3
“And then, do you know what he said to me?” Mila asked as she paced back and forth.
“What?”
Mila puffed out her chest in her best Caim impersonation. “‘It is your nature to be overly attached to your young. You should just have another pup.’ As if I’m supposed to just accept that my nine-month-old eats butterflies and sniffs people’s butts.”
She looked heavenward and let out a sigh of frustration. Talon reached out and clasped her hand.
“You’re wearing a ditch into the ground. Come sit.”
His golden eyes sparkled with amusement, and Mila couldn’t help but laugh at herself.
“You’re right,” she said and took a seat next to him on the fallen tree trunk. “I’m sorry I’m unloading all of this on you. I’ve been bottling it all up since you left. I haven’t had anyone else to talk to.”
Talon smirked. “Is that your way of saying you missed me?”
Mila nodded and reached to muss up his silvery hair. “I missed you.”
She was embarrassed to admit just how much. Sometime in the months since Dawn was born, Talon had become her very best friend.
While Mila had been relishing in the birth of her newborn baby, Talon had been burying his little brother, who had died from an infected gunshot wound. Talon had come to seek help from the Lazarus pack, but he had come too late.
After the death of Talon’s brother, his sisters and the two elderly pack mates he had brought with him were permitted to stay. Caim, however, was adamant that Talon be made to leave. Maybe it was just her new-baby hormones, but Mila had taken pity on him. He was a teenage boy who had, in the span of a year, lost both of his parents, and then failed to hold together his pack. To top it all off, he also felt responsible for the death of his little brother. She had never seen someone look so broken, and she was afraid that if he left, Talon would take his own life. So, she had advocated for him to stay.
It hadn’t been easy. She’d had to go behind Caim’s back and appeal to Asch, who sympathized with Talon. In the end, with Asch and Mila both siding against him, Caim had been in the unprecedented position of being outnumbered. She and Asch had won the fight, but things had never quite been the same between the three of them since.
Mila couldn’t regret her decision, though. Rather than dwelling on Caim’s resentment, she had thrown herself into helping Talon, and in the process, they had somehow helped one another.
“You don’t have try to make me feel special,” Talon said as he stared up at the late afternoon sky. “I know you have other friends besides me.”
Mila shrugged. “Yeah, but it’s not the same. You know I can’t talk about these kinds of things with Brae and Rosie.”
One of the reasons she and Talon had wound up as friends was that he was the only person in the pack she could be honest with. Rosie and Brae were great friends, but neither of them wanted to hear her complain. To them, Mila lived the perfect life. She had two powerful, handsome mates, a gorgeous daughter, and as far as they could tell, no real responsibilities.
In reality, Mila had two aggressive, unpredictable mates, a furry baby, and dozens of pack mates who constantly expected her to solve their problems. But if she ever even started to mention she was unhappy, Rosie and Brae would humor her while exchanging furtive glances.
“You’re the only one who takes me seriously,” she told Talon.
Talon tilted his head toward her. The fading sunlight highlighted his ivory skin. The delicate beauty of his body was beginning to give way to a rougher masculinity. In the past few months, he had grown more muscular, his voice had deepened, and the planes of his face seemed broader and sharper.
The changes in his body were not going unnoticed by her mates, and now, even Asch agreed that it would soon be time for Talon to leave. To Mila, Talon just looked like her friend, and she wished her mates could see the good soul behind his maturing physique.
Talon grinned and said, “I brought you back something.”
Her brows rose. “From town?” she asked hopefully.
Talon had been gone with River and Fern for a few weeks, helping the betas scout something out, or whatever. Mila was convinced it had just been an excuse for her mates to get Talon out of the pack after all the drama of the previous month.
Reaching into his pocket, Talon pulled out three wrapped Tootsie Rolls. Her mouth dropped open.
“I hope you like them. They’re the only kind of chocolate I could get that wouldn’t melt on the way back.”
