by Dahlia Rose
“Come on, Babydoll, let’s get you cleaned up.” Dom hefted himself off the bed and picked her up in his arms.
She squealed as he threw her over his shoulder and gave her a quick smack on the rump. Alex moved to follow them into the shower, and she saw the grin on his face and the happiness in his eyes. Their gaze met for a moment and she winked at her second mate. Yes they’d be fine, let the Guardian come. They were in for quite an unexpected surprise when they did.
Chapter Five
Three weeks. Gray left and didn’t come back for three weeks after she saw him outside her window. Even when Vanity tried to track him she came up with dead ends. He was around the area, which was a certainty because his scent was there. But just like his color, his name when they followed it faded into nothingness. He was smoke blown away on the breeze. Tempest was frustrated because while the danger had passed from Boscoe and his werewolves she knew in her heart there was something more, something else was coming and it would be the worst fight of their lives. She told Dominic and Alex her fears and they didn’t cast them aside. They were worried too, because God knows what could be coming next.
But finally, one morning she opened the back door and Gray was sitting calmly, as if he’d never left. She didn’t say a word and only stepped back to let him enter. He trotted past her and went down the hallway. She followed him and went upstairs to wake Alex and Dominic. They were sleeping on opposite sides of the bed, with the space where she slept empty. She smiled, knowing that if she were to lie there right now she’d be curled between them perfectly.
“Hey my darlings, Gray is here,” she said from the doorway.
They sat up, moved quickly to the opposite sides of the bed, and found their clothes. She blew them a kiss and went back downstairs. In the kitchen she started a big breakfast. She pulled biscuit dough from the fridge. She always made extra of everything just in case and right now this was one of those moments. She started the bacon and turned to whip a crate of eggs for omelets and boiled oatmeal for Matthew. Heath and Vanity were still at the main house while he made repairs to the cottage. She loved feeding the little boy, and his favorite was oatmeal with diced fresh fruit. Tempest had her kitchen working like a well-oiled machine when Alex and Dominic came down to the kitchen. They pressed a kiss on each of her cheeks and went to pour coffee for themselves.
Vanity rushed through the door. Her bathrobe was tied crookedly, her hair was tousled with sleep, and she carried Matthew on her hip. “Gray is here and he’s showering… um, I guess you know.”
Tempest smiled. “Yes, we know. How about you leave Matthew here and go get dressed. I have oatmeal for him.”
“Okay, thank you. If you keep spoiling him, he won’t want to go home,” Vanity teased and handed him to Tempest before she walked out of the door.
“Watch the bacon, would you let me get him in the high chair,” Tempest asked Dom.
“He always burns it,” Alex complained. “You get it crispy the right way.”
“How did you two eat before I came into your world?” Tempest asked.
“We grilled a lot, ate around the burnt part of stuff, and breakfast biscuits came from Bojangles,” Dom answered. “And Alex, burnt bacon is still good bacon.”
Tempest got Matthew’s oatmeal and put it on his high chair with the baby spoon. “Hey little man, time for yum yums.”
Alex came close by and rubbed her shoulders. “You are so good with him, with all the babies in the pack.”
“Now it’s your turn, make sure he doesn’t put too much in at once, he’s still learning.” Tempest ruffled the baby’s hair and then Alex’s.
When she took over for Dom he went over to make airplane noises at Matthew while he ate his oatmeal. The baby’s giggles filled the kitchen and she looked back at the picture they made at the table. Both men were giving Matthew attention and drinking coffee. They’d make good fathers. Together they would make a great family if given the chance, which she hoped they got. She was placing the breakfast on the table when Vanity and Heath returned and they all watched the door waiting for Gray as they ate breakfast. Talking of simple things, but the air of tension was all around. What would he say when he finally sat that the table? It seemed that they would be finding out because he stood in the doorway, a quiet but deadly presence looking at them.
“Will you eat?” Tempest asked, making the first move and getting up to get him a plate from the cupboard next to the fridge.
He sat without a word and waited patiently for her to hand him a plate ladened with breakfast foods.
“Coffee?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Gray answered. “Black, please.”
She poured him a cup of coffee and they were all silent while he ate. All except Matthew, his innocence kept him jabbering away, completely unaware of the tension in the room.
“You cook like your mother did, you add a hint of fresh grated nutmeg in the biscuits,” Gray said suddenly.
She almost dropped her mug and she looked at him in shock. “How… How would you know that?”
“Because I’m your father,” he said simply and took a sip of his coffee.
