How couldn’t I?

A gift from the Mother wasn’t anything to sneer at on the regular, but a woman who got you? Who knew you bone deep?

That was more than a fucking gift.

I headed toward the fire, settling on my knees as I lay her down on one of the many fur rugs on the floor. She sighed, instantly soothed by the heat, and when she rested her head on my lap, I was a fucking goner.

I mean, man, she’d already had me twisted into knots, so much so that, last night, even after a long ass day, even after what had gone down with her at the carnival and the adrenaline of trying to stop chaos from falling on the pack before it was too late, I hadn’t been able to sleep.

Not one wink.

All night long, I’d been thinking about her. Her weirdness, who’d hurt her, why they had hurt her, her coloring…

Now, here she was, fucking breaking my heart by doing shit like that.

Sure, as wolves, we were tactile and affectionate by nature, but not to strangers. Not really.

She released a chuffing sound, then almost dug her nose into my fucking crotch before settling down even more and sagging, as though any and all of her tension could dissolve from her being, now that she was here.

Warm.

Safe.

I cut my brother a look when he slouched behind me, taking a seat on one of the armchairs in front of Eli’s desk. He’d twisted it around so he could watch over her, and when Eli took a seat on the side of the desk, perching his ass there to look us over as well, I just sighed and slumped a little.

“This is gonna be messy,” I predicted.

“All the good things in life are,” Eli muttered.

And he wasn’t wrong.

The next week was weird but good. Sabina didn’t shift, but she slept. A lot. We didn’t reveal her to the pack, mostly because we weren’t ready to announce how we’d come by her. Not without us implicating ourselves in something we hadn’t fucking done.

The two-dozen-strong council, after hearing and experiencing the omega’s death, as well as the rest of the pack, were quiet, and though we felt the grief just as much, we were working too many hours to really mourn Merinda’s passing.

The day after the attack, as predicted, the carnival had disappeared. There one moment, gone the next. Though we hadn’t scented anything that night, in the aftermath, it had been even harder because there were even more unusual scents hanging around.

The only thing we could say with any certainty was that we hadn’t scented a strange alpha. But they could have used something to mask their essences, and in all honesty, that wouldn’t be shocking, considering their intent.

Ethan spent a couple of days in the next town to the west, and I went to the east, meeting with the alphas there to try and ascertain if they had a problem with us on the guise of business. Eli sent us with some trumped-up missive that gave us a reason to visit, but we found nothing in those packs, nothing that could help us, at any rate.

And finding that I hated being away from Sabina wasn’t something I considered to be a lesson well learned.

I spent those two days longing to get back to her, and from what Eli said, she’d pined for us as well. Yelping in her sleep more, being restless rather than rested as she slumbered.

It wasn’t like we were letting the investigation die, but when the head of the council asked Eli if he could hold a meeting, I knew that meant our stay of peace had come to an end.

The council wanted to get back to regular working hours, which meant that Eli would have to return too, and we’d be back doing our usual job.

With no answers, I wasn’t even sure if Eli would claim he was behind Sabina’s transformation so as not to make waves. That was down to him, but I’d lie my ass off to the council.

Every. Fucking. Time.

They were too up their own asses to really think much of it, except for the fact they’d be pissed at not being a part of the ceremony, especially when they learned she was the next omega and Eli’s mate.

As well as ours.

My lips curved as I patted her on the head, almost in the same position now as I had been a week ago, the morning after her first shift.

She hadn’t turned back into her human skin once, and I was getting used to seeing her this way. Enough that it made me want to be in the council room as a wolf too. Even though that was forbidden.

No shifting in the alpha’s council chambers… Unless you were the alpha’s mate, of course.

“You look tired.”

Eli’s statement had my brows lifting slightly. “I am.”

“You should go rest.”

“I get more R and R here than I do back at home.” I popped my neck to the side. “Wish we knew who the fuck was behind her attack.”

Eli winced and reached up and rubbed the back of his neck too—that was a bitch of a spot to get tension. “Yeah. Me as well. It doesn’t help that we’re running out of fucking time.”

We were both well aware that tomorrow was the day of the first council meeting since his mom’s death, and I had no doubt he was dreading it. Not only because of the shit he was hiding from his people, but also, because the omega was an active part of the council.

His mom had often kept Eli from getting riled up.

And Eli got riled up a lot. Not only because his council was full of annoying motherfuckers, but because he was aggressive.

I didn’t blame him.

The best alphas were aggressive. You got nowhere as an alpha by handing out fucking candy and flowers to everyone, but Eli needed the calming presence of his omega more than ever, and she was still sleeping on the rug in front of the fire like a real wolf—no cares in the world.

“Did she eat earlier?” I asked softly.

Eli sighed. “No. She hasn’t eaten anything since we brought her here.” I heard him scrape his hand against his chin, the stubble rasping against his palm. “I’m glad she feasted that night.”

“What did she eat?”

“I caught her a stag.”

“She ate all of it?” My eyes widened in surprise.

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “Stunned the hell out of me too. At least she has something to keep her going. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Her waking up and dozing all the time. It’s different than usual. They’re passed out solid. Not wavering in and out like she is.”

Before I could reply, the doors to the chamber opened and, spying my brother, I cocked a brow at the sight of him so excited.

Of course he’d been more chipper since Sabina had come into our lives, even if she did little else than sleep all day and wake up for maybe twenty minutes total to communicate with us in that oddly-tuned radio way she had, but it made me feel brighter to see him happier.

We didn’t always see eye to eye, but he was my brother, and I loved the asshole.

“News?” I inquired softly, knowing my voice would carry to his ears without needing to raise it and potentially disturb Sabina.

“Yeah. News on her.”

That was something else Eli had set us on. Finding out who she was, if her papers were real or fake. Discovering if anyone might come looking for her.

There was a distinct possibility that the reason she’d been targeted had nothing to do with us, Eli, or the pack.

Of course, I doubted it, but we had to check every avenue. Even if it did take us away from her side more than I’d like. We all had jobs to do, and I envied Eli for getting to work in here and sit with her all the damn time, even while I was grateful that she was never alone.