105

“Yes… I can protect your sniveling weasly old man if that’s what you need. It won’t be too much of an inconvenience… You know, if Sierra hadn’t used one of my spells to bind her life to Alora, this would have been an easy fix.” Leyanne gestures the twins to move their legs as she looks like she’s planning on leaving the room by walking past the couch where they’re sat. Her faint smile on show, and that indifferent vibe once more. “Just saying.” She adds with a hair flick before she wanders off, obviously done with this meeting and she knows what her part is in it. She doesn’t seem like she wants to sit and mull it over now she knows what role she has.

I scowl at her parting words, along with most sat present, and disagree with her silently while separately glaring after her. Tied to Juan or not, Sierra should never be put at risk. That witch really is a cold and heartless one if she thinks sacrificing a life is the answer to everything.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck … fucking, fuck!!” Colton’s spew of expletives and his hostile and loud elbow ram into the bookcase near him startles me and startles the room once more with the sudden outburst. “We need to recall the pack, pick out the strongest, apologize for making them do this all over fucking again! Then head to the mountain before dusk. God dammit. Fuck my life….. Most of them haven’t had a chance to recover and now I’m asking them to put their lives on the line all over again.” He vents and kicks the wastebin across the floor with an impressive thrust, to the desk leaving it dented as it attempts a wonky roll under a chair. All eyes following and quietly understanding his need to get the aggression out.

“The pack will do what’s needed. Not for you, but for them. The ones we left behind. They’re our familia, we won’t abandon them this time.” Meadow soothes him from her seated position, but the heaviness in the air is suffocating and I know everyone feels the same way.

We always intended one day to do something about the split pack on the mountain, I just didn’t think it would be like this. We thought we had time to come up with a plan. We have to protect them, they’re part of us too. We can’t watch them die when most of them had nothing to do with what Juan did to my family. They’re only crime was staying behind. And the reasons for that are not a simple case of loyalty to father or son or even choosing a side.

“We have zero time to plan, to even think about this. It’s now… happening, and we can’t ignore it.” Colton lets it out, the stress he’s been holding and sinks down on the arm of my chair where I automatically lean forward to rub my hand up his back to console him. My touch softening his rigid posture a tad and he leans in to scoop my other in his and pulls it to his lap to cradle tightly. My touch is his harbor sometimes, even when I feel like he’s locked up inside his own head.

“We have half a day…. We can rally what we need. Pack the trucks and sit at the mountain waiting for dusk. Juan won’t attack us if vampires are invading. He’ll be too distracted, so we can focus on the people. Separate them…. Juan’s loyal from the rest. Maybe if we divide two camps and just work our ass off to keep them safe, then Varro will do what he needs to do and realize we won’t back down.” Meadow is determined and I nod almost numbly, seeing the logic in her words and daring to hope. If we stand up for them, not standing in his way with regards to Juan, then maybe we have a chance. If his efforts are focused on one camp, then he may leave ours alone.

“I think with me there…. With Carmen there… we might have a shot at swaying them once they take down all Juan’s men. Juan, they can have him, as long as they know he has to live, and they can take him away so the rest can be free.” I chime in, knowing somewhere my words will be hurting Colton but he doesn’t react or look my way. It’s still his father but he knows it’s what he deserves.

“No, they’ll torture him… if they do that, you will all feel it when he’s close to death. You’ll feel extreme pain, They can’t put you all through that.” Cesar is drumming it over while tapping his thumb on his leg and Meadow gets up and goes to him. Wrapping her arms around his waist as he envelopes her in and hugs her back. Pulling her onto his lap as she curls up tight and for once, looks vulnerable in his arms. I’m so used to seeing strong, sexy Meadow, that this sudden need for her mate’s reassurance and the coiling up in him makes me even more determined that I have to protect my pack. We’re all scared of the outcome and yet here I am…. with the means to really end this. Simply existing.

“When will this all end? I feel like I’ve spent my life killing and fighting these damn creatures and one day I just want to settle down and think about puppies. Half the sub pack is already retired because they have their own…I want to be like that one day too.” Meadow starts to cry, shocking us all with the show of tears, and without meaning to my eyes fly straight to Carmen who glances away and bites on her lip. I curse myself for the reaction, but any mention of babies and I can’t help it, she’s the first thing I look at. Guilt sweeps over me and I stare at my hand in Colton’s instead as the heat form my cheeks engulfs my face.

“We just have to get through this…. I told you didn’t I, your papi will give you the best pups when life is more stable. Maybe this is the last hurdle. We have so much time left Princesa.” Cesar leans in and kisses her gently on the temple, and I caress my stomach absentmindedly, catching Colton’s eyes move to follow my motion and a steely expression floods his face as his warrior side shows face. That air of stubborn comes out of nowhere and he stands up, letting go of me and stiffening aggressively.

“You know, screw this. You’re right. This is the last hurdle and then after…..a stable life to raise my kids. We just got to suck it up, do what we got to do, and then be done with this shit. All of it. The vampires, the feud with the mountain, my father’s shadow, living in fear…..it all ends if we do this right and sort this out tonight. I will hand my father to that vampire myself if I have to. In a cage, bound and gagged, if it means this ends, and we all get to walk away alive.”

My breath catches in my throat and my pain aches with the way he just came out and said it.

His kids.

In one little reaction he told me what I’ve been waiting to hear since he found out. That he wants them, that somewhere he’s accepted they exist, and he is ready to protect them. He was never one for emotional chats or opening up too much when it came to feelings. Especially when he was carrying so much else on his shoulders, so this is enough for me.

I get that happy joyous reactions are a no, given our circumstances and the way he was fired with a multitude of facts in one go, but this tells me what I needed to hear. He is happy. He’s just holding it in check until he can relax, knowing we’re safe and he can let out his feelings about the fact he’s going to be a dad. He can priorities them when his responsibility to everyone else is dealt with. I know him well enough to see that this is what this is.

“With the vampires attacking, we can at least separate out the ones not loyal to your father as he’ll be focused on saving his own ass anyway.” Matteo who’s been quiet finally cuts in and throws Colton a reassuring look that we got this, and we have nothing to worry about. He’s right too. Juan won’t care about the people, only himself. His attention won’t be on the valley or anyone that can’t shield him.

His loyal will protect him and look to him alone, while they let the rest die. It won’t be hard to see which wolves we should be there for.