Badger sadly smiled. “That’s why he said it. But Duncan’s right. Charlie didn’t have most of these concerns when he was Pack Alpha. The technology wasn’t there. If it were, I have no doubt he’da had someone like Ken doin’ the same thing.”
“Is that everything?” she asked.
The men nodded. “If there’s more Peyton hasn’t told us, or triggered for us, we aren’t aware of it,” Duncan said. “You’re a mother now, Dewi. You can’t run into danger without stopping to think first.”
“Did that ever stop you, Da?”
He sucked his teeth. “I’m not making this a gender issue. Peyton is fully aware of how reactionary you can be. And in many ways, it makes you excellent at your job. But times change, and as life situations change it means your ways have to change and adapt, too.”
“We have to take the fight to them,” she insisted. “We can’t simply sit back and circle the wagons,” she said. “If we do that, it’s not if, but when, until we have to fight off the threat.”
“We’re not doin’ that,” Badger said. “We’re proceedin’ wi’ caution an’ care so we have all the information and can set up our chess pieces before we take them out. Sometimes, I think ye were born too late. Ye’d been at home chargin’ across a valley with a broadsword in hand and screamin’ like a banshee.” He smiled. “Ye’d likely have given Boudica a run fer her money.”
Dewi snorted.
“Peyton and Trent tried to shield ye,” Badger added. “Ye’d already been through so much. Despite everythin’, they wanted ye to have as normal a life as possible before ye ended up wadin’ through the shite. Ye were never supposed to be dragged into this. Yer their baby sister, an’ they never wanted any of this darkness to touch yer soul.”
“Don’t you all understand sharing this burden with me sooner would have eased it among all of us?”
“Perhaps,” Badger said. “But had we done that, ye might not have met Ken, aye? Or had Lyssa?”
She started to argue, but then her jaw snapped shut. “Yeah,” she finally admitted. “But why did he and Jake go to Mexico?”
“We can’t go guns a-blazin’ into a situation we don’t understand,” Badger added. “There is a method to Peyton’s madness. Hard to believe, I know. We can’t fight battles on multiple fronts. An’ we need to know what that woman in Mexico knows, or suspects. This isn’t a sprint—it’s a marathon. Yer spirit is right, but now ye see the larger chessboard, aye?”
“Yeah.” She picked at her cuticles. “I hate that I dragged Ken into this.”
“No, stop that, lass,” Badger said. “He loves ye fierce. And he’s the grandson of two shifters. The Goddess Herself put her finger on ’im and led ye to ’im.”
She glared at him. “You sure about that? If the Goddess is real, maybe it was Her polar opposite who set all this up.”
Duncan laughed. “No. Humans are evil enough without needing any supernatural assistance.”
“True,” she said.
“Can ye promise us no goin’ off half-cocked then?”
She nodded and stood. “I will not reenact a modern version of Custer’s last stand. I promise.”
Badger smiled, offering her a hug, which she stepped into.
“Sorry for us growlin’ atcha, fuzzball,” Badger said.
She didn’t expect the tears. She didn’t realize she was crying—sobbing, even—until she processed that Duncan and Badger had surrounded her and were holding her.
“I thought Peyton was dead,” she tearfully gasped. “I thought I’d lost him and didn’t even get to tell him goodbye or that I loved him. And then Ken was gone?—”
“We know,” Duncan gently said. “Life is short. And we’re always learning and growing and adapting. I wasn’t angry with you earlier, sweetheart; I needed to snap you out of it.”
“No, I deserved it. You were right.” She lay her head against Badger’s chest. “I miss you calling me fuzzball.”
He chuckled, and the way it rumbled through his chest brought back countless memories of being snuggled against him as a kid and feeling safe and loved. “I’m sorry. How about I do that in private, then?” He palmed her cheeks and stared into her eyes. “Jes’ like we respect the Pack Alpha, people need to respect ye as well. I won’t do anythin’ to lower their opinion of ye.”
“Okay. But I do like it.” She looked back at Duncan. “You, too, Da.”
Badger hugged her again as Duncan broke away to retrieve a box of tissues for her. “We love ye fierce, Dew. None of us claim to be perfect. We’re all doin’ the best we can with what we got.”
“I know.” She blew her nose. “Love you, too.” She turned to Duncan. “Love you, too, Da.”
