“No worries.” Jen waved off the she-wolf. “I’ve already begun writing the Girl Code book. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.”
“And now I’m hungry,” Nick rumbled, rubbing his stomach but staring at his mate like she was the meal on the menu.
“This is so weird,” Alice shook her head
“Weirder than finding out you’re a supernatural being and then having your blood taken to make an entirely new kind of supernatural being?”
“All of this is equal weirdness.”
“Focus, people,” Decebel spoke up, and the room once again fixated on Fane.
“Decebel is Fane’s beta,”Maxim explained through the bond.“That means he is second in charge.”
Alice nodded and then stopped herself when she realized no one would know why she was nodding, and they’d most likely think her an idiot.
“I would like this to be more than just a trip to check on your pack’s wellbeing,” Fane said. “One of the fae can take you directly there, but on your way back, I’d like you to hunt. We’ve got rogue hybrids out there, not to mention vampires that need dealt with.”
“We got spikes that need heads on them,” Jen offered. “Just saying.”
Sally rolled her eyes. “We don’t have spikes.”
Jen narrowed her eyes at the brunette healer. “I can have spikes delivered with two-day shipping. I’ve already looked into it.”
Sally’s head whipped around to look at Jacque. “I thought we agreed to monitor her online activity.”
Stella, yet another healer Alice had met, cleared her throat and then pursed her lips as she looked at Sally. “We were trying to save Lizzy, Finn, and Alice while also trying to find Alice’s mate, so she didn’t make a huge mistake and join the dark side. And some people here were also attempting to raise healthy, supernatural children to keep them from having any sort of complex when they get older. When did we have time to monitor her internet searches?”
Wadim, A.K.A. History Boy, according to Jen, cleared his throat. “A better question is when did she have time to do an internet search for spikes?”
Decebel sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m seriously considering going rogue myself, Fane. I’m pretty sure with a few other warriors, I could get more done in a couple of hours than this bunch does in a week.”
Fane wasn’t fazed by Decebel’s comment or any of the random rabbit holes the group seemed compelled to jump into.
Alice motioned around the room. “Are they always like this?”
“If I had a dollar for every time we’ve been asked that…” Bethany, a she-wolf and mate to Drake, shook her head. “Well, I’d have a bunch of dollars. I haven’t kept count, so I don’t want to just throw out some random number, but it would be a lot.”
“Yes,” Kara chimed in as she looked at Alice. “We are always like this, and the more of us that get pregnant, the worse it gets. Welcome to the wolf pack.”
“And on that note, I’m volunteering to join Maxim and Alice,” Adam said. He stood and pulled Crina up beside him.“I can flash them and Elle…” His words died off as he glanced around the room. “Where the heck are Elle and Sorin?”
“Sorin contacted me to let me know they were called away on urgent business,” Fane answered.
“Urgent business?” Jen’s eyebrows raised. “What urgent business?”
“I trust Sorin to handle whatever it is,” Fane replied. “And if they need our help, they will let us know.”
Adam’s forehead was scrunched up in concentration as he continued to look around the room. It was as if he couldn’t reconcile what Fane was telling him with the fact that the couple weren’t present and hadn’t been for the entire meeting.
“What about Peri and Lucian?” Zara spoke up for the first time. Alice noticed that Wadim’s mate seemed to be a watcher among the group. She listened and took in what was going on around her. She probably knew more about this group than any of them realized, simply because she observed silently.
“Again, urgent matters of a personal nature. Nissa is with them. Fae business.” Fane said nothing more about it but began pointing at people and spitting out orders. “Dec, Jen, Adam, Crina, Stella, and Ciro will accompany Maxim and Alice.” He turned to Adam. “Once Maxim has handled everything with his pack, please bring them to the Colorado pack mansion. I, Jacquelyn, and the others will meet you there. Dillon will expect us. Sally, Bethany, Kara?—”
“Baby duty and growing baby duty. We know.” Sally gave the alpha a thumbs-up.
Fane inclined his head at them.
As if an alarm had gone off, everyone suddenly jumped to their feet and sprang into action. Goodbyes were said, hugs were given, and jokes were made. They were a family, and Alice found she was jealous of what they had. She’d always longed for this, for people to love her just as she was and to care about herlife. To know that she was safe, to cheer her on, to be her back up when she needed them. Her own upbringing had been the complete opposite.
