The following morning, Liam decided he wanted to cook breakfast for me and my dad. It was a sweet gesture, and I had hoped my dad wouldn’t give Liam too much grief. I was a little worried we would overwhelm him. Even though he knew Liam was more to me than just a visiting shifter, I had made it seem as though nothing was happening between us. Now, we were about to tell him something completely different.
We sat down at the table where Liam had already set out eggs, omelets, bacon, sausage, biscuits, and more. He pulled out all the stops, trying to butter up my dad before he asked him to transfer to our pack. My dad seemed impressed with the spread, which was saying a lot since he loved to cook.
“How did you sleep, Dad?” I asked as we all got seated at the table.
“Took a while, but I got enough. Where’s Augie this morning?”
“I asked Augie to let us have breakfast together, so we could talk. He’ll be by shortly.”
He raised his eyebrows at me in mock surprise. “Talk about what?” He thought he was a funny guy.
“Sir, I would like to ask for your permission to join your pack,” Liam said confidently, jumping right in. My dad would like that. He hated people who avoided what they really wanted to say.
“Have you spoken to your father about this? I think he might have a problem with his alpha-in-training leaving.”
“No, I haven’t, but I have spoken with my brothers and we believe we’ve come up with a solution that would be better for all involved. If you would give me your blessing to stay here, then I plan on going back to the Catskills to speak with my father in person. I didn’t see the point in broaching the subject with him if you wouldn’t allow the transfer.”
“I see.” My dad steepled his fingers together, placing them under his chin. “Why do you want to live in our pack?”
“Because I love your daughter, sir, and I’d like to make a home here with her in your pack.”
It was like a punch to the gut still. Those words were going to be the death of me. They gave me all the feels.
My dad turned toward me. “I see you sorted it out sooner rather than later?” I nodded. “Did you warn him of the special place I have out back if this ends badly?”
I laughed. “No, I forgot to mention that part last night.” I glanced at Liam. “We have your grave site picked out already if you break my heart. You still want in?”
“I think I’ll take my chances.” He grinned. “I still want in. All in.”
“What do you think, Dad? Is he a worthy shifter?”
My dad stared at him, giving Liam his best intimidation tactics. I was impressed. Liam only blinked a few times and never broke a sweat.
“He does know how to cook. I think you staying would be okay with me, but the moment my daughter says otherwise, you’re out of here. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.” Liam nodded.
“Enough with the ‘sir’ business. Call me Gerald. Now, will you two let me eat in peace?”
I nodded with a grin plastered to my face. I was so happy to have him back and get to talk like this. If only we didn’t have to bury a family member later, I’d actually think it was going to be a great day.
After breakfast, Liam and I cleaned up, while Augie and my dad finished the final touches for Davis’s burial. Courtney was already running around the kitchen, pulling out all of the food Davis had requested. His burial was going to be different than most others. Davis had been able to give his two cents on the event and he didn’t want it to be a big thing. We compromised and made it a medium thing.
The burial would consist of only those closest to him, and anyone who wanted to come to the pack house for the reception was welcome. Davis hadn’t wanted the whole pack present during the burial, which made sense. I agreed that part deserved to be a more intimate thing we could experience with only those closest to him.
“I’m going to go find my brothers. I’ll come to get you before the burial, okay?” Liam said once we were done in the kitchen.
“Sounds good to me.”
He gave me a hug and kiss before rushing out the back door. I retreated from the kitchen in search of my dad and Augie.
I found them in my dad’s office and overheard the grumblings of my father as he complained to Augie about me finally getting serious feelings for someone. Already talking about me leaving him to fend for himself in the big pack house.
“Oh, Dad. You’re going to be okay. I’m not disappearing on you. I have no intentions of letting a man rule my life, which means I’ll still be doing whatever I want.”
“It’s not nice to eavesdrop, Taya,” he complained. “But good to know.”
“Glad you finally figured things out,” Augie said to me. “Don’t worry about your dad. I’ll keep him busy.”
I nodded, finding the entire conversation weird. They were acting like I was going to move to the Catskills when we’d already made it clear Liam would be staying here. I really didn’t think there was any reason to freak out.
“Anything I can help you two with this morning?” I asked, steering the conversation away from me and my love life.
My dad handed me a list of things he had to do today. “Take your pick.”
I grinned, happy to do whatever he needed. I spent the rest of the late morning helping them before Liam returned and we all headed to the burial site.
