Chapter 12

Rome

"Ahhh, Seren!" Waverly was so happy to see their guest that as soon as Briar May opened the door, she launched herself like a fifty-pound cannonball. She could have kneecapped Seren if she hadn't bent down at the right moment and scooped her into her arms. As it was, she still had to take a step back.

"It's good to see you again," Seren said to Waverly's hair since she'd buried her head into her neck. "It's good to see you too, Briar May." She nodded at Castor, who was on the couch with a napping Sadie on his shoulder. "The barely passable mate."

Rome nearly choked on his own saliva when Castor shot a suspicious look his way.

Seren smiled innocently. "So I've heard."

"He did kidnap my sister," Rome said in his defense.

Briar May gave him a furious hands-on-hips pose. "Are you kidding me? That was because…" She cut herself off, seeing Waverly perk up in interest. "That was because of incidents which are in the past now. Everyone is happy. Well, we are. Yes, Castor kidnapped me to pay a debt, but he fell in love instead."

"I can think of few worse things," Rome muttered under his breath.

Seren grinned evilly. She deftly maneuvered Waverly onto her back. She had her shiny, gorgeous pink hair done in long braids. Waverly immediately grabbed them, but didn't shout anything about riding her like a horse.

Christ, Rome would like to ride Seren like a horse.

Mount her like a stallion, at least. She could do the riding.

"Does anyone want a drink?" There. He could be nice when he wanted to be. He could be a good host. "That unholy terror you call a daughter was screaming up enough of a storm all afternoon that you should both be parched on her behalf."

"Brother, dearest, I love you, but you're truly horrible." Briar May's lips twitched anyway. She shared a look with Castor that probably begged him not to kill Rome.

Whatever. They were the ones who had come and intruded on his space.

"I want chocolate milk!" Waverly called from Seren's back.

"Regular milk is fine," he corrected.

She scowled at him. The sugar. Lord, it was in everything. He refused to let Waverly's teeth rot out by age fucking seven.

"What would you like, Seren?"

"Water is fine."

"For me too," Briar May said. "If you have tonic water, Castor would love that."

"Tonic water?" Rome gaped at him. "What kind of house do you think I'm operating?"

"Your sister was just trying to get your goat. She's a wise woman with a good enough sense of humor and decency to put up with men like us." He patted Sadie's back. The little beast who never stopped crying and letting her rage at her doting, loving parents be known, had done them all a miracle and finally passed out.

Rome shuddered at the thought of any small child coming near him. If Waverly had been a newborn when he'd had to take her, he didn't know what he would have done. It wasn't the diapers and the spit up that got him. It was that horrible howling. His sister excused it as teething, but with Sadie, it was always something. She seemed like an old soul crammed into a baby's body and there was no end to her impotent rage and the unjustness of only being able to toddle about in her chubby little body.

Fine, maybe she was a little cute, but she was a terror.

"What do you really want, Castor? Apple juice?"

"Do you have apple juice?" The bastard didn't seem the least bit put off.

He was so happy, smiling sickeningly at Briar May half the time, the other half the time walking around like a contented fool with stars in his eyes over the little bundle he'd had a hand in creating, shocking given that Sadie was about as approachable as a bin full of metal scraps.

"I don't," Rome growled. "It's also entirely sugar. If you want an apple, eat an apple. The organic kind because the others are full of pesticides."

"Aww, you do care."

Briar May walked over and patted Rome's arm. He nearly showed his sister his teeth, but it was Briar May, and Briar May didn't get growls from him, even when she'd earned them. There were twelve of them and twins between him, Kieran, Prairie Rose, and Briar May, but he detested Atlas and Axel on the merit of their being completely obnoxious little parasites, but the oldest four of them got along just fine. He'd defend his family with his life, but the rest of his siblings? There were so many that after a while he just started ignoring them.

"Water it is, then," he grumbled.

"Let me help you," Briar May offered.

"I'm capable of pouring a few glasses of milk and water."

"Okay. I'll just sit down with Seren and grill her as to what's really going on between you." Briar May wriggled her eyebrows. She was kidding. Maybe?

