Chapter 16

Anna

 

I jerked awake as the plane wheels dropped and we rapidly descended. My ears popped as the pressure in the cabin changed, and we hit the ground with a thunk. I yawned, surprised that I had slept through the majority of the plane ride. Sam stood up and stretched once the plane had come to a stop. “I’m glad to be back in Seaside,” she said with a grin.

“Were you authorized to leave?” I asked with a frown. Even with being on convalescent leave, I was pretty sure that she still had to notify her command that she was leaving the state and give them her travel plans.

Sam shrugged. “This whole situation is weird for me, but I trust Austin and the guys.”

“As you should,” Trevor grumbled. “We have her shit handled,” he directed at me.

Austin put his hand on the small of my back as the flight attendant opened the door and the stairs were wheeled up to the doorway. “Sam’s taken care of,” he assured me. “We’re not going to let her get into trouble.”

I nodded. I had the sneaking suspicion that the guys only let me see the side of the business that was PG. There had to be a lot more going on with them if they were able to get away with some of the things that I’d seen on this trip. I knew that trusting me was going to take time, but I needed them to realize that they weren’t protecting me by keeping me in the dark. They were putting the whole pack at risk by not letting me use my newfound magic skills to help.

Trevor and Sam went down the steps first, and the rest of their team followed, but Austin held me back for a moment. “Let them check out the situation first.”

I gave him an annoyed look but stayed put. I extended my magical senses, realizing once again that I hadn’t been using all the resources available to me. I saw Cody step out of a waiting SUV to greet Trevor and the others but frowned when I felt the presence of wolves that weren’t in our pack.

A white SUV that I didn’t recognize pulled onto the tarmac next to Cody and I saw him speaking to whomever it was in the back seat. Austin sighed. “We had better get down there.”

“Who is it?” I asked curiously.

“Justin,” he answered through the pack bond. I could feel his annoyance and impatience at his brother’s presence.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, Trevor and the rest of our pack surrounded us. Justin stepped out of the SUV with a swagger that I didn’t like. I knew that Austin and Justin had a difficult and strained relationship, but I had been hoping that their father’s disappearance would bring them closer together. It hadn’t.

“Austin!” Justin shouted angrily. “I need to speak with you.”

Cody ran a hand through his hair in agitation, but let Justin past him to get closer to our group. Austin gave a signal and the other guys backed up to allow a path for Justin to get through. Sam pulled me to the side and blocked my body with hers. I rolled my eyes in annoyance. I could totally take down one asshole wolf if I had to.

“We don’t need him knowing about your new powers,” Austin sent to me.

Justin smirked in my direction before turning his attention back to Austin. “I need a word, little brother.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. If he thought he was going to lure Austin away from the rest of us…

Austin’s power flared, and I looked at him in surprise. I could feel that even though Austin was the younger brother, he was clearly the more powerful alpha between them. The guys were on high alert as they watched Austin step away with his brother. Cody stayed close to them, even though Justin gave him an angry glare.

Once they were far enough away that we couldn’t hear them over the noise of the other jets in close proximity, the door to the white SUV opened again. I recognized Jessica, Austin’s ex and Justin’s current fiancé, as she stepped out and headed in my direction.

Jessica and I faced off against each other as she approached. We both took the measure of each other without saying a word. This was the female wolf that Austin had taken into Seaside at his father’s request. If things had gone differently it would have been Jessica standing at Austin’s side, they may have even been officially mated by now. That is, if she hadn’t terrorized his entire pack to the point where he had sent her right back to his father’s pack. From what the guys had told me, Jessica was a selfish, spoiled little princess who got her kicks making others miserable.

I held my head high and my posture stiff, determined not to show any weakness. There was no way I was going to let this wolf make me feel like I wasn’t good enough to be here. I was Austin’s choice and she was going to have to respect that.

After what felt like an eternity, she gave me a slow nod of respect and lowered her eyes to the ground. I let out a breath in relief, that was a sign that she respected my position as dominant to hers. Technically, she didn’t have to do that. Our positions in our relative packs were equal, but she had acknowledged me as the more powerful wolf. Was that because Austin was a temporary council member?

