Diya smiled. “Perfectly normal. She is waking up. I’m tired. Text me if you need anything.” Diya left.
Avery was now a furry, adorable wolf cub wrapped in a blanket. Oh my God. Cutest thing ever! She gave a small growl and I picked her up and tucked her under my arm. She leaned into my shirt and bit my nipple. “Ow!” I yelped and pulled her away from my body.
“You little stinker. You hungry?” Making quick strides, I crossed the living room and walked her down the hall into Emma’s room. She shifted again and gave a loud human baby wail.
Emma sat bolt upright. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?” She looked frazzled, her gaze darting around the room.
“Yeah, she’s just hungry,” I told Emma, sitting at the edge of the bed.
“Aurora, you’re here.” Emma smiled, taking Avery to feed her. I had seen Emma naked a hundred times. Breastfeeding in front of me or any member of the pack was no big deal.
“Does it hurt?” I asked Emma as her eyelids drooped.
“Kinda. But being full of milk hurts worse.” She leaned back, closing her eyes.
“You feeling okay?” I asked her, trying to keep her awake. She looked ready to drop at any second.
“Just tired. No one warns you about that. The sleep deprivation … Awful. Headache, hungr–” She fell asleep, her head rolling to the side. Her arm went slack and I bolted forward, catching Avery and boosting her back up to latch.
God, being a mother was harder than I thought. Poor Emma. I had never seen her so tired. Not even after Devon died. We expected mothers to labor for hours and push out a human being. Then, when their body needed to rest, we woke them every two hours to feed that human. Yikes. Was I sure I was ready for this? After Avery was done feeding, I lifted her over my shoulder and instinctively patted her back. She gave a big burp and I giggled, walking her back out to the living room.
Looking into her green eyes, and at her fuzzy red hair, I saw that she looked just like Emma. “I’m your godmother and the coolest aunt you will ever have,” I told her. She scrunched her face and a huge rumbling sound came from her diaper.
I grimaced. “Thanks, kid.”
*
After staying the entire night shift, I woke on the couch to find Alexa shaking me.
“Hey, it’s my shift,” she whispered.
I peeked over, Avery was still asleep. Oh, man. I was exhausted. Avery had her days and nights mixed up and only fell asleep an hour ago. I had been up all night rocking her and cooing, taking her into Emma for feedings. How did parents do this every night without a pack to help?
I extended my hand to Alexa for her to help me up and when my hand touched hers, I was pulled into a vision.
A guy with short brown hair and kind eyes was chopping wood, a thin silver chain tied him to a nearby tree like a dog. Alexa’s mate, I knew it. He was in a pack in California, in the Redwood Forest. His name was Jameson, someone called his name and he turned to look at him, his Alpha. Seeing his Alpha made my stomach drop. I recognized him. It was Dane’s old second in command. After Kai had killed Dane and taken over his Portland pack, his second went rogue and ran off with a few of the others who didn’t want to join our pack.
In the vision, his Alpha barked an order at Jameson, who lowered his head and set down the axe, walking towards him submissively and dragging the long chain behind him like a slave. Then the vision changed and I was shown Kai and Jameson’s Alpha locked in a brawl. Something filtered through the vision to me. A knowing. The Alpha didn’t want to give Jameson up because he had a very rare gift. He was a submissive who could amplify his Alpha’s dominance and strength tenfold when they were close to him. His Alpha kept him very close, therefore increasing his strength. The vision went back to the fight and I saw Kai being thrown hard against a tree. The tree broke and Anna rushed the Alpha, knocking him over.
I came out of the vision and Alexa was standing there with wide eyes and pale skin. Alexa and I were extremely close. I was the one who changed her and it had made us more bonded than others. A tear lined my eye. “I found your mate.”
Her hand flew to her mouth. “Really?” It seemed that every time I found a mate, there was a problem.
“But … there’s an issue,” I told her.
*
Izzy, our pack member with two human children of her own, had rushed over to watch Avery while Alexa and I found Max and Kai. I knew we needed to find Layla and Tara and deal with the RAIDOS attack but Alexa’s mate was in trouble. Being tied to a tree like a dog with a painful silver chain was not okay. This had to be dealt with now.
Kai listened to me as I recounted the vision. When I finished, he nodded. “We can go get him. My father is flying in from India and Shamus is driving down from Seattle. By the time we get back, the meeting will be assembled and we can make a plan to get Tara back and find Layla.”
I could feel Alexa’s excitement and apprehension.
“And RAIDOS? When do we pay them a little visit for shooting up our football game?” Max glared, arms crossed.
Kai’s eyes went yellow. “They nearly killed my wife. We will retaliate. It’s just not the right time. We have too much on our plates.”
Max huffed. I knew he was traumatized from carrying me off that field, bleeding and so close to death, but I think most of his frustrations came from Tara’s absence. I felt her there, in the pack bonds, but it was faint and cloaked with magic.
“Okay, so Max, Anna, Jake, Kai, Alexa, and I. That’s the group in the vision.”