Mila snatched them from Talon’s hand and beamed up at him. “No, they’re perfect. Thank you!”
She pocketed two of the candies, unwrapped the third, and popped it in her mouth. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d tasted chocolate. It was one of the many luxuries she’d left behind when she joined the Lazarus pack.
They sat in silence for a few moments while Mila chewed noisily and Talon stared off into the forest. Red tones streaked the sky as the sun set, and Mila knew she’d have to get back to the den before the others noticed she had slipped away.
Breaking the quiet, she said, “Sometimes I think that Asch and Caim don’t really care about me as much as I thought they did.”
The words felt as though they’d been stuck in her throat for months, and it was liberating to finally be free of them.
“What do you mean?” Talon asked.
She chewed her lip before saying, “Before I was pregnant, they were all over me all the time, and I thought, ‘Wow, this must be what it’s like to be loved.’” Her cheeks heated. “And then, when I was pregnant with Dawn, they were so caring and affectionate. But now … now I feel like all they care about is getting me pregnant again. They don’t care that I’m not happy.”
The past month had been the worst. A few weeks after she’d stopped nursing Dawn, her cycle had started up again unexpectedly. She had awoken one evening to find Asch and Caim fighting over her as though she were a piece of meat. They acted as if the outcome of their fight would decide who was allowed to get her pregnant—as if her opinion didn’t even matter.
Talon placed a hand on the back of her neck. “What would make you happy, Mila?”
She held her hands out in front of her. “I wish I could go back to when Dawn was just born.” She blinked as her eyes stung. “She fit in my hands, and she was so perfect. I had this perfect little girl, and Asch and Caim …. I never felt more loved than I did then.”
“And you don’t think having another pup will fix that?”
It was an honest question, and Mila was reminded that for all his maturity, Talon was still very young. She gave him a pat on the back and shook her head.
“I don’t think that’s how happiness is supposed to work,” she said. “I don’t want to keep trying to recapture the same moment over and over. I have to figure out how to be happy with the life that I have.”
4
Asch drummed his fingers on the wooden table, his frustration mounting. Sensing the change in his alpha’s demeanor, River cut his recollection short and got to the point.
“The coyotes have taken over the den,” River said. “We’ll need your help.”
Because they had two alphas, the Lazarus pack had been able to hold an unprecedented amount of territory for several years. Their lands stretched over three mountain ranges and hundreds of miles, and they included no less than half a dozen dens. Two years ago, his vast territory was something Asch had been immensely proud of. Now, it was nothing but cumbersome.
Asch wasn’t the same man he had been two years ago. There was Dawn, his mate, and their future children to think about. He really couldn’t care less about a pack of coyotes occupying a faraway den that they’d never used and probably never would.
The whole “mission” that he’d sent his betas off on had just been a roundabout way of getting Talon the hell out of his den. The young alpha spent way too much time hanging around Mila, and it was starting to piss Asch off.
Running a
hand through his hair, Asch said, “I’m not the only alpha here. I’ll talk to Caim. He’ll go with you.”
He saw doubt flash over River’s bearded face, but the beta male quickly covered it with a firm nod. Fern was not so quick to agree.
“If you think Caim is going to leave the den for however many weeks it takes to resolve this, you’ve lost your marbles,” she said.
Asch leaned back in his chair and looked away, not wanting to admit that it was a stupid idea. Convincing Caim to leave Dawn behind for more than a day would be a challenge. Convincing Caim to leave the den right before the mating thrall would be next to impossible.
One way or another, though, Asch would not be the one going. He would sooner see one of his dens fall to a pack of coyotes than miss another opportunity to become a father.
Asch stood from his chair. “Let me talk to Caim, and we’ll go from there.”
Giving the others a perfunctory nod, he left the meeting room. Rosie immediately intercepted him in the corridor, looking harried.
“Asch, I need your help,” she said breathlessly. “It’s about Willow, she—”
Asch held up a hand. “Take it to someone else. I’m busy.”