Jessica raised her eyes back up to mine. “I was hoping to have a word with you in private.”

“Not going to happen,” Trevor growled from beside me. “We don’t need your type of poison affecting our females.”

Jessica’s shoulders slumped and I looked at her in surprise. I had expected her to come after me in a jealous rage or at least claw at me spitefully. She looked almost defeated. “Fine,” she said softly. “I’ll speak in front of all of you. Anna, I heard rumors that you have talents in healing?”

I nodded slowly. Austin and I had spoken a little bit about the clinic that I wanted to make, but I wasn’t sure how much I should say to her. Just what kind of gossip had reached her pack?

Jessica rubbed her stomach. “I went into heat a little early this year, and I think I’m pregnant.”

My eyes widened in surprise. “It must have just happened; how can you know this soon?” There is no way she could be able to sense life in the first couple weeks, right?

She shrugged. “It was right before Thanksgiving, but I think I can feel a spark of life inside me.”

I inhaled a sharp breath. I hadn’t had any contact with any wolves for the majority of my life, so I was completely unfamiliar with the ways that a wolf pregnancy differed from a humans. But this was my chance.

“May I?” I asked politely as I held up my hands and took a step closer to her.

She nodded. “My mother died giving birth to me, and my grandmother before her. I really want to break the cycle.” Her voice broke. “I want to be there for my child.” Jessica pulled up her shirt so that I could lay my hands on her bare stomach.

I could feel Sam inching closer to me as I closed my eyes and extended all my senses. I thought back to my time with Airmed and the prince, thinking about how they had each shown me how to use my magic to sense for something wrong in the body.

My breathing slowed as my awareness extended to Jessica’s body and I lost myself in my mission. I could feel that her heart was strong and pumping steadily, her bones were straight, her organs functioning normally. I hesitated on my magical exploration of her body when I felt what she must have picked up on. I could feel the almost imperceptible spark of life in her abdomen that was only a tiny cluster of cells.

It seemed unbelievable to me that she would have even sensed this, but I couldn’t deny what was there. I could feel that she had more than one egg that had been fertilized. One of them was already attached to the uterus, but I could feel several others that were still in the process of moving down the fallopian tube or hadn’t actually attached to the wall of the uterus yet.

I took a deep breath and did what I could to bolster the tiny bits of life that I felt. I could tell that one of the fertilized eggs wasn’t going to make it; something had gone wrong when the cells started to divide. I coaxed that one from the fallopian tube into the uterus, so at least Jessica wouldn’t be harmed if the cells continued to divide and grow. I helped two more developing embryos attach to her uterine wall and secured the third one a little better. I was going to do everything I could to make sure that any life inside of her now had the best chance of making it.

Once I was sure that I had done everything I could I removed my hands and took a step back. Jessica had tears in her eyes. “I’m not sure what you did, but I think you helped.”

I shrugged uncomfortably. “Is there any way that you could find a way to visit me regularly? I can help the baby along as it grows and monitor you for any potentially harmful changes in your body.” There was no guarantee that all three embryos would continue to develop into healthy babies, but if they did, carrying triplets wouldn’t be easy. There were more risks associated with a pregnancy that involved more than one baby, but there was no way I could ever choose to squash one of those lives. I would do everything I could to give Jessica and her babes the best chance at life. But I didn’t want to give her a false sense of hope early, there was a chance that only one of the babes would make it.

Jessica grabbed my hands and I felt Sam twitch beside me. “Thank you,” Jessica said with a little mist in her eyes. “There’s no way that I can repay you-”

“Jessica!” Justin shouted as he stomped back toward us. “Get in the fucking vehicle, we’re leaving.”

I bristled at the way that Justin spoke to her and stepped in between them. “Watch your tone with her,” I growled.

Justin whirled to face Austin. “Control your bitch.”

Austin’s face hardened even further. “You’re going to want to stop talking, now.”

Every wolf on the tarmac tensed as the two alphas faced off. I pulled Jessica behind me, determined to protect her and the growing life inside of her.

“I’m pregnant!” Jessica blurted out. “Anna confirmed it.”

