He starts a little, as if surprised I too am awake.
“You aren’t strong enough,” he says. “Not in your current condition.”
“I don’t care,” I say. “If our efforts fail, it won’t matter how strong I am. Remus will kill me, and he will kill your three grandchildren too. I want to help. Please.”
Romulus thinks it over a little and then nods his head.
“You can help,” he says. “I suppose it was stupid of me to think I could stop you.”
That slight smile of his tugs on the corner of his mouth again. “I should have learned that lesson a long time ago.”
Now it’s my turn to match his smile. “I’m still waiting for them to figure that out as well.”
The boys stir around me, as if sensing my words. When I look down, I find myself looking into three sets of deep, dark, and contented eyes staring back up at me.
Kaleb rolls over lazily on his side.
“So it doesn’t have to be a secret anymore?” he asks, yawning. “Good. I was getting pretty tired of pretending you weren’t overhearing us every other day.”
I grin down at him, brushing an unruly lock of hair out of his face.
Finally, we’re all on the same team, all a family that is in this together. I curl up with them on the piles of blankets and floor cushions and we nap well into the early afternoon. The babies finally settle in my womb enough to let me get some rest.
Perhaps even they know what’s coming and know that I need to be strong enough to protect them and keep them safe in there.
When I close my eyes to dream, I see all of us together, the boys and me and the babies. Except we’re all wolves and the pups are all grown. We’re running and playing, and everything is carefree and happy.
Romulus and Lydia are there too. There doesn’t seem to be anything to worry about anymore as we all just enjoy an evening of hunting and frolicking that ends with a cozy huddle of slumber together.
I don’t want to open my eyes when I feel myself start to wake up. I want to hold on to that dream and stay inside of it until it just becomes true. But my eyes do open, and the boys are already starting to get up off of the cushions to follow their father out into another one of their endless meetings. Forgetting about what was agreed to last night, I stay sitting on the cushion, assuming that I will be left out of the discussions again.
But then Rory reaches his hand to me to help me up.
“Coming?”
I smile and take his hand as I lurch unsteadily up to my feet. I’m happy and grateful that there’s no reason to question whether Romulus will keep his word or not. I have to remind myself that this family, my new family, is bound my more than blood.
We’re all bound by trust.
Romulus’ office has become a veritable battle station.
The walls are papered in print outs of pack movements, dossiers on pack members and their strengths, and maps laying out the most likely attack points should Remus’ pack descend on the house at any given movement.
Despite all that, when Romulus explains our position, it really doesn’t look too good. He’s written to all of the packs in the alliance that he’s helped in some capacity over the years and asked for their help in return now to protect his pack and family … but he says he doesn’t expect any of them to heed his call for help.
“But I don’t understand,” I say. “Why wouldn’t you expect them to come to our aid? After all you’ve done, and you’re still a respected ally and pack leader. Why wouldn’t they come to help?”
“Respected?” he says with a half-hearted laugh. “Maybe once, but not so much anymore.”
He takes a second to clear his throat, and another to force the darkening look to shift on his face.
“Either way, this is a lot to ask,” Romulus answers. “Not only is it asking them to choose a moral side, but it’s asking them to go up against my brother. Directly. As much as I have done to help them when I could over the years, many of the other packs have known Remus for as long as they have known me. Although they may not agree with his methodology, they likely also don’t want to fight him.”
It makes sense, in theory. But it says nothing of loyalty.
“We’ve spotted Remus’ pack making preparations,” Marlowe says. “It looks like he’s had more shifters come to his side and he definitely has his pack back under control now. Even from the outside, it looks like he’s almost ready to attack.”
Others are joining him.