He said the words as casually as if he was talking about the weather, and she felt a chill move from her head down to her toes. My father, my father!
“I have a father, I grew up with him in my life, along with my brother,” Tempest said slowly. “If you have some kind of endgame with these lies…”
Gray shook his head. “No lie, he’s your brother’s father and he raised you as his, but I’m you’re kin, your blood.”
“Is that why the werewolf’s bite didn’t affect her like normal humans?” Alex asked.
She was still reeling from the news and not able to form a cognitive question. Like a tablecloth that held a bevy of crystal and china, it was as if all she knew had just been torn away in one quick tug, and the remnants of her life lay shattered on the floor.
“Her wolf was suppressed by the gift of precognition in her mother’s blood,” Gray explained as he took a forkful of eggs. He chewed and swallowed before speaking again. “The werewolf wanted to make her one of his, but he enhanced my bloodline and she became the white wolf.”
“Okay, let’s back up to how you are my father,” Tempest snapped.
“We must back up further than that,” Gray said.
“To where?” Tempest asked.
‘To who I am really am, one of the first Guardians,” Gray answered.
“Holy shit,” Dom snarled. “You’ll bring them right to our door.”
“They were already coming, from the time she was bit,” Gray said. “Before Vanity came to me I was already on my way here to announce myself.”
“How were you one of the first?” Alex asked. “That means you’d have to be older than five hundred.”
Gray chuckled. “Much older.”
“That means we’re kin,” Vanity said with a smile. “I knew I felt close to you.”
Tempest smiled. “We are close, regardless.”
“I left the Guardians because I did not believe in their clandestine ways of swooping in on a pack and taking what was not theirs, asking for money as penance,” Gray explained. “They wanted to be revered as Gods over all of us and taking women away from their children and mates to serve them was not uncommon. My wife was one such person taken, my daughter who was the only other white wolf before you, was also stolen away from me, and I was a part of them. They craved power more than honor and I was cast out, beaten, torn apart, and left for dead.”
Tempest saw a flash, like a snapshot of years past. “My mother found you and cared for you, and you showed her your true nature.”
Gray nodded. “She loved me and your father both and in the end could not choose and I could not let her. I loved her but while she offered me such comfort the grief of my own loss could not be assuaged. She told me about the pregnancy and was truthful to your father. He chose to stay to raise you as his own if she never saw me again. He offered her mo
re life and safety than I ever could. You would be hidden and safe from the Guardians so I left, keeping watch from a distance but never being seen.”
“How would they know about me to come here?” Tempest asked.
“We won’t allow them to kill her, we will wage war on them,” Dom said angrily. “They won’t know how much hell we both would reign down to keep her safe.”
“They won’t want to destroy her, they will want to use her, especially knowing of her visions,” Gray said. “The white wolf is rare, the white wolf with the power to see the future and glimpse the past. She would be an asset like no other.”
“What happened to your wife and daughter?” Tempest asked.
“They killed my wife, such a sweet wolf but she fought viciously for her child until they killed her,” Gray answered and she heard the grief still in his voice. “Your sister, the only other white wolf, they used until she could no longer give them children to keep their ranks high. Then they discarded her to die alone.”
“Oh my god,” Tempest breathed out.
“To mate and breed with a white wolf is said to give a line of superior children.” Gray shook his head sadly. “This would be the fate they used you for, especially to see if the offspring could carry your trait of visions.”
“That won’t ever happen, they come here they will die,” Alex said bluntly. “I guess the question is, are you on their side or ours?”
Gray looked at Tempest. “I’ve protected you all your life and you haven’t known it. I would not be here if I would let the Guardians anywhere near what’s dear to me again.”
“I still don’t know how they would know of me,” Tempest murmured. “I’m still trying to digest that the father I knew as my own is not. But how the hell would they be watching me?”
“The rumors of a human female living with two wolf mates has already been spread.” Gray smiled. “While packs are spread out, trust me, news goes around. I came to see for myself this woman who dared take on two wolf mates. I must admit my heart dropped when I saw it was you. As a father the urge to beat them senseless for touching you came hard and fast. But then I saw them and you and how you were together, the love that flows between you and them. I knew they would protect you as I would.”
“And so will the rest of the pack,” Heath added. “She is our Beta and we will not lose her to some archaic old Wolves who are long in the tooth and short on common sense.”
“Don’t underestimate them, they are a vicious breed,” Gray warned. “Some of the offspring of my daughter are in their ranks, and they are bred for killing.”
