Chapter 7
Colton, holding Ian’s black bag, pushed open the bedroom door and after seeing his brother and Slate, then stepped aside, letting Ian enter first. “Hi guys,” Ian said, heading over to the bed. “Slate, do you mind getting up?”
“Don’t go far,” cautioned Dakota, sitting up.
“I won’t,” Slate said.
“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” asked Ian, placing a blood pressure cuff around his patient. While listening to Dakota, Ian finished his examination. “Is this the first time you have vomited since…”
“Yes,” Dakota said, “since I became pregnant.” Then he glanced at his mate, before asking, “Is something wrong with our pup?”
“Your vitals are good and while I can’t be absolutely certain without some additional tests, I’m pretty sure your pup is fine. Given that, it’s safe to say you had a bout of morning sickness.”
“But it’s the afternoon,” Slate blurted out.
“Morning sickness can occur at any time,” replied Colton. “Dakota, don’t you remember? Jackson was sick every day at noon?”
“I forgot about that,” Dakota said. “Are you saying this’ll occur every day while I’m pregnant?”
“No, not at all,” answered Ian. “It usually lasts only a couple of months, but I should mention that during that time, you’ll be tired quite a bit and it’s important for the pup that you rest whenever you feel the need to.”
“Is there something you can give him for the morning sickness?” asked Slate.
“No, not a prescription, but I have heard…”
“Ginger tea,” Dakota said. “At school I learned it helps with nausea.”
“That, it does,” concurred Ian.
“I bet there’s a whole bunch of natural remedies I can try,” Dakota said, eager to begin researching them. “Babe, would you bring me my tablet?”
“Don’t you want to rest first?” asked Slate.
“I’m fine, right?” Dakota said, looking at Ian.
“You are fine, but I agree with Slate. I want you to rest for at least an hour. Then, if there’s no more vomiting, you can get up,” replied Ian.
Remembering his promise to himself, Dakota said, “Okay, sleep first. Now out, so I can follow your orders.”
Chuckling as he packed up Ian’s medical bag, Colton said, “Trust me bro, you will appreciate the rest.”
“I know but…”
“But nothing,” said Slate. “I’ll be right back after I see Ian and Colton out.” Then, helping his mate lie back down, he threw the blanket over him.
~/~/~/~/~
Mason rapped on Hunter’s office door, then entered. “Hey, got a minute.”
Hitting the send button on another email to Jackson, he looked at his brother and said, “Sure. A problem?”
“No…just wanted your approval for the purchase of the vehicle for the trip to California.”
Raising an eyebrow, Hunter said, “Are you planning to buy a gold-plated one?”
“Yes, along with a crew of drivers so we can party all the way there,” smirked Mason.
“Sounds good to me,” Hunter snickered. “So, is that it?”
“You know, you are a really funny fellow.”
“I try…I heard laughter is the best medicine so…”
“Right,” said Mason. “But as much as that sounds like fun, that won’t be the trip we’ll be going on.”
Grimacing, Hunter replied, “Unfortunately, no. So what vehicle do you want to buy?”
“I think the best option is an RV.”
“A camping trailer?” laughed Hunter. “Now who’s being funny?”
“Hear me out. Not that kind…a motor coach. I found one that’ll sleep all of us but, more importantly, it has two bedrooms, both with a bed.
We can take turns driving and sleeping so it’ll make the trip go faster.
And when you take into consideration, finding hotels and all the problems that alone, may create, this is really the best option,” Mason explained.
“Did you check with Mac?”
“Yup, and he thinks it’s the best solution.”
Tapping his fingers on the desktop as he thought it over, Hunter couldn’t find anything negative about it. “Go ahead, then,” he agreed. “How soon can you get one?”
“I found several at RV Kingdom…they’re about three hours from here and I thought Sawyer could come with me.”
Nodding, Hunter asked, “When are you going?”
Checking the time, Mason replied, “Too late today, so first thing tomorrow.”
“Fine…just remember to be fucking careful.”
~/~/~/~/~
After moving the twins’ porta-cribs into another suite—as far away from the construction zone as possible—Cody hoped they’d sleep longer tomorrow and not be awakened at the ungodly hour they were this morning.
“Hey,” Dylon called, walking in carrying several suitcases, “I packed everything I thought the twins will need for the next week.” Setting them down near the two chests that’d been moved in after breakfast, he felt a buzzing in his pocket, and pulled out his phone to answer the call.
