by Moira Byrne
"Best not to dwell on it," Peter chimed in with a chuckle.
Alex snickered and I shot him a glare.
"Anyway," I continued loudly, "you're not here to talk about Ben. Well, we kind of are. Since Ben led our pack to us."
"That's right, isn't it?" Ben frowned at me. "I forgot that I'm a mercenary who was paid to track you down. Thanks, Aly, that isn't still a fresh wound or anything."
"You're a what?" Sophie hissed out.
"Take it down a notch, Soph." I sighed. "Ben, I'm sorry I said that, okay? I was mad. I didn't mean it. This has just been . . . a mess."
"A very entertaining and noisy one," Peter added. Real helpful. Thanks for that.
My sister shook her head and exhaled loudly as she plopped down on the couch across from me. "It's a long story. It's enough to say that our old pack was bad news."
Alex joined my sister on the couch, slipping his arm around her shoulders. She tilted her head toward his and he planted a kiss on her hair. A small flicker of envy burst to life inside me when I saw her relax against him. I couldn't help it. Some part of me wanted that so badly.
But there I was, moments earlier, trying to make Ben feel guilty about tracking me down in Fayoak. I was excellent at making sure I could never get what I wanted. I took the phrase I'm my own worst enemy very seriously. Even though I was painfully aware of my faults, it didn't help me much. I kept making the same mistakes.
"How many showed up?" Sophie asked.
"Just two. Robby and Seth."
I could see Sophie try to riddle out who they were, but she never really associated with the new members of our pack.
"They're part of the new Alpha's inner circle," I said with a groan as I pulled myself into a seated position. Ben and Peter darted toward me and I gave them each their own specially tailored glare. "Knock it off. I'm not in that bad of shape."
Alex arched a brow at me, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "Ah, yeah, silly us. There's just something about bruises and dried blood on a person's clothes, y'know?"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. But I'm good." And I really did feel great, all things considered. Petunia's balm had obviously been working its magic for a while. "How long was I out, by the way?"
Peter looked at the big grandfather clock in the back of the living room. "A couple of hours."
"Jesus, you shouldn't have let me sleep that long. Ana needs to eat and—"
"I took care of it. I even changed her." Ben's voice was bursting with pride.
"Seriously?" I gave him a suspicious look.
"Yeah, seriously. I did a lot of babysitting back in the day. My mom was tight with the purse strings."
"Huh. I never would've guessed."
"Can we please talk about the real issues here?" Sophie interrupted. "Aly, you and Ana are staying with me until we figure this out. We don't know how far the pack is going to go. Maybe it'll just be a repeat of . . ."
Edward. That was the name she didn't want to say. The psychopath from our old pack who had been obsessed with her. He earned himself a brutal death after his tango with a certain plant fae. Robby and Seth got off light in comparison.
"Cool it, big sis." I fought to keep my smile in place. I didn't want her thinking about that. Not when she was so happy. "I'll be okay soon enough. Petunia already doped me up with her balm."
"That's all well and good, but you'll be safer with us."
"Fine. You're gonna make me say it." I sighed. "I don't want to have to listen to you two going at it all the time."
My sister bristled and Alex grinned.
"We do not—" she began.
I cut her off with a flat look. "Soph. C'mon."
She looked off to the side with a frown. Alex kept on grinning.
"Aly," Ben said, drawing my attention back to him, "this place isn't safe. I still think you should leave with me—"
"Leave with you?" Sophie practically shouted, her nostrils flaring. There went all my effort to keep her calm.
"Yeah." Ben shot her a glare with a challenging arch of his brow before he continued, "Like I was saying, Aly, I still think you should leave with me. My pack would be safer for you and Ana."
I narrowed my eyes. "We've already discussed this."
"I know, but it was worth one more shot. I'll let it go for now, but if you're not going to leave with me, you need to stay somewhere safe."
"See, Aly?" Sophie calmed slightly, although she still seemed miffed. "The father of your child agrees."
"Don't 'father of your child' me," I scoffed. "My home is perfectly safe. You used to live there, remember?"
For a moment, Sophie seemed to realize she had painted herself into a corner, but she barreled right on through anyway. "I don't care. We know people from the old pack are here now. It's not safe anymore."
"Ben can stay with me," I blurted out. My eyes widened as I processed what I'd just said.
Where had that come from? Even though he had brought trouble to my door, I knew Ben would protect me. I trusted him. That was just the truth of it all. As far as my sister was concerned, he was a big, strong shifter, so it'd likely get her off my case.
"If that's not enough for you, I'll have Charlie come stay, too."
I saw Ben's eyes flash silver. "I can protect you without that ogre's help."
I wanted to roll my eyes, but whatever. He was just helping my case.
"See, Soph? Ben can handle it."
The question I had for myself was whether I could handle having him in my house or not. The way I reacted when I saw him in that hardware store told me that I couldn't. My eyes ran over him as he held Ana.
It was amazing how holding a baby could make an already gorgeous man look even hotter. My cat, of course, was in complete agreement. Ben's chiseled jaw was apparently the one thing we could always agree upon.
