by J. R Fox
“He’d tear your head off if he was here,” Dean bluffed, knowing that Gabriel was in no position to do so. He hoped that Gabriel would run now.
“Oh, he’s here. Hand him over and let him stand trial for what he did, and this can all end peacefully.”
Dean knew better than to believe that Gabriel would get anything like a fair trial. Like he'd said, they’d both already been convicted. This was intended to be an execution, and if Sammie thought that Dean couldn't smell the deceit on him, then he'd well and truly underestimated him.
Unfortunately, holding the moral high ground wasn't going to help him. This was going to end in a fight, and there was nothing Dean could do to change that now.
He held his ground, waiting for Sammie to make the first move. As much as Dean wanted to lunge in and attack, he knew that was practically suicide. Sammie was faster than he was, so the only chance he had was to let him charge forward and take him out while his defenses were lowered.
The chance came sooner than he was expecting, with Sammie moving so fast he was barely visible. Rather than managing to get in a crippling strike, Dean only barely evaded the attack, leaving Sammie to fly through the air and crash into a side table.
Sammie rolled to his feet immediately, as though he was barely affected by the bad landing. Dean swallowed. Behind him, he could tell the other wolves were half-shifted, waiting for the opportunity to attack once Dean was weakened.
A trickle of blood ran down Dean’s cheek where Sammie’s claw had clipped him on the way past. He intended to fight, but with six opponents, he was more than outmatched. He might as well have been a hare facing a hunting party.
Sammie shifted his weight again, ready to go in for another attack, but then someone else entered the room. Dean had a half-second to pray that it wasn’t Gabriel before he realized that he needn’t have; it was his mother.
“Stop,” she said, with all the authority of her many years as the clan omega. Sammie paused and looked at her, either distracted or actually listening. It didn’t matter, as long as it gave Gabriel a precious few moments more to escape.
Allora moved between Dean and Sammie, ignoring the low-ranking wolves by the door. “You’ve come to take the wrong person. Gabriel didn’t murder Henri.”
“So he keeps saying,” Sammie nodded to Dean. “But what proof do we have?”
“Proof? How about a confession for proof; I was the one who murdered Henri, and I’d gladly do it again.”
A chill ran down Dean’s spine. It was the sort of thing that a mother might say to defend her child, regardless of whether it was the truth or not, but Allora’s confession had the ring of truth about it. There was no scent of deceit on her at all, and no one was that good a liar.
Sammie stopped in his tracks, his posture changing from offensive to defensive in a split second, as though he expected to be Allora’s next victim. He hadn’t feared Dean at all, but the Lafie matriarch was a different matter.
“Why?” Dean heard himself whisper without meaning to. He hated that he sounded like a lost little boy, but that was how he felt right now.
“Because he was a cruel man who could never get enough of making me suffer. You deserved to take his place, and you’d found the perfect mate to support you. It was time for him to go.” She turned to Dean with sorrow in her eyes. “I know you loved him, but you should know that he didn’t love you. He was already planning to trade your children—your unborn babies—off to other clans to expand his influence.”
Dean swallowed. “But…”
“What you and Gabriel did was necessary for survival. This was greed, pure and simple. And if he were still alive, you would have been powerless to stand against him short of killing him yourself. The blood is better on my hands than on yours.” Allora swallowed.
The room went silent for several long minutes while everyone present processed what had just happened. Then Sammie cleared his throat. “You promised punishment for whoever Henri’s murderer was. You can’t give a free pass to your mother any more than you can to your mate.”
Dean looked at his mother with tears welling up in his eyes. He knew that, if he didn’t please Sammie and those who followed him, the clan would fall apart. The last thing he wanted to do was punish his mother for defending her grandchildren, though.
“Allora is an elder, and took great personal risk to do what she did. She might have immediately died of grief from the death of a bonded mate,” Gabriel’s voice floated down from the top of the stairs. “I think leniency is a fair thing to ask.”
