Bear the Consequences Page 2

  “Knowing what Annora’s mom did doesn’t have me excited about finding my own,” I admitted as I pulled into a spot in the lot closest to the hospital entrance, relieved we were there for more than one reason. I was excited about the baby, but I also didn’t want to hurt my father and the flash of sadness at my answer let me know that’s exactly what I’d done. When I turned off the engine, Braden and Camden started to move around in the back seat.

  We already knew our way around the hospital since we had insisted on doing a tour of it with Parker and Annora. We might have gone slightly overboard during her pregnancy, but she didn’t seem to mind too much. We headed inside and straight to the waiting room where we found Hunter, Grace, and Spencer.

  “Any news?” Dad asked as we walked into the room.

  “It’s only been a couple hours,” Grace answered as we all hugged each other in greeting. After so many years of staying away from wolves, it was damn strange to have several of them in our family now. “First babies can take forever sometimes.”

  “It certainly felt like forever when you gave birth to Foster,” Hunter grumbled.

  At the mention of my nephew, I looked around the room and realized we were missing a couple people. “Is he with Eliza?”

  “Yeah,” Spencer confirmed. “We weren’t sure how long of a wait it would be. Emery’s too young to be hanging out at the hospital all night.”

  “Oh, please. Like it mattered. You’ve barely let them out of the house in the last three months unless it was to come over to our house so the boys could play together,” Grace teased.

  “What about all the time you all spend at our place?” Spencer complained. “He’s just a baby. He needs his rest.”

  “Stop trying to make my brother feel bad about keeping Emery home with Eliza when you’re the one who jumped at the chance to drop Foster off with them,” Hunter said.

  “It’s no wonder Parker got my baby girl pregnant so quickly,” Dad grumbled. “There must be something in the air or water with all the babies you wolves keep popping out.”

  “Maybe you should send the triplets home with us for a few months. We can find them mates and build up their sperm counts,” Hunter joked.

  “Hell no!” Braden practically shouted while Camden and I just shook our heads.

  “It’s a girl!” Parker shouted as he ran into the room, tears streaming down his cheeks. “A beautiful baby girl.”

  “I have a granddaughter,” Dad cried out. His eyes were full of tears but he was smiling so widely, it looked like his face hurt.

  “I thought Grace said to expect it to take a long time?” I asked as I hugged my brother-in-law.

  “There was a bit of a problem,” he answered, running his hand through his hair. When he saw the look on our faces, he continued quickly. “I’m sorry I didn’t come in sooner to let you know. Everything just moved so damn fast. Kyla’s heartbeat dropped and the doctors said they needed to get her out or run the risk of losing her during labor.”

  “Kyla?” Grace whispered.

  “Yeah, that’s what Annora wanted to name her,” Parker confirmed.

  “They’re both doing okay?” I asked, since my dad looked like he was about to fall over from shock.

  “The doctors said they both came through the procedure with flying colors. Do you think I’d be in here if either of them needed me?” Parker retorted.

  “Of course not,” I replied.

  “Shit. Sorry, man,” he apologized. “I know you didn’t mean that. I’m exhausted and still trying to calm down from watching them cut Annora open to get Kyla out.”

  “No worries,” I assured him.

  “When can we see them?” Dad, Braden, and Camden all asked at the same time, making everyone laugh.

  “It shouldn’t be too long. They need to get Kyla cleaned up and move both of them into the recovery room. But the hospital said we need to keep the visits short for now.”

  “As long as we get to see them, that’s fine by me,” Dad admitted.

  Parker was right about it being quick. We chatted for about thirty minutes before a nurse came in to let us know they were ready for visitors. Parker went in first just to make sure Annora wanted to see everyone and came back out after a couple minutes.

  “She’s tired,” he warned. “How about you guys go in two at a time?”

  “Can Alasdair and I go in first?” Dad asked.

  Parker looked to Hunter, who nodded his head before telling us it was okay. As soon as I saw my sister holding her beautiful baby girl, my heart melted. Then she let me hold Kyla, who wrapped me around her finger just by looking up into my eyes. Our time went too quickly and we swapped with Braden and Camden.

  “Thanks for letting us go first,” my dad said as we stood in the hallway with everyone.

  “They’re your family just as much as they are ours,” Hunter replied. “And I figured getting in there meant a lot to you since you spent so many years apart from Annora.”

  “You were right,” I confirmed.

  “Annora and Kyla will be in the hospital for several days,” Parker said, his eyes locked with my father’s. “With the C-section, the doctors said it’s standard to keep her longer.”

  I glanced back and forth between them, feeling like I was missing a vital part of this conversation until my dad responded, “You’ll take care of them while we’re gone?”

  “Always,” he assured him. “Even when you’re here, she’s mine to protect.”

  Straightening to his full height and eyes gleaming with determination, my dad turned to me. “Now, it’s time.”

