Rowan
“Isuppose it’s time to go face the world outside the bedroom.” Orsen sighed, smirking at me.
“Do we have to?” I grumbled, turning over and snuggling into his chest, refusing to let the sunlight hit my face.
We had slept in.
A rarity for us, but one I was greatly enjoying. We’d earned it.
“Most of the horde is going to spend today sleeping off a colossal hangover,” Nix pointed out, wrapping his arms around me from behind and tugging me away from Orsen, who shot him a sleepy glower. I just giggled, thoroughly amused by their antics.
“Even so, we are meant to be the responsible ones. We can’t leave them to clean up on their own.” Orsen stretched, and I appreciated the way his muscles went taut.
“We all know full well if we don’t go help, Ma is going to do half the work herself and injure herself more,” Bastian pointed out from the other side of Nix.
“I hate that you’re right,” I grumbled, sitting up with a groan.
All my mates were piled into bed, and I had never slept better.
I had always imagined that clans would struggle getting a good night’s rest, with so many people in one space.
It still surprised me that, in reality, sleeping with my mates gave me the most rest I had ever experienced.
Even if I had occasionally kicked Nix in the night when he snored.
The kicks had worked for like five minutes at a time, but usually that’s all I needed to fall back asleep, snuggling into one of my guys and drifting off.
“I’m usually right,” Bastian teased, making a face at me across Nix’s shoulder. I laughed, but then Nix was lying on my legs when I started to move, intent on keeping me right where I was for as long as he could.
“Scoot.” I giggled. “Don’t make Ma do all the work by herself. If you stall, I’ll tell her it was all your fault.”
Nix shot up; eyes wide as he puffed out an exaggerated gasp. “You wouldn’t.”
I pressed the tip of his nose, kissing the air in front of him as I winked. “Watch me.”
Knock, knock.
“I refuse to walk in there because I don’t want to get an eyeful.” Allison laughed as she continued to knock on our door, ensuring all of us were awake.
“Allison?” I called out, tugging the sheet around me as I made my way toward the door, which of course left my mates decidedly without cover. So, I’d only crack the door a little.
“Ma asked me to come tell you guys to get the heck out of bed. We have a visitor—the good kind!”
“Who?” I asked, my hand hovering near the door handle. There was no way in hell I could open the door without letting Allison get a whiff of what we had been up to, and I didn’t want to subject her to that. Glancing back, I glared at my mates, all four of them grinning wildly at me.
“Get your butts out here, and you’ll see for yourself!” Allison called out, and I rolled my eyes with a smile.
“All right, all right. Give us five minutes.”
I turned around, and Nix said, “Ten?”
“No! We need to go. I know you, Mister. You’ll stall. We don’t have time for that.”
Orsen shoved Nix over, getting out of the bed and heading toward the bathroom. “I call first dibs. I have to pee, and the rest of you can wait.”
I laughed, watching everyone else get ready for a moment, all the playful shoving and elbows, then rolled my eyes again and got dressed.
“Rowan! It’s about—is that a bite mark?” Ma’s eyes widened when she caught up to me in the corridor.
Holy crap, the woman doesn’t miss a beat.
“It is. Don’t make it weird,” Orsen said, pulling me away from his mother, who eyed me like a hawk.
At the sight of her son, Ma broke into a smile. “I’m so happy for you guys!” she squealed, pulling her son into a tight hug. He leaned away, but there was no missing his grin.
The others piled into the room, all of us in the den’s living area near the main door.
When I could finally focus on something other than Ma staring at my neck, I realized that our guest was here.
I could tell immediately it was an Alpha, and I looked up at him as my mates gave Ma a hug, her eagerly congratulating them.
The Alpha was tall, easily a head taller than Ma, if not more. His hair was silvery gray, swept away from his face, and there were deep-set wrinkles around his eyes. He looked out of place, wearing a white shirt, a purple vest, and dark jeans.
The man had a unique air about him. I wasn’t sure why, but I got the distinct idea that he wasn’t from around here.
“Hello?” Orsen’s greeting was more of a question.
“Orsen,” Ma said, voice quieter now, “this is your uncle, Dane Devaux.”
“Uncle?” His brows shot up as he reeled back a touch.
Ma looked at Dane, her expression as pleased as punch.
“That’s me. I made my way here as soon as I got the call.
” I remembered how Ma had said she’d be reaching out to her brother, just like my mates had been contacting nearby hoards, shoring up numbers to stand up to Byron and Cyrus.
“But it seems like you guys managed to take care of the situation before I set foot in your lands. Lydia has told me all about the challenge yesterday. I’ll admit I’m thoroughly impressed with what I’ve heard. ”
Dane reached forward and shook Orsen’s hand. Orsen clapped his other hand on top, and the two of them smiled. Next to each other, I could actually see some family resemblance. It was clear Orsen got his height from both sides of the family tree.
Wait, who’s Lydia?
I was just about to open my mouth and ask who Lydia was, when it dawned on me that that must be Ma’s actual name.
She had insisted on simply being called Ma; calling her by any other name felt wrong, somehow.
I nearly laughed at the fact that after all this time, I hadn’t known what her first name actually was.
“It’s nice to meet you! You run a horde down south, am I right?” Orsen asked, releasing the shake with a grin.
Dane nodded. “I do. Just outside New Orleans. My family has been down there for decades now.” That explained his accent. “My son, Lawson, will be taking over the horde soon enough.”
“I have… cousins?” Orsen sounded surprised again, and it was kind of adorable to see him learning about his family. Even though it had been uncomfortable, I was glad Ma had told me about who Orsen’s father was. They both deserved this chance to connect with each other.
And it’d given us a huge advantage during the challenge.
Dane smiled, beaming with pride. “Several of them. I have six sons and a daughter. But I’ll tell you right now, she’s the one that rules the roost. She has every one of her brothers wrapped around her finger.”
“As she should.” Ma nodded, smirking.
Growing quiet, Dane lowered his head for a second and then met Orsen’s eyes. “I’m sorry I never got to meet you—until now. I should’ve come by more often, but… I couldn’t stand the idea of being in the same room as Cyrus.”
“Trust me,” Orsen’s brows rose, “that’s going around. But that’s the past. I don’t know about you, but I plan to seize this opportunity. I’d love to get to know you—and hear about my father.”
“And I’d be thrilled to tell you, son.” They shook hands again, which shifted into a hug, and I smiled from ear to ear, getting a little misty-eyed.
Orsen deserved this. They all did. We all did.