“Start over?” he said.
“Oh, I don’t think so. I was expecting one kid and delivered eight, plus an appendix. I shudder to think what a second litter would bring.”
“Yeah. You could probably do without your gall bladder, but a spleen might not be so good,” he said.
“Wait, you aren’t really wanting more kids, are you?”
“What? No. Of course not. I had accepted only having one or two, and I got eight.”
“Is that a complaint?” she asked, seeming a little annoyed.
“What? No. Not at all. I love you and our entire brood of wolves and bears. Have you been able to tell what is what yet, by the way?”
“Not quite yet. Maybe soon. I guess it doesn’t matter right now. It won’t until later when it’s time to teach them about their abilities, the boys at least.”
“No. Fuck that. I know Omegas aren’t as strong, but my girls are going to know everything I can teach them about how to overcome that shortcoming so that it isn’t one. I want them to be as strong and capable as their mother. You’re right. It’s time we stop treating Omegas as lesser shifters.”
“I don’t know that the pack will agree.”
“They don’t belong to the pack. They belong to us. We’ll raise them how we choose to raise them. That reminds me of something I’ve never asked you. You managed to elude Trevor in that tunnel, and you showed a lot of backbone out on the road. Who taught you to embrace your inner bear like that?”
“My brother.”
“You don’t say much about him. Were you close?”
“We used to be, but he sided with my father when I left. Mom told me he wasn’t happy with me. Then, they told everyone I was dead. Even my mother thought I was until I called her and she decided it best that we keep it between us for my protection.
“Do you think you’re still in any danger if they knew? I mean, with Trevor gone and all.”
“I think I’m probably in more danger if they found out. You killed the Alpha’s son to protect me. They think a rival clan did it. If they ever find out the truth, they’ll come looking.”
“No reason for them to ever find out. No matter how much the other clan denies it, they have no proof that it is or isn’t true. I don’t know why they would ever believe differently.”
“I don’t know,” she said, trying not to think about it. She had never told him about what Trevor had planned for her and why she fought so hard. She probably never would. There was nothing more that could be done about it than already had been done.
“I’m sorry, Autumn. I didn’t mean to bring up painful memories for you.”
“It’s okay,” she replied, thankfully saved from further discussion of it by the sound of babies crying on the monitor. She kissed him on the cheek and made her way to their room, finding Clara and Rowanne already getting them changed and ready to feed.
She settled into a nearby chair and took one of the baby boys, then Marlene from them. She was quiet, letting them chat with one another while she sat there lost in thought. She still hadn’t told her mother about the babies and wasn’t sure she wanted to. What if it changed her mother’s thoughts about keeping it quiet that she was alive?
The thought stayed with her through most of the day and well into the night. She knew the melancholy would pass. It was just a case of missing the rest of her family now that she had one of her own. She settled into sleep in Malcolm’s arms and that contented her, bringing what had felt like an incredibly long day to a close.CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHTMalcolm
Several weeks later, Malcolm sat at the table with Autumn, Clara, and Rowanne eating pizza and garlic bread. He wiped off his hands and began rolling out the formal blueprint he had picked up that afternoon from a local architect who specialized in the large-scale houses that were fairly common for shifters once they had a family.
“Now, none of you put your greasy little fingers on this,” he teased them, spreading it out in the center of the table and weighting the top corners with salt and pepper shakers while he held down the bottom with his phone and pocket knife.
“Oh, wow. It’s huge!” Clara said, looking it over.
“It has to be with all the people in this house,” he said, showing them the design. The top floor belonged to the boys, with their shower area and a large den where they could gather outside their individual rooms.
The second floor had the girls on one end and he and Autumn on the other. The girls' section included their bath areas and a combined dressing area. The floor was divided in the center by a large library and study, giving each of them their privacy, but keeping the girls close to their mother.