43. Maia
43
MAIA
“ T hat’s your mum?” Seb takes the photo from me, his eyes raking over the image.
“Yes.” I move to sit down on the bed, letting Phoebe grasp my finger as I lean in close to him. He kisses my cheek before turning back to the photo.
“Why is she here?”
“I mean, she knows Cade,” I say slowly. “He was working at the company, and she’d have been invited.”
He nods, still frowning. “Is your dad here?”
I look over the image and shake my head. “Not that I can see. But the seat next to her is empty, so maybe he’s getting drinks or something.”
Seb hums but doesn’t acknowledge anything. “She and Morgan knew each other.”
“That’s the thing,” I say as the bedroom door is opened, and I jump in shock.
“Sorry, little butterfly,” Alex says softly. He’s giving me a hesitant look. “We’ve got to go, guys. Topher’s called a pack meeting to let them know about us taking over the pack and to reassure them. ”
“But—” I protest, looking over at Seb, who still hasn’t lifted his eyes from the photo.
“We’ve got to go talk with the pack, Maia,” Alex repeats gently. “They weren’t prepared for the sudden shift in power, and it’s something we’re going to need to explain, and fast, to help with their upset. Usually, these things are done delicately, and the pack is fully informed about the ins and outs of the hand over. They’re very worried since that has not happened this time.”
I frown, feeling torn at the huge change. “Oh. Um, this is important.”
“What is?” Alex asks, stepping in closer. I grab the photo from Seb and hand it to him. Alex’s eyes rake over the image, and he cocks a brow. “This is from Talia and Iris’s mating ceremony, right? It’s a bit different from a human wedding, I’m sure, but it’s not that important right now, little butterfly.”
“That’s not what I’m on about,” I say, reaching back for the photo. I point to the blonde woman, and his eyes fill with pain. He immediately looks at me instead. The weight of his despair fills me, knocking me back onto my bum.
It feels harder to breathe, and my eyes widen as I take in the tortured expression on his face. My body tenses up, and the words catch in my throat.
I suck in a deep breath and utter the words that I know are going to change everything. “This woman?—”
“Morgan,” Seb and Alex say as one.
“Morgan. Yes. I know her.” I can feel my heart racing, my hands clammy as I avoid looking either man in the eyes. I feel sick, my vision slightly blurry, as I blink back tears.
“You do?” Alex asks. He lets out a deep breath and nods slowly, clearly sensing something from inside me. “I… I can’t hear this right now.”
“Can’t hear what?” I can’t bear to go through this again, to ruin everything .
“Whatever it is you’re going to share. I can’t, Maia, love. I can’t do it right now.”
His hands are trembling as he reaches out for the photo, and he delicately folds it before shoving it into his pocket. He turns to Seb. “Get Phoebe ready and let’s go. Five minutes until we’re leaving. We’ve got this pack meeting, and Topher wants us to get there first.”
With that, he turns and leaves the room, his footsteps far heavier than normal.
I can feel the turmoil inside of him, the unease, the pain, the sadness. He’s overwhelmed, drowning in the current of his emotions, but he’s determined to not let them phase him.
“He can’t afford to lose it in front of the pack, little mama,” Kane says, and I’m surprised that he’s taken over for Seb. He starts packing up her nappy bag, putting the wipes away, before putting the dirty nappy into a disposable bag.
I sniffle, wiping my tears away delicately. “I know, but?—”
“But what you’re going to share is going to be big, right?” he asks as he stands from the bed. He puts the bag over his shoulder and bends down to lift our daughter into his arms.
“Yes. I know Morgan, the woman in the photo,” I say, and he nods once as he gets Phoebe settled. “Kane, Seb, listen to me, we need to discuss this.” He cocks his head, waiting. “She’s not dead. Morgan’s not dead . I know her, and she’s alive. ”
He freezes, and I can see his body tense up as he processes my words. I wish I could feel what he could because the expressions fly across his face too quickly for me to decipher. He gradually releases his breath and the tension he was carrying, letting my words wash over him.
He turns around fully, giving me a piercing stare with hazel eyes. “ Later .”
And then he breezes out of the room with Phoebe in tow, completely compartmentalising the news I’ve shared. With a heavy sigh, I walk over to the big photo board and see so many photos spread out. She’s in numerous different ones, her age varying, but they’re always happy.
I pull another one down off the board, seeing my guys once more, but this time, there’s two other boys in the photo that I recognise just as easily. Ryan and Ethan are on either side of my mates, all six of them beaming at the camera.
I don’t know which is Ryan and which is Ethan, but I don’t think it truly matters.