* * *
“She was not even the least bit interested in Bay until we began coupling. Now, she is slobbering all over him, night and day.”
Mila feigned interest in Rosie’s tale of woe while stewing over the latest news of Caim’s exploits.
Upon arriving back at the den, she had noticed that Caim and Dawn were no longer in the field. It was just after sunset, around the time Dawn usually took a nap, but they were nowhere to be found in the den, either. After some investigating, Brae had told her that Caim had taken Dawn into the forest to hunt squirrels. When they came back, she fully intended to murder him.
For now, all she could do was sit by the fire in the main room and listen to Rosie bitch. She picked at a piece of bland meat and occasionally commented on the things her friend said.
“I can see how that would be annoying,” Mila said before taking another small bite of meat.
“Yes,” Rosie agreed. “It is very annoying. I am glad you agree, because there is something you can do.”
“Oh?” Mila asked as she stared into the fire.
“You can make Willow leave with her brother.”
That was enough to get Mila’s attention. “What? Don’t be ridiculous. Willow’s just a kid.”
“She is sixteen,” Rosie retorted. “Hardly a child by any measure.”
Willow was one of Talon’s younger sisters. She was a very beautiful young woman, and her arrival in the pack had caused a bit of a stir among the females. Mila found it almost comical that they were fretting over a teenager, especially one as sweet as Willow. If there was any new addition to the pack that they should have been disgruntled with, it was—
“And don’t get me started on Ella.” Rosie’s freckled face reddened with agitation. “That little demon spawn should go with him as well.”
Mila liked Ella, but she understood why no one else did. The ten-year-old had sticky fingers, loved to pull pranks, and was always quick with a lie. Mila found Ella to be both adorable and, at times, hilarious, but no one else seemed to think so.
“Ella’s not going anywhere, neither is Willow, and neither is Talon,” Mila told her.
Rosie pouted. In one breath, she said, “Lotus said that Caim said that Asch agreed that Talon would be leaving by the end of the summer.”
“I don’t know who said what,” Mila said as she rubbed her temple. “But they’re all delusional if they think I’m letting them force Talon out.”
“He cannot stay here forever, Mila. He is an alpha.”
Mila nodded. “I know that. One day, he’ll want to make a pack of his own and take a mate. But right now, he’s just a kid, and so are his sisters. They’re too young to be on their own. We can’t kick them to the curb. We may be wolves, but we’re not animals.”
Rosie grinned at her. “You just said that you are a wolf.”
Mila’s brow wrinkled. “Did I?”
5
Asch found Caim near the eastern side of the lake. The large black wolf was standing on his hind legs, bearing down on the trunk of a young maple tree. The tree dipped low, allowing Dawn to jump and snap at a terrified-looking squirrel on the top branch. Amused at the sight, Asch temporarily forgot his anger toward Caim.
Asch remembered the time after Dawn was born. For all of Caim’s bragging that Mila’s pup would belong to him, he had been completely unprepared to actually become a father. He was afraid to hold her, yet became violently possessive when anyone besides Mila tried to touch her. It had been no less than two months until Caim had been willing to leave the den for more than an hour at a time.
No matter how much he had wished that Dawn were his, Asch could not deny that Caim was becoming a good father. In the months since her birth, there had been many changes in his friend. Caim had become more patient, less quick to anger, and at times, he could even be magnanimous. Fatherhood had smoothed the rough edges of Caim’s personality like nothing else could. Asch wondered if he would change as well, once he had a pup of his own.
Caim carefully stepped back, removing his weight from the tree. It snapped back into place with a flurry of maple leaves. Dawn looked disappointed for a moment, but upon sniffing at the air, she let out an excited bark and turned to make a mad dash for Asch.
Crouching down low, Asch opened his arms just in time for Dawn to fling herself at him. He could tell she’d been excited about the squirrel, because her tongue left trails of slobber over his face as she eagerly licked at him.
