Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Now
Dewi
Dewi awakened later that morning feeling a little achy in very good ways, still fuzzy-headed from the first long stretch of deep and dreamless sleep she’d had in over two weeks.
Ken was back from the UK and Dewi’s nervous system was still trying to process the fact that she could chill out now.
Regarding that, at least.
While the latest round of bullshit wasn’t over by a long shot, at least in this way she could stop worrying.
Ken was safely home.
With her.
She could reach out and touch him and know he was safe.
Her hand automatically came to rest on her stomach. She’d decided to roll the dice and have sex with Ken, even though it was her fertile time, knowing what could happen.
And it had.
Hey there, little one. Another girl.
With the light of day—and her nervous system on the road to recovery from the recent events—she wondered if she’d acted…rashly.
Although this time, getting pregnant was definitely not an unexpected oopsie. To be honest, she’d wanted to start trying again soon.
I can’t live my life terrified because I’m worrying about bad things that could happen. Everyone’s right—I need to focus on the future and what I want out of life.
Ken’s arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her body snugly against his. “You’re thinking loudly again, baby,” he playfully mumbled and kissed the nape of her neck.
“Sorry.” She rolled to face him. “How about Eliza Bryn? We honored your mom and Grandmother Louisa. We could honor your grandmother.”
He sleepily sighed. “You’re bound and determined to make me think before coffee, aren’t you? I don’t even think my body clock has fully reset yet.”
“That’s not a noooo.”
He snorted, nuzzling her nose. “My answer is the same—I’ll tell you if there’s a name I do not like, or if I have suggestions. I think Eliza Bryn is beautiful. What made you think of Eliza?”
She shrugged. “I dunno. It’s just been swirling around in my brain.
” Dewi rested her head against Ken’s chest, listening to his heart gently thumping under her ear.
“I want more, but I want them close together in age,” she said.
“This way, they grow up together. Then, when I decide that’s enough, we don’t have to worry about it any longer. ”
“You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself. I still say that’s up to you. It’s your body, sweetheart. I would prefer we don’t have our own football team, but within reason, yes. As many as you want.”
“I’ll slow down on the field work.” She closed her eyes. “When Peyton’s back and we can all sit down and, you know, breathe, I’ll ask him about hiring more Enforcers.”
“Okay, where’s my wife, and what’d you do with her while I was in the UK?”
She playfully goosed him, loving his laughter.
Looking into his eyes, she studied his gaze.
“I do want a balanced life. I admit it, it’s something I didn’t have before now.
In most ways. I want our kids to have balanced lives.
If I want them to do that, I have to show them how.
Mom and Dad wouldn’t want any of us killing ourselves with work. ”
She loved the sleepy smile that played across his lips. “I won’t lie and say I hate your idea,” he said. “Just like you know I’m not trying to make you stop all field work. You have a lot of talented people you can draw from for the iffy stuff. Plus, we just gained Jake.”
“If he survives the lab attack. We may lose a lot of talented people and need to hire and train a new generation of Enforcers.”
Ken’s smile faded. “Yes. But can we please not talk about that right now?”
“I think we need to.” She rested her head against his chest again. “I know Peyton will go. He’s a Prime. He won’t let me go. I accept that. If something happens to him…”
She swallowed back the too-familiar sensation of tears trying to break through. “I’ll end up being the Pack Alpha. I’ll have to take over. Badger and Trent and everyone’s right—I’m the best long-term choice to protect the pack going forward if Peyton’s gone.”
Another sigh. “I know, baby,” Ken said. “But let’s not bury him yet.”
“I’m not. I’m trying to get myself used to that possibility. I know damned well you all were worried about my reaction when you told me about Peyton being abducted.”
“Gee, ya think?”
She snorted. “I know, I know. And I also know I can’t let that kind of thing happen now. I don’t have the luxury of acting impulsively. No more running off.”
“No more wood chipping cartel drug lords without warning,” he teased.
“Hey, I’ve been really good about that,” she joked back.
He kissed her. “You have, baby. I’m proud of you.
” He reached up and brushed the hair out of her eyes.
“I’m very proud of you,” he said again, no hint of mirth in his tone or expression.
“I know this is a huge change for you in how you work and how you think. Thank you for working on this. I’m not asking you to be perfect.
I know I’m not, and I’ll screw up plenty of times, too.
But that you are trying means more to me than I can ever tell you. ”
Her vision blurred as those sneaky motherfuckin’ tears escaped anyway. “Is this our new foreplay? Because it’s kind of a buzzkill.”
He smiled. “I also understand that you working on gracefully accepting compliments will take a lot more work.”
She stuck her tongue out at him.
“I mean it, baby. I’m not kidding—I’m proud of you.”
“So why did you get up so early in the morning?” she asked, diverting his attention.
He lifted an eyebrow at her, obviously knowing what she was doing, but he humored her. “Like I said, my body’s still messed up. I slept, what, literally a whole day? I messaged Peyton. Then, when he said they didn’t need me for today, I realized I was an idiot and came back to bed to be with you.”
Ken
He belatedly realized he’d just opened a huge-ass conversational door he didn’t want Dewi walking through.
“What’s happening today?” she asked. When he didn’t respond at first, she added, “No, I won’t bug Peyton with questions.”
Then again, Peyton hadn’t expressly forbidden him from telling Dewi. “He and Jake and Alvarez went on a quick fishing expedition in Mexico.”
“I take it you don’t mean literal fishing?”
He snorted. The stress of the past couple of weeks sometimes shoved this out of his mind—that not only did he love Dewi with all his heart, but when their lives weren’t in fricking jeopardy she usually kept him laughing.
“Jake’s playing a Russian, since he’s fluent.
And he’s literally a cipher to everyone.
We baited Miranda Segura to see what she knows.
