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Behind me, a gust of cold air drifted in as the cookhouse door opened and closed. I turned to see Viveca standing there. Her eyes darted from one twin to the other.
She took a breath then spoke to the room, her tone brisk and straightforward. “I contacted Jack Lillie’s family before I came here. They have no interest in Jack and Vera’s offspring and have given me permission to claim them for my own.”
My wolf half bristled, as if anticipating an attack. With my jaw clenched, I fisted both my hands into tight balls, holding the protective wolf inside with everything in me.
“We talked about this on the ride up here,” Brutus said in a low growl. “You agreed—”
“I agreed to an official adoption tribunal, and I still do,” she snapped. “Until that time, my sister’s offspring will live with me in North Dakota and become part of the Aneta Pack once the tribunal has given me full custody.”
I stood and stepped away from the table, my entire body trembling. Seff stood next to me.
“Viveca.” My voice trembled. Seff laced his fingers with mine as I took a slow, calming breath. “Your sister and her mate gave Arteisma and Nereida up to the Red Lodge pack. For all but six months of their lives, they’ve lived with me. I’ve raised them, taught them our ways, loved them every day since the day they were born. If you take them away, you’ll be taking them from the only home they’ve ever known. I—”
“It’s my right!” she burst out.
Seff stepped forward. “No, it’s really not.”
Viveca glared at him. “I don’t know who you are, and I don’t care. Those females—”
“Do you even know their names?” Seff growled. “Because you haven’t used them one time. Not one damn time have you called the twomost importantpeople in this room by their names.”
All Viveca could do was stare at mysakanawith hate-filled eyes.
This is not love. This is not how someone behaves when they truly love someone.
I opened my mouth to speak, but my heart seemed to have jumped into my throat.
The two little females in question pushed their way between Seff and me. I took another calming breath as Arteisma took my hand.
“I want you to know, Viveca.” I looked up at mysakanato see determination set on his handsome face. “Seff and I will fight you, and the head of your line, for custody of Arteisma and Nereida.”
A burning sensation slammed into my chest. I glanced around and saw Decker standing across the room, a look of utter shock on his face. I stared him down as his eyes squinted and red flushed his neck, filled his cheeks, and spread into his ears. I braced for the outburst.
“Are youserious?” Decker’s glare shifted from me to Seff. “You think a tribunal will hand over two little females to some unworthy male who was exiled from his own pack?”
Seff bristled beside me. An unwelcomed feeling of guilt and sadness came over me through our connection.
“Hey, dickwad,” Jessy snapped. “Seff was totally forgiven for what happened, and you know it.”
“And she”—Deck pointed at me—“broke her mating bond. Ran away from her mate because she didn’t get her way.”
Jessy growled and jumped from her seat with Dain standing up behind her, his big hand wrapped around her forearm, and if I knew my cousin, her mate’s effort was most likely to keep her from charging across the room to slap my brother.
“Do you have any clue what that bastard did toyour sister?”
Every head in the room seemed to swivel my way and immediately back to my brother. The vibe in the cookhouse shifted aggressively. If my brother had known Tillman abused me, it was Decker’s duty to make sure I’d been removed from the situation to a safe place and then notify our Alpha of the abuse.
But...Tillman had walked a very fine line.
And, for the most part, I allowed it.
“Jessy.” I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter, Des. Your brother is defending him out of blind loyalty. There’s so much he doesn’t know. So many...” Jessy seemed to catch herself mid-sentence.
Those were my secrets to tell. Jessy had secrets, too. Secrets she carried and kept hidden.
While she lived in San Francisco in Rule Arwan’s pack, something had happened to her. Something she’d shared with me when I’d told her what Till had put me through. She’d never told Dain or her family. I hadn’t agreed with her about keeping it from her mate, hersakana, but now, more than ever, I understood why.
