“And they’re both wolves. Nami’s not. If we try to have a baby shower for Dewi without Nami…” He literally shuddered. “Let’s just say I might be the pack Alpha, but evenIdon’t want to cross Nami like that. I think Beck would sit back with a grin on his face and watch her take me apart at the seams.”
Ken smiled. “You’re right. He would.” He studied his brother-in-law. At forty-eight, Peyton was twenty-three years older than Dewi, but he looked like he was in his early thirties. “Why not just have her baby shower now?” Ken asked.
“Because she won’t be able to focus on it and enjoy it. Plus, I want the day to be all abouther. She was generous and shared her wedding day with both Nami and Malyah. Trent and I want her baby shower to be about no one but Dewi. Well, and the baby, duh. And you.”
“In other words, this is more for you and Trent than for her? Just like the wedding?”
Peyton sat back, holding out his hands. “Sue me. Nothing about Dewi’s life has been ‘normal,’ even by our standards. We want thisonething, considering how crazy your wedding day ended up being. Besides, Dewi gets dragged out here for everything else. Forthis, we can all travel toherfor a change.”
Ken grumbled but knew he needed to go along with this. “Okay, fine. I’ll do my best. Any idea when you want to have it?”
“I’ll find out from Gillian and let you know. Probably no later than the end of February.”
“I’m guessing you’ll want me to keep Dewi away from the house while you guys all show up and prepare?”
“Exactly. Take her somewhere for a weekend alone. Tell her you want a private pre-baby vacation. Hell, you guys really haven’t had alone-alone time. Every time you try—”
“All hell breaks loose. Yes, I know. Don’t remind me.” Ken didn’t want to think about the cross-country hike for their lives he and Nami made right before their weddings, or what a debacle their Christmas vacation had been so far. “We’re cursed. Well,I’mapparently cursed.”
Peyton gentled his tone. “That’s kind of harsh. You’re not cursed. You’ve just had a run of…interestingluck.”
Ken snorted. “That’s the understatement offorever. That’s like saying me and Nami took an interesting country drive that day.”
Peyton laughed. “You realize you driving off the side of a mountain—and surviving unharmed—andfinding Duncan and bringing him home, has cemented your place in pack lore forever, right?”
Everyone had believed the siblings’ grandfather—their mother’s father and the pack Alpha before Duncan had passed the responsibility to their father, Charles Bleacke—had died in a car accident forty-seven years earlier. Instead, Duncan had spent it roaming the Idaho woods in shifted form, nearly insane with grief from mourning the loss of his wife only a few years earlier.
“Yes, I do, unfortunately. Can I add that it really makes me uncomfortable when people treat me like I’m some sort of hero?”
Peyton’s eyes widened. “But youarea hero!”
“No, I’mnot. I was frickinglucky.Wewere fricking lucky. I had no other options. I knew if I didn’t drive off the road, we weredefinitelydead. I thought maybe we wouldn’t die if I did that. Except I was still pretty sure we were dead one way or another. I think it surprisedmemost of all that wedidn’tdie.”
Peyton grinned. “You have big balls, man. We keep telling ya.”
Ken rolled his eyes. “I was kind of hoping everyone was done obsessing about my balls. Y’all think they’re big, and Dewi’s probably wanting to cut them off. I’ll be lucky if she ever lets me close to her again after the baby’s born.”
“Nah. She’s going to be back to her old self in no time. She’s just never been through this before.”
“Neither have I.”
“I mean having to pull back. Not running at full-throttle.”
That was absolutely the truth. Dewi normally had two speeds—asleep andgo.
And if you were in her way when she was going somewhere, you stood a good chance of being mowed down.
“I still don’t know how I’ll keep this a secret from her,” Ken said, “but I’ll do my best. You owe me, though.”
“Yes, we do.” Peyton’s expression sobered. “Seriously, Ken.” He leaned forward in his chair. “Trent and I,allof us. We owe you a debt we cannot ever repay. YoumetDewi.”
Ken felt heat fill his face. “I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he muttered.
“It doesn’t matter. You make Dewi smile. You make herhappy. Her soul has finally started healing, and that’s something none of us have been able to help her with in her almost twenty-six years. I’d say that put you at the exact right place at the exact right time.”
* * * *
It was nearly one p.m. when Ken, deep in thought, headed back to their guest cabin behind Peyton and Gillian’s house. Dewi also had a morning full of meetings today, with Duncan, Badger, Beck, Trent, Joaquin, and several other Enforcers. Plus, Dewi wanted to introduce Carl and Mateo to any Enforcers who hadn’t yet met the two men. They were all busy going over logistics regarding the killer corgi situation.
