Or if they’d been unexpectedly disappeared against their will.
Also, if any of their pack members had suddenly come into suspicious amounts of money without a logical explanation or, likewise, a noticeable lifestyle upgrade.
Another reason Peyton wanted all of their pack moved from South and Central America and relocated to the States and Canada. Not only for their safety but to keep better tabs on them and see if any of them had suddenly become wealthy.
None of the pack Alphas wanted to worry people, or alert the guilty parties. But even more, they didn’t want to foster distrust in their packs and have people start turning on one another in a modern-day witch trials situation.
Goddammit, I wish Badger had taken over as pack Alpha.
His father had known Peyton didn’t have aspirations to be pack Alpha at this age, if ever. They’d talked about it. Several times.
Peyton had wanted to live, travel, have experiences. Maybe run the Florida operations, or hell, even South America. He hadn’t even met Gillian at that point and was still looking forward to exploring the world.
To be fair, their father hadn’t intended to be murdered at the ripe old age of 175, either. Their mom had only been 53.
Not much older than Trent was now.
It should have been him in Florida supervising their operations, not Dewi. And not his baby sister forced to step up as Head Enforcer.
Fucking Endquist.
So much useless death, so much grief all because Endquist was pissed off their mother had told himno, and the fucker had aspirations of taking over the pack.
Like he wouldn’t have been killed inside of a week by someone else in revenge.
Peyton hated sending Dewi away but they could all see her Prime Alpha nature starting to take over, wanting control in a way she was nowhere ready for. Rage, even.
In a way he certainly hadn’t felt at her age, and other Primes hadn’t reported feeling, but everyone counseled him to take precautions. Preventative measures.
Their family had experienced enough tragedy already.
Badger had been cautioning him over the previous weeks and months, hinting around that a drastic change might be necessary, set up in a way to hopefully persuade Dewi to fight to maintain control of herself.
How Peyton actually cried for one of the few times in his life that night when Gillian laid it all out to him, crying with him, reminding him how it’d nearly destroyed the pack losing their parents the way they had. That to lose Dewi if she lost control and came after him—to be forced to kill her himself—would likely destroy his own sanity, and Trent’s.
Or might even destroy Trent’s life if he couldn’t control himself and he stepped in to help or protect Dewi. Or anyone else who tried to step in to protect Dewi.
Because in a perfect world their father would have taken Dewi in hand early on, the way he had Peyton. But Badger could only do so much despite being a powerful Prime Alpha, because he wasn’t her direct blood relation.
And Dewi was a more powerful Prime than even him.
No one knew what the attack had done to Dewi, what imprinted on her impressionable brain as a result.
If only Badger had stepped in to take over the pack. Then he could have raised Dewi himself…
In the end, it worked out, albeit imperfectly but with their lives and relationships intact. Badger and Beck had taught Dewi well, trained self-control into her, and averted a potential tragedy. Only Peyton knew his threat to kill Badger and Beck if she lost control and challenged him for the pack had been an idle one. He’d hoped her love for both men would provide the extra incentive she needed to master her powers.
And then Dewi met Ken and was now expecting her first pup.
But Peyton couldn’t even give herthatbit of normalcy with this Faegan Lewis bullshit swirling around them.
Dewi had been a miracle, the little girl their mom had always wanted, another baby they’d told her she could never have. He remembered him and Trent getting to hold Dewi not long after her birth, how joyful their parents had felt.
How tiny and frail she’d felt in his arms.
“You boys have to help protect her,”their father had cautioned.“I know she’s young enough to be your daughter, but it’s even more important you build that bond with her now. The three of you are the future of this pack.”
And then…
