Chapter 16 #2
“Jackie is our oldest. She’s a little wildfire,” Nori said fondly. “And Ever just turned two. He’s quieter, but completely attached to his sister.”
Through the bond I could feel the quiet and contained surprise moving through Ravik.
I watched Basir’s gaze travel quietly around the room, settling on the wooden toys scattered on the couch and the small brightly colored plates near the sink.
And Thornar, without a word, intertwined his fingers with mine.
I held on, using him as an anchor against the overwhelming wave of emotion pressing in at the edges. .
“Please stay to meet them,” Owen said, then looked to my mates. “All of you are welcome. If you’ve protected my sister, I trust you’re good people.”
“How did you even meet?” Nori asked, her gaze moving between me and my mates. “If you’re from Ironsun territory?”
I froze. How did I answer a question that had so many dark layers to it? I didn’t want to expose them to any of that—they had a happy and peaceful life here. My brother already felt guilty over everything that had happened, and I didn’t want him to feel any more.
Thornar felt my panic through our bond and answered for me. “Gracie was brought to the Thornfell Trade Conference. We met her there and got her out of Cold Moon territory shortly after.”
The room went silent as Owen’s eyes cut to me.
I held his gaze while managing to keep my expression calm.
I could see him working through what ‘brought to the Thornfell Trade Conference’ actually meant.
I gave the slightest shake of my head, not wanting to delve into it.
His brows furrowed, but he didn’t push for more information.
The silence sat for a moment before Nori spoke again, softer this time. “Why are you here, though? In Bloodrose territory?”
How did I explain the war coming? The politics? Everything here felt so simple and safe.
“We have a meeting with Alpha Lacey,” Ravik answered.
“Mom! Dad!”
A high-pitched squeal filled the air as the door was thrown open and two small balls of chaos barreled in. My eyes briefly tracked an older woman waving goodbye from the road with a few other children, but then my attention was fully on my niece and nephew.
My niece and nephew. That was insane.
The cottage felt smaller and more alive all at once.
Jackie launched into an excited story, her words tumbling over each other as she pulled at Nori’s sleeve, demanding attention.
Even Ever was in motion, sending a paper airplane through the air toward Owen, demonstrating how it would float for full seconds before dipping.
Neither of them had noticed us yet, completely absorbed in their own worlds as children so often were. Even those at the Cold Moon Pack, alone in their bunkers, had been able to escape in their own imaginative play and daydreams.
“Okay, okay!” Owen raised his voice over the noise. “You both clearly had a good day, but before we hear all about it, I have someone I want you to meet.”
Jackie snapped her head toward us, and static rang in my ears while shock radiated through me.
She had my mom’s face. Different, almost strawberry blonde hair, but the same face shape and the same eyes in a startling shade of green.
Her smile was instantaneous and contagious as she threw up a big wave.
“I’m Jackie!” she announced. “This is our house.”
Nori shook her head with the patience of someone very used to this, letting Jackie take the lead. “And this is my brother,” Jackie said, gesturing at Ever with great importance. “But he doesn’t talk yet.”
Ever looked over then. His brown eyes, so much like Nori’s, found mine first and held them for a prolonged second before sliding to my mates. Then he stumbled back and burst into tears.
Oh no. My heart clenched. I stayed seated, but every instinct pulled me toward him. I wanted to comfort him but had no idea if moving closer would only make it worse.
“He’s just surprised,” Owen assured us quickly, but it was Jackie who leaned toward us and lowered her voice to a loud whisper.
“He cries a lot. It’s because you’re all bigger than him.”
She wasn’t wrong. My mates were much bigger than both of them.
I glanced up at Ravik. “Maybe sit down? You’re pretty tall; it might help.”
Ravik’s mouth curved, and he reached for a chair from the corner without a word, folding himself into it. Owen motioned me over and I stood carefully, rounding the table.
“Come say hi. He’ll calm down,” Owen promised. Already Jackie was straining against Nori’s hold, excited to join us. When I came face to face with Ever, he sniffled and watched me with cautious brown eyes. I did my best to block my mates from his view.
“Hi Ever, I’m Gracie.” I kept my voice soft, falling back into the gentle tone I had learned to use with the children in the Cold Moon Pack. “I heard you had a fun day at school.”
“So fun!” Jackie called out from behind us.
Ever considered me for a long moment before slowly raising his paper airplane toward me. My throat tightened at the small show of trust. I took it gently and turned it over in my hands.
“This is very neat. Did you make it?”
“The teacher—” Jackie’s words dissolved into muffled giggles as Nori intervened. It was hard to not crack a smile at the girl’s enthusiasm.
Ever glanced at his sister, then back at me. “Yes.”
The word was so clear and certain that Owen went still beside him, staring at his son. “Did he just—”
“Talk!” Jackie tackled me, cutting off Nori’s question as a giggle escaped me. I caught her easily and turned to face her with a bright smile.
“Jackie, I’m so happy to meet you.”