Justin’s left eye twitched as he glared at Austin, but it was only a minute longer before he turned his gaze our way. He looked at Jessica’s lean stomach greedily. “Girl or boy?”

I cleared my throat. “It’s too early to tell.” Technically, the sex of the baby is genetically determined the moment that the sperm fertilizes the egg, but I had no idea how to use my magic to see that. I had no idea if I would even be able to tell once the babies were developed enough to see on an ultrasound. I was hesitant to tell them that Jessica was pregnant with more than one baby. If I hadn’t intervened, it was possible that only the one embryo would have been able to attach and grow on its own. What if the others didn’t make it? No, I should probably wait until I was sure that the others would make it before I said anything.

Jessica rubbed her stomach with affection. “We should probably be officially mated before-”

“Get in the vehicle,” Justin interrupted, shooting another glare Austin’s way. “We’ll discuss it later.”

I moved aside to let Jessica pass with some hesitation. All my instincts were screaming at me not to let Jessica go with him. Justin was not a good guy; I had no idea how he and Austin had turned out so differently after growing up in the same house. I grabbed Jessica’s hand as she passed. “You don’t have to go with him.”

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I have the pack master’s pup inside of me, why wouldn’t I?” she said smugly. “He’s going to give me everything I’ve always wanted for this.”

I let her hand go reluctantly. “If you change your mind-”

“I won’t,” she stated with her chin raised. “But I will be in contact with you,” she said a little softer. Her face gentled as she placed her hand on her abdomen and made her way to the vehicle.

I just nodded with a sigh. I hoped my instincts were wrong on this, but if she wanted to go, I couldn’t stop her.

Sam placed her hand gently on my arm with an empathetic look. “You can’t make her see if she’s not ready.”

I smiled gratefully at Sam for understanding. I was glad I wasn’t the only one worried about Jessica.

Justin slammed the SUV door shut behind himself, and it squealed off the tarmac seconds later.

“What was so important that he had to come here?” I asked Austin cautiously. Having Justin confront us the second we stepped off the plane couldn’t be the beginning of anything good.

“He’s just being an asshole since I wouldn’t return any of his calls,” Austin assured me. “I didn’t have the time or the patience to deal with him this weekend.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re holding back.”

“I’d rather not discuss it out in the open.” Austin flicked his eyes around the area, making me wonder what had him so worried.

Cody reached for me and gave me a warm hug. “Glad you’re back.”

“Me too,” I murmured into his broad, muscular chest. I inhaled his scent and instantly felt a little better. I missed my giant wolf.

“Cody, are you taking Austin and Anna?” Trevor asked over my head.

“Yeah,” Cody answered before dropping a kiss on my head and releasing me. “Follow us to the pack house for a debrief?”

“You got it.”

Cody linked my arm in his as he led me to the waiting SUV. “James and the twins have been on edge since you’ve been gone. I’ll be glad when things settle back down.”

“And Gemma?” I asked, probably a little too sharply.

Cody shrugged. “Haven’t seen much of her.”

I held back the snarky comment that came to mind about how the twins wouldn’t be able to say the same, but I didn’t want to be petty. I doubted that the guys would understand.

Cody helped me into the front passenger seat as Austin climbed in the back. “I was surprised to see you so protective of Jessica.”

I looked back at Austin in surprise. “I would be protective over anyone in that situation. Her past doesn’t matter.”

“I’ve noticed that you don’t hesitate when it comes to speaking up for someone else, but you hold back when it’s on your own behalf,” Cody murmured.

I blushed. “I guess it’s just not as important if it’s just me that’s suffering. But I can’t stay silent when I see someone else being pushed down. It’s not right.”

Austin tilted his head at me. “I know things haven’t been working out with Gemma…”

“Gemma’s different,” I snapped as Cody got into the driver’s seat and started the vehicle.

Austin just sat back contemplatively and didn’t answer. “So, what’s up with Justin?” I asked again, hoping that he would confide in me now that it was just us and Cody.

Austin thought for a moment before answering. “More than a few of his pack members want to petition for admittance into Seaside. He is under the wrong impression that I’ve been encouraging them.”

My eyebrows rose. “Is that normal?”