“I can’t even believe that we could be fighting cousins, relatives,” Vanity said.
“They are kin by blood only and that is diluted by the madness of the Guardians,” Gray answered. “I cannot call them grandchildren and you won’t be able to call them family. If they cannot get Tempest for the Guardian’s will then they will kill this entire pack without a second thought.”
Vanity was sitting next to Matthew and she instantly scooted closer to her son. That broke Tempest’s heart to know that everyone in the Cormina pack was facing being wiped out because of her. She wouldn’t allow it, she just couldn’t bear the thought of a massacre at the hands of the Guardians.
“We need to send mothers and children away,” Tempest said firmly.
“They won’t leave, the pack is stronger together and they won’t even think about leaving it weakened,” Dom said.
“Well we need to come up with a plan, because I refuse to see anyone hurt, not one person, understand!” She stood as emotions took the best of her and tears fell freely. “This isn’t a debate, we find a way to keep everyone safe or I’ll give myself to the Guardians to protect all of you.”
“We wouldn’t let you do that and you know it,” Alex snapped. He stood and pulled her close. “We’ll get it worked out, I promise sweetheart, we will.”
“Calm yourself daughter, it’s not good for the babies,” Gray said. Everyone at the table stopped, and silence reigned as they digested this piece of news while Gray calmly sipped his coffee.
“What… did… you say?” Tempest sank into the chair that sat between her mates.
“We would know, as wolves…” Dom’s word faded off.
Alex kept looking at her and then went pale with shock on his face. “Two?”
“It’s early yet and I am older than everyone at the table combined, so I can sense it sooner.” Gray smiled. “Two planted in your belly, one for the black wolf and one for the brown. We have much more to protect now, not only your pack but your mates and your unborn children.”
“Twins?” Tempest pressed her hands to her stomach, thrilled and terrified at once. “I’m going to have babies?”
“Yes, and we won’t let the Guardians get their hands on them. I will stake my life to protect you and your children,” Gray said.
Dom turned and pressed his face into her neck. She could feel his lips as he pressed kisses against the soft skin, and while he was whispering something, she could not hear because he was saying it too low. Alex did the same on the opposite side and together their strong arms linked around her, forming a warm cocoon. There was no need to ask if they were happy, she could feel it as intensely as her own emotions. They were going to be parents. Vanity and Heath were beaming and when she glanced at Gray he had a small smile on his face even though there was sadness in his eyes. He said he would die to protect her but she could see he didn’t think they could win.
“There’s only one thing to do,” Alex said when they released her. All three of their hands were now pressed over her stomach. He met Dom’s gaze and he gave him a nod.
“What do we do?” Heath asked.
“We take the fight to them on their turf. Gray can lead us there and we take them out,” Alex said.
“They may be vicious but we’re ex-military and we’ve done too many ops missions to forget our training. We’re deadly,” Dom added. “We take it to their door and leave you here safe, our home won’t have to see bloodshed.”
Tempest shook her head. “I don’t like this plan. I don’t think I could stand sitting here and not knowing. If you died I wouldn’t be able to stand it. I love you both so much.” She cast a glance to Vanity, Heath, and Matthew. “I love all of you so much.”
“We’ll figure it out, Tempest.” Dom kissed her head. “And we’re not going anywhere, we have so much now because of you. They’ll be damned to hell before we give that up.”
“Then the plan is set, we take the fight to them,” Gray said. “I will watch over your men, Tempest.”
“I’d like for us to talk just me and you, soon, about my mom, about everything,” Tempest said.
Gray nodded. “We shall, but for now let’s enjoy the lull and plan our strategy carefully.”
So they had a plan, well sort of, and she’d learned by the most unconventional methods that she was to be a mother. There was so much at stake. Their happiness or sorrow was balanced on the edge of a sword. Death was stalking them from every shadow, and who knew when the Guardians would strike. But one thing was assured, she was loved and loved Dom and Alex in return. Her mates were by her side and they would fight for everything they held dear. A new chapter in their lives was opening, a new path that gave them so much to hope for. She wished as they talked a vision, a glimpse into the future that could give her some comfort. If she only knew that they would survive this maybe she wouldn’t have the fear clutching at her chest. But again, hoping for something she couldn’t control at will was like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. Her mind’s eye gave her nothing and was utterly dark.
The End
Coming Fall 2014, Book 5 in The Cajun Mates Series. The Fight For Tempest by Dahlia Rose.
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