Chapter One
“Dada.”
Adam opened his eyes to see Noah’s face peering down at him.
“Morning, baby,” he said with a smile, yawning and stretching. His Omega toddler was an early riser in comparison to his Alpha brother, who flew through every day in a whirlwind of energy before crashing and sleeping like a rock every night.
Already the differences between the two were evident. Noah was cautious, sussing out every situation before he joined in, whereas Xander jumped in headfirst, getting himself into trouble more often than not.
He and Ben had their work cut out for them keeping the twins occupied. Ben's love for his Alpha son was easy to see. His love for Noah took a different form. Noah’s Omega nature was very apparent from an early age. Adam encouraged Ben to treat them both the same but the truth was, at times, they couldn't be more different. Xander would easily spend all day as a wolf, chasing bees and leaves around the forest. When Noah was in wolf form, you were likely to find him hiding under a bush, watching and waiting. But he loved nothing more than Ben swooping him up into his arms and carrying him home. He’d settle with his head against Ben’s chest while Xander danced around his feet, nipping at his ankles.
“Come on then, up we get. Papa and I have to go see your Uncle Luke so you and your brother are staying with Sam and Lianna today.”
“Play hide ‘n go seek with Chloe?” Noah asked.
“I’m sure you will,” he replied, climbing out of bed. He picked Noah up, settling him against his hip and went to find Xander. The little Alpha was fast asleep in his crib, lying on his tummy. Adam leaned over, rubbing a hand in circles across his back.
“Time to wake, little one. The sun is up and so should you be.”
Xander whined, his nose scrunching as his eyes opened.
“Xan, wake up!” Noah insisted. That got him up and moving. He wouldn’t want to miss out on any fun his brother was having.
“We’re playing with Chloe and Li!” Noah added as Xander climbed to his feet.
Adam reached down and lifted him over and onto the floor. Xander slipped a hand into his and they walked to the kitchen. There was no sign of Ben. He’d left early to meet with Sebastian. It had only been a few months since Fenrir’s Warriors had overthrown the Migones in neighboring Eagle Creek. The situation had finally settled but tensions were still high.
It took some cajoling to get the twins sitting at the table while he made breakfast.
“Here, drink your juice,” he said, setting the cups down in front of them. That bought him a few minutes to cook the oatmeal, placing bowls in front of each of the boys, and taking the seat between them with his own bowl so he could help if they needed it.
Both boys tucked in eagerly. One thing they definitely shared was a good appetite. Adam liked to watch them eat, to never see food used as a way to control them, like it had been with him.
He heard Ben at the door, Xander letting his spoon clatter back into the bowl. “Papa!”
“Ah, ah,” Adam cautioned gently. “Papa will join us here. Finish your breakfast.”
With a small frown, Xander sat back into his seat, his eyes fixed on the door. Ben appeared there a moment later.
“Morning.”
Adam stood and crossed the room to him, Ben pulling him closer and pressing a kiss to his lips.
“Good morning. Did you sleep okay?”
Sleep hadn’t come easily to Adam over the past few weeks and months. Being reunited with his brother Luke had healed old wounds and brought others to the fore.
He shrugged, laying his head on Ben’s shoulder, and letting himself relax.
“Just the one dream. But it was a bad one.”
“I know.”
Of course he did. He’d woken when Adam had jerked awake, his hands soothing him back to sleep.
“Do you want some breakfast?”
Ben shook his head. “I ate at Sebastian’s. Ro had cooked enough to feed half the Pack.”
“Is he okay?”
Ben gave him a knowing look. “Well, neither he nor Seb have said anything but I think we’ll be hearing some news from them soon enough.”
Mindful of the little ears that understood far too much for their young ages, Adam was careful with his reply.
“Oh, I hope you’re right. Some good news would be nice for a change. Though Nathan is still quite small. They’ll have their hands full.”
“Hey, we managed with two together. Anything else will be easy as pie.”
“Can we have pie?” Xander asked.
“Pumpkin pie!” Noah chorused.
They’d had some at Halloween the previous year, Noah declaring it the ‘bestest thing ever’.
“It’s a bit too soon for pumpkins. But I think we still have some apples in the stores. I’ll make some for you tomorrow.”
“Promise?” Noah asked.
“I promise,” Adam said sharing a smile with Ben.
“Come on boys, eat up,” Ben said, stepping towards the table, and taking a seat. The boys both obediently dug into their bowls with their spoons.
“Xander and me go to visit Uncle Luke?” Noah questioned between bites.
“Not this time,” Ben said. “But he’ll be coming to visit us soon enough. You’ll see him then.”
“Dada stay home with us?” Noah asked again, losing interest in his oatmeal.
“No, Dada and I are going to Eagle Creek to see your Uncle. You and your brother are going to spend the day with Sam, Lianna, and Chloe.”
Xander perked up at that. There was a little crush going on there, Xander liked Chloe and Chloe was as fond of the rough and tumble as he was. He could see Noah was less enthused. Xander and Chloe together were a little much for him. Lianna would mind him, she knew how to keep the quiet ones occupied just as well as the boisterous.
It was another hour before they had the boys washed, dressed, and ready to go. As the hour wore on, Noah got more distressed. As a rule, he was the clingier of the two, but normally a hug and a few quiet words were enough to soothe him. Not so this time. He was sobbing noisily as they pulled up in front of Sam’s house and got out of the car.
Ben knelt next to him.
“Come on now, Noah, you love Sam and Lianna. You’re going to have a great time.”
