Seri made sure he knew he was welcome to ask for meals he liked or anything else to make Evermere feel like his home, and Zane set him up in the master suite in the east wing with orders to decorate it however he wanted.
“I’m doing him a favor,” Z smirked when Seri asked why Foster’s room was on the other side of Evermere from ours. “Unless you want him to hear us ravishing you every night, wife.”
I’d rolled my eyes. Foster’s wolf hearing, while not quite at dhampir level, probably picked up more than he would prefer, but we were newlyweds. What did he expect? Still, the symbolic separation was important. Foster might be part of our household, maybe even our family, but he wasn’t part of ourintimatecircle. That distinction needed to remain clear, not that it had ever been in question.
It was Seri’s “command center” that truly cemented his place among us, although I suspected it was less about the technology and more about the way our beloved lit up the room with her enthusiasm.
The security room was a sleek, windowless space filled with monitors, servers, and enough processing power to hack most government systems. Over the past few weeks, Seri had claimed a corner as her own, transforming her workspace until it looked like a collision between military-grade technology and a teenage girl’s bedroom, complete with sparkly pens in a unicorn-shaped holder and a padded gaming chair with pink cushions.
“This,” she gestured to the holographic display table with the pride of a general showing off a new weapons system, “is where the real magic happens!”
Foster stood beside her, his expression caught between amusement and interest as she walked him through her process.
“When the boys are on a hunt, we can see everything they do.” She tapped commands into the console with surprising confidence. “Ko installed these amazing 360-degree cameras on their helmets. They feed directly into this table, so I can see and hear everything in real-time.”
She picked up the VR headset with reverent hands.
“This is the really cool part. I can put this on, and it’s like I’m right there with them. I can warn them if something’s sneaking up behind them or if I notice something they don’t.”
“Smart setup.” Foster nodded.
I could have corrected some of her technical explanations—the cameras weren’t actually capable of full sensory integration, and the alert system had a sixteen percent failure rate in environments with high electromagnetic interference—but there was no tactical advantage in dampening her enthusiasm. Besides, the pure joy radiating from her was worth more than being accurate.
“And now,” she hopped up and down a little, “we can each watch through a different helmet cam! You could monitor Ko, and I could watch Cas, and we’ll have Zane on the main display. Or however we want to configure it. That means twice as many eyes looking out for them!”
Her pride in this arrangement made my chest tighten with adoration for her protective instincts, gratitude that she cared so deeply about our safety, and a fierce desire to shield her from ever witnessing the true horrors we sometimes faced.
“And what are those?”
Foster pointed to a shelf above her workstation where three small stuffed bats sat in a neat row, each wearing a tiny colored ribbon around its neck. One green, one black, and one bright red. It drove mecrazy that she’d chosen my eye color, but my brothers’ hair color. My little bat should have a yellow ribbon! It was only parallel!
“Oh, those are… They help me focus.” With pink cheeks, Seri reached up and plucked the one with the green ribbon from its perch. “This is Simmy,” she held it out for his inspection. “And that’s Koko with the black ribbon, and Zoodle with the red.”
Foster pressed his lips together so hard, they nearly disappeared into his face.
“Simmy, huh?” he rumbled finally, glancing my way with a gleam in his eyes that promised this would not be forgotten.
I met his gaze with a level stare that clearly communicated,Laugh and die.
“They keep me company when the boys are out hunting,” she continued, oblivious to our silent exchange. “Sometimes it gets scary watching them fight monsters, and having the bats helps.”
Just like that, Foster’s amusement melted away, replaced by something softer, more understanding. He reached out and patted the top of plushie Simmy’s head.
“Smart thinking,” he said. “Everybody needs backup sometimes.”
The approval in his tone made Seri beam, and I found myself unexpectedly grateful for his kindness. How could anyone say no to her happiness, her radiant smile, the pure excitement in her soft gray eyes? Neither I nor my brothers could refuse that, and apparently Foster felt the same way because he submitted to everything with good grace and humor.
“So you’ll be my mission partner?” she asked, looking up at him hopefully.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Little Boss.”
I leaned against the doorframe, watching them. It made me feel a hell of a lot better having him here with her while we were off hunting. He’d proven himself more than capable of being a bodyguard. More importantly, he seemed genuinely protective of Seri in a way that wasn’t threatening to our bond.
Eventually, Seri would realize he was bored and longing for action. Alpha wolves weren’t built to sit in a room and watch a screen, even one as impressive as the holo table. For now, though, he was content to humor her.
Despite his formidable size and battle-hardened exterior, he had a gentleness with her that reminded me of Ko. Not the same intensity, but a careful awareness of his own strength, a deliberate tempering of his presence to make her comfortable. It was, I had toadmit, exactly what she needed: Someone strong enough to protect her, but gentle enough not to frighten her. And for now, at least, Foster seemed willing to be that person.
Something I hadn’t anticipated was how quickly Brumous would attach himself to Foster. The dire wolf pup had lost his place in Seri’s bed when she moved into ours. She had tried to insist that Brummy sleep with us, but I’d held firm on that boundary. I valued uninterrupted access to my wife without a furry, anxious barrier between us.
