Chapter 42
“Frank, come on! Cody and Dylon are on their way. Dakota told me the helicopter will be landing in five minutes. Come on!”
Scooping his papers off the desk, he stuffed them back in his briefcase, snapped it closed and locked it.
The work was piling up but rather than return home he’d stayed with the Blackwood Pack to let Lizzie spend more time with Dakota.
In the end, it worked out well. The new recipes Lizzie learned to make under Dakota’s tutelage were amazing and he anticipated the reaction of their friends when they got home as Lizzie showed off her new-found skills to them.
Their delay in leaving was also fortunate because Dylon and Cody were coming home sooner than expected and they’d see them before leaving.
“Okay, I’m ready. Let’s go.”
Taking her mate’s hand, Lizzie quickly headed to the front door, pulling Frank along. “I can’t believe how lucky we are…Oh, there’s the helicopter!” Entering the great room, Lizzie joined Oracle, Maximus and the others gathered near the front door.
Steel finally opened the door and everyone filed outside, eager to greet Cody and Dylon. While waiting for the blades to stop rotating, he asked Jackson. “Want me to hold Daniel?”
Smiling, Jackson handed over their son. “You know me too well, babe.”
The group watched as Dylon got out of the chopper, and was handed a bundle. The scenario was repeated with Cody and then they saw three more men exit the helicopter. The pilot, Robert, was busy handing backpacks and bags to the three before the whole group walked toward the house.
“What’s Cody holding?”
“Is that a baby?”
“Look, Dylon’s got one too!”
“Who are the dudes with them?”
“What the fuck?”
“Who’s the twink in the pink top?”
“I want him.”
Jackson turned around and looked at his brothers.
“What the fuck is it with you guys? Do I have to constantly remind you how to behave in front of guests? Now shut up. Honestly!” Turning back to Cody, he realized Cody and Dylon were holding babies in their arms. As the group approached the steps to the front porch, Jackson quickly sucked in a breath at the sheer radiance coming from his brother.
Cody was happy—no, not happy—his brother was filled with a joy that radiated from his very soul.
“Wow! What a great welcoming committee. Hey, Jackson, meet Jake and Jessica…our pups. They’re twins.”
Before he could respond, Jackson was startled by a scream. Wheeling around, he saw Lizzie pushing her way toward Jackson, exclaiming, “Oh my gods, oh my gods, did you hear that Frank, I’m a grandmother! I’m a grandmother! Let me see my grandbabies!”
Rushing past Jackson, Lizzie ran down the porch steps and stopped in front of Cody.
Gently pulling the pink blanket back, Lizzie melted when she got her first look at Jessica.
“Oh my, she is beautiful!” Jessica waved her tiny hand that had been freed and smiled as she looked up at Lizzie.
“Hi sweetie, welcome home. What a heartbreaker you will be! And you have a brother, do you? Well, you don’t mind if I say hello to him, do you?
” Lizzie smiled, looking tenderly at her granddaughter before giving her a soft kiss on the forehead.
Taking a step over to her son, Lizzie said, “Dylon Royd, you are in a heap of trouble for not telling me I was going to become a grandmother.” Moving the blue blanket away, Lizzie gasped, “Oh my goodness, Frank come down here, Jake looks just like Dylon did as a baby. Hi sweetie, welcome home. Oh my, aren’t you the strong one already,” Lizzie said as Jake grasped her finger and blew bubbles.
“Congratulations, guys,” said Jackson, “I can’t wait to hear how you became parents. In the meantime, Cody, would you introduce the rest of your group?”
“Sure, Theodore, Norman and Kieran, this is my brother, Jackson, Alpha of the Blackwood Pack.”
“Nice to meet you, Alpha. In case you’re wondering who’s who, I’m Kieran,” he said, then, pointing to his friend standing next to him, added, “he’s Theodore so I’m sure you know which one is Norman.
Cody told us, and I quote, ‘the best fucking chef in the world is here’ so, can we get something to eat?
Dylon refused to let us do that at the airport because he said, and I quote, ‘you can fucking wait until we get home’.
So, we waited and now since the ‘how do’s’ are finished, we’re ready to eat. ”
Cody had handed Jessica to her grandma by the time Kieran finished and was now standing behind him, grinning so broadly it looked as his face was split in two.
Jackson’s eyes that had widened during Kieran’s monologue, then shifted to Cody’s face.
What has happened to my brother? The transformation was astounding.
