were up to me, I’d use that deviousness to get back at the Redmavens. Or would that be another blow to your manly pride?” Sabine intoned casually.
“Not happening.” His words cut through her thoughts. “I’m beginning to recognize that reckless gleam in your eyes. Don’t you even think of pulling a stunt like you did in the gully.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She looked at him with what she hoped was bland innocence.
Drew pursed his lips. “Hmm, right. You’re a lousy liar. Don’t go playing poker with the boys, or you’d lose your shirt.”
“I should be so lucky, and Saffa said I had a good face for poker.” Sabine looked down at the dull gray clothing she wore and thought fleetingly of the silky luxuriousness of her robe with longing.
Drew reduced his speed, and Sabine studied the Lunedare central den bathed in the waning afternoon sun. She hadn’t paid much attention to it the night before.
The large settlement was perched on a bluff. It was constructed with weathered pine logs thick as a man’s waist, bleached grey by time and the elements. The first set of buildings wrapped around the base of the hill. They had no visible openings on the lower floors, but shutters were open on the upper level. Logs lashed together blocked the narrow passages between each house.
Sabine got the impression they stood as the first line of defense. They drove through an imposing metal-banded gate and up a winding pathway, working their way up levels. Each circle of buildings acted as a bulwark to protect the next level up. Every platform had a reinforced door set in place to close off each section from the lower level if needed. Whoever tried to attack the heart of the den would have to work their way through each bastion. She figured they’d never make it. The Lunedares would drop from above, giving them the advantage in a fight. Very clever.
Drew would have considered the Silverwolf den indefensible. Had it been located, her home would have been easy pickings for any aggressor.
“Who built this den? Its positioning is brilliant.” The architecture reminded her of a medieval village she’d seen in one of the dusty pages in the tome her father carted from den to den.
“My great grandfather started it. We’ve added levels to accommodate our growing pack. Next spring we’ll add the next ring.” He pointed to the logs stacked like pyramids. “We’re going to have a rash of births over the summer and autumn. We’ll need the space. The unmated male weres reside in the outer circles. Single women in the next, families with young, and the elderly occupy the inner rings. The den can house the entire pack if necessary.”
“Does the rest of the pack have dens away from the central den?” She’d lived in close proximity to her family all her life, and though she missed them, Sabine had to admit, there were times she’d craved moments of solitude and thought herself selfish for wanting it.
“The majority of us have an abode tucked away somewhere on Lunedare land. Some have multi-roomed houses, others not more than a one-roomed cabin. It depends on the individual’s preference. We all know the den is here and my pack mates come and go as the mood strikes. That’s the way it’s always been.” Drew returned the waves of family members he drove past. “It looks like the entire pack has come out for the welcoming tonight. Are you ready to turn tail and head out yet?”
“More and more with each passing moment,” Sabine murmured, to herself. The rat jumping from the proverbial sinking ship feeling crept through her. The number of people occupying the pathways seemed to multiply the higher they went.
Finally, Drew pulled to a smooth stop in an expansive central courtyard before a brick house. Some of the blocks had paled, from ruddy red to pale pinks. A small lawn, dotted with fanciful topiaries in clay post fronted the building. It stood out like an elegant lady amongst the burly log cabins.
Sabine’s mouth dropped open.
“Ridiculous, isn’t it? But we love it. My mother was British, and wanted a replica of the house she grew up in, so my father indulged her. One of Gustav’s experiments damaged the original homestead.”
“Experiments?” Sabine lifted a brow in question.
“Oh, didn’t I mention my uncle’s little hobby. He likes to distill strong spirits. I believe at the time he was trying to replicate a good Scotch whisky when he took off the roof.”
“A wildfire would decimate this place. Does he still do that here? It would be pity to damage your den.”
“Nope, my mother banished him to a stone and mortar building the pack built for him five miles from here on a stony cliff near a stream. Sybil wasn’t having his distillery anywhere near us. We have precautions built in, fire breaks, dammed water, and we clear the underbrush regularly.”
The carefree laughter of children pulled Sabine’s attention to a grassy patch beyond Drew which had been transformed into a children’s play area. It was furnished with swings and a huge twisty metal structure painted in primary colors which was the focal point of the playground. Lunedare young dangled from it like agile monkeys. Others lithely scrambled up to the top and dived off, doing acrobatic back-flips in mid air to land on their feet.
Taking into account the number of young weres on the playground and the pregnant women keeping a lazy eye on them, the Lunedares were a fertile pack. That boded well for her conceiving a cub.
Drew opened his door and slid out of the cab. Not wanting to be confined in the truck any longer than necessary, Sabine scrambled after him.
“Unca Dew.” A tiny redheaded cherub, with a pair of plump cubs hot on her heels, darted in Drew’s direction. She crouched low and used her legs to launch herself at him.