Cody left Dylon, heading to the great room where the twins were playing with Daniel. Joining Steel on the sofa, he watched the interaction between the pups, smirking when Jessica pounded the toy piano, causing her brother to cover his ears.
“I’m betting she won’t play a musical instrument when she grows up,” Steel joked.
“Hey, that’s my kid you’re talking about. If anyone gets to make a sure bet about that, I do, so go pick something else,” Dylon chuckled, joining them.
“Hey, you’re both wrong. I think our princess has great musical ability,” asserted Cody. Then, looking at his mate, asked, “Everything okay, babe?”
“I think so,” answered Dylon. “That call was from my friend who was an enforcer with the Rolling Hill Pack.”
“Was?” asked Cody.
“Yeah, he left shortly after the Alpha died.”
“Did you find out why the cousins left the pack?” asked Steel.
“Perfect timing!” Jackson said, walking into the great room. “Go ahead, what did you learn?”
“As I said, my friend left shortly after your uncle died but he was there when Hunter renounced his claim as Alpha. No reason was given; however the scuttlebutt was it wasn’t safe for your aunt and cousins anymore,” explained Dylon.
“I don’t understand,” Cody said, “why wasn’t it safe? It was their pack.”
“I go along with that,” said Jackson. “When their father died, Hunter instantly became Alpha. If the pack had some troublemakers in it he could have banished them.”
“I asked him about that specifically,” Dylon said, “and he told me it was a very peaceful pack without any internal conflicts he’d found in some others he’d worked for.”
“Do you know why your friend left? I mean, after all, as an enforcer, it certainly would have been nice to be a member of a stable pack,” Steel mused.
“He left because his Fated Mate wasn’t there,” Dylon said, shrugging. “Lots of shifters become enforcers, traveling from pack to pack, hoping to find the one the Fates have chosen for them.”
“Makes sense,” said Jackson. “But that doesn’t help explain why my cousins thought they were in such danger they had to move to a cabin in the woods, isolated from other packs.”
“Maybe someone was after them…like our uncle is after us,” Cody suggested.
“I hadn’t thought of that,” said Jackson. “If that’s the case, I might be putting my pack in danger by allowing them to visit.”
“What if,” said Steel, “when they left their pack, the danger ended. Maybe it had something to do with Hunter being Alpha and, when he stepped aside, the threat went away.”
“That does seem to follow,” agreed Dylon. “Their father died about six months after your family’s massacre, and there’ve been no threats to them since then.”
“Did you give them permission to come?” asked Cody.
“Not yet. I still have to talk to Zane, especially since he’s newly mated,” answered Jackson.
“I planned on doing it in the next couple of days…just wanted to give David and his mother time to recover from their ordeal. Oh, that reminds me. We have another new member, Adam, who was rescued from the place where David and his mother were held. According to Logan, he was sent by the gods to help David.”
“What pack is Adam from?” Dylon asked.
“Don’t know. The only thing Logan knew was Adam is a Kenai Peninsula wolf shifter,” replied Jackson.
“No way!” Steel exclaimed. “That’s impossible! They were declared extinct over a hundred years ago.”
“Yeah, yeah, where have I heard that before,” Jackson smirked. “Regardless, he’ll be here at the end of the week.” Turning to Dylon, he asked, “Can you find out something about him?”
“What’s his last name?”
“Don’t have one yet but I asked Logan to get it.”
“What are you going to do,” Cody asked his Alpha, “about all the visitors David will have? Are you going to allow them in the house?”
“The house is definitely off limits,” Jackson answered. “I won’t make a decision until Zane and David are home so they have some input.”
“Baba!” Daniel yelled. “Baba, baba!”
Instantly, four sets of eyes swiveled, looking at the rabbit sitting in the middle of the pups who were petting it. Then exchanging glances with his mate, Jackson spoke first, “Were you watching Daniel when we were talking?”
“No, did either of you two happen to see how the rabbit appeared?” asked Steel, looking at Cody and Dylon.
Shaking their heads, Cody replied, “Last time I checked, Jessica had crawled over to join Daniel and Jake who were playing with the blocks.”
“Fuc...dge! Babe, we need to talk to your father today. If Daniel can make a rabbit appear, what happens if the next animal that shows up is a bear? Our son could get hurt.”