"You get the drinks," he told his sister. So much for being a good host. Being a good host could fuck itself. "Seren was going to tell Waverly about the first time she shifted."

"I was, wasn't I?" Seren played along. Not like a good sport. She gave him another secret, evil smile that he didn't know what to do with. She'd started fighting back a while ago and now it seemed like he was flat on his ass staring down the length of a sharp blade pointed directly at his throat.

She didn't need his invitation to sit. She left the couch for Briar May and swirled Waverly back around. She made it look easy, sitting down in the recliner with a little girl bouncing on her lap. Bouncing in excitement now.

That left him nowhere to sit, but he was okay with folding his arms and glowering at everyone.

"When you shifted, did it hurt? Was it in the park? Were there other wolves? Did your parents show you? Did you eat someone? What's it like to howl at the moon? Do you have to pee on things more, to mark them? Do you like raw meat?"

Seren laughed. "I don't have to pee all the time on things, but I'm a girl wolf. Not so sure about the boys. Ask your uncles. I've never eaten anyone, nor have I ever wanted to. The only time I have howled at the moon was when I went on the run when we met your grandparents and all your cousins and aunts and uncles. The first time I shifted, there were no other wolves. Just my parents, both in human form. It did hurt a little, but in a good way. Like pushing yourself hard at exercise and feeling really good after because you're tired in that happy, satisfied way. I've never eaten raw meat and I've never had a craving for it. I was a wolf raised in the city, so the first time I shifted was in my parents' basement. They'd done their best to prepare me, and when they saw I was getting close, they made sure I stayed home more often. They invented things like chickenpox and a long vacation to excuse me from school. When you live without a pack and you're in a human world, you have to make it work, and they did. They'd taught me all about shifting and control and all the other things I had to know. We'll do the same for you. You won't be unprepared when the time comes. You'll know what's happening. Your wolf will never endanger you. It's a part of you. The wolf is there to protect you and to love you and be loved by you. It sounds like you're two separate beings, and in a way, you are, but also not."

Seren was totally invested in Waverly.

She was beautiful like that. Regal and breathtaking.

It was the first time in his life he'd properly appreciated kindness.

The little terror in a soft pink dress let out a little snort from her father's shoulder, but didn't wake. He patted her back, looking utterly content. It was crazy how this man used to be a straight up killer, both in the Army and out of it. He'd literally been a mercenary for hire. His piece of shit father took all the money his son earned, said it was going to their pack, arranged the jobs, and gave him nothing in return. Alexander had lied. He'd funneled huge amounts of money away, getting rich off the misery of his own child. He'd later tortured Castor and tried to kill his own alpha, not once, but twice. The man got what he deserved when Rome put him to ground.

Castor had no idea that the money lining Rome's bank account actually belonged to him. There was enough. Major excess. He took what he saw as his for payment of ridding the world of the stain that was Alexander. Some he'd invest for Waverly for when she turned eighteen. The rest, he'd leave for his family, as it was rightfully their money anyway.

Castor was blissfully domesticated at present. Love had turned a wolf into a dog. It was utterly disgusting.

"How will I be prepared?" Waverly asked with concern and curiosity in equal measure. "How will I know I'm going to shift?"

"We'll help you. Your papa and me. We'll make sure you know everything you need to know. We'll watch for the signs. Other wolves can often sense these things. Probably as a survival mechanism more than an animal intuition."

Briar May appeared with glasses in hands. She passed out a few and went back to the kitchen for more. The long, loose dress she wore fluttered after her. Now that she was pregnant again with terror number two, she cupped her barely-there belly through the dress constantly.

She passed out drinks for everyone and sat down beside her mate. One hand went protectively to her daughter's back and the look of love on her face mystified him.

He'd never felt anything close to that.

He was protective over Waverly. He'd kill or die for her. He'd loved Lila for years, from near and far, but that? He knew nothing about that serene, happy wonder. Love like that was kind and boundless. The love he'd known was more like a poison. He'd done terrible things for it. He'd felt himself hurt for it and he'd maimed for it and been banished from his own home and blood. His love only hurt, whereas the love Briar May and Castor shared for each other and for their family was something else entirely. It rebuilt their worlds instead of turning them into barren wastelands.