Noah shook his head, tears staining his face and his nose running. “Want to stay with you and Dada.”
Ben picked him up, rocking him back and forth.
“We’ll only be gone a few hours. We’ll be back by bedtime.”
Lianna opened the door, Chloe by her side, and Xander hurried towards them.
“Bye Dada, bye Papa,” he called over his shoulder as Chloe took his hand and they raced inside.
Ben carried Noah over to Lianna, Adam following behind them.
“We’re not in the best of forms this morning,” Adam said apologetically as Lianna, hand on her hip, eyed the sobbing toddler.
“Not to worry. We’ll soon put a smile on that face,” she said brightly, reaching out to take him from Ben’s arms.
“No,” Noah cried out, kicking his legs and striking out with his arms.
“Noah, that’s enough,” Ben said, his tone sharp.
It quietened their little Omega immediately and Lianna took hold of him.
“That’s better,” Adam soothed. “We’ll see you tonight Noah.”
“Don’t go,” Noah said, his lower lip trembling.
“We’ll be back before you know it,” Ben said, stroking a finger across Noah’s tear-stained face.
Adam leaned in and pressed a kiss to Noah’s cheek.
They didn’t linger, knowing it would only prolong Noah’s upset. He was in good hands with Lianna and Adam had no doubt that, within minutes, he’d be settled with crayons and paper at her kitchen table.
Later that day, Ben and James were sitting in James’ study. A shout drew their attention outside. Leon had talked Adam and Luke into joining him for a game of football.
“How’s he doing?” he asked James.
“It’s been a rough few months, but he’s making progress. The art therapy is really helping. You should think about asking Kelly to see Adam.”
“Adam’s fine.” He felt immediately on the defensive at the suggestion that his mate needed therapy.
“He has come a long way, there’s no denying that. But what those boys grew up with, what they went through, it’s not something you just ‘get over’.”
“No one is saying it is.”
“You know, it’s only really now that Luke is talking. The first few weeks it wasn’t much more than ‘yes, Alpha’ this, ‘no, Alpha’ that. It’s only now that he sees how the world is, how people actually live, that he has some perspective. And now that things have settled here, I have the time to devote to him that he needs. You know what I really regret?”
“What’s that?” Ben asked.
“Not taking precautions to stop him getting pregnant in his first heat. He probably wouldn’t have wanted to, he’s so insecure in his position, but he could really do with the time and space to grow, to heal. Instead, he’s going to have a child of his own to care for, far too soon. I’m hoping all we’re doing will be enough to buoy him.”
“He’s looking much better. You’re doing something right,” Ben said, recalling the time he and Adam had taken out of the shifter world. He’d given Adam time to learn, to grow, to become a person and not the ‘Omega’ that Tobias had trained him to be and Harvey had tormented. But James didn’t have the luxury of dropping off the grid for a year. He had a Pack to run, so many people depending on him.
“He and Adam… there’s some healing to be done there, too,” James said. It surprised Ben, and he said as much.
“Luke is angry with him. Angry that he never came back for him,” James explained.
“But he knows that we looked for him, that we couldn’t find him.”
“He knows. But emotions are complex. And I think, on some level, Adam is angry at Luke, too. There’s a whole heap of guilt in there, for both of them. You may not have noticed, but Adam is pretty impatient with him. I think he sees a lot of himself in Luke and wants Luke to hurry up and get to the better place he’s in. But if Adam was really in that better place, feeling safe and secure, he wouldn’t feel like that.”
Ben considered James’ words. “I guess it wouldn’t do any harm to get some outside help. I do what I can but I’ve always got the sense there was stuff he didn’t want to burden me with. I know there’s things that happened with Harvey that he’s never talked about. And he has these horrific nightmares sometimes…”
Ben still shuddered inside as he recalled the many pictures they'd found on Harvey's computer and hard drive, a record of the torment Adam had lived through.
“I’ll talk to Kelly, see if she’ll pay Glenoak a visit.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes before getting back to the matter at hand.
“It doesn’t look like the Pack Council are going to move on Gray Valley any time soon. The longer they wait, the more support Gray Valley has time to amass and the bigger the threat. What’s it looking like from the inside?” James asked him.
Ben, who’d been keeping contact with some relatives within Gray Valley, didn’t have much by way of good news to impart.
“Things are tense in the Pack. They’re rooting out anyone they have suspicions about. People are disappearing, some by choice. Any relative of mine is already suspect so I haven’t had much contact with them. Those who have spoken to me are on our side but they're scared that any attempt to organize from within will get them killed.”
"If we’re going to act against Gray Valley, we'll need them. Their intel will be invaluable and we need them to be ready to move against Terrance when the time comes."
"I'll talk to them," Ben promised. "I know they're tired of living in fear under Terrance's rule. And conditions have only gotten worse there since they took in the rest of the Migone's supporters."
A breathless Adam arrived at the door. "We've taken a vote, and it's time for lunch."
Luke arrived a moment later. James sprang to his feet and crossed the room to his mate. Ben followed a little slower, giving Adam a once over. There were dark circles under his eyes, a sign of his poor sleep over the past while. And he was just a shade paler than usual.
"Are you feeling okay?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah, I'm good." Adam gave him a weak smile.
"You'd tell me if you weren't, right?"
"Of course I would." Adam leaned against him, his smile faltering a little.
Wrapping an arm around his shoulders, Ben guided him out, following Luke and James to the kitchen.
"Come on, we can't argue with the popular vote. Let's go eat."