As I sat, Niall grinned. “What were you two doing up there?”
“Why, setting up my new present and taking turns swinging from it.” I shot him a smile tighter than the sports bra I’d donned this morning in the hopes of getting a workout in. Wishful thinking.
Liam, who’d taken a swallow of his water, coughed.
Two dimples pressed into Niall’s cheeks.
“Sorry about my siblings,” I told Liam, as the dishes began circulating around the table.
“Nothing to be sorry about. They’re a fun bunch.”
“Clearly, you don’t have to live with them.”
He had the graciousness to smile. “I wish I’d had siblings, but most shifters aren’t blessed with as many children as your parents.” He spooned some green beans onto his plate, then held the dish out for me to serve myself, and it hit me how strange this all was: my Alpha sitting in my dining room, brandishing green beans. Not that meeting in fur over squirrel carcasses would’ve been more normal.
“They’re true mates,” I explained. “Genetically endowed to sustain our kind.”
“I heard.” He glanced over at the crib where his son was trying to reach one of the little stuffed wolves dangling from the mobile spinning over his head.
Although I had no memory of my baby days, I somehow remembered that mobile. “What’s his name?”
Liam looked back over at me. “Storm.”
“First Storm I’ve met. It’s very poetic.”
“His mother wanted to call him Albert, after her father. I couldn’t do that to him.” His lips quirked, but there was a little sadness behind his jibe.
Even though I’d never met Liam, I knew his story. Not just the one of his ascension to pack leadership but also to fatherhood. Not all the details, obviously, just the big lines: it was unplanned, she hadn’t been a wolf, and she’d died during premature labor.
What with being Beta, Nate had gone to Boulder for the funeral.
“So, all of you have names that start with an N.”
“How observant you are, Mr. Kolane.” I added a smile to show I was teasing.
Dad, who was sitting on Liam’s left, said, “It was unplanned for the first three. But once Meg and I realized what we’d done, we decided to make it a tradition.”
Niall leaned over me. “You should see the discounts they get on monogrammed shit.”
“Niall, language,” Mom said.
My brother rolled his eyes while Liam offered us another easy smile.
“Are you and Adalyn going to continue the tradition?” Liam asked Nash.
“Leaving that up to Ads.”
Dad winked at Nash. “Smart man.”
As the evening wore on, my nerves began to settle. But then, Nate got a call, and since we never answered our phones at the table, when he excused himself to take it, I knew it had to be related to the case. Unless it had to do with his fiancée, Bea, who’d been notably absent for a while now.
When I heard him say, “I’ll be right in,” I deduced it wasn’t Bea.
Liam hadn’t gotten up, but he, too, was watching Nate intently. He’d picked up his son from the crib sometime before dessert, and the little guy was now passed out against his daddy’s chest.
Nate plunged a hand through his hair, making it stick up in places. He looked over at Liam and expelled a foreboding sigh.
“What happened?” I asked.