Finally, he found his voice, “Hi Kieran. Nice to meet you, and you, Theodore, and you too, Norman. My brother is right, the best chef in the world is our brother, Dakota. I’m sure he can rustle up something for you to eat.
But before he does that, let me introduce you to everyone else.
Front and center, bros, we have some special visitors. ”
Jackson waited as the rest of his brothers moved near him on the porch. Then he began, “This is Dakota, someone you want to be real nice to since he will be making your food. And here is Colton and this one is Carson…”
“Hey, they look just like you,” Kieran said to Cody, turning around to look again before turning back. “Are you triplets? Wow how cool is that? And you have twin pups!”
Jackson smiled. “Yes, they’re triplets; this one is Zane and over at the end is Logan, my twin brother.”
“Hi guys, don’t mind my friends. They’ve been locked up for the last three years in Arald’s house of horrors, so they don’t talk much.
But they sure are hungry. Yo, Dakota, think we can get some grub?
We aren’t picky, if you get my drift. Just right now we’re starving.
Don’t blame us, it’s Dylon’s fault. I didn’t want to show up hungry…
you know, it not being polite and all…but the big man over there said ‘no’, so ‘no’ it was. ”
Jackson snickered. The pink-shirted twink sure had a way about him that just made him smile. Keeping his eyes on Kieran, he called out, “Yo, Dakota, can you help out these starving guests?”
Laughing at Kieran’s spunky attitude, Dakota said, “Sure, I can fix you guys up with something to tide you over till dinner time. Anything you don’t like?”
Kieran looked at his friends, then turned back to Dakota.
“No gruel, no way, nada, never, ever, again. Anything else is fine. Nope, wait a minute, I gotta amend the list…no freaking snails. I have no idea why anyone would eat those…well maybe a raccoon shifter…but no self-respecting wolf would, so I have no idea why Arald would eat them. Huh! Maybe because he wasn’t a self-respecting wolf. Well duh, now that makes sense.”
That was the final straw and Jackson who had been smiling at Kieran was now laughing so hard, Steel had to pass his son over to Oracle to hold so he could grab his mate to keep him upright.
At last, after Jackson got himself under control, he said, “Kieran, if you, Theodore and Norman follow Dakota to the kitchen, I’m sure he’ll make you something without gruel or snails.
Just let me introduce the rest of the group to you.
That’s Lizzie, Dylon’s mom holding Jessica, and over here is Dylon’s father, Franklin Royd.
This is Steel, my mate, and over there, holding our son Daniel, is his grandmother, Oracle, and her mate, Maximus who are parents to Steel and his brother Slate.
And back here is Dr. Ian Wallace, Colton’s mate. ”
“Nice to meet you all. But if you don’t mind, can we chat later? Me and my friends are really, really hungry.”
“Yes, I think that’s been established,” said Jackson. “Dakota, if you will?”
“Follow me, boys and let’s see what I can do to solve that problem,” Dakota said.
After climbing the steps, Theodore and Norman fell in line behind Dakota as they were led through the front door.
Before following them, Kieran paused in front of Jackson and said, “Thank you for taking us into your pack and giving my friends a safe place to live. I won’t forget this.
I think Slate was right, we are going to like it here.
” Then patting Jackson on the shoulder, Kieran followed Dakota and his friends.
After the door closed behind them, Jackson turned to Cody, raising an eyebrow and said, “New pack members? Did you forget to send me a memo about our new pack members?”
“It’s a long story, Jackson, but the Cliff Notes are as follows…
Kieran was sold when he was almost nineteen by his parents to Arald…
a real scumbag if there ever was one…who kept him as a slave and used him sexually, we think, although he doesn’t talk about it, and made him sleep in a cage.
Theodore and Norman were given to Arald when they were fifteen because they were caught kissing and have been shackled and kept in a cell ever since until we freed them.
They were scheduled to be sold at an auction, uh, yesterday I think.
My time is all screwed up. They had nowhere to go and Slate offered them a home with us.
These boys will be my responsibility. And my pups…
Arald killed their parents so he could sell the twins to a buyer who wanted them.
Oh yeah, we also caught several of the buyers who were bidding on Colton. ”
“Kieran is a wolf, but what kind of shifters are Theodore and Norman?” asked Jackson.
“Ghost Bear shifters. Now, you see why we couldn’t let them be on their own. Slate has arranged for Dire Enterprises to pay for their schooling and he’s trying to recover some of Arald’s assets to be split among all the victims.”
“Ghost Bear shifters? The High Council would be very interested in this,” said Frank.