Chapter Six
Evelyn was happy. For the first time in a really long time, she had all her grandkids under her roof.
Tara was already there, but Tanya had arrived with the twins and together, they were a bunch of loud puppies.
Not so much puppies anymore though ... Tanya was twenty three, fresh out of college.
Her hair was usually cut short, and her athletic figure was clothed in gym clothes, as always.
She was planning on taking over the city’s gym, currently closed since the previous owner died of old age.
He wasn’t a wolf, and now Tanya wanted to open something that catered to both wolf and human needs.
Something that could be open well beyond their normal work hours, so that a shifter could unleash all their pent-up energy whenever they needed.
The twins were twenty six, going on forty.
They had served in the High King’s army, and the restlessness inside them made them return home.
They were feeling a pull to this coastal city that they’d never felt before, but if asked what was happening, they wouldn’t know what to answer.
So, they stayed around their nanna, feeding on her calm presence.
Despite being twins and sharing the same blue eyes and dark hair, Ciaran kept his cropped short with a light stubble, and Declan had medium dark hair and no stubble.
Both were tall and had the shoulder width of those used to working with their hands.
Tara, the youngest, entered the kitchen with a crestfallen face.
“What’s with the face, Bee?” asked Ciaran affectionately, using the old nickname they had given her when she was a little pup and was always buzzing around and getting into trouble.
“I went to our neighbor’s house and said Nanna invited her for dinner, but she isn’t coming,” she pouted, and her cousins chuckled.
“Did Nanna know she was having more guests?”
“No, but you know how much she cooks every time, I’ve been having leftovers right and left...”
“But with her it’s different,” interjected Evelyn harshly, and the sound of her voice made them still. They were helping their nanna set the table but felt from the beginning that she was distracted with something.
Her piercing eyes went from one to another, returning to Tara.
“Sit. We need to talk about our new neighbor.”
Given their grandmother's unusually serious air, they sat in silence, arms crossed, curious. Evelyn sat and looked them in the eye, one by one, lingering on the twins longer than on the girls.
“That girl is under the protection of the High King,” she started, and the twins tensed their muscles at their grandmother's words. “She wasn’t even aware that shifters existed when she was abducted from her house, her parents were killed, and her world was burned to the ground. She spent three years in the clutches of her so-called mate, being tortured and abused.”
“Lewis!” snarled Ciaran. “She was his mystery mate.” Neither he nor Declan had been involved in her rescue, but they did hunt down the rebels from the Blood Moon pack.
“Yes. She’s deeply traumatized and the High King sent her here to heal, but she isn’t aware that we’re living nearby. She doesn’t know about the pack and that’s how our Alpha wants it to continue.”
“Why send her here?” asked Tanya. “Doesn’t she have anyone?”
“Her parents were killed, and that’s all the family we think she had left. The High King’s Beta has taken a personal interest in her, as has the High King. So, we need to keep a low profile while keeping an eye on her.”
“Not all of Lewis’ men were imprisoned or killed.”
“Which is why the High King wants her protected. It’s not just them; other Alphas have extended their hand in an alliance to protect her as well.
” She met her grandsons’ eyes with her piercing gaze and went on, “You must stay at the Alpha’s house for the foreseeable future.
Keep your growlings to yourselves, do not shift outside the woods, and keep a low profile.
This has been ordered to all members of the pack. ”
The twins exchanged a look, communicating silently in a way that was so characteristic of them, when a lovely scent appeared to reach their noses.
Cinnamon and apple. As one, they rose from their chairs, sniffing the air with interest. Their noses led them to the garden that bordered their neighbor’s, but the delicious scent wasn't coming from plants.
It was coming from the young woman sleeping in the plastic chair.
“Mate!” they whispered in awe, and Evelyn turned pale.
“Shit ... so much for keeping them away...”