  Chapter 2

  Finley

  The lack of sleep was starting to get to me. Almost a year had passed since my dad had sent Momma and me up to the cabin to wait out the trouble with Annora, but I’d been having dreams about it all week long. They were mostly just memories from that time, but they left me feeling restless. Last night was no different. Back then, I knew from some of the comments my mom had made that what had happened to Annora weighed heavily on Daddy’s mind. He didn’t bring it up when we spoke on the phone, which wasn’t a surprise—he never shared pack troubles with me—but something about her situation must have made him see me in a new light.

  All night long, I kept reliving the day after we came back home. The surprise I felt when he asked to see me in his office. As pack alpha, he had always treated it as sacred territory in our home. I had free run of every room growing up, but had rarely been inside that one. The location of our talk made it clear this was going to be serious and I had been so nervous. It quickly became clear I had no need to worry when he said six little words that changed our relationship and my place in our pack.

  “I need your help, baby girl.”

  Before that moment, there hadn’t been a single time in my life when he’d asked me to help him with something important. I swore to myself I would do everything within my power to make sure I didn’t fail him now that he had.

  “Then you have it, Daddy. Whatever you need, I’m here for you.”

  “That’s my girl,” he said, his mouth softening a little as some of the tension seeped from his face. “I’m lucky you and your momma are mine.”

  “And I’m lucky to have you both as my parents,” I assured him. “There hasn’t been a single day in my life when I haven’t known how loved I am.”

  “I wish all of the children in our pack could say the same,” he said softly.

  “Me, too, Daddy.”

  His voice strengthened when he continued. “As their alpha, the least I can do is make sure any wolf who follows me—young or old—knows they’re safe.”

  “How can I help?” I asked, unsure of how I could make a difference in keeping my packmates safe.

  “There are a couple things,” he began. “First, I want you to make sure the Channing house stays clean and stocked in case Annora ever needs to come home to us. I was able to track her down and she mated with a wolf from the Black River Pack. From the reports I’ve go
tten, she seems to be happy, but I want that option open to her should she ever need it.”

  “I can do that,” I agreed, noticing he hadn’t said I needed to be the one to clean the house. I was pretty sure he assumed I would make arrangements for the cleaning service who did our home to come in and take care of everything. I’d need to ask my mom for their contact information.

  “The other part is more complicated,” he warned. “I want the children in our pack to have more of a voice. As their alpha, I figure they might be intimidated by me, so I want you to be my liaison.”

  “Liaison?” I squeaked in shock.

  “I need someone they feel comfortable talking to and your momma said that would need to be a packmate closer to their own age. She strongly urged me to pick a female,” he clarified.

  “Let me guess, she did all of this while looking upstairs at my room so you’d get the hint and think it was your own idea?”

  “Pretty much,” he admitted.

  “What exactly do you want me to do?”

  “If they have any issues that need to be brought to my attention, I want the children to know they can go to you and you’ll keep me informed,” he explained.

  Cocking my head, I considered his words before responding. “Does this mean you’re going to let me take care of some of these problems on my own?”

  “Don’t push it, baby girl,” he growled. “For now, let’s plan on you talking to me about anything that comes up and if there’s something I think you can handle, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

  “You can’t blame me for asking.”

  “Anytime I give you an inch, you always take a mile,” he complained halfheartedly.

  “Well, I am your daughter,” I teased, “I come by it naturally.”

  “This is true,” he agreed, chuckling softly. “But I think this is enough responsibility to lay on your shoulders for now. You still have school to focus on.”

  “I’ll be graduating soon enough, Daddy,” I reminded him gently. “I’m all grown up and you can’t keep me in a protective bubble for the rest of my life.”

  “You’ll always be my baby girl, Finley. Even when you find a mate of your own to look after you, your safety will still be my concern.”

  At the time, his words left me feeling better about myself than I ever had before. Now, I couldn’t figure out why I continued dreaming about that day or why it left me with a feeling of sadness. There were many changes that had taken place in my life over the last year. For the first time, I felt like more than just my parents’ precious daughter. I was responsible for the well-being of all of the children in our pack. It had taken several months to build trust with them, but eventually they started coming to me with their concerns. Most were small grievances common among kids, but every once in a while, the issue was serious.

  My heart just about broke when Owen, an adorable five-year-old boy, asked me one day why his cousin’s daddy liked to hit her. Growing up with my father, it was almost impossible for me to picture a parent raising their hand to their child, even though I knew it happened. I knew this wasn’t something I could handle on my own, so I went straight to my father for help. We went together to talk to Owen’s parents to see if they knew what was happening with their niece. Whoever said children don’t miss a thing must have been right because the news came as a shock to them.

  Daddy, Nolan, and Owen’s father paid a visit to their pack to take care of the situation. I wasn’t sure exactly what happened, but Owen’s aunt, Becky, and cousin, Wendy, came back with them, so I had to assume it was handled. Owen and his mom and dad were their only family within our pack and their home was pretty small. I knew it was going to be difficult for them to settle into the pack sharing living quarters like that and since I was still caring for Annora’s old home, which remained empty, I asked my dad if we could offer it to Becky as a safe haven. He agreed and the rest was history, as they say.

  After a few months, Becky was able to get back on her feet. She moved out of Annora’s house a few days ago...and maybe that was why my dreams were full of memories from when the changes began. Because, deep down inside, I knew there were more changes just around the corner.

