Winter's End

by Rebecca James

  “No one had heard anything. So many packs have scattered in the past few months due to humans setting their compounds on fire. We’ll probably never know.” Grey patted Roanan’s shoulder. “Everything going all right at your house? Josh?”

  Roanan nodded. “We’re doing well, but speaking of Josh. He wanted to go with Milo to take Chris and X to Cascade City. I didn’t like the idea unless I could be the one to take him, so I talked to Milo about it. He said it was okay with him. What about you?”

  “Sure. Sounds like a fun trip for you all. You’ll be leaving in the morning?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ll make sure the SUV is ready.” Grey started to walk away but stopped. “Oh, Ian has some good news I’m sure he’d like to share with you.” Grey strode off.

  Wondering what that was about, Roanan walked home only to find his youngest sons engaged in a tussle in the front yard with Emory standing nearby looking frustrated.

  “Stop that right now!” Roanan yelled. Landon and Lake immediately separated. “What is going on?”

  “He started it,” Lake said belligerently.

  “Only because he was being a jerk,” Landon accused.

  “Is this about Adder again?” Roanan asked.

  “No, it’s about Landon being a pig and leaving his dirty socks all over the room. I found one under my pillow!”

  “I can’t help it you’re a neat freak,” Lake said. “Real alphas don’t worry about being tidy.”

  “That’s a stereotype,” Roanan said. “Both of you, get up off the ground. Lake, go inside and pick up your room. Landon, go inside and pull the suitcases out of the storage room. If we’re going on this trip tomorrow, we have a lot to get done.”

  When the twins glumly got to their feet and walked into the house, Roanan turned to Emory.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Emory rubbed his hands over his face and tried to say something then stomped his foot in annoyance. Roanan reached for him, but the omega pulled away.

  “You’re going to be able to talk, my love. I promise.”

  Emory gave him a look that clearly said he couldn’t promise that, but Roanan felt certain it would happen. In the meantime, he could give Emory his good news.

  “I just spoke with Grey. He told me some of your pack survived the fire and joined one of the Tellico Plains packs in North Carolina.”

  Emory’s eyes widened and his mouth formed an O. He launched himself into Roanan’s arms. Roanan kissed his head. “Grey and Milo also gave me the go ahead for our trip. Let’s sit in the shade and do your voice exercises and then start preparing. All right?”

  Emory nodded eagerly, smiling, and hugged Roanan again.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Gabriel

  Gabriel awoke in a sweat and sat up in bed. Darkness blanketed the window, and his mates lay sleeping on each side of him. Wiping his arm over his brow, he frowned at the perspiration on it. The room wasn’t hot. In fact, if anything, it was a little chilly. His mates must have trapped him between the heat of their bodies as they slept.

  Carefully, so as not to disturb his mates, Gabriel climbed off the bottom of the bed. He padded down the hall into the boys’ room. They slept peacefully, Forrest with his thumb in his mouth in the crib, and Finny on the larger bed. Fin had kicked off his covers, and Gabriel pulled the blanket over the little boy before smoothing his blond hair from his face.

  Gabriel smiled, remembering Ian’s happiness when Dr. Newman had confirmed that Finny was his biological son. The joy on Ian’s face had warmed Gabriel from the inside out, and he had been relieved Grey still hadn’t appeared bothered that his first born had not been sired by him. The omega knew this meant Finny would not take over as pack leader one day. He supposed it didn’t matter. He just hoped there would be no resentment.

  Thirsty, Gabriel went to the kitchen for a glass of water. When Dr. Newman had returned to the compound to give them the news about Ian, she’d administered the second dose of antidote to Gabriel. The injections were increasing in strength and becoming more painful. Dr. Newman had told Gabriel that, judging from the others who had taken the antidote, the dose should start to show improvement of his symptoms. Of course, Gabriel’s symptoms appeared when he was pregnant, so there was no way to judge.

  Gabriel took his water outside to the terrace, where the cold felt welcoming on his hot skin. He sat on a lounge chair and looked up at the starry sky. It wouldn’t be long until the moon became full again, and Gabriel wanted so very badly to run beneath its magnetic pull. He hoped that soon the danger to the omegas would be eradicated, and they could all participate in the moon run again. He sat for a long time, staring upward, until the stars blurred.

