Published: July 8th 2023, 2:00:04 pm
I wake up to Caleb gently brushing my hair out of my face. My skin tingles where his fingers make contact, and I instinctively turn in his direction looking for more. He’s usually already awake and out of bed by the time I get up in the mornings, and I love the occasions when he’s still here.
“Ev?” Caleb whispers.
I groan, fighting sleep, before prying open my eyes. Caleb usually goes out of his way not to wake me up when he gets out of bed in the morning, and he tiptoes around the bedroom collecting his clothes before disappearing into the hallway bathroom to get dressed.
That means he’s waking me for a reason.
“Baby…” Caleb continues.
I lick my lips and mindlessly pick off the crusty bits that have accumulated in the corners of my eyes while sleeping. Caleb always wakes up looking like a model, and I hate when he sees me in grumpy morning gremlin mode.
“Yes?” I ask.
Caleb hovers over me, already dressed. What time is it?
I set my alarm for 8:30 AM, so it’s got to be sometime before then.
“The human government has requested an urgent phone call with me,” he says. I sit up, already intrigued. “I think they’re going to provide an update on HPAW, and I was wondering if you’d like to listen in.”
I’m shoving Caleb to the side and climbing out of bed before he’s even finished his sentence. Of course I want to listen in.
My movements are less than graceful as I make my way to our closet and begin ripping off my pajamas.
Caleb sits on the edge of the bed and watches me dress, his gaze borderline predatory. He knows Greg gave me a pack of birth control pills after our house tours the other day, and I have a feeling he’s counting down the days until we can have sex.
Greg said to wait a week, and I’m taking that to heart.
The thought of getting pregnant is horrifying, especially when we’ve decided to take in Chunks. One baby is exciting, but two is more than I’m willing to sign up for.
“What time is the meeting?” I ask, peering at Caleb as I slide a pair of pants up my legs.
He glances at his watch before answering. “In about forty-five minutes.”
I hurry to finish dressing before stepping out of the closet, and Caleb hurries to open the bedroom door for me. There’s faint chatter from the main room, but that’s nothing new. Caleb likes to start work early, and the wolves he regularly meets with do the same.
They’re always here by the time I wake up.
“Morning,” I say, stepping into the main room.
It’s already full of wolves, and King and Maverick enter as I look around. Everett’s made himself scarce since returning from the HPAW facility, not that I’m complaining. He was never particularly friendly, and I don’t like how he spoke to Caleb.
Sash and Cole stand against the far wall near the TV, and Adam sits at the center table rifling through a bag of chips.
Adam looks up, probably sensing my gaze.
“Hey,” I greet him.
He grunts, a typical moody response for him nowadays, and Sash turns to shoot me a wide smile. Cole’s too busy messing with the TV settings to greet me, and I watch him fiddle with the display for a few moments before searching for Chunks.
If both Sash and Cole are here, he must be, too.
They’ve agreed to continue watching him until Caleb and I have found a house and I’ve gotten a better handle on my role as the female Alpha. Thankfully Sash is eager to keep a lot of the work she’s been doing these past few years, so my job isn’t nearly as daunting as I initially anticipated.
Caleb claims it’s untraditional for the role to be split between two, but he’s not trying to stop it. I think he’s scared I’d be too busy for him if I took on all the work typically expected of the female Alpha.
I probably would be, and I’m beyond relieved that won’t be the case. Before I tried killing Caleb and threw everything into a mess, I loved keeping up the home. I found a lot of satisfaction in cooking for us and running errands, and I’d be sad to lose that.
Besides, now I get to be one of those fun PTA moms I’ve seen in all the cheesy movies Caleb and I used to watch together.
I’m going to be at every school function, and I’m going to make sure Adam hates every second of it—assuming he eventually returns to teaching.
“Where’s Chunks?” I ask, slightly frustrated when I don’t spot him.
Sash’s lips twitch as she points toward Adam. I turn back to him, and a snort I’m unable to hold back bursts from my throat when I spot the little man behind the bag of chips Adam’s loudly munching on.
“We’re hanging out,” Adam says.
Chunks smacks his lips and looks around the room, his eyes darting to whoever is speaking the loudest. It happens to be Caleb right now, but it quickly shifts to Maverick a second later.
“I’m stealing him from you,” I say, lifting Chunks out of Adam’s lap.
Adam shrugs and shoves another chip into his mouth, and I situate Chunks on my hip before taking a seat at one of the chairs against the far wall.
“You’ll be at the wall, too,” Caleb tells Adam, turning away from Maverick.
Caleb’s gaze flickers toward Chunks and me before returning to Adam.
“The humans still don’t know who you are to us. I’d like to keep it that way,” he continues. He then turns toward Sash and Cole. “Sash, you’ll be along the wall too. Cole will join me and the other Alphas on the call.”
I bounce my leg, my nerves at an all-time high as Cole nods and hooks a camera up to the TV.
“Is this a video call?” I ask.
It’s King who answers. “Unfortunately,” he grumbles before disappearing into our kitchen.
What’s with everybody stealing our food?
I lean back and rest my head against the wall behind me. This is far from what I expected today, and I’m still not fully awake.
Sash and Cole quietly bicker as they set up the TV camera. The quality is better, and it probably looks more professional than them crowding around Caleb’s laptop—not that I’m an expert on what makes a professional meeting.
I’ve never exactly been to one.
“You’re plugging in the wrong cord,” Sash says.