  With my dad’s permission, I ordered some repairs after they left and I needed to go check to make sure everything was done. Which meant I shouldn’t have been lying on my bed thinking about the past when Daddy was depending on me.

  By the time I made it downstairs, Momma had already left for the day. Now that I kept busy with my duties to the pack, she didn’t hover around me quite so much. It was probably a good thing, too, or I would have felt like I needed to move out of their house sooner rather than later. When I graduated a few months ago, Daddy had let me know he wanted me to live with them for a little while longer at least, but the urge to stand on my own two feet was starting to get to me.

  “Morning, baby girl,” Daddy said from behind me as I dug through the fridge for milk.

  “Getting a late start to your day?” I asked after giving him a quick hug. I turned to pour the milk over my cereal before putting it back in the fridge.

  “Nope, my day started bright and early, but I wanted to catch you before you headed over to the Channing house.”

  “Why?” I asked before eating a spoonful of cereal so it didn’t get soggy. I hated when that happened.

  “Because I got a call this morning that this was ready for me to pick it up.” He waved a long cardboard box in my direction.

  “A present for me?” I asked, plopping my cereal bowl onto the counter and moving toward him with my hands outstretched. He always gave the best gifts.

  “In a way, yes,” he answered as he handed it over to me.

  “Hmm,” I muttered when I realized it was taped shut.

  “Here, let me help you get it open,” he offered, turning the box so one of the ends was facing him and flipping open his switchblade to slice through the tape.

  I reached inside and pulled a wood slat out, not realizing what it was until I turned it over and saw the words carved into it. “I take it that’s a yes, then?”

  “Yes, baby girl. If you want to use the Channing house for other women and children in need, then you can. The reports I’ve received said Annora is settled in with her mate’s pack and expecting a baby any day now. I don’t think she’ll ever need it again and I like your idea of putting it to good use.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered, trying to hold back the tears that came from this visible sign of how much my dad was starting to value me as a member of the pack.

  “I’m so proud of you, baby girl,” he said gruffly before kissing me on the top of my head. “Now, we both better get to work or we’ll never get everything done before dinner tonight. Your momma would never forgive us since she’s going to make lasagna.”

  “My favorite!”

  He lifted my chin gently with his knuckles, bringing my eyes up to meet his. “That’s why she’s making it.”

  As he walked away, I traced the letters that spelled out “Honor House” on the sign he’d had made. A deep sense of pride filled me at the proof of his approval. Shaking my head to clear the cobwebs from my brain, I brushed away my tears and squared my shoulders before heading out the door. I was certain he hadn’t planned for me to put the sign up myself, but I didn’t want to wait another minute to see it hanging right where it belonged.

  Chapter 3

  Alasdair

  “You sure you want to split up?” I asked my dad as he parked the truck. Braden had stayed behind to handle a problem with one of our deliveries for the Honey Pot so we couldn’t even pair off in teams of two.

  “Yeah,” he confirmed. “Take the truck and head over to Annora’s old house. I’d like to have some words with her old alpha.”

  “Camden stays with you,” I insisted.

  “What? You don’t trust your old man to handle one wolf?” he asked crossly.

  “From what we’ve learned, it won’t be one wolf. His enforcer is al
most always at his side,” my brother reminded him from the backseat.

  “Fine, two wolves¸” our dad conceded.

  “We all know your bear can take on more than two wolves. That’s not the point,” I hissed. “Odds are I won’t find anything after all this time at her house if what we’ve heard is true. The smart move is for one of us to head there and two of us to meet with the alpha.”

  “You did always teach us to make decisions based on whatever made the most sense,” Camden chimed in.

  “Smartasses,” Dad grumbled.

  “Better than dumbasses,” Camden shot back.

  “Damn straight,” I agreed. “Now, get out of the truck so I can go check out the house and get back here as soon as possible, just in case you guys need me.”

  “Shit, bro,” Camden griped, “it’s not like I won’t be right there to have Dad’s back.”

  “Like I said, I’ll hurry,” I said, chuckling as he slammed the door behind him and turned to glare at me.

  The town was small and it only took a few minutes before I was pulling into the driveway of the house where my sister had grown up. The sensation of my bear’s fur rubbing against my skin surprised me. Figuring he had awoken because of the anger coursing through my veins, I pushed him to settle down. He didn’t respond to my command as quickly as usual. I guess I was more rattled by the sight of her perfectly normal looking childhood home than I realized.

  I was kind of expecting the exterior to reflect the horrors she had suffered while living there. Instead, as my gaze swept across the upper levels to the garage, I found nothing in disrepair. Even the lawn was perfectly cut. Then I noticed the woman tottering on a ladder at the top of the porch steps and my bear practically broke through my skin to get to her. Fighting the urge to leap from the truck, it took me a moment before I realized who she was to me. Apparently, my journey to avenge Annora led me straight to my mate. I wasn’t sure I would ever find her, yet there she was, in the very last place I ever would have expected: the house I’d dreaded visiting.