Almost as soon as the girls arrived, they dove right in. They barely spared us a glance after barging into our suite and making themselves at home. Lei had her laptop out before their dust had even settled, immediately tapping away on the well-worn keyboard while Lulu and Aurora excitedly took off on a tour of the area to check out some of the local archives and museums for clues.

Oni simply shrugged and said something about not arguing with women on a mission. While he and his sister researched local legends and tried to separate myth from fact, I shook my head as I sat there and watched. I couldn’t get over how smart my mate was; even though I’d known him all my life, he still amazed me with his quick wit and intuitive knowledge. I wondered how much of that had to do with his gift of clairvoyance, and how much was just down to Oni being smart as fuck.

Since there wasn’t much I could do at this point, I decided a call to my dads was in order and slipped out onto the balcony for privacy. As soon as my papa’s face came on the screen with my dad looking over his shoulder, a sense of well-being settled over me. The two of them had always been able to steady me, simply by existing.

“Oh, Connor. I’m happy to finally hear from you, baby. Listen, I’m so sorry I spilled the beans to Jun and Tau. I had no idea they didn’t know yet.” My dad spoke in a rush while Papa shook his head. For an alpha, my dad was much more sensitive than my papa.

“He wasn’t thinking, son. Don’t worry, he’s been punished appropriately.” Papa grinned. I shuddered at the secretive smile they shared. I so did not want to think about whatever that had entailed.

I carded my fingers through my hair with a groan. “Yeah, because I really needed Jun to have another reason to hate me. I don’t know why, but he’s always had his eye on me. It’s okay though, you didn’t know. Jon’s the one who blabbed first anyway.”

“Actually, your papa saw it in a dream, but you can blame your brother if it makes you feel better,” Dad laughed. “Listen, son. Jun’s bark is much worse than his bite, honey. It would have to be, right? He’s an adorable red panda, how hard could he bite anyway? It wouldn’t be much more than a nibble…” His voice trailed off as he grinned at the idea.

Papa laughed and picked up where Dad left off. “And yes, he’s probably had his eye on you because you’ve always been transparent about your desire for his son. Even if you couldn’t tell anybody that he was your mate, your face gave it away to anybody who was watching. How do you think your papa and I figured it out? You alphas aren’t as slick as you think you are, dear.”

Leaning my back against the balcony rail, I looked off into the distance at the peaceful landscape for a moment. “Do you think he’ll ever accept me?”

“Connor, don’t be silly. Of course he will! You just need to mend fences, that’s all. Jun has never disliked you,” my papa explained. “Nobody would have been good enough for his son. The fact that he’s even allowed you into his home over the years shows that he trusts you. Besides, Tau adores you, so you’ll have him on your side. If you ask me, he’s probably just been trying to put the fear of God—or should I say, Jun—into you.”

“How do I mend fences with him? The guy is like half my size but he scares the crap out of me.” I cringed when I heard the whine in my voice. “Didn’t he used to be a dom or some shit?”

“Yeah, but don’t sweat it. It’ll be easy to fix things.” My dad shrugged. “He probably feels left out right now. And before this, he was probably afraid that he’d lose his son once you mated. Rushing off the way you did only cemented that concern, especially when he hasn’t heard from Oni. Make a point to include him when you get home, and let him look forward to his first grandchild. Trust me, son. Once he holds that baby, he’ll forget any irritations he may have regarding you.”

Papa nodded. “Your dad makes an excellent point; I approve. But listen, another thing I’d like to say is that you need to stand up to Jun. He might be testing you to see if you’re alpha enough for his son. I’m not saying to disrespect him. Oh dear, don’t do that. But maybe quit letting him see you tremble in fear when he speaks to you. That’s a good start.”

I rolled my eyes as I answered sarcastically. “Gee, thanks, Papa. Now that I feel like I’ve been Jun’s bitch all these years, I’m in a real hurry to get home.”

“Hush,” Papa laughed. “Besides, I’m in a bit of a hurry to meet my grandbaby too. Do you boys know if it’s triplets yet? Or have you only heard twin heartbeats?”

I shook my head. “Believe it or not, it’s a single birth. I realize that’s not traditional in Dad’s alpha line, but what can I say?”

Papa grinned while my dad looked stunned. “Your dad’s parents are going to be shocked, but I say good for Oni. I was as big as a barn when I carried you and your brothers. One grandbaby is quite enough, anyway… for a start. I mean, there’s always next time, right?”

Dad shook his head. “I wonder what it means that you’re the first alpha in our line to not have multiples? Is this because you were a triplet and now the counter has been reset? Is it a sign of things changing in our line? There are so many questions. I need to call your grandpa Frankie and put him on this. He’ll be fascinated.”

“You might want to do a group call between both of your parents,” I suggested with a grin. “And do a video chat, you’re gonna want to see their faces when they hear that they’re about to be great-grandparents.”

Papa started laughing. “Oh, hell. I can’t wait to see the look on your grandpapa Drew’s face. He’s gonna start bitching about getting old again.”

I rolled my eyes at that one. None of my grandparents looked a day over forty. Thanks to the double life spans of our legacy bloodlines, we aged much slower than the rest of our shifterkin. My own fathers still looked like they were in their thirties, when they were much closer to fifty than either would probably admit. But then, when they had another century ahead of them, did age really matter?

“Connor? Did we lose you, honey? You look like you’re in space over there.” Papa was staring into the phone with a lifted brow.

Glancing back at my phone, I shook my head. “Sorry, I was just thinking about how young Grandpa looks. I don’t know why he worries about that shit so much.”

“Ooh, you’re good, and likely to be cemented as his favorite grandchild after he hears that one. I think I’ll wait and let you announce it to them so you can tell him just that. Besides, I suppose it is your news anyway,” my dad said reluctantly.

“You know what? Let me talk to Oni first. Maybe we can have a big party when we get home and announce it to everybody at once. But don’t say anything until I’ve had a chance to discuss it with my mate.” I looked pointedly at my dad as I spoke.

“Don’t worry, son. We won’t say a word,” Papa laughed.

After I got off the phone, I headed back inside to find that Lulu and Aurora had returned. The four of them were seated on the floor around the coffee table in our small sitting area while Lei showed them something on her computer.

Oni patted the floor next to him with a smile. “Join us. I think we’ve found the answer.”