Chapter 47

#Chapter 47 – Home again “MAMAAAA!” I lurch to my feet out of a straight sleep when I hear my son’s voice calling to me. Edgar next to me shudders awake, though he manages to stay in bed.

“What’s happening?” He murmurs, staring around bleerily.

“They’re back,” I say, pulling a blanket around my shoulders and ducking out the door.

From my vantage on the cabin’s short deck I see three figures walking in from the forest. I squint my eyes, trying to make out details. Disheveled, their t-shirts ripped – mud on their pants and boots – tiny scratches everywhere – and huge smiles on their faces.

I exhale a big breath. They’re okay. They’re happy.

“Boys!” I call, raising a hand to wave to them. At the sound of my voice, the boys start to run to me, though I can tell by their pace that they’re bone tired. I laugh, considering that of course they are after a night running through the woods.

Victor doesn’t pick up the pace, but wanders leisurely behind them, his hands in his pockets. I can see that he is smiling as well.

Ian is the first one up the three steps to the cabin’s porch. He throws his arms around my legs, shortly followed by Alvin, who does the same. “Mama!” Ian says, looking up at me. “It was amaaaaazing!”

I laugh down at them, cossetting their hair, their faces, trying to look at them both at once. “I want to hear all about it!”

“We saw everything, mama!”

“There was a deer!”

“And a lake! A big LAKE all silver in the moonlight!”

I oooh and ahhh as they tell me jumbled details. My eyes follow Victor as he climbs up onto the porch.

The boys are still talking as he stops in front of me, leaning against one of the wooden pillars and giving me a smile.

“So, did you have as much fun as they did?” I say, nodding to the boys.

“It was amazing,” he confirms, holding my gaze. “I know they’re going to do their best to tell you every detail but it was…indescribable.”

I smile at him, truly feeling warmth towards this man who has given my children this gift, their first wolf’s moon. “Thank you, Victor. I’m so grateful.”

He laughs and shrugs. “I was about to say the same thing.”

“Mamaaaa,” Ian says, annoyed to have lost my attention. “Can we have breakfast? We are starving.”

“What,” I say, pretending to be confused. “Didn’t you eat any squirrels in the woods?”

“Squirrels?!” Alvin says, wrinkling his nose in horror. “You thought we were going to eat squirrels??”

I shrug, answering nonchalantly. “That’s what we did on my first night out. I must have had eight, maybe ten…”

“Mom, you ate ten squirrels!?” Ian joins Alvin in his revulsion, their faces twin mirrors of disgust.

“Yes,” I say, leaning down close to their faces. “And they were delicious,”

“Ewww!” The boys say, pushing away from me and running down towards the fire where Betas are already setting up for breakfast.

“Especially their tails!” I call after the boys, laughing. “The fuzzy way they feel when they slide down your throat!”

Victor laughs along with me, but scrunches his nose in a fair impression of Alvin’s face. “You really are gross sometimes, you know.”

I laugh, not caring. “Whatever. Life is long and boring, you’ve got to add a little spice when you can.” I start down towards the campfire and Victor follows.

“So, you didn’t really eat any squirrels, right?” Victor asks, raising an eyebrow.

I cast my eyes down like a 40’s movie vixen. “A lady never tells.”

We all sit down by the fire. I offer to help, but the Betas shoo me away, pressing coffee into my hands and promising scrambled eggs. Ignoring the guilt, I let them pamper me a little, snuggling down into my chair and enjoying the fresh morning air.

“Where is Amelia?” Victor asks a Beta, accepting his own cup of coffee.

“Asleep, sir,” says a Beta. “She stayed up late by the fire, snoozing on and off, but she eventually turned in. I imagine she’ll sleep late,” he says, and I wonder if she got into the whiskey. I smile, thinking about it. Good for her.

“How did she do?” Victor says, taking a plate of fruit and starting to dig in.

“She was good,” I say, and he looks up at me with an eyebrow quirked, disbelieving.

“She was!” I say, laughing as a Beta hands me a plate with eggs and toast. I murmur my thanks.

“So by that,” Victor says, “you mean that you spent all night with Edgar and she hung out by herself, texting all her diva friends.”

“One,” I say, pointing at him with my fork, “she didn’t have cell reception out here, so that’s impossible.

And two,” I say, not letting him interrupt me as he opens his mouth to comment, “Amelia and I actually had a really nice time sitting by the fire, talking about Edgar’s butt.”

Victor actually spews coffee from his mouth at this, like an old-fashioned sitcom spit-take. The boys laugh with delight at the sight and I can see their plans already forming to copy him, spitting out their own drinks. I narrow my eyes at them, pointing my fork at them too. They notice and nod, their plans successfully derailed.

“What?” I say, laughing and returning my attention to Victor as he mops coffee off of his already-filthy shirt. “She brought it up. She has opinions.”

“Whatever,” Victor says, chuckling. “It sounds like you two are getting along, and that’s all that really matters.”

“It’s true,” I say, my mouth full of egg. “A good butt really does bond two girls.”

He rolls his eyes and ignores me, but the boys laugh at my joke. I wink at them, glad for my own little peanut gallery.

As we finish up breakfast, Victor confers with the Betas and I overhear him telling them to pack up camp.

“Are we leaving already?” I ask. Part of me, I admit, will be happy to be home under my own roof, but the other part…it’s just so beautiful out here, in the cool clean air. And so safe. I remember – more dully, now – the panic of that moment, of Emily breaking into my house, pinning me down. I shudder and let it pass.

“Yes,” Victor confirms, settling back in his chair and sipping his second cup of coffee. I can tell he’s exhausted, but he hides it well from his team. “Your house is finished ahead of schedule, and if it’s all as safe as I can make it then I have duties at home to which I’d like to attend.”

I nod. “Good,” I say. “Thank you for bringing us here. It was really special. And thank you again, for what you did for the boys.”

The boys are in their chairs still, each with a giant cinnamon bun in their hands. They’re trying to finish their treats, I can tell, but they keep nodding off between bites. I’m happy for them – a good, well-

earned sleep.

“It is special here – it’s an important place for me. I’m glad to have been able to share it with them.”

Victor smiles fondly at Alvin and Ian and I feel myself go all warm inside.

“You’re a good dad,” I say quietly. “You had your own first run here?” Victor nods, confirming this.

“Who took you?” I ask. “Was it your dad?”

“No,” says Victor, pausing, clearly deep in thought. “It was…my brother. My older brother, Christopher.”

“Older brother?” I ask, confused, my brows knitting together. “But if you have an older brother,” I say slowly, “how can you be Alpha…” my voice trails off as I see the far-away expression on his face.

“He died,” Victor says, staring into the woods. “When I was very young, not long after we went on my first run. My own dad wasn’t…we weren’t close. But Christopher was very good to me.”

I hear someone clear their throat behind us and turn to see Amelia standing there, her arms crossed over her chest, glaring.

“Good morning, Amelia,” I say, smiling hesitantly in the face of her anger. What went wrong?

“Amelia,” Victor says, rising from his chair to give her a kiss on the cheek. “You’ll be glad to hear that we’re heading out soon, back to civilization. Pack up your things.” Victor pats her on her shoulder and then moves away to the cabins, clearly intent to get things ready so that we can head back asap.

Amelia frowns after him.

“Is everything okay, Amelia?” I ask. “Did you not know we’d be heading back?”

She doesn’t look at me as she replies. “I didn’t know he had a brother.”