The Alpha (The Pack 3)

“You will?”

“And you since you’re my mate.”

“And the kids?”

I stared at the twins as they crawled toward each other, both with the distinctive yellow eyes that marked them as Navarre shifters. When they’d been born I’d questioned if our daughter would be a shifter and Dom had unequivocally said yes. Apparently, girl shifters were getting more common since Sam had just had a daughter with Payne, and she also carried the gene marker that would allow her to shift.

“Yes,” Dom answered and I blinked back to awareness, trying to reconcile myself with my new, longer lifespan.

“How long?” I questioned and he shrugged.

“Maybe a hundred and fifty?”

“Okay,” I said faintly. “Okay, I’ll have to process this later,” I finally declared, pushing myself up. “We’re already going to be late.”

A russet colored wolf bounded up to us as we left the house, not bothering to lock the door since we owned the land for miles. He sniffed the twins, barking happily as he led us down the path toward the Navarre community. We’d settled on the Hanley lands since Monster and I were the last living relatives of the Hanley who’d owned the lands, besides our mother, who had refused to take ownership of the land, giving it to us instead.

We’d absorbed the few remaining Hanley Pack members, allowing those who wished to leave to do so, as we rebuilt the compound.

Monster raced ahead, confident in his strides as he eagerly headed for his best friend, Nicky, whose black coat and yellow eyes were a dead ringer for his uncle.

“You still okay with giving everything to him when he’s ready?” Dom asked as he carried the twins upside down, our daughter’s skirt hanging over her head like an umbrella.

“It’s just as much his as it is mine, and he’ll need it,” I stated, knowing it was the truth. “You’re grooming him to become Alpha one day and with that the land and the Pack will become his,” I reminded him.

“Yes, but our children,” he mentioned, swinging his daughter until she shrieked.

“Will find their own path in life,” I told him. “Either part of this Pack or Anna’s Pack or maybe their own Pack.”

Liam and Leah came toward us, walking hand in hand, and I waved at them excitedly. “I didn’t think you would make it.”

“How could I miss this?” Leah declared, gesturing to the banners waving above us. “I mean how often do you get to go to the birthday party of a hundred and twenty year old man?”

“Well, I mean,” Dom started and I elbowed him.

“Apparently, its more common among shifters,” I replied, lifting my eyebrows. “Who knew?”

“It’s fascinating,” Leah gushed. “There’s so much in the physiology of a shifter that’s unique to them.” Liam’s eyes stared to glaze and I knew he’d heard this a million times. Leah was a first year vet student, and eventually she wanted to open a practice in Banks and study the shifters, using her education to help care for injured and sick shifters since traditional medical care was unavailable. She’d been there for the birth of the twins, saying what I’d been thinking when they were born, “It’s an actual litter.”

“How’s school going, Liam?” I asked, cutting Leah off before she really started using terminology we didn’t understand.

“It’s good,” he said enthusiastically. “I’m learning a lot of skills.” It had taken time for him to catch up with the schooling he’d missed growing up in the Hanley compound but he’d finally gotten his GED and been accepted to a trade school near Leah. He came home almost every weekend to run with the Pack and help Dom out, with the intention of settling down here when his schooling finished.

“Those skills will come in handy,” Dom replied, pride in his voice as he smiled at Liam. “We’re going to need more houses,” he added with a wink and Leah flushed as Liam tugged her close and agreed.

“Bunny!” A little voice shrieked as a little boy ran straight toward us and I braced myself for impact. He didn’t disappoint as he hit with the force of a linebacker. Dylan followed, smiling adoringly at his ‘brother’ who was actually his nephew, but none of us bothered to specify. Dylan lived with Wren and my Dad, and to his mind, little Lincoln was his brother. We’d all been happily surprised when Wren announced she was pregnant two weeks after she and my Dad got married. There was no one who deserved a chance to be a mother more than she did.

A motorcycle roared down the dirt road that bisected the highway and it was no surprise when Caleb yanked his helmet off and shouted, “Let the party begin!”

He’d been restless after graduation so Dom had given his blessing for him to go out and wander, meeting new packs and forming relationships with them. Caleb had taken Trent’s suggestions for places to visit first and I knew one of them had been the pack of the only other female Alpha.