  “Gabe!” Grey’s sharp tone jerked the omega up in his seat. He blinked, wondering why his alpha mate looked so worried. Ian appeared behind the alpha, a blanket in his hands.

  “What in the hell are you doing out here in the snow?” Grey lifted Gabriel and carried him inside, sitting on the couch with Gabriel in his lap. Ian laid the blanket over the omega.

  Gabriel began to shiver. “It wasn’t snowing w-when I went out there. I didn’t mean t-to f-fall asleep.”

  Ian brought a towel, and Grey rubbed the snow from Gabriel’s hair. “We woke up, and you were gone.”

  Ian sat down and rubbed Gabriel’s freezing hands.

  “You scared us. That’s why Grey’s being so gruff.”

  “Damn right, he scared us,” Grey barked, wrapping his arms tightly around the omega. “He disappeared. He’s lucky we spotted him out on the terrace. What were you thinking, going out there in your underwear and falling asleep?”

  “I was hot,” Gabriel said, nuzzling closer to the warmth of the alpha’s skin.

  “Fuck, your nose is an ice cube,” Grey grumbled, but he pulled the omega closer. Ian let go of Gabriel’s hands, and the omega pressed them between his and the alpha’s bodies.

  “I was sweating. I think maybe it was the injection.”

  Gabriel felt Grey still. Uh, oh. “I’m fine, really. Dr. Newman said it was a strong dose and might come with side effects, remember? I was just hot, that’s all, Grey. And I fell asleep.”

  Ian squeezed Gabriel’s hand.

  “What if we hadn’t woken?” Grey said. “Even a werewolf can freeze to death if he sits outside naked in the middle of winter.”

  “He didn’t, though, and he’s fine,” Ian soothed. “I’ll make you some hot tea, Gabe.”

  “Thank you.” Gabriel watched Ian walk into the kitchen, Grey’s heart hammering against his back. “I’m sorry I worried you. I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to finish my water while I looked at the moon and cooled off a little. I guess I was really sleepy.”

  “Your water is now an ice cube,” Grey said. He sniffed along Gabriel’s neck. “You aren’t carrying. Next time you get up in the night, wake one of us.”

  Gabriel sighed but didn’t argue. It wouldn’t do any good. He laid his head on Grey’s shoulder. Outside, faint streaks of pink painted the gray of the horizon.

  “Did you find out who that beta was?” Gabriel asked.

  Grey settled back against the couch, relaxing for the first time since he’d awoken Gabriel.

  “No. None of the pack leaders around here knew who it could be, and Emory didn’t recognize him.”

  Emory had been called when they’d found the man and the child, as had Keith and Elliott. None of them had seen him before.

  “Canaan has grown very attached to the baby. He calls him Joey.”

  “I’ve noticed. Duncan seems to have too, although he hasn’t approached me about mating Canaan and making them a family. He’s an odd one. I’m honestly surprised at the way he is with Canaan.”

  “He appears to care about him, doesn’t he?” Gabriel moved even closer to Grey so he could take in his alpha’s scent. His shivers were slowing down.

  “Yes. I’m glad. Duncan’s been alone and restless for too long.”

  “And Canaan need
ed someone,” Gabriel agreed. “Are you going to allow him to keep Joey?”

  “I don’t see why not. I expect Canaan to approach me about it any day now.”

  Ian returned with the tea, and after drinking it, Gabriel climbed off Grey’s lap and went to dress. When he returned, the boys were up. Grey held Forrest by the window, showing the toddler the snow, and Gabriel could hear Ian talking to Finny in the kitchen.

  “I think I’ll go visit Canaan,” Gabriel said to Grey.

  “Eat first,” Grey said, with good reason. Gabriel sometimes forgot to eat in the mornings.

  “How’s Terry working out?” Grey asked, following Gabriel into the kitchen.

  “Morning, Da!” Finny said, smiling up at Gabriel.

  “Good morning, sweetness.” Gabriel kissed the little boy on the nose before turning to where Grey had set Forrest in his highchair. “And good morning to you, too, my little angel.”

  “Da!” Forrest grinned, another new tooth poking from his gums in front.

  Gabriel took some yogurt from the ice box and mixed it with sliced strawberries and sat at the table to eat.