Nothing dangerous. Peyton and Alvarez are Jake’s backup and will survey the situation while Jake meets with her.
They want to see if it’s just her, or her old man, or what’s going on. ”
She groaned. “I was hoping wood chipping Manuel Segura would be the end of our trouble from those people.”
“That’s what they’re trying to figure out.” Ken stroked her cheek. “Insurance.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier for Peyton to just Prime her to knock it off?”
“We don’t know who might be watching her.
Peyton’s supposed to be missing. If, on the remote chance she is tied up in all this, and someone who knows what Peyton looks like is watching the meeting, it would be inconvenient for him to suddenly show up in Mexico.
Plus, yes, I did suggest that. Peyton rightfully pointed out that making her forget everything doesn’t eliminate the risk if someone else knows about it, or she stumbles into it again. This is a reconnaissance mission.”
“That makes sense.” She threw a leg over him and snuggled in again. “I’ll make you coffee in a little bit. I’m just happy to snuggle with you.”
“Someone also promised me a blow job when she found out I was alive, if I remember correctly,” he playfully noted.
She snorted. “You remember correctly.”
That’s when the baby started fussing.
He snickered and kissed Dewi. “How about I call that in tonight?”
She kissed him and sat up. “You can call it in anytime you want, mister.” She smiled. “Except right now.” Dewi climbed out of bed to take care of Lyssa, pulling on Ken’s robe. “Coming, sweetie. Chill your pipes.”
Ken laced his fingers behind his head, smiling as he closed his eyes and listened to Dewi with their daughter.
This is the good life. Honestly? He’d be happy spending the next several decades living right here, in this little cabin.
Although the “real world” had touched them even here in this idyllic—to him—paradise.
I would miss everyone, though.
Nami and Beck, and all the others who had quickly become his adopted family.
And they were breaking ground in a few weeks on the first buildings for their new compound in Florida.
He heard Dewi return a few minutes later and looked up while she rounded the bed and settled in on his other side. “Want to do the honors, Daddy?”
Unexpectedly, he found himself swallowing back a lump in his throat and with tears stinging his eyes. “Absolutely.”
He sat up and took Lyssa from Dewi, getting her situated and then taking the bottle. Dewi wore an angelic smile, no stress anywhere near her eyes or the set of her mouth, as she watched him feed their daughter.
“It’s really okay to switch her to formula?” he asked.
“Yep. The pack doctor and Asia both said so. My nipples appreciate it, too.”
He snorted, laughing, until a moment later, when he realized he was crying. Dewi laid her head on his shoulder, her arm draped around him.
“You’re home safe,” she softly said. “It’s okay to let it out. I know it was a lot to ask of you.”
He sniffled, still staring at Lyssa, her eyes half-closed as she guzzled the bottle’s contents. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you when I left. I feel like I owe Gillian an apology for keeping it a secret from her. But he said—”
“Pack Alpha business,” Dewi softly interrupted without any snark or irritation. “I know. It’s okay. I get it. And I owe you an apology for going off on you. Even though it was only in text and voicemail.”
“It’s okay, baby.”
She sighed. “No, it’s not. As Da and Badger both reminded me, Peyton’s the Pack Alpha, not just my brother. Meaning my position in the pack matters when it comes to public perception. Plus, you didn’t deserve it.”
She sniffled and he met her gaze. “Like I told them, the last time I couldn’t get in touch with you, you drove down the side of a mountain on the run from those fucking Seguras.” She tearfully snorted. “I promise I will work on tempering my reactions, but I’m not used to feeling terrified.”
“Welcome to my world, baby.” He kissed the top of her head. “I appreciate the apology, but seriously, I’m not upset. I get it. I probably would’ve been going off on you the same way if you’d just up and left like that without telling me. But I couldn’t risk you Priming me.”
“I know.” She blew out a long breath. “The rat bas—eh, fink is really okay, right?”
He laughed. “Yeah. He’s okay. He was lucky he ran into Jake.”
“Talk about a small dang world,” she snarked. “What are the chances?”
“Hopefully those chances will get even smaller after the lab’s destroyed.”
Something shifted in her demeanor, and he looked at her again. “Dewi?”
“Did you find it?” she quietly asked.
“We’ve narrowed it down. We think so, but we’re not certain because of the satellite pics.
We’re working on acquiring un-redacted imagery.
Then they’ll send a drone in to get aerial pics.
Once that’s happened, they’ll start putting operatives in the nearby town to gather intel, including Primes to compromise the personnel. ”
“What are the odds there are shifters still alive in there? Missing shifters?”
This was something he’d rolled around in his mind ever since the idea had hit him.
“I don’t know. But I want you to be prepared that there’s a good chance if they do make entry and find people being held hostage, that it might be kinder to kill them than to rescue them, considering their condition.
And if I’m saying that, you know it’s a serious consideration. ”
She nodded. “I know. I hate that it’s something you even need to think about, though. I wish I could’ve given you a low-stress life full of nothing but everyday aggravations no more serious than waiting for AAA in the rain during rush hour because you got a flat.”
He kissed the top of her head, nuzzling her hair, breathing in her scent. “I know, baby. I appreciate it. But I love you, and despite the weird shi—eh, stuff, I would never give up having met you. You, and this little girl, are the best things that ever happened to me.”
She laid a hand on her stomach. “And little Eliza Bryn here.” She looked down at her tummy. “Eliza Bryn. Hey there, little one.”
“You do realize the bad thing about having two daughters, right?” he asked.
She let out a low growl. “Scaring off allll the other penises until our girls are in their 50s?”
He snickered. “No. You’ll probably have to learn how to be a girl mom, including braiding hair, doing makeup, buying frou-frou dresses, and throwing tea parties.”
Her jaw dropped. “Son of a bit-iscuit!”