“I’m gonna miss Da’von and Brianna when they move here,” Nami wistfully said.
Beck looked back at her. “It won’t happen right away, honey,” he assured her. “Da’von has to finish school first. And think of it this way, it’ll give you an excuse to come visit whenever you want.”
“The pack will make sure they’re taken care of,” Dewi assured her. “And he’ll make good money working with Gillian.”
“No offense, Dewi? But my fears aren’t only because I’ll miss him and Brianna,” Nami said. “This is Idaho. And the population skews to an overwhelmingly melanin-lacking majority with less than liberal views on diversity of various flavors. Da’von and Brianna can’t spend their entire lives living on the pack compound. Besides, look what happened to your momma and daddy inside the pack compound. And they were both shifters! A Prime Alpha, and wasn’t your momma an Alpha, too? Don’t forget the Seguras came onto pack land and nearly killed people.”
Ken watched as Dewi briefly met her gaze in the rearview mirror. “You’re right,” Dewi said. “Those are legitimate fears, and I’m sorry that I don’t have guarantees to ease your mind. What I can promise is that all Da’von and Brianna have to do is tell us what will make them feel safest, and the pack will take care of it.”
Beck reached back and patted Nami’s knee. “Honey, they’re adults. You have to let them live their lives. They want to move here.”
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Nami grumbled. “Can’t Peyton talk them into staying in Florida? We can build them a beautiful house on that new property, right? Build us one right next door? And ones for Lu’ana and Malyah, too. We can all live there.”
Ken stayed out of it. For starters, he was too tired to think straight, much less not bungle any attempt to reassure Nami.
And he wasn’t Black, so he couldn’t put himself in Nami’s shoes and truly understand her fear. His efforts to be actively anti-racist could only take him so far before he knew when he had to shut up and listen and educate himself.
But if it was up to him, yeah, he’d move Nami and all of her family to Idaho, so they could all live here. Her points were valid that the pack compound wasn’t impervious to threats, but at least they’d be surrounded by greater numbers of shifters in greater population concentrations, close at hand to step in if any threats materialized.
And to him, that was a comfort.
Their kids could grow up with other shifters and mostly without fear of clueless humans stumbling over their secrets.
Then, just maybe, the persistent, nagging, nameless anxiety he increasingly felt would finally shut the hell up and let him enjoy his otherwise fairytale life.
Chapter Eleven
Aisling
I know I’m gonna regret this.
Early that morning, Aisling stood in the doorway of Tamsin’s room, her rucksack slung over her shoulder. She’d left the bulk of her things at Dewi’s, a perfect excuse to leave if she couldn’t handle sleeping here.
Badger and Duncan had done their thing with Aisling yesterday evening. Then she and Badger dropped by the various households to introduce Aisling to the parents and kids and give them advanced notice that Aisling was the new babysitter and teacher. Badger’s rationale was that it’d be less jarring on the kiddies that way. Plus, he could reinforce the suggestions with his Prime this morning when the parents dropped them off.
This morning, Mateo greeted Aisling and Badger upon their arrival and was currently in the kitchen with Badger and Brianna, making breakfast. Carl was in the shower. Da’von had already left for school.
None of them would be told about Aisling’s mate bond with Tamsin at Aisling’s request.
She didn’t want anyone accidentally letting it slip.
Alone, Aisling stood in the doorway, unable to move. Staring at the bed, she closed her eyes and slowly, deeply inhaled, heart racing as her senses lit up like a Guy Fawkes night sky.
Bloody hell.
This was the sweetest torture imaginable.
Finally stepping into the room, she set down her ruck and fell, face-first, onto the end of the bed, once again deeply inhaling.
Not only were her nerve endings lighting up as Tamsin’s scent filled her lungs, places deep inside her began to pleasantly ache in ways they…
Well, never had. Not even with the best of lovers.
Eyes closed, she worked her way up the bed, to the pillows, rubbing her face against them as she kept sniffing, squirming, close to ripping off all her clothes so she could wallow and cover herself in Tamsin’s?—
“Ahem.”
Aisling’s eyes snapped open at the sound of Carl clearing his throat in the doorway but she didn’t lift her head, didn’t look. “What do ye want? Or are ye just one of them peepin’ Toms?”