“What happened to you all,” I whisper, tracing the boys in the photo, seeing their genuine happiness. The photo cuts off on the side, but the tinges of blonde hair belonging to another are clear to see. A pit forms in my stomach when I see it because I know exactly what happened.
Morgan. Her “death” happened, and it destroyed them all.
“Maia, it really shouldn’t take you this long to walk down the stairs. I know you’re slow, but we’re all waiting for you,” Ben shouts from the bottom of the stairs, and I roll my eyes, and pin the photo back up on the board. Casting a longing glance at the rest of the wall, and the secrets it may contain, I turn and head down the stairs to join the others.
Phoebe is in the back of the car with Iris and Seb in the front seats, and I’m hustled into the back. Iris surprisingly chats away to me. I don’t know what’s changed in her behaviour or if she’s only playing nice because Seb has forced her to, but it unsettles me more than what I’ve learnt about her parents.
All I can recall every time she talks is the vicious and nasty words she said about me, my daughter, and Ryan.
As she chats about the people we’re going to meet, and who she likes and who she doesn’t, it goes in one ear and out the other.
Gossip about people I don’t know means nothing to me.
Not when my head is full of important secrets.
***
“She’s gorgeous,” Cameron murmurs, twirling her long, dirty blonde hair around her fingers, as she looks down at Phoebe with a warm smile. “How are you finding being a mum?”
I grimace but feel my lips quirk up into a smile anyway. “Well, the werewolf world has been a huge shock, but parenting itself is amazing. She makes it so easy.”
She grins at me and nods. “I luckily met my mates before we had babies, so I didn’t have as big of a reality shock as you did, but, Artemis, mine were not easy. Terrors, the lot of them.”
“But you’re a wolf now, right?” I ask. She hasn’t outright said, but she’s got children, so I’m sort of making the assumption.
She nods. “We agreed I would turn, and I took their bite during our first time. All of us wanted children.” Cameron says it like having children was the reason she decided to turn, as if it was some foregone conclusion.
I frown. “Why do children make a difference in it?”
“It’s just the safer way. A werewolf baby is strong, and it would make the pregnancy really difficult for both the human and the pup,” she says, smiling at me as if this is all just standard. “It’s a blessing that both you and Phoebe were healthy.”
I nod, keeping a tight smile in place. Phoebe and I were healthy. There were no real issues with the pregnancy. My morning sickness was rough for the first few months but settled in the second trimester. There were no complications or true risk factors, despite the fact that everyone says there should have been.
Well, you know, other than the fact that, clearly, she was a werewolf.
Cameron is really lovely, and I’m very glad she was the first to approach me once we arrived at the pack gathering. Not only has she kept me company, but she’s also mostly kept everyone else away. There’s been no judgement from her, no rudeness, just true happiness that her Alphas have found their mate.
She’s not been weird around Phoebe, unlike a lot of the people I’ve met so far, and has a pleasant aura surrounding her. She’s just, overall, really nice.
Cameron is in her late thirties and very chatty, but she seems to mean well. She’s got one set of ten-year-old twin boys, and an eight-year-old girl who isn’t a wolf. Not that I think it matters, but she made that distinction clear when telling me about her kids.
I know without a doubt I’d love a human-born female just as much as a werewolf one. Phoebe is special, but any other children we have would be just as loved and just as special.
Children are a blessing. No matter what.
We’re in a community room, attached to a bar, which is owned by one of the wolves here. Jared, I think, but the names have quickly disappeared from my brain as fast as they’re mentioned. Ben told me how they often host the pack meetings and pack get-togethers at places like this so as to not stand out amongst the humans, but they do keep it to wolf-owned.
Cameron used to work at a daycare for the wolf pups but transitioned into after school care when her position was no longer needed. It explains her knowledge on babies, and she’s provided quite a few tips as I’ve asked.
Wolves do have milestones, just like human babies do, and she’s promised to get one of the health care workers to arrange a visit with one of my guys, so that they can come over and give Phoebe a wolf assessment. I’m very excited about that. Cameron is honestly just nice .
Phoebe’s asleep in the carrier, and I’m sitting at one of the tables with Cameron as the guys handle their people. It’s been lovely seeing this side of Topher again. Every time he interacts with his people, he truly seems to shine. He loves it, loves being such a figurehead for them, and he gives them all the time of day.
He’s had endless patience as he’s tugged from conversation to conversation. He’s been firm, understanding, and even nice as he talks with each person. He doesn’t seem to falter as he reassures each of the wolves that they’re prepared for this change in leadership and that he and his brothers have the pack as their top priority.
He’s confident, strong, and so sexy. I like a leader, and he’s got the dominance and arrogance in spades.