He caught the child with a skill that came from practice and grinned down into her pretty face. Her companions vied for his attention by sinking their tiny teeth into the hems of Drew’s pants and tugged. Wagging their heads and snarling, they simulated a mock attack. He shook his leg, but not hard enough to dislodge them.
“Where you been?” the little girl demanded.
Drew rubbed his noble nose against the much smaller one, which was scrunched up at him in reprimand.
“Hiding from you three little heathens.” He nuzzled the child’s neck, making piggish snorts, causing her to squirm and giggle. “Give me some sugar.”
Sabine watched them from the sidelines, fascinated by this side of Drew. The formidable alpha had transformed. The taut lines on his face eased and the watchful guarded gleam in his eyes gave way to loving amusement. It gave her a glimpse of the man he had been before the grief and anger hardened him.
He looked at her over the baby’s head. “Look at the women, Sabine; they carry the future of our race. If we lose even one woman, we lessen our chances of survival. Nothing touches that.”
A couple of thi
ngs cemented in Sabine’s mind. Drew’s protectiveness toward the women went deeper than just an alpha’s dogma, and the need to shelter his pack’s she-wolves was paramount. He also truly loved these children, and he’d never cede a child of his.
She pulled her eyes away from Drew to meet the probing gaze of a pair of suspicious grey eyes. Sabine almost squirmed with guilt.
With her pretty pink lips pursed, and her brow wrinkled into a ferocious scowl, the little were inspected her with an absurdly adult frown on her babyish features. A laugh threatened to spill out through Sabine’s lips, but she stifled it, not wanting to ruffle the little girl’s feathers.
“Who you?” Scenting a stranger, her tiny nostrils flared. The little girl leaned over and drew in a whiff through her button of a nose.
Sabine stood still to allow the child to inhale the characteristics of her personal fragrance, so she’d recognize her. “Ahhh, I’m Sabine.”
After a couple of shallow sniffs over Sabine’s skin, the frown cleared from the baby’s face.
“You Unca Dew’s!” she chirped a second before launching herself into Sabine’s arms.
Help! What was she going to do with her? Sabine gulped, held her gingerly, and looked for rescue in Drew’s direction as two short, chubby arms circled her neck and clung like a vine. There’d be no salvation from him. The smirk on his face told her she was on her own.
“Finally encountered something, or in this case someone, you can’t handle? You’re holding her like she’s a hot ball of wax. Put your forearm under her butt for support and cuddle her.” Drew stooped down and scooped up the two cubs at his feet. “That’s Saffa and Justice’s Ava, and these two fur-balls are her sisters, Cara and Lexi.” He grinned when the frisky cubs licked his face, and he set them back down.
Eye to eye with Saffa’s miniature replica, she relaxed a little. Sabine smiled uncertainly into the solemn face framed by an explosion of burnished red-gold curls. Ava’s sweetly-scented spoor was a perfect blending of her parent’s scents. It also held a hint of the fragrance they’d recognize her by when she matured. Sabine stiffened when Ava rested her body trustingly against hers.
A yearning ache settled deep her chest. The faint prickling in the cradle of her pelvis gave her hope that she would soon be fertile. Sabine could hardly wait the feel the weight of her own child’s body against hers.
Ava gathered a handful of Sabine’s silvery hair into her plum-sized fist and perched it on her own head. “Pretty. Mine.”
At a loss of how to answer to that declaration, Sabine just stood there with her arms full of the wonder that was this child and gaped like a duffer.
“Pretty, Ava, but I think she’s your Uncle Drew’s. He might object if you took her hair and left her bald.” Justice’s black velvet voice tinged with amusement rumbled out from behind her.
Sabine pivoted on her heel to see Ava’s father saunter over to them with an armful of pink clothing. She figured if it were any other man, it would look at odds with his masculinity, but with Justice, she couldn’t imagine anything would diminish that.
“She doesn’t bite, well not much.” Justice smiled at his two daughters mangling Drew’s pants.
“I’ve never held a child before. We’ve haven’t had any young in our pack since my sisters and I were born.” Sabine winced when Ava put a stubby finger in her eye.
“Yeah, well you’ll be knee deep in young if you hang around here.” He nodded to the gamboling children. “The Lunedares seem to be hell bent on out-breeding the other packs.”
Drew snorted. “You are a fine one to talk. Every time you look at Saffa she gets pregnant.”
Justice shook his head and gave Drew a pitying look. “Always knew you were a little backward. It takes more than a look, son. If you don’t know that by now you’re in bad shape.”
Drew jabbed his elbow into Justice’s belly. “I hope to have a big family myself one day. Hell, I might have more cubs than you.” He fixed his gaze on Sabine and the child she held. His eyes warmed in a way that made Sabine uncomfortable, considering the thoughts that went through her head not so long ago.
“You’re so competitive.” Justice tilted his head at the children. “But you have a ways to go to catch up with me. I have three already and one on the way.”
