I prayed it was a rogue, because the alternative meant it was someone from our pack.
Someone on this very compound.
Chapter 3
Istayed up with Mom and Dad until Nate and Liam finally rolled in well after midnight. They were talking in low tones as they let themselves inside the house.
They seemed almost surprised to see that none of us were asleep. Had they really been expecting us to have retired without knowing what the hell was happening?
While Mom and Dad watched a documentary, I’d started on a new commission. I didn’t usually work this late, but I’d tried concentrating on the TV and then I’d tried reading a book, but my mind wouldn’t focus on either. Making art was the only thing that all at once distracted and relaxed me.
“So?” I set my tablet down on the couch.
Mom turned off the television. “Nikki, I don’t think tonight—”
“I’mnevergoing to sleep if I don’t know what’s going on.”
Dad reached out and gave my wrist a gentle pat.
“Mom’s right.” Nate squeezed the bridge of his nose. He was either really tired or really stressed out. Probably both. “Liam will call a pack meeting and fill everyone in tomorrow morning.”
“Just tell meonething . . . was it a shifter or a real wolf?”
Nate sighed. “Not tonight, Pinecone.”
Had he really needed to use the loathed nickname? I let it slide considering everything going on. “I’m not asking for a play-by-play. I just want to know—”
“Shifter.” Liam took the carrier from beside the door and strapped it on, then reached down into the crib for his baby boy who’d slept almost the entire time he was gone. As he hooked his child in, his gaze wandered briefly over my lit tablet before returning to me. “Thank you again for keeping Storm.”
“Anytime, Liam,” Dad said. “Anytime. Nate, you show him to his cabin?”
My brother nodded.
“It’s ready?” I’d heard from Niall, who’d taken a job at Watt Enterprises, that the drywalls and roof were up, but I didn’t think it was livable yet.
“Not his definite one,” Mom said. “Liam will be staying in Alex’s old cabin.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Hope you fumigated the place.”
“Nicole,” Mom chided me softly.
“What? Alex Morgan was awful.”
Did he hurt you?
I jerked from Liam’s silent question. Had Nate told him the story or had his encounter with the hateful son of our former Alpha made him jump to that conclusion on his own? By the time I shook my head no, I knew I’d paused too long, because a muscle feathered Liam’s jaw.
The truth was, Alex had tried once. I was fourteen, and he’d cornered me in the woods when we were both in fur, and I’d never been more frightened, but Niall and Nate had arrived and headbutted him. If they hadn’t come looking for me. Hadn’t arrived when they had . . . I shuddered.
“It’s been thoroughly cleaned, Liam,” Mom said, but Liam was still watching me, so I wasn’t sure if he’d heard her. “And I’ve set up everything you need for the baby.”
He finally looked away. “I really appreciate it.”
“I put some food in there, but come over for breakfast,” Dad said. “We’re up early, and there’s always a warm meal on the table.”
“And my brothers wonder why I never moved out?” I said with a wink.
Even though I adored my dad’s cooking, it was sadly not the truth behind my prolonged cohabitation. They knew it. I knew it. The only person who didn’t know it was Liam.