“Thank you.” She beamed. “How did you make Ever talk? He can’t talk, not usually.” She said it simply, the way children say things that adults would soften or avoid altogether. “He’s sick.”
I looked to Owen and then Nori. They were exchanging a quiet look that had me straightening to stand. Through the bond I felt my mates clock her words, creating a subtle shift in the room’s energy. My wolf went still beneath my skin, our attention sharpening on Ever.
He looked perfectly healthy to my eyes—rosy cheeked and bright eyed. But Jackie didn’t strike me as the kind of child who fibbed, and those were the words of a child who didn’t understand the full picture.
Nori ran her hands through Jackie’s hair before encouraging her to sit. Her voice dropped quiet. “Ever is sick. We don’t know exactly what it is, but his wolf isn’t settling the way it should.”
“The healer here has done what she can,” Owen continued, “but the help he needs is beyond what’s available in Bloodrose territory. He needs someone who can discover what’s actually wrong, not just manage it day to day.”
Ravik shifted in his seat. “What exactly is happening with him?”
“His wolf and his human side are so interconnected that there’s almost no separation between them,” Nori said in a way that told me she’d explained this many times before.
“It’s been affecting his development. His speech.
He needs to learn to ground his power, but we don’t know if that’s even possible at his age. ”
My brows furrowed as I looked at Ever, letting my wolf reach out to greet his magic. Right away I could feel it, the sheer weight of it.
“It may be because he’s powerful,” I suggested. “I can feel it even now.”
Ever tugged on a strand of my hair, unbothered, as if we’d known each other every day of his two years rather than only the last ten minutes.
“I’ve seen that before,” Basir said, drawing the room’s attention.
“You have?” Owen’s voice pitched with hope and emotion.
“Experienced something similar,” Basir corrected, his voice measured.
“I didn’t come from a family line with a power hierarchy like Ravik and Thornar, but when I was born it was clear I was an Alpha.
I had power that couldn’t be balanced until I was older and had proper training.
My wolf had overtaken much of who I was as a child. ”
My eyes widened, and Ravik and Thornar exchanged equally surprised looks. I hadn’t known that about Basir—nor had my mates—and I couldn’t stand the quiet sadness that crossed his face. That also meant, though…
“Do you mind if I come closer to him?” Ravik asked Owen, already rising.
“Careful,” Thornar warned.
Ravik nodded and approached slowly. I stayed close to Ever, whose tears had dried, his eyes now narrowed on my mate with open suspicion. Nori made a soft, surprised noise at the tiny rumbling sound coming from Ever’s chest.
My mate extended his hand. Ever eyed it from the safety of his father’s arms for nearly a minute before hesitantly placing his small hand in Ravik’s.
The room shifted.
A phantom wind moved through the cottage, stronger than the breeze wafting through the window, and Jackie screeched with delight as the paper airplane lifted off the table and went sailing. Through the bond I felt the power I’d sensed in Ever now rising to meet Ravik.
Then Ravik stepped back, the paper airplane gliding to the ground as the wind receded.
“Basir is right. That is exactly what is going on. Normally, when you’re born with Alpha power you’re raised from an early age to handle it.
It’s made a lot easier by being around other Alphas, usually your family. ”
“But he doesn’t have that,” Owen said.
“So what do we do?” Nori asked.
“Come to Ironsun. We have teachers who understand this exact issue and Alphas who can help him learn to ground his power, especially with how close we are to the university. The environment alone would make a difference.”
“You’re asking us to leave our home,” Nori said quietly.
“I’m offering you a choice,” Ravik countered. “You can stay here, but he will struggle—Basir can attest to that. Ironsun would be a change, but he would have what he needs.”
I could see how the picture he painted affected both of them.
“Basir would be able to work with him directly once we’re done traveling,” Thornar added. “We’d make sure you had everything you needed, including movers.”
I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming amount of gratitude for my mates at this moment. Without hesitation, without being asked, my mates had stepped up for my family as if they were already their own.
The silence that followed was heavy. I watched Owen and Nori look at each other before Nori’s gaze dropped to Jackie in thought. Owen looked at his son, still tucked in the crook of his arm, clearly no longer bothered by my mates’ presence.
“We’ll think about it,” Owen said finally.
“I’m hungry!” Jackie announced, heading toward the kitchen and breaking the tense silence as if the matter was settled. “You should eat with us.”
I smiled at her thinly disguised order. “We would love to.”
So we stayed for lunch. Jackie took over the conversation, moving from topic to topic with breathless energy while Ever sat pressed against my side, occasionally offering me bites of his food.
I watched Owen and Nori move around each other in their small kitchen, easy and practiced, while trying to memorize all of it. The way the light came through the window. The sound of my family’s laughter. Even how my mates settled into the space.
I hadn’t expected to find my brother today. I hadn’t known he would have a family and a home worth protecting. Asking him to leave it, to step into something he knew nothing about, was a decision that couldn’t be made lightly.
Selfishly, I wanted them in the safety of Ironsun territory if war broke out. But they didn’t need to know about that yet.