“As I said, my friend left shortly after your uncle died but he was there when Hunter renounced his claim as Alpha. No reason was given; however the scuttlebutt was it wasn’t safe for your aunt and cousins anymore,” explained Dylon.
“I don’t understand,” Cody said, “why wasn’t it safe? It was their pack.”
“I go along with that,” said Jackson. “When their father died, Hunter instantly became Alpha. If the pack had some troublemakers in it he could have banished them.”
“I asked him about that specifically,” Dylon said, “and he told me it was a very peaceful pack without any internal conflicts he’d found in some others he’d worked for.”
“Do you know why your friend left? I mean, after all, as an enforcer, it certainly would have been nice to be a member of a stable pack,” Steel mused.
“He left because his Fated Mate wasn’t there,” Dylon said, shrugging. “Lots of shifters become enforcers, traveling from pack to pack, hoping to find the one the Fates have chosen for them.”
“Makes sense,” said Jackson. “But that doesn’t help explain why my cousins thought they were in such danger they had to move to a cabin in the woods, isolated from other packs.”
“Maybe someone was after them…like our uncle is after us,” Cody suggested.
“I hadn’t thought of that,” said Jackson. “If that’s the case, I might be putting my pack in danger by allowing them to visit.”
“What if,” said Steel, “when they left their pack, the danger ended. Maybe it had something to do with Hunter being Alpha and, when he stepped aside, the threat went away.”
“That does seem to follow,” agreed Dylon. “Their father died about six months after your family’s massacre, and there’ve been no threats to them since then.”
“Did you give them permission to come?” asked Cody.
“Not yet. I still have to talk to Zane, especially since he’s newly mated,” answered Jackson. “I planned on doing it in the next couple of days…just wanted to give David and his mother time to recover from their ordeal. Oh, that reminds me. We have another new member, Adam, who was rescued from the place where David and his mother were held. According to Logan, he was sent by the gods to help David.”
“What pack is Adam from?” Dylon asked.
“Don’t know. The only thing Logan knew was Adam is a Kenai Peninsula wolf shifter,” replied Jackson.
“No way!” Steel exclaimed. “That’s impossible! They were declared extinct over a hundred years ago.”
“Yeah, yeah, where have I heard that before,” Jackson smirked. “Regardless, he’ll be here at the end of the week.” Turning to Dylon, he asked, “Can you find out something about him?”
“What’s his last name?”
“Don’t have one yet but I asked Logan to get it.”
“What are you going to do,” Cody asked his Alpha, “about all the visitors David will have? Are you going to allow them in the house?”
“The house is definitely off limits,” Jackson answered. “I won’t make a decision until Zane and David are home so they have some input.”
“Baba!” Daniel yelled. “Baba, baba!”
Instantly, four sets of eyes swiveled, looking at the rabbit sitting in the middle of the pups who were petting it. Then exchanging glances with his mate, Jackson spoke first, “Were you watching Daniel when we were talking?”
“No, did either of you two happen to see how the rabbit appeared?” asked Steel, looking at Cody and Dylon.
Shaking their heads, Cody replied, “Last time I checked, Jessica had crawled over to join Daniel and Jake who were playing with the blocks.”
“Fuc...dge! Babe, we need to talk to your father today. If Daniel can make a rabbit appear, what happens if the next animal that shows up is a bear? Our son could get hurt.”
“Right,” Steel responded, “I’ll take Daniel to my office while you get rid of you-know-who, and I’ll call my father from there.” Bending down, he hefted his son into the air, making a whooshing sound that made Daniel giggle. Steel grinned at his son. “We’re going to have a talk about wild animals, Danny.” Then, giving Jackson a kiss, he strode out, tickling his son as they left.
~/~/~/~/~
Parting ways with Sofia, who planned to rest after their late lunch, Zane led David into the bedroom and over to the love seat. He didn’t want to broach the topic with Sofia until he and David had talked. Sitting down, Zane tugged his mate down and tucked him into his side. Thinking about how to approach the subject, Zane finally said, “I had a good time with Sofia at lunch.”
“So did my mother. It was as if the last twenty years never happened.” Glancing at his mate, David stood before straddling Zane’s lap. “What did you want to talk to me about?” he asked.