“Good to see you too, princess,” he said as he pulled Dawn back to hold her at arm’s length. She barked in response.
Although she didn’t speak, she was a very intuitive pup and was constantly surprising them with just how much she understood.
Caim approached in his human form, buttoning up his jeans as he walked. He nodded his head toward Asch. “River and the others are back early.”
“Yeah. Apparently there are some coyotes occupying one of the western dens.”
He flipped Dawn over so that he could cradle her in his arms. The pup put up a playful struggle, gently kicking and nipping at him.
Coming to stand beside Asch, Caim said, “Good. Send Talon to deal with them. Preferably alone.”
Asch grinned at him. “I don’t think getting rid of him is going to be that easy. Mila really likes him.”
At the sound of her mother’s name, Dawn became instantly alert, her head twisting and turning to survey the area. When she realized her mother wasn’t there, she went lax in Asch’s arm and let out a soft whine.
“I should get her back to the den,” Caim said and gingerly plucked his daughter from Asch’s arm. She settled her head in the crook of her father’s neck.
“Can I walk with you?” Asch asked.
Caim nodded and they set out toward the den together. The moon was a thin sliver in the sky, but their preternatural vision made it easy for the alphas to navigate the dark forest.
Asch had hoped they would be able to speak in private, but given that the den was only a short ways away, this would likely be his best opportunity. He thought of a way to broach the subject of Mila without saying anything too inappropriate for Dawn’s ears.
“I was thinking about taking her away for a few days,” Asch said. “To the smaller den, past the far side of the river.”
It was clear that Asch was referring to Mila. He watched Caim from the corner of his eye to gauge his reaction.
Caim’s face was a study in impassivity as he said, “You wish to take Mila away from the den?”
Dawn’s head shot up to look at Asch, her puppy face screwing into what could only be called a glare. Caught off guard, it took Asch a few seconds to realize what Caim had done.
Well played, asshole.
Sighing, Asch said, “It wouldn’t be a good idea to keep her around the den
for the next few days. I figured now that you have Dawn, you’re not going to want to leave as well.”
He put an extra emphasis on the fact that Caim had to look after Dawn—a reminder that the stubborn alpha already had a daughter and really had no business interfering with Asch and Mila during the thrall.
“Hn,” was Caim’s only reply.
What the fuck did that mean?
~*~
Dawn was sleeping when Caim returned to the den. Mila was disappointed. She imagined most mothers probably loved time away from their babies, but for her, it had always been just the opposite. A whole slew of wolves constantly vied for time with Dawn as she was the only child in the pack.
When she wasn’t being hogged by one of her aunts, Caim monopolized her. Mila was grateful that, unlike herself, Dawn had a father who adored her, but sometimes, she felt a little jealous.
“Did you seriously take her squirrel hunting?” Mila asked when Asch and Caim entered the main room.
“She almost caught one,” Caim informed her.
Cradling her neck, he placed Dawn into Mila’s waiting arms. There was a heart-shaped patch of light brown fur between Dawn’s eyes, and Mila leaned down to place a kiss on it. Dawn didn’t stir.
“What if it’d had rabies?” Mila said, lowering her voice so as to not disturb her daughter. “And even if it didn’t, it could have bitten her.”
“I would not have let that happen,” Caim said patiently.
“It’s not as bad as you’re imagining,” Asch said and placed a hand on the back of her neck. He gave her a gentle squeeze, and then added, “You’re very tense.”
Mila was suddenly aware of her mates’ bodies. Both were wearing nothing more than a pair of jeans, and their hard, muscular chests were on full display.
Caim was the larger of her mates. His muscles were bulky and sported dozens of scars that only intensified his masculinity. He had a broad jaw, a rugged face, and amber eyes that were far more canine than human.
Asch stood nearly as tall as Caim, but he looked less like a bodybuilder and more like a finely carved statue. He had sculpted abs, chiseled facial bones, and the most striking hazel eyes she had ever seen.
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