I had my three favorite men with me, and the feelings within me warred with each other. I missed my brother and now Davis, but I also had so much to be thankful for. I fought with the guilt of feeling too happy. Augie had said my brother Cord would have kicked my ass if he could for having those thoughts. He’d want me to be happy. I knew that, but it didn’t lessen the guilt.
We were the first to arrive at the burial, soon joined by Rick, Sam, Tommy, and a few other members from their training team who had worked directly with Davis on an almost daily basis. Edmund, who had spoken at my brother’s burial, was the last to arrive.
After his speech, we all helped lower the casket into the ground. Once it was settled, we each got a shovel and began to bury him. That was Davis’s most important request, that we each had a hand in the actual burial.
Tears streamed down my face as I did so, but I also fought back a smile, because I knew this was Davis’s way of making us work even when he was no longer with us. He always enjoyed pushing people and now was no different.
Once we were done, we headed back to the house to clean up before the reception. I took a shower in my room to wash off the dirt, then changed into new clothes and met the guys back downstairs.
Liam, Caleb, and Augie were laughing over something. Aiden and my dad were off to the side, having what was probably a more adult conversation than the other three were having.
I stood at the edge of the living room and took in the sight. I may have lost a lot recently, but I was slowly figuring out how to be okay without my brother and realizing how lucky I was that I gained Liam in the process.
He could never replace the hole Cord’s death had left in my life, but he had helped heal my heart in a way I hadn’t expected. I loved him, and he loved me. I never realized how powerful an emotion it was until now. I just needed to make sure that nobody was going to take that away from me anytime soon. Tomorrow, we would get back to the mission and remind Declan we hadn’t forgotten about him. Not even close.
***
The following day, my dad called a meeting with us and the witches. He wanted a full update, so he could plan our next course of action. I was just as eager as he was, but I was glad he had been the one to hold the meeting. I was equally excited that he was back to being in charge. I still had a lot to learn from him, and it felt right having him here, leading us all again.
My dad stood at the head of the table glancing around at each of us. His intimidation game was on point today; even I wiggled a bit in my seat at his intensity. I sat closest to him with Liam and his brothers next to me. Augie sat opposite of me with Zarai and Lex next to him. We were an interesting mix of beings.
“Here is what I’ve surmised from the little each of you have told me. Please correct me if I’m wrong,” my dad began. “Declan is working with a sorceress named Jaye who is known by our witch friends here. She’s been turning humans to create a wolf army for Declan, so they can take over the shifter territories and do god-knows-what from there. Zarai and her people are here only to save the turned humans that were rescued and then capture Jaye. After that, we’re left to deal with our kind on our own, correct?” Zarai nodded. “So, where are we with the humans and stopping Jaye?”
“The three sisters we brought with us have almost finished with the reversal spell for the humans. Once we have it, we ask that you bring the humans here. They will return the humans to their natural state in batches of three to five. They may need a day or two between each spell as the process will take more energy to counteract than they’re used to expending. I promised my witches they would not be overwhelmed. We will also be wiping the human’s memories, so there will be no recollection of us, your shifters, or their time with Declan. They will only remember the night they were taken; everything else will be a blur. It will be up to your shifters to get them back to their hometowns before they wake.”
Dad nodded. “We can do that. We’ll send teams out to bring the humans back. Taya, I’d like you to take point on that.” I gave a brief nod as he continued without skipping a beat. “What about tracking Jaye?”
“Jaye is a powerful sorceress. She has managed to keep herself off our radar for longer than we care to admit. She made a mistake, though, and it will help us. We are waiting on one of our sisters to bring us her blood and then we should be able to track her.”
“Her blood?” I asked. “You just have some lying around?”
Zarai glanced down at Augie. “No, but when this one mentioned he tore half her arm off, I doubted Jaye had gone back to clean up the mess. She may be powerful, but she’s careless and cocky. We sent one of our witches there yesterday after Augie mentioned it. They reported back with positive findings and should be arriving here this evening. We will need some time to rest after the soul exchange, but we hope to have their location pinned down within the week.”
“I’ll talk to Jamie and see if there is anything else she can remember to help narrow down the search field,” Caleb added. Jamie had been extremely helpful in tracking them down before, so it couldn’t hurt to try again.
“So, for now, we wait. Let’s meet again this weekend for updates unless you find something concrete sooner,” my dad said, then most everyone dispersed from the room.
Unfortunately, until we found Declan and Jaye again, there wasn’t much for us to do besides get the humans back to their homes where they belonged, safe and sound. My gut was telling me that wasn’t going to be as easy as it sounded, though. My guard wasn’t coming down anytime soon.