Chapter 58 EVELYN

I closed my eyes, certain she was about to rip open the door, find me, and punish me. Then her footsteps moved past. I breathed out in a rush. Why was she here? Who had she tricked into letting her in to the pack house? I pressed a hand to my mouth. Most wolves in Blue Ridge – including me – assumed that the Montagues were being targeted by these shadows because of Aurora. Either because she was doing it, or because it was a natural consequence of this quest for some ancient relic that she and Dane were on. Dane didn’t know it, but my mother – my family – had great power. What if she was the reason the shadows were attacking Dane’s family? But what if it wasn’t Aurora’s fault at all, but mine?

Chapter 58

DANE

I knocked on the door of Aurora’s suite of rooms the morning after we survived the old Broken Forest Pack house. She still wasn’t awake. Someone needed to talk to the children. Almost like a house within the pack house, the suite I’d given Aurora had a few bedrooms that connected to one sitting area, made that way for visiting pack delegations. Her cousin, Evander, answered the door to the suite. He didn’t seem like a particularly serious man, but now his lilac eyes – so like Aurora’s – were serious in his dark face. “I’m here to speak with the children,” I said. Evander considered me for a long moment and didn’t open the door any wider. “Trajan told me about Aurora. I’d be by her side, but I won’t leave the twins.” “That’s a brave statement, for a man watching over my children in my territory,” I growled. Evander raised his chin. “You can test me if you want, Alpha, but that would make both the twins and my grandmother very unhappy.” Goddess, for all their coloring was completely different and the fact that Evander was a tall, bearded man, something about his expression reminded me so much of Aurora. “Have you told them?” I asked.

Evander hesitated, then shook his head. “Trajan didn’t sleep. I finally made him rest. He and I were going to talk about what to do when he wakes up.” “I’ll tell them. They’re my children. Let me in.” I could tell he didn’t want to, but to his credit, Evander also wasn’t interested in making a scene in front of the children. He pulled the door open and stood aside so I could enter, then closed it behind me.

“They’re in their room with Mrs. Jamison,” he said. I walked to the bedroom and knocked softly on the door. Mrs. Jamison answered. “Alpha!” she said in a bright, surprised voice. “What a surprise.” “The Alpha?” I heard one of the twins exclaim in surprise. “I’d like to speak with my children alone, Mrs. Jamison,” I said. She looked over my shoulder to where Evander stood. He nodded. She stepped into the hall. Evander said, “I’m staying right outside this door.” “Do whatever you see fit,” I said. Then I stepped inside. I could have closed the door in Evander’s face, but instead, I left it open a crack.

The twins were sitting on the floor. Toys were scattered around, but at the moment, they were doing a wolf puzzle on a low coffee table. “Do you want to help us?” Seraphina asked. I nodded and sat next to them on the floor, surprised at the comfort I felt just to be near them. Quietly, I started doing the puzzle. Tristan said, “Sera, when are we seeing Mommy today?” “Soon,” Seraphina said. “Right, Alpha?” “I-“ I cleared my throat, not knowing how to do this. Now that I was here, I was having doubts. I didn’t really want the children associating me with terrible things. Telling them their mother was sick and we didn’t know when she’d wake up… they might hate me for it. But I didn’t just want them to stay with me because they were my heirs. I wanted to be their father. That meant it was my job to be here in moments like this. Before I could speak to the twins, however, there was a knock on the door, sharp and demanding. I got up and opened it. Trajan stood there, looking harrowed and tired. He said, “I’ve just spoken to the Luna of the High Alpine Pack.” I raised my brows in surprise. “Did you?” Trajan folded his arms across his massive chest. “She’s very displeased with your lack of care with her granddaughter. If you want to keep working together, she demands our project be overseen by Alpha Holden Coleridge of the Fall Line Pack.” I bared my teeth. “Over my dead body will I be overseen by that idiot.” Trajan shrugged. “Then I’m sorry Alpha – our business arrangement is over. Augusta DeVere demands the return of her granddaughter and the twins immediately.”