  “You want eggs?” Ian asked.

  “No, thanks.”

  Ian scrambled some for himself and Grey.

  “You boys want to go to the nursery for a while?” Gabriel asked the kids, who both said they would, Forrest so enthusiastically, oatmeal from his spoon landed on the wall.

  Gabriel got them cleaned up and dressed and left Ian in the study doing pack finances while he and Grey crossed the compound. The alpha had to make his rounds and parted from Gabriel at the nursery with a kiss.

  “Sorry I was so irritable earlier,” Grey said. “You just scared me.”

  “I know. I’m sorry too. I never meant it to happen. I’ll be more careful.” He waved to Grey and approached the porch.

  Finny had already run to the door and pounded on it. Barry opened it.

  “Look who we have here!” he exclaimed. “Ollie and Oscar are here. They’ll be glad to see you.”

  Finny barreled inside without even a goodbye to his father. When Gabriel passed Forrest to Barry, the toddler put his head on Barry’s shoulder and his thumb in his mouth.

  “He loves you,” Gabriel told the beta.

  Barry kissed Forrest’s dark hair. “The feeling is mutual.”

  Forrest pulled his thumb from his mouth and offered it to Barry, who chuckled and said, “No, that’s okay. You keep it.”

  “I’ll be back before lunch,” Gabriel said and waved as he headed to the woods and Canaan’s house, the snow that had fallen that night crunching under his feet. He felt bad about what had happened during the night. Would he really have frozen to death if his mates hadn’t found him?

  When Gabriel stepped onto Canaan’s porch, he was surprised to find the door ajar. Sticking his head inside, he called out to Canaan.

  “In here!”

  “Your door was open,” Gabriel said as he entered the kitchen where Canaan sat feeding Joey.

  “Duncan must not have closed it properly when he left,” Canaan said.

  “Spent the night, did he?” Gabriel smiled, helping himself to coffee from the stove before sitting at the table.

  Canaan actually blushed. “Yeah.”

  “You two are getting awfully close.”

  Canaan just pursed his lips and kept feeding Joey.

  Gabriel chuckled. “Okay, I’ll stop teasing.” He turned to the baby. “Hi, Joey. You look happy and healthy.” He glanced at Canaan. “He’s so cute.”

  “Isn’t he?” Canaan smiled and scooped more of the warm cereal into the baby’s mouth.

  “Look at all that dark hair.” Gabriel brushed it from the baby’s face. “Oh, and his eyes are green like yours!”

  Canaan gave Gabriel a wry look. “He’s not my child.”

  “He is now, isn’t he?” Gabriel raised a brow. “I mean, you’ve all but adopted him.”

  Canaan dropped the spoon in the bowl and wiped Joey’s mouth and chin. “Do you think Grey would let me?”

  “I know he would.”

  A smile lit Canaan’s face, and Gabriel couldn’t get over the change in the beta over the past several months. It was so obvious Canaan was in love with Duncan and now had fallen for little Joey. Gabriel hoped Duncan would see how perfect they would all be together and mate Canaan.

  “I was going to talk to him about it,” Canaan said.

  “He’s on his rounds, but you could come by at lunch,” Gabriel suggested.

  “Okay. I’ll do that.”

  They took Joey into the living room to play on a blanket on the floor, and Gabriel chatted with Canaan for a while, skirting the subject of Duncan even though that’s what he really wanted to talk about. He was surprised when the alpha showed up a couple of hours later when Gabriel was getting ready to leave. Duncan seemed equally surprised to see Gabriel.

  “Hi.” The alpha stood uncertainly on the porch where Canaan and Gabriel had just stepped out. He glanced at Canaan. “I, uh, just came by to see if you wanted to go to the dining hall with me.”

  “Sure,” Canaan said. “After that I need to stop and see the pack alpha.”

  Gabriel waved to the two of them and headed home, a smile on his face.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Ian

  “Tell me the truth, Grey.” Ian stood in their bedroom, arms crossed over his chest.

  Grey had gotten home before Gabriel, and he and Ian had taken a shower together. The alpha pulled his shirt over his head.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I want you to tell me how you really feel about it.”