Allora looked up at Gabriel with genuine love in her eyes. Meanwhile, Dean’s heart was breaking. He had to make some show of punishment, and there were few acceptable punishments in werewolf law.
“Banishment,” he suggested. “Ejection from the clan.”
His mother nodded, as though that was what she’d wanted all along. Dean looked to Sammie, knowing that only a punishment he considered fair would do anything to change the situation.
Sammie would get his comeuppance when the time was right, but Dean couldn’t afford to do anything about him while they were all so vulnerable.
“Agreed,” Sammie said. “Banishment.”
Dean offered his hand, shifting back to human form, and Sammie did the same, taking it in a firm grip. Dean used the leverage to pull him in close. “You threatened my mate and my children,” he whispered. “Don’t think for a second that won’t come back to haunt you.”
Sammie smirked, still believing he’d won the day. Dean had no intention of letting him get away with any of this, but he had to show that he was willing to punish clan members for wrongdoing, even his own mother. Her reasons may have been good, but killing a wolf of your own clan was usually punishable by death. Banishment was the best he could do for her.
“Then get out of my house and spread the word that the murderer has been found and dealt with. And Sammie? I don’t want to see you in his house ever again. Is that clear?”
“Crystal.” Sammie bowed deeply and nodded to the wolves still guarding the door. Dean watched them leave, making sure he couldn’t smell them before allowing himself to relax.
***
Gabriel pulled up outside his sister’s house in Dean’s car, taking a deep breath to prepare himself. He turned to Allora, at a loss as to what to say to her.
“You’ll be looked after here. These people will treat you with kindness, as if you were their own elder mother.”
Allora smiled warmly at Gabriel. “Your people are good people. I’ve always believed that. I’m honored by the opportunity to stay with them.”
“I…” Gabriel took a moment to gather his thoughts, wanting to choose his words carefully. “Dean will come to understand why you did what you did in time. Personally, I’d like to thank you for saving my children from being bargaining chips. I volunteered to be traded for peace. What your husband was proposing—and I believe you’re telling the truth about it—was wrong. I would have killed him myself if he’d ever suggested it to me.”
“Dean loved his father. It’s understandable that he’s upset. I hope he’ll forgive me in time, but I don’t expect it.”
“He’ll forgive you.” Gabriel reached out to take Allora’s hand. “I lost my mother a long time ago, but you’ve been a good stepmother to me, and I’ll make sure he forgives you.”
“I want you to concentrate on those pups.” Allora nodded to Gabriel’s belly, patting his hand before letting go. “And on taking care of Dean. He’s lost so much lately; he’s going to need you more than ever. You hold all the hope he has in the world.”
“You will know your grandchildren, Allora. I promise.” Gabriel laid his hand over his stomach. “I couldn’t keep them away from this place if I wanted to, anyway. This is their family, as well. They’ll grow up knowing all of it.”
Allora smiled again, and then let herself out of the car. She breathed in the forest air deeply and closed her eyes, sighing softly. “Perhaps I’ll spend more time as a wolf
, out here.”
“I’ll admit I miss running through this forest. I hope you’ll take care of it for me.” Gabriel smiled at her.
“A fair exchange, I think.” Allora nodded. “My only son, for the whole of the wilderness.”
“You haven’t lost your son,” Gabriel said softly. “You protected him, and his mate, and his children. At great personal risk, as well. He will come around. And he will most definitely come here when the babies are born, if not before.”
Allora grabbed the small bag she’d packed before leaving, containing only the handful of possessions she couldn’t live without, and some clothes and personal things. “I knew I liked you, right from the beginning.”
“I liked you as well,” Gabriel agreed, closing the car doors behind them. There was no point in locking it this far out; it was more likely that a bear would try to get into it than anyone who had a hope of driving it away. “Let me take you inside and get you settled. Michaela will be glad of the company, and the wisdom.”
Allora went ahead of him graciously, accepting her fate with all the nobility and class of the finest clan alpha. Gabriel intended to see to it that her sacrifice did not go unthanked, and that she would not suffer for the service she’d done his mate and his family. Things were going to change in the Lafie clan, whether people like Sammie and his friends liked it or not.
