Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Badger
The day before the raid, Badger told Dewi and everyone he needed a few days to take care of pack business but would stay in contact. Fortunately, no one questioned him.
He didn’t tell anyone where he was going, except Trevor.
The first part of his journey involved a trip out west, but not to Idaho. From there he flew to Wales. And when his flight landed, he was shocked to learn that not only were Bryn and Callum alive, so was Maya.
Jake’s wife.
When he stepped out of his rental late that night and walked up to the front door, the armed guard nodded to him as Badger punched the code Trevor had given him into the lock. It beeped and turned green, and the door clicked open for him.
Badger stepped inside the entry hall and looked around. He’d never been here before, but the transformation from the pictures he’d seen was astounding. Light filled the space and gleamed off the clean floors—it felt renewed and revived.
The small desk in the entry housed another armed guard, a woman. “I’m expected,” he said. “Trevor called ahead for me. Will they see me?”
She smiled and nodded. “Yes, sir, they’re expecting you. Peyton’s asleep, but I can have someone wake him—”
“No. Let ’im sleep. The lad’s well earned it.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll have someone take you up.”
“Thank ye kindly.”
She motioned to another woman, who’d been standing on the other end of the entry hall, and she offered Badger a smile. “Follow me, please.”
She led him up the stairs to the third floor, which was filled with quiet activity and at least a dozen medical personnel. She guided him down and around to the far end of the corridor, the last door, and gently rapped. “You have a visitor,” she called out.
“Yeah,” a hoarse male voice said from inside.
She stepped away with another smile but motioned for Badger to open the door as she hurried away.
He took a deep breath and slowly opened the door, mentally steeling himself. The room was a large suite of two rooms, a bedroom area, and a living room, with an ensuite bathroom.
They sat on the comfortable sofa, the TV on but muted. Callum’s shaggy red hair looked faded nearly to strawberry blond, and his blue eyes, the same shade as Badger’s eye, didn’t seem to blaze with the same fire Badger remembered from the last time he saw him.
Then again, that had been over a hundred years, at least.
She, however, looked gaunt, haunted. She nodded but didn’t speak.
Callum sat with his arm around her shoulders and her body tucked against his.
In Bryn he saw the family resemblance to Hamish and Donnel, but she looked aged in a way a shifter shouldn’t.
Badger slowly motioned toward one of the comfortable chairs, and Callum nodded.
While he had not seen this man in over a century, he damned sure remembered how dangerous he was.
Probably now more than ever.
He lowered himself into the chair and offered Bryn a smile. “I’m glad to meetcha, although I wish the circumstances were better.”
She nodded again but didn’t respond.
“What news then, nephew?” Callum asked. His voice sounded ruined, and Badger wondered if it was a side effect of what they’d subjected him to or from screaming at them.
“What news would you like to hear first, uncle?”
“Is…” He sadly sighed and stroked Bryn’s hair. “Is it true? About our daughter?”
“I’m afraid so. But ye have a grandson, Ken, and a niece, Tamsin, who are both joys. Tamsin is Faegan’s daughter, but she’s nothing like him an’ has a wee baby daughter yer gonna love. Her mate was Trevor’s daughter.”
“Peyton and Trevor told us,” Callum said. “And yes, we do want to meet them. As soon as possible. We’d like to have a relationship with them.”
“Would ye consider movin’ over an’ joinin’ us?” he asked. “In Florida?”
Callum studied Bryn’s features. Badger suspected they were communicating through their mate bond.
“Peyton seems ready to move us as soon as possible,” Callum finally said.
“But what will our reception be? It’s not even been twenty-four hours since we arrived.
We’re still processing that we’re… free. ”
“My god, man, ye’re gonna be treated as heroes. Ye have a family waitin’ fer ye.”
Callum scowled. “We had a family.”
“Sorry, poor choice of words.” Badger took a deep breath, not used to feeling nervous in another shifter’s presence. “Ye’ll be welcomed an’ embraced. They just don’t know it yet because the news hasn’t been released.”
“Peyton said they’re trying to locate relatives for everyone first. The adults, at least.”
“Aye.
“How did you get here so fast?” Bryn asked. “Why didn’t you bring Ken with you?”
“Well, I didn’t exactly tell anyone I was comin’.
And Ken doesn’t know about ye yet. Peyton didn’t even know I was comin’.
I spent most of yesterday travelin’. I wanted a quiet talk wi’ ye before anything was decided.
And to discuss somethin’ wi’ ye. This thing I’m offerin’, it’s between us.
I have a feelin’ Peyton would allow it, given the circumstances, but I cannae be sure.
