Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
Theo was exhausted once he was done with his bath, and he went back to bed.
Liam went right along with him, curling around Theo, vowing to himself he would keep him safe.
Theo had been so sad about whatever had happened to the baby’s parent, and Liam wanted him to not be scared or feel like he had done something wrong, because he knew from experience that it was awfully hard to go against even a not-so-strong man with a gun.
When he woke up the next morning, Theo was still sound asleep, but Gael was gone.
Liam felt a moment of complete panic, thinking that someone had snuck in during the middle of the night and taken him.
Then he decided that idea was probably incredibly stupid because this was Niall and Loyal’s house, and who was gonna be sneaking in there?
Niall would probably see them coming and, if not, Loyal was an heck of an alpha who understood the ways of human, dragon, and werewolf alike.
So he got up to dress and then crept out to see what was what. Niall and LuAnn were in the kitchen, Niall with the baby sitting on his lap while he fed Gael a bottle.
“Good morning!” LuAnn waved a spatula at him. “Have a sit. I’m making breakfast.”
“Thank you.” He did that, flopping down at the table. Just about the time he got settled, Loyal strode in from outside, dropping a kiss on top of Niall’s head. “Good morning, Liam. You want a cup of coffee?”
“I would love one.” His mouth watered, and suddenly he was starving, his belly just growling for all it was worth.
“You got it.” Loyal poured, the cup coming with his choice of sugar and light cream already in it. Someone had a good memory.
“How’s he doing this morning?” Liam jerked his chin at the baby before slumping back in his chair.
Niall smiled down at the baby, making sort of googly faces at him. “He’s doing great today. He’s already so much stronger.”
“I’m glad. I was worried about him; he was so weak and pale yesterday.”
“He was,” Niall agreed. “It hurts my heart to think how desperate Theo had to have been to hide away like that in the old dragon compound.”
“Uh-huh. What I don’t understand is how it could possibly be back. The house. I know you guys saw it yourself. It had disappeared.” The house had gone like it never existed; only the outbuildings were still there in the clearing.
“Maybe it’s there because Theo needed it,” Niall mused.
“I wondered about that myself. I also wondered if, when we went back up there, it would be gone again.”
Loyal tilted his head, frowning. “I’ll run up there today and see. If it’s going to be a place where people can hide, I think we need to know sooner rather than later.”
Liam nodded slowly, because that made total sense. “I would go with you but—”
Niall gave him a gentle smile. “But you have a brand-new mate, and he needs you here to help him regain his strength.”
His shoulders hunched up around his ears. “Look, I don’t know why you guys keep saying he’s my mate. I mean obviously I’m incredibly drawn to him, but I’m not a wolf. I can’t mate with a werewolf.” Why couldn’t they get that? Rory was the outlier. No one else in the family could howl.
Loyal sent him a pitying stare. “You just keep telling yourself that, buddy.”
“Keegan said the same thing, but I don’t understand. How can I be a werewolf if I’ve never shown even the slightest inclination to being one?” He was starting to get a little panicky idiot about this, and he didn’t want to do anything stupid.
Loyal just shrugged and sipped his own coffee. “It’s called a latent gene, and for some reason, in some people it only comes out after a traumatic event or after something nudges it into the light. It’s almost like a genetic necessity. Like what happened with Gareth.”
By Gareth, Loyal meant a dragon who had lived among the werewolves, thinking he was one of them for many years.
He had ended up being Zeke’s mate, and Zeke was one of the big alphas who had lived up in the dragon compound, or a clutch as they called it.
All of a sudden, the dragon had come out of Gareth without any of them expecting it.
“A latent gene? Do you know how bizarre this all sounds?” He waved his arms, barely missing his coffee cup.
Loyal raised a deep red eyebrow. “Do you know how bizarre most people would consider talking about werewolves and dragons at all? Think about that for a minute. Think about the people who stop into your trading post down at the base of the mountain, those lost tourists who don’t realize that it’s probably not good for them to be where they are.
How weird would they think you are for sitting here talking to me knowing that I can shift into a wolf? ”
“Don’t confuse the issue with logic, man.” Liam sighed and sipped his coffee, letting the sugar and the caffeine do its work. “I know what you’re saying makes sense. You know, it’s easy to know what you know.”
He crossed his eyes as if he was going to stare at his mouth, trying to figure out how to parse what he just said. “It’s hard to… I don’t know… see myself in it?”
“You don’t have to stress it.” Niall gave him a wink and a smile. “You just have to be in it. Sometimes, you have to have a little faith, right? I know you know how to use your instincts.”
“A little bit, yeah.” Hell, instincts were one of the things that he really did have down. “I think one of the huge things we have to address here is that we have murderers afoot. Somebody shot and killed that baby’s family”
Loyal nodded. “Shit, someone scared Theo enough that he was starving and willing to starve that baby rather than leave the house, when there is a relatively clear path down the mountain. I mean, it’s not a road, but if he’d gone out and explored, he could have seen that there was a way.”
Niall nodded. “This is a problem.”
“Well, and we have these pale wolves coming from… where?” Liam was as close to a non-werewolf werewolf expert as there was, he reckoned. “This is the third white wolf who’s been found that’s on the run. What’s wrong with them? No offense, Niall.”
“None taken. I have the same concern.”
“I mean, are there pockets of white wolves just hanging around? Is that a thing? Do we need to try to find Theo’s pack and take him home?” Liam had concerns, dammit.
Niall shook his head. “I don’t think these packs are the same as ours. These are more families that are dying. Yeah, little groups, three or four adults tops, and as soon as there are more, they split off.”