Drew scratched his chin then shifted his eyes to Sabine and studied her in a considering manner that made the hair stand up in the back of her neck, literally. “Well, if I get lucky and Sabine presents me with two sets of twins, we’ll catch up in no time.” Sabine’s jaw dropped. She’d imagined having a cub but to carry two at once never crossed her mind.
“And if we have two sets of triplets, we’ll be ahead by two cubs,” Drew calculated. Apparently the idea appealed to him.
Sabine felt the blood rush from her head. Six cubs! Was he out of his mind? The idea that she might carry three sent a shaft of panic shooting over her nerves. She remembered Saffa’s distended belly and cringed. What on God’s green earth was he talking about? Just how many children was he planning to have? In all likelihood, she’d never know because eventually he’d choose a mate who’d give him those children. She only needed one.
Sabine flinched. She hated the thought of someone else bearing his cubs. Her arms tightened on the warm body she held. She was neck deep in an emotional quagmire, and soon she’d be submerged by it. How did she get into a position where she didn’t know what she wanted or needed anymore? The path she’d walk was always so clear to her.
“Well you have your work cut out for you don’t you, Andy.” Justice thrust a pile of the clothes at Drew and relieved him of one the cubs. “Come on Cara and Lexi, shift, we’re going home.”
The cubs’ transformation wasn’t as practiced and instantaneous as an adult were. They wiggled and obviously had to work a bit to accomplish their transformation. Their fur receded in patches, revealing flushed pink skin.
Justice tapped the nose of one of his daughters with his finger. Her tiny body hadn’t finished transforming. “You missed a spot.” He and Drew bent down and helped the girls into clothes very much like her own, but the soft pink was a vast improvement over the drab color Sabine wore.
Ava wiggled in her arms and Sabine set her down. She trotted over to allow her father to dress her. Looking at the girls, she’d never be able to tell them apart, but the subtle differences in their scent made it easier to differentiate them.
“They are a miracle.” Sabine voiced her thoughts out loud.
Justice’s face softened. “Yes, they are, and here comes my first miracle carrying my fifth.” The love she saw there made her envious.
Saffa shambled slowly over to them rubbing her back. “Justice, if you want the next Ambervane born in your home den, we need to get moving.” She blew out a harried breath. “I’d love to stay because there’s a rumor that a deep dish apple pie is on the menu tonight. Unfortunately, this baby is in a big hurry.”
The two alphas stood as still as pillars of salt for the longest moment before they galvanized into action. Justice gathered his mate up into his arms and raced over to a rugged automobile, without joggling her.
Drew tucked the triplets under his arms like packages, trotted to the vehicle, and stowed them into the rear seat.
Slamming the doors simultaneously, the men exchanged a tense glance.
“I’ll send word,” Justice ground out through pinched lips.
Drew gripped Justice’s shoulder, in commiseration. “We’ll send up a howl for her safe passage when we gather.”
Justice nodded his thanks, climbed into his truck, and roared away.
“Now what?” Sabine asked, frowning at Drew’s unnaturally pale face.
“Now we wait. Then celebrate when she’s delivered safely.”
Yes, they’d celebrate a new life, because the deaths from the coming battles would be come soon enough.
Chapter Twenty
Night slid over the mountains like a silken blue-black veil, enveloping the forest in a velvety da
rkness. The moon finally rose to hang low in the sky, shedding pale beams to bathe the flat crag where the Lunedares convened under its silvery glow. It was a perfect night for a welcoming. Cool and clear, with nothing but the sounds and smells of nature filling their senses.
Sabine stood by Drew’s side, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. She felt like a stone dropped into a body of water because the growing crowd seemed to ripple out around her in ever-widening circles. With their attention focused on her, she was getting even more anxious. Was it possible for a crowd to make a person feel claustrophobic?
Glancing over at Ishbel, she got a small grimace of sympathy. The sisters had a brief opportunity to exchange news, before the throng descended. Sabine learned her family had created a small den within the Lunedare homestead, choosing quarters in the same wing.
Her sister had looked searchingly at her when they met, and after a while asked, “Is he as good as we speculated he’d be? Or better than we imagined?”
Ishbel’s smirk brought a searing flush to Sabine’s face. She’d given her sister a mind-your-own-business glare, but Ishbel read her like a book.
“You simply have to share the details. Don’t be selfish.” Ishbel’s pleading purr undid her.
Sabine tried to maintain a bland expression but, after a short struggle, she’d grinned like a bedazzled fool. Ishbel’s hoot of laughter still rang in her ears.
Sabine shook herself out of her reverie and turned to cast her eyes over the eight Silverwolves of her generation flanking her and the older members of her family ranged behind them silently giving her their support. She gave them a brief nod to indicate her gratitude.
Her Wanted Wolf Page 20