“Right,” Steel responded, “I’ll take Daniel to my office while you get rid of you-know-who, and I’ll call my father from there.
” Bending down, he hefted his son into the air, making a whooshing sound that made Daniel giggle.
Steel grinned at his son. “We’re going to have a talk about wild animals, Danny.
” Then, giving Jackson a kiss, he strode out, tickling his son as they left.
~/~/~/~/~
Parting ways with Sofia, who planned to rest after their late lunch, Zane led David into the bedroom and over to the love seat.
He didn’t want to broach the topic with Sofia until he and David had talked.
Sitting down, Zane tugged his mate down and tucked him into his side.
Thinking about how to approach the subject, Zane finally said, “I had a good time with Sofia at lunch.”
“So did my mother. It was as if the last twenty years never happened.” Glancing at his mate, David stood before straddling Zane’s lap. “What did you want to talk to me about?” he asked.
Grinning, Zane said, “How did you guess? Did Logan say something this morning?”
Wrinkling his forehead, David said, “No, why? Was he supposed to?”
Using his thumb to smooth his mate’s frown, Zane said, “Nope. Logan told me yesterday Jackson said we can stay another week in Scotland before going home.”
“To California you mean, right?” asked David.
“Yes, and I was wondering what you thought about that. The reason I’m asking is at one time you weren’t too eager to go there.”
Dropping his eyes, David murmured, “It’s just that I couldn’t leave my mother behind, knowing how the High Priestess was treating her.”
Zane waited, knowing his mate had more to say.
Fiddling with the buttons on Zane’s shirt, David continued, “I know I sound like I didn’t put you first like I should have as your mate, but I was desperate. My mother was a prisoner because she tried to save me and I just couldn’t abandon her.”
Lifting his mate’s chin, Zane found tear-filled eyes looking at him. As one rolled down David’s face, Zane wiped it away with his thumb before kissing him. “Tesoro mio, your problems are my problems and I’d have failed as a mate if I didn’t help save your mother. That’s what mates do.”
David searched his Zane’s face then, seeing the truth of his words, a joyful smiled graced his face. Lunging forward, he wrapped his arms around his mate’s neck, peppering him all over with kisses interspersed with ‘thank-yous’.
Chuckling, Zane finally said, “Babe, now since we have that issue settled, how do you feel about living in California with me and the Blackwood Pack? And just in case you’re wondering, your mother is welcome to live there too.”
“Your Alpha would also allow my mother to come?” David asked, taken aback.
“Yes,” Zane said. “But I wanted to see how you felt first, before I invite her.”
“I can’t wait to see your home. But what happens if my mother doesn’t want to live there?” asked David.
“Then, we’ll help her get settled wherever she wants to live.”
~/~/~/~/~
Swimming back to the marina, Reif avoided his mate’s boat even though his beast was pissed at his choice.
He shifted in the water, then, calling on his ability, pulled himself up onto the dock before dressing behind the building where he’d hidden his clothes.
Staying invisible, he headed into town to have an early dinner.
His long legs covered the distance quickly and when he arrived at his destination, he ducked into an alley.
After achieving visibility, he left the shadows, strolling nonchalantly along the sidewalk, never looking anyone in the eye.
It was a technique he’d perfected over the years to keep people from remembering him.
Checking himself in a passing store window, he removed his hat, running his hand through his hair, trying to comb it into some semblance of order.
When it was as good as he was going to get it, he crossed the street to a pub where he was going to order a huge steak since he’d need the energy later that night.
~/~/~/~/~
In a dark corner of a doorway, a wisp of smoke appeared that morphed into a man dressed in black, staring at the building across the street.
He was running out of time and so was Reif.
Certain the father would have mentioned the attack to his son, it should have lit a fire under him; instead, he found Reif sauntering down the street and not in the loch where he should have been.
Hearing voices, he pressed back into the shadows, as a couple came into view and passed by the doorway.
His mouth watering at their scent, he forced himself to ignore it, knowing he had to keep his presence hidden.
Taking a final glance at the pub across the street, he left the doorway, hurrying down the cobblestone street in the opposite direction.
It was a perfect time to inspect Reif’s documents since the house would be deserted while he ate.
Entering an alley, he disappeared, leaving only a puff of smoke behind.