I think his next two weeks are fully booked with meetings with members of the pack, and yet, he doesn’t turn a single person away when they ask to talk. He’s had a very big queue wanting to chat with him, but he takes his time and doesn’t rush through. I have no idea if this is the norm at their pack meetings, but he’s not the only one answering questions and dealing with a queue of people.
He’s just the only one with a table and full set up.
Alex and Ben aren’t standing at one spot like Topher is, they’re moving through the crowd, stopping at each table and checking in with people that way. I can see them answering questions, mingling, and taking admission, and it’s like they’re born for it.
Seb, on the other hand, is currently hovering behind me, standing against the wall. Every time I’ve looked his way, he gives me a wry grin but makes no effort to move. He’s not strayed from his position or even talked to anyone, and I feel his eyes on me... often .
Seb’s behaviour hasn’t surprised me in terms of the way he’s handled the pack aspect, but I am a little shocked with how he’s handled the security he’s clearly doing for Phoebe and me. I would have thought he’d have been right by my side, not letting anyone close. But other than his hovering, he’s mostly left me alone to socialise.
He’s letting me explore and chat and hasn’t once tried to intervene. It’s nice, and whilst surprising, I truly love it.
This room won’t fit all their pack—probably only eighty or so of them—but they’re doing one meeting today and one tomorrow to go over the changes that have taken place with the change in leadership. This one hasn’t yet started, despite us being here twenty minutes, and I’m a little hesitant about what I need to do once it does. I don’t know the protocol and really didn’t think I should be here for it.
But the guys were insistent, no matter how many times I offered to sit in the car, and so I followed along so that I can do my part.
“The meetings aren’t usually this intense,” Cameron says, and I nod slowly. “I’ll introduce you to some of the mums at one of the next ones. But there’s some lovely people in the pack that I think you’ll get along really well with, and whilst nobody has babies Phoebe’s age, there’s a lot of us who remember exactly what it was like, and we can offer tips.”
“I’d like that,” I say softly. I glance down at Phoebe’s dark hair as she turns her head from the left to the right, taking in all of the people, and grinning. “I’ve spent most of my time with the guys, but I like the idea of a larger community.”
“Unsurprising.” She giggles. “The early days... well, nothing else matters except each other.” I blush, causing her to laugh harder.
“Okay, everyone,” Topher calls, and I can feel Orion’s presence through his tone of voice. As I look over at him, his eyes are still hazel, but I know that Orion is present from the shift in our bond.
There are changes in the way the air sits, a tension I can feel emanating from him. It’s weird, tingles shooting across my skin in such a nice way, but I think I’m the only one who finds it so pleasant. Everyone seems to stop what they’re doing, their eyes flashing from their usual colour to their wolves and back as they pay attention.
“I think everyone who wanted to be here for this one is here, so can we all find a seat please?” my mate commands, his words cutting through the air with ease.
Everyone begins to move towards seats, and the room grows in volume. There’s shuffling, murmured chats, and still that powerful energy in the air. Seb appears at my side in between blinks, and I look up at him in surprise.
“Come,” he murmurs, and I give Cameron a little wave as I’m all but dragged away from her by Seb. She smirks but leaves the table we were at and returns my wave as she slides into a seat next to a tall man who takes her hand in his.
“That was rude,” I say, looking up at him, and he shrugs as he leads me over to the front table. Julie, George, Charles, Edward, and Iris are all sitting here, and my heart is pounding as Seb gently pulls a chair out for me. There’s three empty seats, and I’m surprised when Iris’s mates sit down.
Cade winks at me, and I smile as everyone turns to the front where my mates are standing.
As people find their seats, the room gets quieter and quieter. As I look around, I’m unsurprised that everyone’s focus is on my four men, but there’s such an intensity in their gazes. He didn’t force them to sit, but the respect they’re giving him is so... strange . It’s an aspect of this world I never even thought about.
It’s nice to see, though, nice to be part of.
It’s interesting as well that there are more men here than women. Probably because the men are born in multiples, so there’s less women in general within the pack, but I never realised it was to this level. Phoebe’s the only child in the room, too. I’m not sure if that’s the norm, but for meetings like this, it makes sense.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” Topher says. “We’ll be doing another meeting tomorrow over at Gemma and Owen’s place, so if your mates or any other family missed today and want to check in, they can. It’ll be at two pm.”
He waits until there are a few nods before continuing to speak. The aura surrounding him is familiar to George’s the first day I met him, so much energy radiating from him, but it’s not as uncomfortable as it used to be .
In fact, it’s nice . I feel safe and warm, and the bond is pulsating with our love for one another.