However, I had a feeling my inner cougar and I were going to have a long night of fighting ahead. I was supposed to be mad at him for leading my pack here, but how was I going to keep my hands to myself when the two of us were alone?
6
Ben
Lights blazed from the windows of Aly's house. It looked warm and welcoming. I could picture coming home every day to a place like this. I imagined sharing my nights with my mate at my side, our children sprawled out on the carpet playing games. Could that be our future?
I turned off my car and got out. I took a deep breath of the night air. Aly's scent washed over me, making me shiver. I closed my door and walked around to the trunk to grab my bag. Before I opened it, I looked out to the night, my eyes shifted to my wolf's so I could clearly see the expanse of trees and grass, rustling quietly in the night.
I was looking for any threats, just to be sure, but the most menacing sound I heard was the chirp of crickets and the scurrying of woodland animals. I could also hear Aly softly talking to Ana in the house.
A slow smile curved my lips as my thoughts drifted to the woman inside the house. Aly had invited me to stay with her. Being in the same house would make it much easier to convince her that we should be together. I'd wanted her before I found out about Ana and the drive was even stronger now that I knew we had a baby.
We would be good together. I knew it. Everything about Aly intrigued me. I was fascinated at how she looked at life. She saw things so differently than I did, with a sharp twist of humor thrown in for good measure. I loved her biting comments and how I always knew where I stood with her.
When she wasn't with me, I missed her presence. I wondered if she felt the same. Could someone like Alysse Addison miss someone like Ben Park? My brows furrowed together slightly as doubt crept into my mind. I shook away the thought with a full body shake.
I turned back to my car and felt my phone buzz faintly in my pocket, reminding me I hadn't listened to my cousin's message yet. I scanned the area and raised my nose to the air, just in case. Nothing unusual caught my attention, so I dug out my phone and hit play.
"Dude," David's voice greeted me, "voicemail, really
? Where's the love? Why didn't you call when you got home from Korea? Aunty told me you headed out like your pants were on fire. Now you're in some podunk town called Fayoak? Really, man? Whatever. It's not like your family missed you or anything."
My grin faded as the recording ended. David sounded surprisingly hurt at the end. My family was like that, though. Very close. I felt terrible for checking out on them right after I got home, but . . . I looked toward the soft glow of the windows. I had to come find Aly. I could explain it to David and he would get it. They all would once they saw the way she made me smile.
My finger hovered over the call icon but I hesitated. What would I say? Sorry my mom had to tell you where I was. I'm not coming back until I have to. I hadn't been thinking when I went off to find Aly and I still didn't have much of a plan. Other than convincing Aly we should be together. And I didn't even know how I was going to do that yet.
Although, David was a suave guy. He might have some ideas on what I could do to bring Aly around. That was all the motivation I needed to hit call.
The phone rang twice before I heard silence, then the sound of rustling.
"About time," David answered cheerfully. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Nothing happened to me . . ."
"Bull. You get home, stay one day, then disappear. The only thing that kept us from hunting you down was that Aunty wasn't worried."
"How mad is she, though?"
"She's, uhh, a little on the sour side. Apparently she had planned to take family photos after you got back."
"Great. Just great."
"Hey, it could be worse," David said.
"Oh?"
"Sure. You could have been hiding some huge secret. That would really piss her off." David chuckled to himself.
I quickly pulled the phone away as I started to sputter. Was my cousin psychic?
"Ben? You there?"
"Yeah, I'm here."
"Why so quiet? I thought maybe we disconnected or—No way. No. Dude, was I right? You're hiding something?"
It wasn't that I was hiding it, but I hadn't thought about how I would explain Aly and Ana to my family. I'd been excited to find out I had a daughter with Aly and then things got a little hectic. With everything that happened, I hadn't had a moment to sit down and evaluate things. No time like the present.
"Yeah, sort of."
"Sort of? What do you mean, sort of? You sort of have a secret?"
"Not really . . ."
"Not really? Sort of? Ben, man, what's going on?"
I stared, unseeing, into the night. David was one of my best friends. Hadn't I just thought about asking him for advice? It would be hard to give any type of guidance without the whole story, wouldn't it? I took a deep breath and decided to lay it all out.
"Remember Aly?"
"That girl from your class that you never shut up about? Ever? How could I forget? So, what, did you guys run off and get hitched?"
"Not quite hitched, but—"
"Whoa, wait a minute," David interrupted me. "You're serious. What's going on?"
"Well . . ." I sighed. This was harder than I thought. Aly's nervousness before she told me made much more sense to me now.
He was silent for a few seconds, then I heard rustling in the background.
"Ben, what's wrong?" Eric, David's identical twin, had taken the phone. Their voices were the same, but I always knew who I was talking to. I was one of the few people who never got them confused. I could hear the current of tension in Eric's quiet voice and knew that I needed to just come out with it. I was worrying them for nothing.
"I have a daughter." There it is.
He was silent for a few seconds, then he spoke slowly, as if sounding out his words, "I'm sorry, I'm not sure I heard you correctly."
"I have a daughter, Eric."
"Why haven't you told us until now?"
I heard the hurt in his voice. My family. If they didn't know your business, they figured you were shutting them out. I could blame it on us being wolves, but I knew my family was worse about it than any of the others in the pack.