  They’d somehow stumbled onto the subject of Finny’s paternity, and all of Ian’s pent up worries had suddenly overwhelmed him. Did Grey resent him for having had their first child with Gabriel, especially as they’d done it behind Grey’s back?

  “If you’re asking me if I’m still angry with you, the answer is no,” Grey said. “Do you really think I could hide it if I were? Fuck, Ian, I thought we’d ironed this out long ago and agreed nothing was more important than our family.”

  Ian let out a breath. “We did. I know. But until recently, Finny could still have been yours.”

  Grey rested his hands on Ian’s bare shoulders. “And now we know he’s yours. I’m very pleased you can sire children, Ian. I meant that.”

  “Yeah?” Ian asked, settling.

  A small smile played out Grey’s full lips. “In fact, I’ve been thinking—maybe you can get pregnant.”

  Ian frowned. “I never have.”

  “Maybe that’s because you were worrying about it.” Gray pulled Ian closer. “But it’s possible. And now that you know it is, maybe it will happen.”

  “I’m not going to count on it,” Ian said. “Besides, I haven’t worried about it for years. I accepted long ago that I couldn’t have children, which was why I was completely open to our mating Gabriel.”

  “Who knows, Ian? Maybe you were affected by something the humans did like Christopher and the omegas were. But you’ve sired Finny, so we know you weren’t irrevocably harmed.” He kissed Ian softly. “Now stop worrying about me. I’m not angry anymore that you and Gabriel went behind my back. I know why you did it, even though I don’t agree, and I know you’re sorry. Let’s forget about it. Please.”

  Ian nodded. “All right.”

  “Do you think Gabe’s still worrying about it?”

  “I don’t know. He hasn’t mentioned it to me.”

  Ian pulled on his clothes.

  “I think I hear them.” Grey left the room, and moments later Ian heard the kids’ squeals of pleasure at seeing their Daddum.

  Ian kissed Gabriel before taking Forrest from the omega’s arms. Grey already had Finny on his shoulders and was headed for the bathroom to wash up.

  “Have you been at Canaan’s all afternoon?” Ian asked Gabriel.

  “Yeah. He’s coming by after lunch to ask Grey about keeping Joey. The baby,” he c
larified.

  “Canaan really wants to raise him on his own?”

  “He says he does. But I’ve noticed Duncan, Canaan, and Joey are already acting like a little family.”

  “Really?” Ian had a difficult time picturing that. Duncan had never been interested in being a family man.

  “Yes. Hey, why don’t we all go to the dining hall to eat? Then you can see for yourself, and Grey can talk to Duncan after.”

  Ian shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

  Grey came out of the bathroom with a cleaner Finny, and Gabriel told him of their plans.

  “Let’s go, then,” Grey said. “I’m hungry.”

  They headed out, Ian carrying Forrest rather than taking the stroller. Finny skipped along with one hand in Gabriel’s and the other in Grey’s.

  “I want spaghetti,” he said.

  “I don’t know if they’ll have it,” Ian told the little boy.

  Finny stuck out his bottom lip. “But I want it.”

  “Somebody’s tired,” Grey said.

  “Who?” Finny asked.

  “I not tired,” Forrest said, patting Ian’s cheeks with his hands. “I hungwy.”

  “I didn’t look at the menu. I don’t know what they’ve got tonight,” Gabriel told Finny.

  “Spaghetti’s my favorite,” the little boy insisted, voice edging closer to a whine.

  “Behave,” Grey told him.

  Finny pouted but fell silent.

  When the group reached the dining hall, the tables were almost full, but they found a corner they could all fit into if Forrest sat on Ian’s lap rather than in a high chair.

  Gabriel picked up the menu. “Chicken or beef with mixed vegetables or a salad and baked potatoes.”

  Finny put his head on the table and growled. Ian’s eyes met Grey’s, amused. They’d been speculating that Finny might be an alpha. Of course, betas and omegas had tempers too, but Finny was extremely stubborn. He suddenly thought of something. What if Finny were an alpha and Forrest wasn’t? You couldn’t be pack alpha if you weren’t an alpha. Would Grey make Finny his successor even if he wasn’t from his loins? Normally, an omega would produce lots of children so this kind of thing wouldn’t be a problem, but they didn’t know if Gabriel would be able to do that.