"You should take Waverly to watch the sunset or sunrise one day, somewhere private and quiet. I think you'd both really like that. It would be new for her, but as for you, you could definitely use more light in your life." Briar May was full of suggestions like that, as was Prairie Rose. They took after his mother. Eternal optimists.

They were gentle and quiet and wise. A few of his brothers were like that, but not to that same extent. His sisters were more in tune with the all the world.

And then there was him. Always at odds with every single thing, be it person or place.

He was about to scoff at the idea when Waverly turned to him, a smile that lit up her whole face. He nearly squirmed on the spot. Great. Now he was on the hook for the wretched suggestion. "Can we, Papa?"

"Of course." He'd do it for her even if he hated every moment of it.

"Tomorrow?"

"Maybe not tomorrow, but sometime soon."

"When?"

"I'll have to find a spot first. But soon. I promise."

Briar May grinned, satisfied with herself.

Seren refused to meet his gaze, at least until his sister went on wrecking balling her way through the room, doing an infernal amount of damage.

"So, how did you two meet? I kind of want to know everything! Rome was doing so good, and we were so hopeful for him, especially since Waverly came to live with him, but a potential mate? Wow. That's beyond anything we had hoped."

He nearly dropped the glass of water he wasn't going to drink. "Briar May," he snapped.

"Sorry!" She was definitely not sorry.

Castor was so amused by the whole thing that Rome wanted to pass Sadie over to his sister and drag the bastard into the kitchen where he'd force feed him a delicious snack comprised of his fists.

Seren had gone the most violent shade of red. She shot a helpless look over Waverly's hair, not to him, but to his sister, begging her to stop.

"Oh." At least Briar May responded to that. One woman to another, she realized what she'd said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—of course you're not thinking about that yet. You're new and I'm such a dolt. I've gotten all sappy now that I have a mate I love, and a family and I just wish everyone could be this happy and have such a good love story. Not that all love stories start out all sweet and innocent. Kieran and Zora loved each other in secret for a long time and then lost ten years of their lives because he thought he couldn't take her as a mate and she thought, well, never mind about that," Briar May paused and glanced over at Waverly, the little girl was sitting on Seren's lap happily playing with her favorite cat stuffy, his sister lowered her voice in case his daughter was listening, "I was kidnapped and did the whole Stockholm Syndrome thing, but it was actually real and then Castor's family almost killed him for it, and to appease his pack, Prairie Rose offered herself up as a mate for peace, but she fell in love with Agnar, but he and his sons and the members of his pack were almost obliterated by…" She cast an anxious look at Castor. "I'm just going to stop there. Everything worked out, but it hasn't been easy or without pain. In life, there is so much suffering, but there can also be happiness and love and that's what I wish for everyone I care about."

"Great story, sister mine," Rome said dryly.

Briar May narrowed her eyes at Rome, then turned her attention to Seren. "So, going back to my earlier question, how do you know my brother?" she asked.

"Tattooing," she explained gently, a brave smile in place. "We've technically known each other for two years, but anything else is early. I'm divorced, and honestly, my heart is undecided about taking another chance on love. That aside, I'm always going to be here for Waverly. She needs more wolves in her life, now and always." She kissed the mop of brown curls.

Waverly spun around in her lap and hugged Seren hard.

It wasn't the first time Rome had put serious thought into who Waverly's father might have been. Lila had light hair and light blue eyes. Waverly had soft brown curls and light green eyes. Was her father even a wolf? Lila left Waverly in his care on the condition that her own mother passed away, but it was clear that Waverly's father wasn't and had never been in the picture. Did he even know about her? Was he alive? The question haunted him. Lila had trusted him with Waverly for a reason, and he'd die a thousand deaths before he allowed the bastard or anyone else to claim her.

"Well, never say never," Briar May whispered politely, unwilling to give it up even though Castor very subtly squeezed her knee before going back to his endless patting of his half-feral daughter.

Seren's eyes met Rome's very briefly before dancing away, but they held a clear message.

This was one of those situations where it was easily okay to use that very word.