Chapter 39 #2
I nodded. “But by then, we’ll have the documents to prove a surrogacy arrangement.
” It had been the doctor that had pointed out we needed one and who to go to.
I remember having a moment thinking about a doctor being involved with that, but then he knew our biggest secret, so I imagine he was used to keeping many.
“Have you thought of a name yet?” Esther asked with a smile on her face. I shook my head.
“Em’s working on it.” But that wasn’t a bad idea, and I wondered if Em would consider adding Esther to the list?
“What I want to talk about next is Ben.” Isla nodded in understanding. “Isla? How’s he doing?”
“He feels responsible,” Isla said quietly.
“He’s had a shit childhood, and I know exactly what that was like in the latter years, but I don’t think he’s ever had the chance to be a kid.
I mean, he isn’t now, obviously. We had a small celebration at home for him for his birthday, and he was genuinely amazed at getting gifts. ”
I smiled. I knew we’d sent one, and so had Esther and my dad.
“He understands that others are wary of him, and while nobody’s actually come out and said anything, he’s gotten a few suspicious looks when he’s been out with Matthew.” She hesitated. “He asked Matthew if he went away, would we still look after Callie?”
Everyone fell silent. It was shit. I knew it was shit, but I had to protect Em and the pack. I glanced at Esther, and by her sympathetic gaze, she knew what I was going to say. “I’ve only seen Ben twice this week, both times deliberately away from Esther.”
My dad frowned, but I continued with the explanation.
“You all know my wolf is stronger, not just because of the alpha status but because of the bond, and the first time I met Ben, his scent reminded me of something. But then, when he came here, I thought it was just Esther, until I realized it wasn’t.
” I took a breath. “He reminds me of Rhys.”
“Alessandro’s son?” My dad clarified.
“Yeah, which was why I initially thought it was Esther. When I met Rhys, he was here, and as we know, silver-skins don’t carry a scent.”
“A few of us thought we smelled something on Ben, but we couldn’t identify an animal, so I assumed it was because he’d been around the pack,” Isla said.
“Actually,” Esther said. “That’s not strictly true about their scent. I’ve been doing some more research, and their scent vanishes when they reach thirty. As children, they have a faint blood signature. I think that’s what your wolf can scent.”
“Are you saying Ben’s part silver-skin?” Isla said incredulously.
“Yes.” But I had a bigger worry than that. “I think somehow he has a connection to Rhys, possibly a blood connection.”
“Like a relative?” my dad said, the shock clear in his voice, as well.
“Which makes sense from what I found out,” Esther agreed.
“But there’s no way Alessandro would let a child of theirs, relative or not, leave the coven. It’s unthinkable,” my dad continued.
“Unless he doesn’t know,” I pointed out. “We know it’s possible there are non-shifting hybrid wolves that have no idea of their biology. Why not a silver-skin?”
“So you’re thinking somehow Ben’s mom got pregnant with a silver-skin, and her husband didn’t know?”
“I would’ve said this could be even a generation back,” I said. “Except Callie doesn’t carry the same scent, which makes me think they have different fathers.”
“Do you think Ben knows?” my dad asked Isla.
She shook her head. “No, I’m sure he doesn’t. He told me his mom died a couple of months after Callie was born. She got sick really suddenly and lost a ton of weight, but because she was frightened of leaving Callie and Ben, she didn’t go to the doctor until it was too late.”
“So, not that long ago?” Esther said, and she shot me a worried glance.
He had just lost his mom, as well? It got worse.
“And while we’re thinking about that, what are we going to do about Micah?” my dad asked.
I didn’t look at Isla because even though she was his daughter, this was my decision. “We have to let him go,” I said. “I can let it be known we’ll accept pack members, but I cannot interfere unless they become a direct threat again.”
“The gunrunners haven’t been back,” Isla confirmed. “I’ve had scouts keeping an eye out. I think they got the message that route’s been cut off.”
“Then we release him with the warning if he or his men set one foot on our lands again, he’ll be killed.”
Isla nodded. “And now that the outsiders have been run off, the pack’s going to realize he’s not shifting.” She looked at me. “I think the younger bears will take care of the problem. Would you like me to escort him?”
“Do you want to?” I asked in surprise.
“I think, as your beta commander, it’s entirely appropriate to warn him what will happen, and I’m petty enough I want a little payback.”
Esther snorted. “That’s not being petty. Whatever he gets, he brought it on himself.”
“Which brings us back to Ben,” my dad said thoughtfully then looked at me. “We know you aren’t going to make him leave.”
I huffed out a breath. “Em would have my balls in a vice if I even considered it. But the fact is, he’s a risk to the pack.”
“Is he, though?” Esther asked. “I actually think he’s safer with us. I shudder to think what they might do if they got their hands on him, and while Alessandro has a powerful coven, his is not the only one, as we well know.”
“Okay, then let’s table this for a month, at least until Em has the baby.
Ben knows about wolf shifters, and while I don’t think he would betray us, it might be safer keeping him here while we get to know him a little more.
” I stood and watched as Isla left Callie with Esther and set off to escort Micah away from our pack.
He would be dumped at the boundary. I didn’t care how he got back to his lands.
My dad and I walked back to the pack house. I knew we hadn’t resolved anything, but I felt like I was stuck.
“Are you okay, Son?” Dad asked. He would never address me as anything but alpha in public, but I knew this was his way of telling me I could share if I needed and it would remain private.
“I’m worried about Em. He’s taken on so much.” But that wasn’t the only thing, and I paused, inhaling to make sure there were no wolves in earshot.
“Emery is incredibly strong,” Dad said, but waited, knowing there was more.
“He’s going to need to be.” I met my dad’s gaze. “Because we both know there’s a war coming.” There was, and I didn’t mean with human bullshit gunrunners. I meant with Alessandro. We’d reached the point of no return, and we had to do something soon.
“Do you think we should call a Gathering?”
I honestly didn’t know. Because I had a feeling that while we would get support, the decision would be made by the wolves.
Which meant the decision would be mine.