Cole looks like he’s about to burst a blood vessel, and he angrily steps back while Sash smoothly gets the video up and running. It’s aimed toward the head of the table, and they adjust it until the chairs lining the walls on either side of the room are out of view.
Only Caleb and the few wolves sitting around him will be visible.
I shut my eyes and urge myself to remain calm. We have no idea what the humans want from this call, and there’s no use getting all worked up over it. Caleb told me the last call they had was quick and unproductive, and this very well just might be another of the same.
“Are you hungry, baby?” Caleb’s quiet voice reaches me.
I open my eyes. Caleb’s crouching in front of me, and he places a warm hand on my knee as I straighten my back.
“I’m okay,” I say. I’m too anxious to think about eating right now.
Caleb slides his fingers up my thigh before squeezing Chunks’ foot. Chunks’ doesn’t seem to appreciate it as he kicks Caleb’s hand away, and I give a slight chuckle as Caleb frowns and stands back up.
“Let me get you something to snack on, just in case,” he says.
He’s disappearing into the kitchen before I can argue, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes when he emerges a few minutes later with a plate of scrambled eggs. Caleb should be preparing for the call, not making me food.
Still, I accept the plate with a quiet, “Thank you.”
Caleb seems beyond pleased with himself as he smiles down at me, and he seems even more pleased when I take a bite and give a playful moan of approval.
“It’s delicious,” I say.
Cole and Sash finally step away from the TV, and Caleb hurries to kiss me before returning to Maverick and King. I’m sure they’ve got a lot to discuss before this call.
“Five more minutes,” Cole warns the room.
Adam finally gets up from the table, and he tosses his now empty bag of chips into the trash before taking the seat on my right. Sash quickly follows and takes the seat on the other side of me. I think it’s because they’re eager to be close to me, but the baby in my lap is probably the cause.
Everybody is obsessed with Chunks.
The remainder of the wolves in the room gradually begin to take their seats. Caleb is at the head of the table, and to his left is Cole. To his right are Maverick and King.
They’re the only four appearing on the call, and everybody else sits out of view of the camera.
I think the anticipation is going to kill me, and I mindlessly play with Chunks’ fingers while I wait. He doesn’t seem to mind, and after a few seconds, he curls his fist around my pointer and middle finger. He’s got a surprisingly hard grip for such a tiny man, and he uses his baby strength to lift my hand to his mouth and try chewing on my thumb.
He grunts as he does so, as if the work has absolutely exhausted him, and I smoothly stand and carry him into the kitchen. We’ve got a few of his teething toys in the freezer, and his favorite is a mesh bag filled with cooked mashed carrots.
It’s even got a small handle for him to use, and he excitedly releases my fingers the moment he sees the treat.
“You eat enough of these, and you’re going to turn orange,” I tease, kissing the side of his head.
Chunks grunts and shoves the frozen vegetable into his mouth. I hope it’s enough to keep him occupied through the call. HPAW, and the human government, know we have the infants, but I don’t want them to hear him.
A small part of me is terrified they’ll recognize the cry as Chunks and try to come after him.
I return to the main room and take my seat. Caleb’s got four wolves talking to him at once, but he hardly looks like he’s paying attention as he glances in my direction and watches me settle. His eyes then flicker to the treat Chunks is currently gnawing on like his life depends on it.
“What do you think of Jackson?” he asks.
I furrow my brow. “Jackson?”
Caleb gestures toward Chunks. “His name. What do you think of Jackson?”
I crane my neck and peer down at Chunks. He’s got a thick stream of orange drool pouring down his chin, and he silently makes eye contact with me as he chews his carrot. A moment later he pauses, sucks in four giant breaths, and continues.
I can’t wait until he learns how to chew and breathe at the same time.
“It freaks me out every time he does that,” Sash admits.
I snort. “It freaks me out, too,” I say before turning toward Caleb. “I like Jackson, but I was kind of thinking about Theo.”
Caleb cocks his head to the side, his lips forming around the name, before smiling and nodding gently to himself.
“I like Theo,” he decides. “Let’s talk about it later.”
Cole silently shakes his head, and I can tell he’s judging us. I suppose this isn’t the conversation he expected to have only minutes before Caleb’s meeting with the human government, but it’s better than sitting in tense silence.
Chunks gives Adam a dirty stink eye when Adam shifts in his chair and his hand gets dangerously close to the carrot treat. He’s possessive of them, and I’ve learned the hard way that once he’s got a taste of it, it’s better to let him finish it off before taking it away.
He’ll scream bloody murder otherwise.
After the dreaded five minutes are up, Cole fiddles with the computer connected to the TV and navigates his way to the secure line on which the call is being held. I hold my breath.
We have no idea what the humans intend to say, but I’m hoping they agree to dismantle HPAW. Caleb’s already told them that will be a non-starter for the wolves, but the humans are known to push.
They’re never satisfied, and I’m worried they will try and milk the wolves for all they can.
The wolves have the upper hand right now, but I know Caleb’s not too eager to continue fighting. Just because he can, doesn’t mean he wants to. The wolves want to do their own thing, and for every warrior that’s killed, two wolves pay the price.
The mate bond renders the warrior’s other half useless, and it’s a devastating loss for both the couple and the pack they’re a part of.
I wonder if HPAW knows that.
“I’m joining now,” Cole warns.
The quiet chatter in the room dies, leaving us in tense silence as Cole officially enters the call.
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how do you think the call's going to go?