Austin looked out the window. “It’s normal for some pack members to move on if they don’t agree with new pack leadership, but it’s risky.”

“For them or us?”

“Both.” Austin rubbed his temples as if he had a headache. “Not all of them would be a good fit for Seaside, but that’s the pack I grew up in. I have a duty toward them.”

I chewed on my bottom lip. “That’s a tough situation. You want to take care of them, but bringing them into our pack might not be what’s best.”

“Exactly.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “What other options do we have?”

Cody looked at me in amusement. “We can attempt to find them a place in other packs, but they’ll probably end up resentful at not being taken in by Aus.”

“And making more enemies is the last thing that we need to be doing,” I sighed.

“Exactly,” Austin murmured.

I chewed on my lower lip. “And there’s no way to get Justin out of the pack master position.”

Both the guys gave me sarcastic ‘what do you think?’ looks. “Right,” I acknowledged. “There’s no way to get him to step down, he’s too much of an egotistical asshole.”

“And he hasn’t done anything illegal to give us a reason to step in,” Cody added.

“But the fact that most of his pack wants to leave…”

Austin shook his head. “You know most alphas in our world are assholes,” he said gently. “There’s a lot of bad packs out there.”

I huffed in frustration. “It just sucks knowing what’s going on and not being able to do anything.”

“Tell me about it,” Cody mumbled.

“We can’t do anything yet,” Austin corrected. “Affecting change in our world is going to take time, causing a culture shift isn’t something that can happen overnight.”

I sat back in my chair. Austin was right, I needed to be patient. “I helped Jessica,” I blurted out. “Austin, my idea for a shifter clinic can work. If we can get females to come there, then we can show them how a pack should be. We can make wolves want to work for something better.”

“We can target the younger generation,” Cody added quietly. “The older ones are set in their ways, but the young wolves are still malleable.”

Austin gave a slow nod. “But it’s the older ones in the pack that shape the younger; they’re passing down their attitudes and ideals.”

“So how do we break the cycle?” I mused.

There was silence in the car as all of us realized that we didn’t have an answer. We had a goal, we had a mission, but we lacked an actual plan to carry it out.

“One thing at a time,” Austin assured us after a couple of minutes. “We’ll figure this out.”

“What about a camp?” I asked. Cody looked confused. “You know, how humans send their kids to summer camp to learn stuff? There’s space camp, cheerleader camp…”

I stopped when I saw Austin shake his head. “Why would a pack send their young out of their territory to be vulnerable on another pack’s territory?”

“Lots of reasons,” I told him, becoming more confident as the ideas coalesced in my mind. “You guys have a reputation as a strong, military pack. What if we set it up as a camp to teach wolves defensive strategies? Like a paramilitary thing?”

“We teach potential enemies how to fight against us? Anna, I don’t think you realize-”

“I’m trying to think outside of the box,” I said irritably.

“She has some good ideas, bro,” Cody chimed in. “We don’t have to teach them how to be an expeditionary strike force. We can focus on self-defense and providing security for their packs. Teach them that being an alpha means taking care of those weaker than themselves, not taking advantage.”

I nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly.”

“Teach them that females are to be treasured, not abused,” Austin added, looking more open to the ideas.

“That females can be their equals,” I corrected. “Show them that females are strong and capable.”

Austin gave me an affectionate grin. “We’ll let you and Sam kick their asses a little.”

“And then let them realize that strong females are an asset for their pack, not a threat,” I added. “If nothing else, they have to understand that females could be the last line of defense for their young. But hopefully, it will show them that by enabling their females, they are opening their pack up to great things.”

“This is going to be further down the line,” Austin cautioned. “We still have a lot of work to do in our own pack first.”

“And I think Anna should open her clinic first,” Cody added. “Make it clear that our pack is here to help the rest of the community, get them to trust us.”

I nodded in acknowledgment, but my mind was still going a million miles an hour. How amazing would this be? To be able to bring our community into the modern world and help other packs develop for the better? I sighed happily. It would be a lot of work, but we would be making the world a better place. For the very first time since I found out that wolves lived longer than humans, I was starting to look forward to a couple centuries of life.