“Okay, all right, I can see that. That makes sense.” It was reasonable as hell, and he’d accept it. “I think we need to talk to Fen.”
“Good thing I brought him.” Rory walked in holding his baby. “You’ve had a busy twenty-four hours, brother.”
“I have, yeah.” He climbed to his feet and went to hug Rory and kiss his little nephew. “Did Kee send you?”
“He did. He said he’d be back, but he wanted Fen and your Theo to put eyes on each other.”
“Okay, cool. Cool. I mean, Theo is asleep…”
“We can have coffee.” Fen entered the room as well, carrying a couple of large packs. “We brought some supplies for the new wee one and for the extra mouths to feed, Niall.”
“Thank you. That will help.”
“I can support us.” No problem. He was sure he could make it work.
“Of course you can, Liam, but this is about the short term.” Rory gave him a bright smile. “You know that.”
“I do. I just…” He needed to talk to Rory alone. “How’s Xander doing?”
“Great. Here, I want to peek at the new baby.”
“Is he done eating, Niall? I can put him back down.” Liam grinned at Rory’s let’s-have-a-discussion face. His brothers could always read him.
“Yes.” Niall handed over the baby for him to burp and carry back to bed for a bit. Not that they would bother Theo. They would just find a not-crowded space to sit and talk.
They settled with the babies in a quiet little corner with the sun pouring down on them.
Rory sat there and stared at him for a long second before finally blurting out. “What is going on?”
“I don’t know!” And that was absolutely one-hundred-percent the truth. He had no goddamn idea what exactly was happening to him. He knew that there was something undeniable and wonderful about Theo, something magical he couldn’t deny. “You know how I’ve been wanting to go up the mountain?”
Rory nodded to him, offered him a wry grin. “Of course. It’s all you’ve talked about for months.”
“Yeah.” Sue him. “Okay, so. All of a sudden, it was all I could think about. I mean, literally—I couldn’t think about anything else but going. We went up there, and there he was—Theo. And he’s—”
“A wolf.”
“Yes, and—this is just between us, right?” Because he needed someone he could trust with this. Someone who would understand.
“Absolutely.”
“I saw him, and I couldn’t… there is no way I could have ever walked away from him. Not ever.”
Rory pursed his lips and shook his head. “Well, I’d tell you I don’t know what that feels like, but that would be a total lie. I totally know what that feels like.”
The wink was supposed to make him feel better and he knew it, but he was worried. “But what I’m not really clear on is… you know that I’m not a wolf.”
“Well, I knew I wasn’t a wolf, and look where I am. I have Xander.”
“I’m a little worried,” he admitted, and Rory shook his head a little.
“You’re just a little worried? Dude. If it were me, I would be extremely worried.” Rory chuckled softly. “I was there. I was worried.”
“Yeah.” He sighed and shook his head. “All right. So I will totally go with extremely worried too. I have to tell you, though, I don’t think I get this.”
“You don’t think you get what?” Rory’s lips quirked, and Liam wanted to smack him. Just a little.
“Well, one, I don’t get how we ended up having wolves in our family. I mean, it’s not like we haven’t met our parents.”
Rory shrugged. “I don’t know any more than you do.”
“I know. I do. But someone has to, right? And there’s no one to ask anymore. I mean, maybe Dean?”
Expression doubtful, Rory sighed. “I would say not, but who knows? There are clearly a lot of secrets floating around.”
Liam scoffed. “Tell me about it.” He shook his head. “One way or the other, I’m not willing to give him up.”
“I can’t wait to meet him.” Rory tilted his head. “The rumor is that maybe he’s related to Fen?”
“He looks as though he could be. We’ll introduce them when Theo gets up. Are you staying the night? If not, I can wake him, but he was so exhausted I would like to let him rest.” Poor Theo was running on empty. It was super obvious.
“We are, yes. So no worries. This way, we can hang out some.”
“Good.” He was feeling at odds without being able to bounce things off his brothers. “I can’t believe how Xander is growing. He’s beautiful.”
“He is. And this one is Gael? He’s so tiny.”
“He had a terrible start, but Theo is his hero.”
“He’s got good color.” Rory touched his cheek.
“He does. A few meals and a wee bath, and he’s doing much better.”
“How terrifying for him—Theo, I mean. Thank goodness you listened to him.”
“I feel awful that I didn’t before.”
“But you don’t know how long he was actually in the dragon stronghold, bro.” Rory touched his arm. “You did your best.”
“I want to believe that. He was starving, Ro.” Literally starving for fear of leaving, and it broke his heart.
Rory made a face, his eyes watering a little like he might cry. “Fen was that way too. He was so skinny and hurt and…” Rory took a deep breath. “What the hell is happening?”
“I don’t know.” Liam growled softly. “Someone is hunting white wolves.”
“I wonder why. I mean, Fen is magical.” Rory winked. “But what is it about them?”
“They’re easy to hunt? I mean, literally. Easy to hunt. No camouflage for them.”
“Oh.” Rory shook his head, scowling, and the baby started to moan a little. “Oh, sorry, sweet pea. Did I squeeze? That’s awful.”
“It is. But it’s the lowest common denominator, right? Assholes are assholes.”
“Yeah.”
Liam tilted his head, hearing the hum of Theo’s thoughts picking up. “He’s awake.”
“You’re totally mated. Totally.” Rory’s eyes were wide, staring at him. “If you start getting itchy, pay attention.”
“I—Why?” Liam had to hear this one.
“Because it means the mate bond isn’t finished, and it’s fraying.”
“Oh.” He had no idea what that indicated in real terms, but it sounded awful.
“Just remember to stay close to him for a bit, hmm?”
Oh, only until the end of their lives.