And, technically, I’m still the actin’ Pack Alpha, as far as most people know, so I’m takin’ the privilege. ”
“What thing?” Callum asked.
Badger sat forward, his elbows on his knees.
“I’ll take ye to Donnel so ye can do with him what ye will.
My only ask is that ye wipe Hyacinth’s mind—the real Hyacinth—and that she’s removed so she can’t witness what happens.
I don’t care what ye make her think except I want her to forget Donnel.
She was a victim in all o’ this. Make her believe she was just rescued from the lab, whatever, I don’t care.
But she doesn’t deserve to suffer anymore.
She was collateral damage from the start.
She had no idea what Donnel was up to when he betrayed ye.
She didn’t even know he was in contact wi’ ye and has no idea what he did. ”
“Yes,” Bryn said, suddenly sitting upright. “I want that bloody bastard’s throat.”
Callum hesitated, stroking her hair before meeting Badger’s gaze. “Then what do we do next?”
“They’ll have to get new IDs for ye. Donnel isn’t goin’ anywhere, I promise. He can’t, because I ordered him to stay available. Let’s get everyone reacquainted first—or meet them, in yer case. I suspect Maya will want to move to the US to be with Carl and Jake and them.”
“Is… Is he happy?” Bryn asked Badger.
“Yer grandson?” Badger asked.
She tearfully nodded.
He offered her a smile. “He’s a good lad.
Despite his adjustment goin’ from havin’ no knowledge, to learnin’ shifters are real, to then findin’ out he’s the grandson of shifters—and becomin’ a new dad—well, that was a lot.
Overall, yes, he’s happy. He doesn’t know about ye yet.
When he finds out yer alive, it’ll be just about the happiest day of his life, next to meetin’ Dewi and Lyssa being born. ”
“Lyssa?” she asked.
“That was the name the people who adopted yer daughter gave her,” he gently said.
“Ken wanted to name her after his mum, to honor her. And Dewi’s already expectin’ again.
We’ll get ye there before she has it, so ye can welcome yer next great-grand in person.
” He pulled out his phone, swiped to a picture of Dewi, Ken, and Lyssa, and leaned over to show them.
Bryn’s lips parted, tears flowing down her cheeks as she stared at the picture for a long time before she looked up at Callum. “Yes, please?” she whispered. “I want to be with them!”
He tenderly cradled her face in his hands and brushed her tears away with his thumbs. “Of course, love. Whatever you wish.”
He enveloped her in his embrace, staring at Badger over her shoulder. “And what of Hamish?” he asked.
“He’s lookin’ forward to a reunion,” Badger said.
“I called him before my flight. I made him swear to keep the secret until after we tell others. But I felt it right that he should know first. He feels horrible that he never tried to get in contact with ye after he fled Wales and wasn’t there for ye.
He had no idea about anything goin’ on until I found him not that long ago, less than a year.
He never knew what Donnel did. Never even knew Donnel was livin’ over in the US until all of this.
And he threw himself wholeheartedly into the efforts once he did, tryin’ to help us find and kill Faegan and everythin’. ”
“Do we know how Faegan learned Bryn was pregnant?” Callum asked.
“Donnel said Faegan told him he heard from a relative of yours who owed him money. Eh, guess that would be a relative of ours,” Badger added.
“Any idea who?” Callum asked.
“No, Faegan didn’t tell him that. But if I do find out, and they’re still alive, I’ll leave somethin’ for ye to finish off.
Let’s get through the next few weeks, then you and I will sit down with the records I have and try to narrow down who it might have been, and if they’re still breathin’.
Because they won’t be after we finish wi’ ’em. ”
Callum nodded. “Where is Hamish right now?”
“Right now, he’s dealin’ with some business matters in preparation to move to Florida to be near Ken and Tamsin and Imani. I imagine he’ll fly over with Ken and them.”
He scowled. “Who’s Imani?”
“Well, she’s the daughter he never knew he had, from a human woman he always regretted not claiming as his mate. Imani doesn’t know about shifters yet, but she is one. Doesn’t even know she’s his daughter yet.”
Now Callum’s eyebrows skyrocketed. “What?”
“Yeah.” Badger told them the short version. “So, ye’d be doing us a favor, actually, livin’ with us and helpin’ us deal with all these extended kin who don’t know a thing about shifters, and yet are.”
Bryn sat back and turned to face him. “There’s something else we want,” she said.
Badger nodded. “Name it.”
“Peyton said the pack would help us find our children,” she said. “The ones they took from us. Or at least help us find out if they’re dead so we can mourn them.”
A chill washed through Badger. “How many?”