His… dominance doesn’t affect me so badly any more because our souls are joined as one. My body isn’t scared, my brain doesn’t need to try and protect me. Christopher is mine. My eyes rake over each of the brothers, and a slow smile appears on my face.
They’re mine.
There’s so much to handle, so much going on… but they’re still here, trying, protecting... loving . I’m so lucky that fate found me worthy enough to be theirs.
The four of them are dashing in the shirts and fitted trousers, and if it weren’t for the slight difference in colours and the feelings of our bonds, they’re so identical right now, I’d struggle to tell them apart. They look so powerful, so sexy.
Their shirts are tight across their upper arms, the sleeves all rolled up to their elbows, showing off their tanned forearms. It makes them seem that much more confident, much more formidable.
And the only thing sexier than their forearms is their asses when they turn around. I can’t decide whether I prefer them in tracksuit pants or suit pants…
“We made the decision that it was time for my brothers and I to take over leadership of the pack,” Topher says, and there’s a bunch of cheers and hollers. I flinch at the noise, and Phoebe’s eyes fly open.
She’s unsure, but I can see her grey eyes scrunch up just before she lets out a small wailing sound. Seb’s by my side in an instant, and Topher regains control of the crowd. I’m not sure if it’s because he wants to help Phoebe settle or just because he doesn’t want them to be so rowdy, but I appreciate it nonetheless.
“It’s been a long time coming,” I hear Topher say, but his words fade out as Phoebe cries again.
I can feel eyes on us, both from our table and from the wider pack, and I’m terrified she’s going to shift into her wolf. Sure, everyone can scent the wolf within her, and we’ve not denied that she’s wolf-born, but that doesn’t change the weird way that people react around her.
And that’s just been family .
I don’t want her shifting in a space like this and having her be on display when I don’t know how the response will be. I feel uncomfortable with the idea of it.
“Take her out of the carrier,” Seb murmurs, and I nod slowly. My hands are shaking, and even when he gently places his hand on my lower back, it doesn’t stop the nerves. I’m struggling with the weight of my anxiety, and I can’t get her out properly.
He leans in and kisses my temple before undoing the straps himself. He lifts the crying little girl out of the carrier, and she settles as soon as she’s in his arms. Just like me—she’s got a weakness for these men, and she smiles at him when he kisses her forehead.
Her tears stop, and she watches in fascination as Seb changes his eye colour back and forth for her. It’s one of her favourite things to watch, and I think I’ll cry the day she’s no longer interested in it.
Seb crouches back down, keeping a tight hold on my infant, and leans in close.
“Breathe, little mama,” he murmurs, his breath and beard tickling my ear. “Can I?”
He gestures back towards the front, and I nod. He wastes no time in cuddling Phoebe in, and heading back to the front. Ben pouts, giving me a betrayed look, and I grin half-heartedly. I undo the rest of the baby carrier and gently place it on the table in front of me, ignoring the way both Iris and Julie follow Seb with their eyes.
I know they’re not focused on him, and it turns my stomach.
I feel bare now—exposed. I’ve got nothing to hide behind, nothing to hold onto, when around all these new people. I feel empty without her.
“We’re a community,” Topher says, and there’s some more cheers. Phoebe doesn’t seem bothered this time, but I am.
They might be a community, but outside of my men, I have no part in it. I’m human in a room full of werewolves. Werewolves with terrifying ideologies, and I’m worried about how many people here have clean hands.
I bite my tongue to cut off the tears that were starting to form. This is not the time to lose it.
It’s just frustrating that it’s never time to lose it.
Topher’s words fade into the background, even as Alex and Ben join in. Seb nods, but he never says anything, instead, focusing all of his attention on Phoebe. I don’t look at the crowd, not wanting to know how many people are also focused on Phoebe.
Today has been long, and the anxiety as I left the house hasn’t gone away. It’s only gotten worse the more revelations that have been shared throughout the day.
First with Ryan, then with the boys’ family as a whole… and then with my mum sitting next to Morgan at the twin’s wedding. They’re a lot younger than they are now in the photos, and based on the date on the back, they’d either be nineteen or twenty.
Clearly, this was shortly before Morgan died.
Or at least, that’s what the werewolf world thinks.
I didn’t see my dad in that photo, but the fact that my mum is smiling her real smile towards Morgan shows they knew each other. That my mum cared for Morgan.
But I knew that as the truth already.
Because Morgan Phoebe Grey is someone I knew well, someone I know well.
But her name isn’t Morgan.
And after everything I’ve learnt, it’s clear she left this world for a reason. I just don’t understand how my mum played into it.
What was she doing at a wedding full of wolves? Where was my dad?
And most importantly... how is the woman who was meant to be dead—my daughter’s auntie at that—running my mother’s foundation?