Instead, I watched as the she-wolf pranced back to me as light on her feet as a ballet dancer now that she’d attacked, and with her bloody maw still dripping my brother’s lifeblood, she returned to my side and waited for me to pat her head.

That was her payment.

My mouth curved into a smile, then I heard Frank say, “Well, I figured I’d seen a lot in all these years, but I never thought I’d see that. Are they tied together or something?”

“Or something,” Eli rasped.

And that was the way of it.

Whatever was going on here, whatever was happening with me and the she-wolf, how linked we were…I wasn’t about to question it.

The Mother had known I’d need help, and here she was.

At my side.

And I knew that her pups would be at my babies’ sides too.

Austin

Nothing was starting to surprise me.

I was getting used to batshit, because ever since Sabina had come into this world, she’d shaken things up.

So, watching the she-wolf bitch scratch at the door like a dog needing to be let out didn’t come as a surprise. Nor did the way she didn’t go outside, just howled on the doorjamb, and within seconds, the pack of natural wolves was running to her side.

Two males approached her, bowing their heads as they did so, and when she sniffed then retreated to Cyrilo’s corpse, I wasn’t surprised when they began to drag him out.

The bloody mess they left behind, the trail of guts, was something I was grateful our maids would have to deal with.

It was, even for me, pretty fucking gross, and when they were outside with the body, when they took him far out into the forest until we couldn’t see them, I knew the naturals were about to have a human feast.

Quite fitting, I thought, for scum like that.

Sabina turned to Frank and said, “I’m sure you understand, but I need a moment,” and without waiting for his reply, retreated to the door. I felt Eli’s need to go to her, Ethan’s too, but we had etiquette, and leaving another alpha in our council room wasn’t how we went about doing things.

Me, on the other hand, I wasn’t tied to the formalities as much, so I slipped out after her, just in time to watch her retreat to the kitchen.

Brows high, I followed her and saw the kitchen was empty except for a small boy.

My nose twitched at the scent of him, one I somehow recognized, then I saw she was looming over him, asking, “Daniel, did you eat something?”

He bit his lip, shoulders rounded so his head was hanging low, and he muttered, “Yes, ma’am.”

Daniel.

I knew that name. Not rare, but I knew of no pup in the pack with that name, and it was my job to know everyone.

My brow furrowed as I tried to process who he was, whom he belonged to, and then I stopped worrying.

Sabina was my priority.

I moved over to her, getting as close as I could until I was at her back, and she sighed the second I was there and leaned into me.

“You need to go lie down,” I rumbled in her ear.

She sniffed. “I’m not sick.”

“That was some impressive—”

“It wasn’t me. It was the she-wolf,” she retorted primly.

“If you think that, you’re nuts. She’s tied to you and your she-wolf in a way I’ve never seen before. Frank is a lot older than any of us. He was shocked too. That tells you it’s rare what you just did.”

“Just as rare as what Cyrilo was able to do.”

I hummed, because she was right.

“Do you have any sisters?”

Her eyes widened at that.

Her jealousy should have pissed me off, especially when I was tied to her, one hundred percent, but instead, and knowing that was the human half of her still at play, I started to answer, “Sabina—”

“No! Sorry.” She reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose. “That was stupid of me. Why were you asking—so you could take one for a mate? As if.” She blew out a breath. “Stupid. So stupid.”

I reached for her, grabbed her shoulder, and squeezed. “Don’t be hard on yourself.”

The fact that she was being exactly that told me she was in more shock than she was letting on.

It figured.

What had just happened back there was enough to blow my mind, never mind hers, and I was used to this world.

I watched her take a seat opposite Daniel, who hadn’t uttered a peep since my arrival, and as she shakily seated herself, I murmured, “I’ll get you some water.”

When she didn’t argue, I headed over to the industrial sink, grabbed a glass from the cupboard above it, then used the filtered water faucet to pour her some.

As I did, she answered, “I have two sisters.”

“Cyrilo was the only boy?”

“Yes.” She gulped. “Thank God.”

“Why?”

“Because he was horrible. And having two of him around would have been a nightmare.”

I gnawed on my bottom lip at the thought, because it made me wish I could tear Cyrilo to shreds as well.

Those natural wolves from the other side were fucking lucky to be snacking on him.

When I turned around, I made sure my expression was composed though, and handed her the water.

“Daniel, who are your folks?” she asked, and I let her change the subject off herself, especially since we shouldn’t be discussing things like this in front of the boy. “We need to get you back to them.”

“I don’t have any parents anymore,” Daniel whispered, making me frown.

I tipped my chin to the side. “Who were they?” I didn’t know of any deaths in the recent past.

“Lina and Kingsley Rainford.”

My mouth rounded at that as I processed those words, then I heard her mutter in my head, “You know them? Who is he? He was caught shoplifting at the store.”

“You’re on the wrong land, Daniel. You know that, don’t you?” I told the boy instead, but I was soft as I spoke to him, not wanting to scare him.

But it figured that was why he was scared in the first place.

He knew he shouldn’t really be here.

“I don’t like it on Rainford land anymore,” he whispered, his bottom lip quivering.

It wasn’t hard to figure out why.

I rubbed my brow, wondering how the fuck I was going to explain to Eli that, somehow, our mate had brought home the kid of a recently felled alpha from our neighboring pack.

Sweet fuck.

This was the last thing we needed.

But what were we supposed to do?

Turn him out?

I’d never agree with that shit. Ever.

“What’s going on?” Sabina questioned, her voice wary, and I sensed she could discern my own concern over the situation.

“Daniel’s father was the Alpha of the Rainford pack, which is about three hundred miles east.” I blew out a breath. “When his mother’s mate died, she passed, and in those circumstances, packs tend to—”

“Throw children out?” she whispered, finishing the sentence before I could.

I cut her a look, and knew she was assimilating a lot of information right now.

Eli had told her that only bad alphas were challenged, and Kingsley had been the worst.

He’d been cruel and vindictive. Power had bloated him.