"I wasn't trying to hide it from you guys."
"Then why are we just now being told?"
"We'd been studying together. We weren't even really dating."
"How am I supposed to believe that? We both know shifters aren't as fertile as humans. If you haven't been sleeping with her for years, how'd you end up with a child?"
"Believe it or not, it was after I finished my last class. Just one night, I swear. I went home the next day and Mom and Dad threw me on the plane. I didn't find out until now."
Eric was silent, then I heard a brief fight for the phone before David claimed it back.
"You're a father?" David sounded proud. "Man, that means I'm an uncle."
"That's not how that works. I think you're still her cousin or something . . ."
"Ehh, close enough."
The phone rustled again and Eric came back on.
"Back up," he said. "So, you're a father. Why didn't she tell you before now?"
I quickly explained everything I'd learned so far, including the arrival of her old pack. As I told Eric what was going on, I found myself dumping my concern about Aly's reaction on my cousin.
I also realized I was still a little angry that she accused me of selling out her location, even though I knew she had said it in a fit of anger. I think it was more that I was pissed at myself for actually leading her pack here.
"And now," I finished, "I'm standing outside her place, trying to figure out how to fix this mess."
"We can have the pack—"
"No," I interrupted. "We're already on shaky ground. If the pack comes now, she'll never trust me."
"If you insist . . ."
"I do." After a moment of stiff silence I asked, "You or David have any ideas about what I should do? As far as helping her trust me?"
"Give her space," Eric said. "Let her make the next move."
I heard the phone change hands, then David said, "Be all considerate and whatever, but stay close to her. Don't let her forget about what you two had or, uhh, have."
My thoughts were circling with their advice. They both made good points.
"Hey, we've gotta go, but answer your phone next time, alright?"
"Yeah, later," I replied absentmindedly.
With that, the phone chimed in my ear, letting me know they disconnected. I took a deep breath as I put my phone away. It was time. Nerves rolled around in my stomach as I opened the trunk of my car, yanked out my bag, and closed the lid. Here goes nothing.
The ground crunched under my feet as I walked to the door. I felt like I had lead weights attached to my shoes. Not having a plan was unsettling. I had a plan to find her when I came to Fayoak.
I had meant to beg her forgiveness for disappearing, explain what happened, then sweep her off her feet. It wasn't very well formed, but still, it was a plan. I hadn't thought I'd need a phase two plan.
Now I stood in front of her door and uncertainty ran through me. On the other side of this unassuming barrier stood my future. Terror shot through me at the idea that I could mess it all up. I didn't want to be on this side of the door forever. I wanted to be inside with Aly and Ana.
I took a deep breath and rapped my knuckles on the door. A moment later, the door jerked open and Aly stood in the middle of the doorway. She looked confused. My heart froze. Had I misunderstood? Was she not expecting me to come to her place?
"Why did you knock?"
"Because I wanted to come in?"
Aly snorted out a small laugh. "You could've just, y'know . . . turned the doorknob."
My confusion eased and a grin found its way to my face. "I was trying to be polite."
"Psh, you're staying here, right? Just open the door. I won't bite you for it."
"Good to know."
"If I catch you eating my snacks without proper clearance, though . . ."
I feigned a grimace and nodded. "I would never m
ake that mistake."
"You know me so well."
"You might say I know all of you," I replied without a second thought, a grin on my face.
Her brows shot up to her hairline. My smile fell. I needed to think before I spoke.
"Wow." She sucked a breath of air between her teeth. "One night in the sack and you feel like you've catalogued all the goods, huh?"
"I wish. I know there's so much more for me to explore."
Her eyes grew wide. "Cocky."
I winced. "Sorry. That just kinda came out."
Her eyes skimmed my body. "Really?"
"Poor choice of joke on my part." I sounded like a backwards idiot. Emphasis on the backwards.
Amusement lit Aly's eyes as she crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. "You should work on that. Anything else you want to share?"
"I think I've done enough for now." I took a deep breath. "Look, Aly, I'm sorry. If I could rewind the clock and not leave the country, I would. But I can't. Any way you can give me another chance?"
"You're in my house, aren't you? Here's your chance. Don't blow it."
A half-smile curved my mouth. "Well, not really. I seem to be stuck on your porch."
She tossed her head back, letting out a bark of laughter. She suddenly winced.
"You okay?" I asked, concerned. Had she hurt herself worse than I thought? That balm had been great for cuts, but I had no idea if it worked on bruises. What if she had broken a bone or something?
"Yeah. I'm fine. Still a little sore."
"I can help with that."
"I'm sure you'd love to get your hands on me."
I wanted her more now than I'd ever wanted her before. This wasn't about sex, though. She was hurting and I knew I could help. "No, seriously. What hurts, your shoulders or your back?"
"Don't worry about it. Let's go into the house." She stepped back and I followed her inside. All my attention was on her. She stopped a few paces from the door, gave me a considering look, then turned around so her back faced me.
"Work your magic," she said.
I dropped my bag and stepped forward. I pushed the door shut behind me. I rubbed my hands together and she twisted sideways to look at me.