Dewi’s stomach rolled. “But…a kid?”
There was one wolf about two hundred years ago, back in the old country. He was, fortunately, an honorable fellow. He felt it but forced himself to walk away and sent one of his brothers to talk to the family. Offered them a generous dowry if they’d let him meet her once she was of age, but to keep it a secret from everyone until then. They did, and he did, too. He kept in touch with them. Spent the years building his holdings and a house. Met her at a feast once she was of age and, lucky for him, she felt an instant mate bond in return. But that was a best case.”
“What’s a worst case?”
“From the past? I know one wolf who was killed by the girl’s family. She was but a toddler, and he was an idiot who threatened the family. Unfortunately for him—or, rather, fortunately for the girl—they were much greater numbers than him. I’ve heard other stories, not sure how true they are or not, with a similar result.”
“But those were all in the past?”
He smiled, but it looked sad. “Aye.” He met her gaze. “And, of course, there was yer parents.”
Chapter Eight
Dewi’s gaze widened as she stared at Badger. “I’m sorry, whut now? My parents?”
He nodded, wistfully smiling. “Aye.”
She stared, blinking. When Badger didn’t continue, Dewi kept her voice down so as not to wake the baby. “You cannot drop that steaming pile of bullshit in my lap and not explain it.”
He smirked. “Ye mean ye don’t want me to not explain it. Because I can stand up right now and walk away without tellin’ ye a single feckin’ word.”
Dewi clenched her fists to help keep her cool, but then Badger laughed. “Calm down, Dew. Of course I’ll tell ye. I’m just yankin’ yer chain…”
And…
He told her.
Stunned, Dewi sat back and processed everything once Badger finished telling the story. “How come no one told me any of that before? Do Peyton and Trent know?”
“They don’t know all the details. Back then, with us first losin’ Louisa, then Duncan, and then yer parents…” He shrugged. “Those details didn’t matter any longer and only woulda been a distraction.” He sighed. “I also owe Ken an apology because I fudged the truth a little way back when, after he killed Endquist. Told him I didn’t know much about the story because I was still…gobsmacked.”
He wore a grim look. “Spent a lot of years tryin’ to go on after losin’ Duncan, then yer parents. It was easier to not tell the full story to him.” A sad smile appeared. “But then we got Duncan back. And Endquist is mulch, so it doesn’t matter anymore, I suppose.”
“Mom really pulled a gun on Endquist?”
“Aye. Because of her commute, Duncan and Charlie both insisted she carry. Remember, back then, it was even more desolate. All she told us was he surprised her at school and she didn’t feel comfortable with him stayin’ around the pack compound if he was unmated. She asked Duncan to wait until after the next Muster to send him away, in case he met someone. We didn’t find out about her drawing on him until after the fact. I think she was so softhearted she didn’t want Duncan to rip his throat out.”
“Or Dad.”
Badger slowly nodded. “Endquist never woulda lived to see the sunset had yer father known about the incident. And yer mum, Goddess bless her, she was a beautifully kind soul. Tried to give people the benefit of the doubt, but she was also her father’s daughter. Once ye got on her wrong side, and I don’t mean through a simple misunderstanding because she was incredibly slow to anger, ye never faced a colder person. She was a strong Alpha. But she was also the kind of Alpha we raised ye to be—knowin’ yer true strength is not defaulting to force when ye can use other means.”
“The strongest people don’t feel a need to tell people how strong they are,” she said, still processing…everything.
That was something they all drilled into her from as far back as she could remember.
“Exactly. That’s one of the reasons Duncan gave Endquist the jobs he did when the man first arrived. To evaluate his mettle. Good Primes, who are loyal to their pack, they do what the Pack Alpha tells them to, without question or complaint. And when they prove themselves—which they normally do—they quickly advance. There was no way Duncan was making him an Enforcer or givin’ him any kind of authority until he knew the man was mature enough to handle it. Especially when he grew up without a pack and knowin’ the hierarchy.”
“I find it hard to believe he just left without protest.”
“After the Muster, Duncan and I went and had a little talk wi’ him. Duncan gave him a generous payout to leave, more than enough to get started somewhere else. Nothin’ different than we’d done fer others before him. Duncan told Endquist if he left immediately and quietly, Duncan would vouch for him with another pack should he join one. But we never heard anything else from him.”
He darkly scowled. “Which is why I bloody well hate that I never thought about him bein’ behind yer parents’ deaths. I suppose if I’d heard of him kickin’ up a fuss or bad-mouthin’ Duncan or yer parents, he woulda come to mind straight away. But honestly, we had enough to deal with that we never paid attention to wolves that didn’t bark, ye ken? And those events were over fifty years in the past.”
Badger sighed. “Yer mum was a kind heart. Too kind, I’d say in retrospect. It’s why she was so beloved by our pack—because she was kind. People think that only weak people are kind, but that’s the wrong way ’round. Only strong people can be truly kind. Because being kind means making even a small part of yerself vulnerable. Anyone can be a mean, miserable bastard. But being kind?” He punctuated it with a sharp nod. “Never seen a kind person who wasn’t strong in some way.”
Later, after Duncan and Ken returned, Badger filled them in and they gathered in the office with Badger and Dewi to talk.
“I think he covered all the bases,” Duncan said with a sad smile. “I’d forgotten about the sword.”
