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“And everyone else. Eira, the nurses, all of them.”

“We’ll make certain they know.”

I looked up at him and touched his cheek. “And you. All of you, for being with them and with me. You all look so tired.”

He turned his face enough to kiss my fingers. “I can rest now.”

Darius returned before I could ask anything else. I held out my hand, and he came straight to me. Lucien moved over, making room for him beside me, and Darius sat and gathered my fingers between both of his hands. His thumb moved over my knuckles. I kept hold of him as I looked towards the window again.

“The attack really is over?”

“Yes,” Alaric said. “The attackers have been stopped. House Vaelor and the Mountain are secure.”

“And you’re staying?”

“We are staying.”

I let my head settle against his shoulder. Beside us, Vaela slept with her hand against her cheek. Seren’s breathing support made its soft, steady sound, and when I looked across, Caius was still watching her. I could feel Darius’s hands around mine and Lucien’s warmth beside us. Leon tucked the blanket over my feet again.

This time, when I closed my eyes, my whole Pack was with me.

Chapter 39

Leon

Eight Weeks Later

“Come on, little warrior. You can do it.”

Elowen lay on a thick blanket where the low table usually stood in our sitting room, her face level with Vaela’s. She moved the rattle slowly, letting our daughter follow its sound. Vaela briefly lifted her head before resting her cheek on the blanket again.

“Yes, darling. That was lovely.”

Elowen kissed her hair and slipped a hand beneath her chest. These little exercises lasted only as long as the physicians advised. She had stopped comparing the girls’ progress with the milestones she remembered from Earth and celebrated whatever they managed.

Beside her, Eira held strips of soft fabric where Seren could watch them. A small hand opened, brushed one and closed without catching it.

“Nearly,” Elowen told her. “You’ll get it.”

I had read the same paragraph three times when she looked towards me.

“Did you see Vaela?”

“I did, sweetheart.”

“She’s getting stronger.” She gathered our daughter against her shoulder. “We’ll have to be careful. You’ll have a neck as strong as Daddy Caius’s before we know it.”

I set down my pad and knelt beside them, supporting Vaela while Elowen sat up. Her hand stayed on my forearm after the baby was settled.

“Are we distracting you?”

“Yes.”

“You should have said!”

“I have no objection.”

She leaned across and kissed me. I kept my hand behind Vaela’s head while Elowen rested her cheek against mine.