Chapter Twenty
River
When the alpha called and said that we needed to have a video conference, my stomach dropped. I didn’t want him coming on the screen and saying we needed to join them back at the streak—that we needed to go back. But it was well within his rights to do so, and if he did, then I’d have to make the decision—did I go fully rogue and put that scar on Flora? Or did I cave and return?
It wasn’t only my decision. It was my mates’ too. Whatever I decided impacted them too.
“You look stressed.” Matthew came in, his rounded belly pulling tightly on his T-shirt. It was time for him to start getting some paternity clothes, but he was being a little bit stubborn about that one.
“My alpha wants to have a video call with me.”
“And you think this is a bad thing?” He sat beside me.
“I don’t know what it means.”
“But let me guess—your head is creating all sorts of things that could be, and none of them are good.” Matthew really did know me.
I nodded.
“Do yourself a favor and tell them you want the meeting and pick the earliest time so you don’t worry longer than necessary” He picked up my hand. “And it’s probably nothing, but either way we’ll be here with you. And whatever happens, we’ll work through it.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be all hormonal because of this pregnancy, and the one who can’t think reasonably? That’s such a cliché, I know, but apparently, I am the one who can’t think clearly and is hormonal and you are growing a whole person and are clearheaded and awesome.”
“Maybe I just gave the hormonalness to you. Maybe it’s contagious.” He stuck out his tongue.
Gods I loved him so.
I did as he said and messaged Apha to make the arrangements. He agreed to one later that night, after Flora was asleep.
“Hello, Alpha.”
I was happy to see he was alone and his betas weren’t with him. Official business usually included them as well.
“I have some news, and I wanted to check in on you. Which do you want first?”
As if there was a question.
“Obviously, the news. You know me.”
He nodded.
“Your brother-in-law had money. We didn’t realize he had an account he set up for Flora. I’m going to send you all that information. It looks like it’s enough so when she graduates, she can either go to school or get settled in a new place. There’s quite a bit already, and over time, it should grow.”
Her dad had always been a great guy, but I didn’t know he had that much forethought. “Thank you, Alpha. I appreciate that.”
Many streaks and packs would have taken it. Alpha wasn’t an asshole, but I understood how it typically went. There was a reason why he kept it aside—because my brother-in-law had come from a pretty shitty streak himself. He probably feared his new one, my birth streak, would be like that as well. We were lucky, in that it never was.
“Okay. Now for the catching up. How is Flora doing?” His expressions softened.
“She’s great. She’s doing really well in school. She had a part in the play.”
“Like Mary Poppins?” Our streak teacher was all about Mary Poppins and did some version of it pretty much every year.
“No. This one had a dragon. Flora was a rock. And she was the best rock there ever was.”
Alpha didn’t know what to say to that one, so he didn’t say anything, instead nodding and smiling.
“Are your mates there, by chance?”
I nodded.
“Well, maybe I could meet them.”
And the little check-in turned into an hour-long discussion where everybody really got along. At the end, he told us we were always welcome back at the streak, even if it was just for a visit or for Flora to get to know some of the people her parents did.
And as nice as that was, it was nicer to hang up, because at the end of the day, Alpha was still Alpha, and there was always a little bit of stress involved in having any sort of communication with him.
“He seemed nice enough,” Matthew said, shutting the laptop.
“Yeah, he is. It just got to be too much there, you know?”
I lay down with my head on Allen’s lap and my legs on Matthew’s. We sat like this often, rotating who was in my position, although soon it was only going to be Matthew because his belly was starting to overtake his lap. Not that I would say anything to him—he was a little self-conscious about it.
I thought it was sexy as fuck, but he said I was biased because I was his mate. I thought it was because I had eyes and could see.
Allen wound his fingers through my hair. “It’s nice that our daughter has places she can go. She’s got her streak. She’s got my dad. She’ll never have to be alone.”
I rolled onto my back and looked up at him. “I didn’t realize I needed to hear that, but I did. Thank you. When her parents died, I was the only one left, and I guess the weight of being that only one was hanging heavier on me.”
I’m not alone in this anymore. I had my mates, Animals, the griffins. She does have other places to go and people who are about her.
“Hey, that doesn’t mean you’re allowed to die,” Matthew said.
“No, obviously that wasn’t where I was going with that.” Although having my sister’s fate had crossed my mind a time or two. ”What do you guys want to do tonight?”
I had a whole lot of ideas, and none of them involved us chilling on the couch talking to my former Alpha.
“I have the best idea ever,” Matthew said.
“Oh, do tell.” I was intrigued.
“We gotta go in the other room first.”
I got up so that they could get up.
Silly me—I thought the other room was the bedroom to do fun bedroom type things. But no, he led us straight into the kitchen.
“Let’s make cookie dough.” His enthusiasm was undeniable.
“No eggs,” Allen said firmly.
“No, obviously no eggs. And also, I’m gonna cook the flour. I asked the midwife how to do it.”
I wouldn’t have thought about the flour. I’d have just left the eggs out and thought that good enough. Matthew was such a good father, already looking ahead at things like cookie dough safety. He even had a short list of three car seats, all based on their best ratings, that we could choose from. He was taking this to heart.
It was beautiful to watch.
“Do we know what kind of cookie dough we’re making?”
“There’s three of us, so I figure I can make chocolate chip, you can make sugar, and you, my sexy griffin, you can make birthday cake.”
“Birthday cake? That’s a cookie?” He looked as confused as I felt.
“It’s basically just a sugar cookie with lots of sprinkles in it. Because, you know, in the morning, when someone finds out we made cookie dough…”
Allen gave a knowing smile. “She’s gonna ask for the sprinkles. Lots of sprinkles.”