Chapter 27 #2
Callum nuzzled Bryn’s head as Lyssa’s finger closed around his. “She’ll be a beautiful little handful when she gets older,” Callum said.
Ken snorted. “That’s what everyone keeps saying.”
“Especially when she starts shifting,” Callum added.
Ken blinked, certain he’d misheard him. “I’m sorry, whut?”
Even Dewi looked stunned. “I doubt that,” she finally managed. “That she’ll be a shifter,” she added.
Callum smiled. “Oh, she’s a shifter, all right.”
“I thought you couldn’t tell that until someone’s already shifted once?” Ken asked Dewi.
“That’s what I thought,” Dewi said.
“She’s a strong Alpha, unsurprisingly,” Callum said. “I’m certain she’s a shifter.”
“Holy crap,” Ken said, still processing that revelation. “Are you sure?”
“Oh, yes,” Callum said. “I can feel the energy in her.”
“But Ken’s not a shifter,” Dewi said.
Callum looked at Ken for a moment. “I know what I feel,” Callum finally said. “Did your mother ever shift?”
Ken slowly shook his head. “I mean, I had no idea about anything until I met Dewi.”
Callum took the baby from Bryn, settling her in his arms, and slowly made his way toward the open window.
“She’s a shifter. Not certain if she’ll be a wolf or a corgi, though.
I can’t tell that.” He tipped his head back, eyes closed, deeply inhaling.
Ken felt a little nervous, but Callum didn’t get any closer to the window than that. “She’s definitely an Alpha, though.”
“Is she a Prime?” Dewi asked.
Callum went still. “No,” he eventually said. “I don’t feel that in her. But she will be formidable.” He turned from the window and passed the baby back to Bryn. “And I can’t wait to see her grow up.”
Dewi
Dewi’s mind reeled as her hand came to rest on her stomach, where she hadn’t started showing yet. “And you get to see this one grow up, too. I hope you’re going to be in Florida soon. I don’t want you to miss her arrival.”
“Would you like to know about her, too?” Callum asked.
She exchanged a glance with Ken, who looked as stunned as she felt. He shrugged, so she nodded.
Callum held his hand out to her and Dewi stepped over, taking it.
He closed his eyes again, going still. Dewi felt his Prime energy seeking answers and her eyes widened as she met Ken’s gaze.
“She’s an alpha shifter, too,” Callum finally said, opening his eyes and releasing Dewi’s with a final squeeze.
“A-are you kidding?” Dewi asked, shocked.
Callum smiled. “I would never joke about something like that.”
“Holy shit,” Ken muttered.
Hamish laughed. “Glad I’m moving to Florida. Sounds like you’ll need extra paws around to help.”
“We’ll gladly take all the help we can get,” Ken agreed.
Badger returned with one of the personnel. They had brought a huge meal for everyone. They gathered around the coffee table, filling the sofa and chairs, with Ken seated on one end of the couch and Callum on the other with Bryn between them.
With her initial shock out of the way, Dewi watched the three of them together on the couch.
She clearly saw the familial resemblance, even including Hamish.
Bryn held Lyssa in one arm and ate a sandwich with the other, and Dewi fought the urge to cry at what a good grandmother her own mom would have been.
“You are moving to Florida, right?” Dewi blurted out, unable to contain it any longer.
Callum offered her a smile. “We are. But not right away.”
“Why not?” Ken asked.
“Badger?” Callum said.
“Aye.” He turned to Dewi. Now she finally focused on the two men and realized yep, they looked a lot alike, too.
“They’ll be comin’ to Florida,” he said.
“But we decided somethin’ last night, before you all arrived.
The older kids, the teens, will be coming to Florida, too.
Trevor and his wife are adoptin’ most of the little kids and takin’ them home.
All the kids were born in the lab, though.
While Callum can amend their memories to remove the worst from their minds, they still need to learn how to be…
kids. Literally none of them had ever been outside before.
They’d never left the lab, not once in their lives.
“Holy shit,” she muttered. “That’s horrible.”
“Yup, it is.”
“But what about living with us?” she asked. “I really want them to.”
“Don’t fash yerself,” Badger said. “They’ll come for a couple of visits and be living there before yer ready to welcome yer newest addition.
We’re gonna fast-track the construction of their home, to make sure it’s ready first. We’re also gonna buy more RVs and set them up at the big house for the kids.
They’ll each get one. Some of ’em are nearly eighteen, but they need to go to school and learn to just be kids.
It’ll be a good balance between givin’ ’em privacy, which they never had, and havin’ them close.
“Once Callum and Bryn’s house is finished, they’ll live there with them.
We’re gonna make sure each room has a private bath, so no one has to share.
The pack’ll take care of ’em for as long as they want or need.
But right now, most of ’em don’t even speak English.
Which is why we’ll also be movin’ quick on Carl and Mateo’s new house, because Maya and Jake will be livin’ with them, and Jake will take over teachin’ ’em English. ”
“Are we equipped to deal with that kind of trauma?” Dewi asked. “I mean, yes, absolutely, we want them. But they will need a lot of mental health care. I want to make sure they get everything they need.”
Badger nodded. “That’s already bein’ dealt with.”
“They won’t remember the worst of the trauma,” Callum said. “They’ll know they were rescued, and that they were raised there, but I will be helping to amend their memories. They don’t need to remember any of that.”
“And we’re already puttin’ out feelers to hire a shifter counselor to move to Florida to work with them full time.”
“Are any of them siblings?” she asked.
“No,” Badger said. “We’re still trackin’ information, but some of them did have siblings who were adopted out to others. But the lab was careful to make sure none of the kids they kept were siblings.”
She scowled. “Why—oh. Never mind. I know.”
Callum nodded. “Apparently, torture and vivisection were fine, but they drew the line at incest.”
“Fuckers,” Dewi muttered. “Will there be enough left of the head guy for me to kill?”
“No,” Badger said. “That’s already been promised around to a lot of people.”
“So, Ken, you hit Donnel, huh?” Callum asked.
“Not as hard or as much as I wanted to,” he snarked. “Badger and Duncan pulled me off him.”
“I got a few licks in myself,” Hamish said. “Like Ken, they wouldn’t let me strangle him.”
“Couldn’t kill him until we knew we had every bit of useful intel he held,” Badger said, exchanging a look with Bryn and Callum.”
“You won’t let me kill Donnel either, will you?” Dewi asked.
“No,” Badger, Callum, Bryn, Hamish, and Ken all said in unison.
“Sheesh,” she muttered. “A girl never gets to have any fun with you bunch!”