Now that Nami was paying close attention to the Enforcers, she realized Dewi looked weary tonight. More so than usual. Nami suspected it wasn’t due to her pregnancy so much as it was due to the weight of whatever conversation she’d had in private with Peyton and the others.
Badger took the plates from Nami that she was going to carry into the kitchen. “Ye both need to skedaddle. We men can deal wi’ this tonight.” He cleared his throat and raised his voice. “Right? Peyton, Trent, Beck, Joaquin—all o’ ye. KP duty.Now. Let’s give the ladies the night off, if ye please. Especially since most of ’em are carryin’ yer bairns.”
“Well, I, for one, won’t argue,” Gillian said, grinning as she handed the dishes in her hands to Peyton. “Thank you, Badger.” She kissed his cheek.
Trent sighed. “I won’t argue, either.” He let out a loud whistle. “Where’s my brood? Fall in for KP duty, kids.”
Charles, Kent, Arthur, and Chelsea all jumped in to help without too much grumbling.
As did Da’von, Nami’s little brother, and Brianna, his new mate and wife.
Ken, Dewi’s human husband and mate, had already taken a load of dishes to the kitchen.
Duncan hung back with Tamsin, shadowing her. Poor Tamsin was still understandably distraught, but her emotional Christmas Day eruption seemed to have helped her turn a corner. Peyton was trying to keep either Duncan or Badger—or both—with her as much as possible, for now. At least she’d eaten dinner without being coaxed into it by Duncan, who’d sat next to her.
Asia and Gillian herded their fellow pregnant women out of the way and into the living room, so they could settle on the comfortable couches to chat. With a large extended family, it was no wonder Peyton and Gillian had such a huge house so well-apportioned for entertaining. And it wasn’t pretentious, either. It felt homey, comfortable.
Lived in.
Like love had soaked into every corner to help make up for the tragedy of their parents’ murders in that very house when Dewi was only six months old. The house sat vacant for a couple of years after the murders before Badger convinced Peyton that, as pack Alpha, he should reclaim it. Thus they renovated and expanded it, removing all traces of the attack, and Peyton and Gillian had lived there ever since.
Trent and Asia Bleacke lived right next door with their children, in a house that used to be Badger’s. It was also where Dewi had spent her early childhood, before Badger, Beck, and Dewi relocated to Florida when she was twelve and named the pack’s Head Enforcer.
So many of their packmates lived in the compound. It was nice having people smile and greet her without any hint of fake pleasantries. She hadn’t once felt like she needed to be on-guard around anyone.
It also didn’t feel like people were sucking up to her because of who she was mated to, either.
She even understood why Da’von, who’d been raised in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Tampa, wanted to live here in Idaho with Brianna after he graduated from college. It felt peaceful and soothing here, like stepping into a familiar living room full of loved ones for a comforting evening of conversation. Who wouldn’t want to live like that all the time?
Didn’t mean she wouldn’t miss him like crazy.
Heck, an evening like this—surrounded by a large extended family and friends—was a relatively new experience for her. People she felt totally at ease with, who she knew she could count on.
Until earlier that year, their family was a tight-knit, self-sufficient unit. Sure, Nami had friends. And they had a few of Reggie’s family join them at holiday dinners on occasion. But, mostly, it’d been only the four Drexler siblings leaning on each other. Always having each other’s backs.
Once the dishes were finished and the evening came to a close, Beck and Nami walked back to their guest cabin. “You don’t need to slow down for me, wolf man,” she gently teased, squeezing his arm where hers was hooked around it.
“I didn’t want to go too fast.”
She chuckled. “I’m starting to see how Dewi feels.”
“What do you mean?” She sensed his genuine confusion.
“Y’all treating her like she’s fragile.”
“Yeah, well, she’s pregnant. And so are you.”
“Hard for me to forgetthat.” She paused on the cabin’s front porch and turned to him before he could open the door. “You know I’m still the same woman I was before you done knocked me up, right?”
One of the nice things about having Beck as her mate was being able to sense his emotions and spot the way his cheeks faintly flushed when she knew she’d gotten under his skin. “I’m sorry, babe. I told you, it was an accident.”
Nami chuckled again and rose onto her toes to kiss him. “I’m just messin’ with you. But all y’all need to ease up on Dewi a little, huh? She’s definitely not used to all the special attention. Maybe tell Peyton and Badger and them?”
“Easier said than done. She’s the baby.” He flashed the same panty-dropping smirk that helped win Nami over. “You of all people know how difficult it is letting the baby in the family leave the nest.” He opened the cabin door for her.
“Point taken.” She walked in ahead of him. “You starin’ at my ass, Dawson Beckett?”
“Yes ma’am. You know I am.”
