“Pretty much, yeah.He wasn’t showing signs of being a Prime yet, but Callum and I both agree he probably is.At the very least, he’s a strong Alpha wolf shifter.”
“How many?”Gillian asked.
“How many what?”
“Did they kill?How many children did they kill over the years?”
He took a long moment to answer.“We don’t know for sure,” he said.“Of kids born there, countless embryos and fetuses, which were vivisected to study.We’re still going through records, but they killed at least one hundred babies who were born alive, and dozens of kids of various ages.Some kids were adopted out to families.Tracking them will take a while.We also don’t know yet how many children were captured and then killed, but it’s far beyond a non-zero number.This little guy was the last one born, though.And they were preparing for another round of IVF with ten surrogates chosen, so our timing was fortuitous.”
Gillian closed her eyes and leaned her head against Peyton.“I hope those fuckers burn in hell.”
Dewi cleared her throat.Gillian looked to see her smiling.“Glad I’m not the only one with a swear jar,” Dewi teased.
Peyton smirked.“I’ll allow all swears today.Situation kind of warrants it.”
“All kidding aside,” Dewi said, “what happens next?”
“What happens next,” Peyton said, “is that Ken’s already made us a reservation for a month at the beach resort you two love down south, a unit overlooking the beach.”He caressed Gillian’s cheek.“As long as you don’t mind one extra coming with us.I doubt he’s ever been outside before all this.”
“Will he have bad memories?”Gillian asked.
“No.Callum took care of that.While I held him, we played videos for him to listen to while Callum did it, of you with Adair, talking to her before and after she was born.To imprint your voice on him.”
Gillian looked around.“Oh, where’s Ken?”
Dewi grinned.“Shopping.Hope you don’t mind we sent him out for the basics.I know you’ll want to buy your own things for him, but we’re getting matching carriers and all that kind of stuff, and a batch of clothes to get you started.Plus diapers, because I’m certain Adair’s will be too small.”
“And baby food,” Peyton added.“He’s got several teeth in already and was doing great with soft food.The pediatrician over there said we can probably start him on regular table food after we give him a few weeks for his body to fully adjust.He doesn’t need to be on formula as long as he’s drinking water and staying hydrated.”
“I wish he’d wake up,” she said.
“He was awake most of the way across the Atlantic,” he joked.“I’d be shocked if he woke up.”He let out a yawn.“Sorry, he wasn’t the only one awake the whole way.”
“You didn’t put him to sleep with your Prime so you could take a nap?”she asked.
He shook his head.“No.This poor guy’s been through enough already.Time to let him just be a normal baby with all the normal things that go along with it.”
“When are Callum and Bryn coming to the States?”Gillian asked.
“Not right now,” Peyton said.“They understandably need time to recover and decompress.Plus, Callum wants to be there at the house to help the others, especially the children.”
“What about the other children?”Dewi asked.
“Well,” Peyton said, “let’s just say that it’s a good thing Trevor and Elizabeth have a big house.They’re taking in all the younger kids, besides Moose here.”
“Moose?”Dewi asked.
He laughed.“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been calling him.”
“I’m sorry to admit I really didn’t pay much attention to the kids while we were there,” Dewi said.
“It’s okay.We were trying to limit their interactions at first to help reduce their stress.”
“What about the older kids?”Gillian asked.
“There are three girls and two boys.They’ll live at the manor with Callum and Bryn, for now.Their situation is a lot more complex than the younger kids.They don’t want to simply wipe the older kids’ memories.They can more easily alter the memories of the younger kids.Trevor has a shifter psychologist working with them, someone trained in helping with child trauma, and she’ll work in conjunction with Callum.”
Dewi blew out a breath.“Guess I know where Tamsin will end up then,” she sadly said.“I’m going to miss her.”
