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“I can track them,” Seff said. “I know their scents.”
My mother placed her hand on top of our joined hands. “Not alone.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “We need...help.”
We needed to see to our dead first.
We also needed to tell the twins what had happened.
And as if she read my mind, Nereida spoke up. “Where’s Poppo-Cole and Mimi-Lucy? Are they okay?”
“What about Jack and Vera?” Arteisma asked.
Though Arteisma and Nereida never addressed their parents asDadandMom, they understood who had a blood tie to them.
My dad stroked his long, silver beard again as his hard, tanned face softened. “Poppo-Cole and Mimi-Lucy passed last night. So did Jack and Vera and everyone else in our pack.”
Tears coursed down my mother’s face. She leaned into my dad and rested her head on his shoulder. I looked from Arteisma to Nereida, giving them time to process the news. After a moment, my dad rubbed at the wetness in his eyes and let out a shuddering breath.
Arteisma was up and out of her chair in a second. She ran around the end of the table and threw her arms around him.
“Everything’s gonna be okay, Poppo,” she said through her own tears. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”
I looked around Seff to see Nereida staring, tearless, at the tabletop. Her tiny shoulders heaved up and down like she had just run up the mountain and back. I reached past Seff and touched her arm.
“Nereida?”
“Why does everyone leave us?” she growled through clenched teeth.
I understood where her question came from. “I’m not leaving you. None of us are leaving you.”
“But you did!” she shouted. “You went to live with stupid Tillman and you left us here!”
“Yes, and I’m sorry. I—”
“I thought you loved us.” She held her tight little fists on top of the table and refused to look at me.
“I do love you, Nereida. I love you and Arteisma more than anything.”
“Until you find someone else.”
It was a stab to my heart.
And I’d already found someone else.
I looked into Seff’s eyes and prayed he could understand how much these two young females meant to me. He’d already given me his promise to help me keep them. We’d need to have a discussion sooner rather than later to avoid any misunderstanding. I wouldn’t let another male, or anyone else, decide what was best for me ever again.
Seff squeezed my hand, then stood and crossed the room to refill his mug with coffee. I knelt next to Nereida and took her little hands in mine. I wanted to give her a promise. I wanted to tell her I’d do everything in my power to keep her and her sister with me, which I would. But, once the word got out our Alpha and his mate were dead, the twins’ blood family would come to claim them.
“Leaving you and Arteisma was not my choice. We’ve talked about this. Do you remember what I said?”
Nereida sat silent, staring down at our hands.
Arteisma spoke up in a quiet voice, “You said if another male wanted to take you as a mate, he’d have to take your pack as his family.”
“And that means what?” I aimed my question at Nereida.
She kept her brown eyes cast at our hands as she answered, “He couldn’t make you leave us again.”
With all we were about to go through, I hoped—I prayed—the twins’ blood family wouldn’t sweep in and steal them away. I wouldn’t let that happen. Beyond their blood ties, those wolves were strangers to them. Whatever trauma Arteisma and Nereida would face, they’d face it with me, and I’d fight to keep them.
