He shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded toward the open garage door, indicating I should follow him as he walked ahead. I glanced at the others before going with him. When we were outside, surrounded by flurries and the peaceful blanket of snow, I turned to face him again.
“Look, it’s not what you think,” I said. “She needed help. I was the only one around. You know how these things are.”
“I’m not here to give you some toxic bullshit about putting your hands on my sister,” he said, “though we both know she’s too good for you.”
“Understatement,” I replied with a laugh.
“But you’ll be good to her, right?” he said. “You’ll take care of her and any pups that might come.”
“She seemed pretty certain that wouldn’t happen.” I cleared my throat to hide the slight rattle of excitement in my bones at the thought of her growing big and pregnant with my children. Sure, I’d raised Lyra as my own, but I’d never thought of myself as a father. I’d never considered how much I might actually want that. But now… And if Wyn was their mother?
Yeah, I could get down with that. Hell, I’d be proud to call those kids mine.
“Even still,” Mill said. “We’ve been friends all our lives. I trust you. I respect you. But she’s my sister, and she doesn’t need something fleeting and irresponsible.”
“I know,” I said, clasping his shoulder in a fraternal embrace. “She needs someone to take care of her.”
Mill raised an eyebrow and lifted one side of his mouth into a smirk. “And that’s you, huh?”
I shrugged. “If she’ll let me.”
She let me earlier, my wolf helpfully pointed out, after a little…convincing.
“Gods help us.” Mill barked out a laugh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just…don’t be a dick, okay? I’d hate to kick your ass and burn your entire life down.”
I chuckled and nodded. “Ten-four, buddy.”
“Good.” He nodded. “Kodiak wants to see us. Zion’s making a move, and we need to plan our next steps.”
“Lead the way.” I gestured for him to go ahead of me while I contemplated the whole situation. Zion used to be a member of the Royal Bastards Helena Pack. After our previous alpha went rabid, he’d disappeared and abandoned his family, which would have been grounds for a search to drag his ass back. But we hadn’t had the resources. Recently, we’d gotten intel that he’d formed another pack in Canada and had started to make moves down to our territory. We weren’t planning anything drastic yet, just keeping tabs on what he was doing. The minute he stepped on our territory, we’d do what we should have done a decade ago. He wasn’t an alpha. He had no business forming a pack of his own, and we’d make sure he knew it.
Church went a little longer than expected while we brainstormed scenarios we wanted to plan for and which runs we would make to stock up on artillery. Zion wouldn’t go down without a fight, but we were willing to bring it to him.
After Kodiak dismissed the pack, I stopped by the cafeteria to pack a meal for Wyn, snickerdoodles included, but I got sidetracked by my little sister sitting at a table by herself with a book open in front of her. I glanced at my watch, realized it was nearly five, and narrowed my gaze before plopping down in the space across from her and stealing a carrot off her plate.
“What cha doing?” I grinned as I chomped into the vegetable.
“Reading,” she said. “What are you doing?”
“Wondering why you’re not on patrol.” I raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you have the night rotation this week?”
She snorted and flipped a page. “I’ve still got twenty minutes to get out there. Besides, Caelum’s meeting me here.”
“Uh huh,” I said, attempting to keep my tone light and nonconfrontational. I didn’t ascribe to that toxic bullshit, as Mill put it. My sister was an adult. She could fuck around with whoever she wanted. Gods knew I certainly did when I was her age. But, like any older brother turned adopted parent, I wanted her to be safe and happy. I wasn’t a fucking idiot. I knew she and Caelum had been secretly screwing around ever since they got trapped in that cave together during the summer, but it was the lifeless glaze in her eyes that gave me pause. She didn’t look happy about whatever was going on, and that set my instincts on high alert.
“What?” She glanced up at me. “What’s that look?”
I shrugged. “You tell me.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m fine.”
“Uh huh,” I said again and reached over to snatch another carrot. She slapped my hand, causing the veggie to plop back down on her plate.
“If you’ve got something to say, out with it. Otherwise, go play with your healer and leave me alone.”
I groaned and rolled my eyes. “This pack is a fucking cesspool. Is nothing sacred anymore?”
She sighed and closed her book, finally giving me her full attention. “What do you want, Fen?”