Chapter Five
With his father dead and his mother banished, Dean had no idea what to do but try to keep order among the clan as best he could. Gabriel was of more use to everyone than he’d ever been, though that turned out to be a good thing: people came to trust him through his good management of an impossible situation, and those who hadn’t been loyal to Sammie gathered around Gabriel as they had Allora, seeking him out for advice.
Sammie, for his part, had vanished. Dean suspected the wolves he’d left behind knew something about it, but they’d been quick to come to him and apologize, complete with gifts for Gabriel and the twins. He’d resolved to keep a close eye on them, but he was willing to believe, for the sake of peace, that they’d been misled.
The anticlimactic ending to it all left him with nothing to do except worry that he wasn’t a very good alpha, and he’d never fill his father’s shoes. In his worst moments, he worried that one day, Gabriel would come to resent him as his mother had his father.
If it ever came to that, he’d want Gabriel to kill him in the night. He couldn’t imagine a worse fate than bringing that much misery to his mate.
Gabriel was, at the moment, the one point of light in his life. He couldn’t imagine deliberately doing anything to hurt him, but he couldn’t imagine his father doing anything deliberately to hurt his mother, either. Dean imagined it had been gradual, the kind of thing that sneaks up on you when difficult choices have to be made, until the unthinkable starts to become the first thought.
Dean hoped that Gabriel’s influence would prevent him from doing that. While Gabriel had taken to his role of clan omega with ease and grace, he wasn’t at all subservient to Dean. That was what Dean had wanted from the beginning—an equal—and he’d found it. Gabriel was, if anything, his better, and he was grateful to the universe for having brought them together.
Gabriel was also his source of hope, with his ever-growing belly a sure sign that someday soon, Dean would have a new family to care for. It gave him something to look forward to, and on his darkest days, he curled up next to Gabriel with his ear pressed against him and listened to the three heartbeats of the people he loved most in the world.
So when he was awoken one night by Gabriel howling in pain, he felt for a moment as though his whole world had shattered.
“Gabe,” Dean scrambled over to him, not sure what he intended to do, but needing to know the cause of his distress. Gabriel was panting harshly, and sweating, and it took Dean several seconds too long to piece everything together.
It was nearly a week early, but he was about to be a father.
“Midwife,” Gabriel demanded through gritted teeth. Werewolves had naturally high pain thresholds, and tended toward uncomplicated births—which was just as well, because Gabriel would be very difficult to explain in an average maternity ward—but one of Gabriel’s clan had delivered, it was rumored, every wolf that had been born into it since she was sixteen, and so Gabriel had made Dean promise she’d be present when the birth finally happened.
Secretly, Dean was glad he wasn’t going to be alone in dealing with it. Werewolf births may not have been complicated, but they were still difficult and could take hours, as far as he knew. Twins were bound to bring their own problems, too, but twin births were common in Gabriel’s line.
The ten seconds it took for Gabriel’s midwife to pick up were the longest of Dean’s entire life so far. Once she’d agreed to come, Dean raced downstairs to leave the door unlocked for her, and then went straight back into the bedroom to see to Gabriel.
“How do I help?” he asked, willing to do anything that might make Gabriel’s life easier.
“Just come here and hold my hand.” Gabriel held his hand out, and Dean took it immediately before climbing back into the bed next to him. He pressed himself close, hoping the heat and contact would help to soothe him.
Though he’d said he couldn’t shift before, Gabriel’s eyes were flashing in the dark. That was a normal werewolf response to pain, and Dean had never seen Gabriel in pain before. After the first howl, he’d been completely silent.
Dean could smell fear on him, but not outright panic. He leaned in to kiss his cheek, and along his jaw, hoping to soothe him further. “It’s gonna be okay.”
“I know.” Gabriel took a deep breath. “I know it is, I just also know it’ll get worse before it gets better.”
“Hey, you are easily the strongest person I know. You can handle this.”
Gabriel nodded, but otherwise remained silent. Instead of trying to talk him through it—which clearly wasn’t working—Dean took to stroking his hair and keeping an ear out for the midwife.
When she did arrive, it wasn’t a moment too soon. Gabriel had already gotten up onto his hands and knees, and wasn’t doing a great job of containing his whimpers anymore.
“What do I do?” Dean asked the midwife, whose name he’d temporarily forgotten owing to the late hour and the sheer amount of stress he was under. He felt guilty for feeling that way at all—after all, it was Gabriel who was giving birth—but he was afraid, too. Afraid something would go wrong, and they’d lose one or both of the twins, or Gabriel himself. Dean wasn’t sure if he’d survive Gabriel’s death. The thought of it alone was enough to make him want to lie down and die himself.
“You just hold his hand, even if he crushes every bone you have.” She rubbed something from a jar onto Gabriel’s back, and then onto his belly. There weren’t many painkillers that did much for a werewolf, but there were people who had closely-guarded secrets. Dean would have happily given up his entire fortune if she—Mara, that was her name—had asked for it, just to make this a little easier on his mate.
He never truly forgot, but it was at times like this that he remembered how much he loved Gabriel, and how much love he already had for their children. Being right on the edge of fatherhood made the cloud that had been hanging over Dean’s psyche for the past four months or so lift, as though it had never been there.
This was what he’d been waiting for, and it was all going to be worth it.
“Talk to him, but don’t expect an answer. Your voice will help,” Mara said as she unpacked more supplies.
“Hey,” Dean moved so he was closer to Gabriel’s ear, and could whisper so he wouldn’t be overheard. “I know you’re in a lot of pain, and I’m gonna make that up to you a hundred times over, but I’m so happy right now. You mean the world to me, and I’m so glad I’ve got you. The first time I saw you, I thought you were beautiful, and you know what? I still think you’re beautiful right now.”
He took a deep breath, and then continued. “And I’m gonna rebui
ld this clan and set everything right, for you and for the babies, because you deserve it. I’m sorry I’ve been distant and weird lately, but I got through this because of you. I owe you everything I have, and I love you so much.”
“Aww,” Mara interjected. “This is about to start happening for real, so be ready. Tell him he’s a good boy and this’ll all be over soon.”
Dean cleared his throat to switch to what Gabriel called his alpha voice—he wasn’t sure if it was run-of-the-mill psychology, or something more mysterious, but Dean did know there was a particular tone he could take, and people were compelled to listen to him. If ever there was a use for that with Gabriel, it was in keeping him focused on this.
To Dean, the pain seemed endless, so he couldn’t imagine what it was like for Gabriel. He kept talking softly but firmly, urging him to breathe, to push, to relax and stop worrying and just listen to Mara, because she knew what she was doing.
Both an eternity later and far too soon, Dean found himself being handed the first baby, wrapped in a clean towel and impossibly tiny, settled into a form halfway between wolf and human, with tiny wolf ears sticking out from her head. She’d learn in time to control it, but there was nothing more perfect in the world to Dean.
He maneuvered himself so that he could show her to Gabriel as he continued to work on the second one. “Look what we made.” Dean beamed, unable to help himself. “She’s so beautiful.”
Gabriel nodded, and bowed his head to kiss her forehead with so much gentleness that it made Dean tear up.
Before too long—before Dean could even come to grips with his daughter—he was handed a son, as well. Gabriel collapsed into the bed by the time Dean managed to pull his eyes away from the second, perfect baby—this one complete with slowly-swaying tail sticking out from his towel.
He was about to hand the babies over, but by the time he looked again, Gabriel had fallen asleep.
“Let him be,” Mara said as she began cleaning up. “I’ve left a list of things you can do to help over the next few days, while he recovers. This is family time, and you shouldn’t confuse the babies with any scents that aren’t you or Gabriel, so no visitors for at least two days unless it’s an emergency. Then call me.”
