C65

Brooke chuckled, but suddenly her expression turned serious. "Indie, I need some advice."

Indianna smiled and led Brooke to the steps that led up to the front of the pack house and sat down. "I know what you're going to ask about," she said and gently rubbed her stomach. She was getting even bigger. Greyson's return had rapidly sped up the growth of her babies.

"I'm scared," Brooke breathed.

"I know," Indianna nodded. "I know exactly how you're feeling."

"I want this," Brooke said. "I really do, but I don't. Not now. Not when our lives are like this."

"It won't be like this. We're going to fix this. For them." Indianna placed her hand on Brooke's stomach.

"I've just started to show," Brooke said quietly and held her stomach. "Soon I'll be as big as you."

"I'm only going to get bigger," Indianna groaned. "Do you know how far along you are?"

Brooke shook her head. "I would guess around two months but I need to see Doc to be sure."

"You're going to be a great mother, Brooke."

"Oh god," she panicked. "Me, a mum? I've got an awful mother, how can I be a mum when I've never had one that was good? What if I like... drop the baby or something? What if it doesn't like me? What if-"

"Brooke, shut up and believe in yourself," Indianna said and laughed. "You and Harry can do this."

Brooke bit her lip. "I can't even look after myself. I'm going to have a human. A little human that's my responsibility."

"You've got time. You've got a few months to prepare."

"I just need to stop getting kidnapped," Brooke said lightheartedly. "I'm sure I can manage that."

Indianna reached over and hugged Brooke tightly. "You're my bestfriend, you're not going anywhere ever again. No one is taking you away from Harry or me. We need you."

Brooke squeezed Indianna and closed her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered.

*

After checking on Alice and Alec, Indianna was glad to see them getting along. She was surprised to see Alice silent, listening intently to Alec.

*See?* Indianna said in her mind, feeling Greyson's presence in her head. *He hasn't gone anywhere. He's not run away or tried to cause anyone harm. All he wanted was his mate.*

Greyson didn't say anything and she felt him disappear from her mind. Indianna chuckled, knowing she was right. Indianna's stomach grumbled and she made her way into the kitchen where she found Tai, Ace and Raiden sitting at the table. Raiden looked pale and his hands were clenched tightly around a cup of tea.

"Indie, hey," Ace smiled when she walked in. Tai looked up and nodded at Indianna, but her expression was surprisingly warm. She was slowly beginning to lose her hostility.

"How's it going?" Indianna asked, she looked at Raiden. He slowly looked up from the mug and blinked, staring at Indianna for a few seconds.

"Brooke told me everything," he said. His voice sounded hollow. "She told me everything that Brandon did."

"Oh," Indianna swallowed.

"He told me why he did what he did," Raiden said. "He's scared of this Rogue person. He thought by helping him he could help to protect Brooke, but... I can't forgive him. He had a choice and he chose wrong. He's caused you guys so much sadness."

"I'm so sorry," Indianna said softly. "I'm so sorry that you and Tai have gotten mixed up in all this. You are welcome here, both of you, for however long you want to stay. You have our protection and our help with whatever you need. Greyson may seem unwelcoming, but he will not turn you away, I promise you."

"You have our help too," Raiden said slowly. "Brandon may have made the wrong choice, but I will not."

"This is not your fight," Ace said gently.

"Too late," Tai said sternly. "We're involved now. We're going to help."

"Please let us. Please let me try and right Brandon's wrongs." Raiden's eyes were pleading.

Indianna nodded. "Okay."

"How about I give you two a proper tour of the house? You're not going back to your house, you are both safer here," Ace said.

Tai looked like she wanted to protest, but she glanced at her brother and slowly nodded. "Fine," she said and stood up with Ace.

"We'll see you in a bit, Indie," Ace said, smiling warmly at Indianna as he left the kitchen with Tai and Raiden.

Indianna prepared some food once she was alone. She sat down at the table and ate her food, suddenly feeling very tired. The fatigue of pregnancy was starting to hit. "Indie, dear." Laura entered the kitchen and sat down next to Indianna. She had a large leather bound book in her hands. "I have something for you."

"What is it?" Indianna asked and pushed her empty plate away from her.

"Mark and I were in the library, trying to find anything that could help us. As you know, the Elder's have abandoned us and we thought there could be something in any of the old literature that could help us defeat Rogue."

"Did you manage to find something?" Indianna asked hopefully.

"Sadly not, we're still looking," Laura said. "But, I did find this book. It's a very old book of tales about the Royal Family."

"The Royal Family? Of werewolves?"

"Yes, once upon a time we were governed by Royals. This was hundreds and hundreds of years ago. The werewolf world once was not as hidden as it is now. There were no packs to keep control. The King and Queen were in control. They kept the peace. Werewolves were a lot more rowdy back then I guess you could say. This was when there were more werewolves than humans, werewolves didn't need to hide. After a while the King and Queen introduced the pack system. Less people were inheriting the werewolf gene and humans were becoming the more dominant species. Packs were created and overtime the werewolf world grew quieter, we retreated to the shadows. Then, there was no need for a Royal Family. They had done their job. There was peace in the werewolf world. The Royals then formed the Council of Elders to be in charge. Any issues between packs would be resolved by them, instead of the Royals. Then, the Royals disappeared, never to be seen again. Rumour had it that one day they would return, but that day has never come."

"Wow," Indianna gasped. "I always assumed packs had always been around. This is crazy."

"The Royals time was so long ago, they are hardly spoken about now, but I found this book and thought of you. It's a children's book from hundreds of years ago. It was to help kids understand the Royal Family. I thought the twins might like it."

"Oh, thank you," Indianna said. "That's so kind of you."

"All children need stories read to them," Laura smiled. "I thought this would be the perfect book."

"Thank you, I'm sure it will be."

"I only came to give this to you, but I better get back to work," Laura said and stood up. "There has to be something we can find to help."

"I hope so," Indianna said and said goodbye to Laura. *Greyson?* She said in her mind. *Where are you?*

*Out back.* His reply was instant and Indianna frowned.

*What are you doing out there?*

*Thinking.*

Indianna stood and made her way out of the house and walked around to the back where she saw Greyson. He was standing over his grave, his hands in his pockets and his back tense. "What are you doing here?" Indianna asked quietly and slowly walked up to him. She slipped her hand into his and he squeezed it tightly.

"Did you come here much?" Greyson asked.

Indianna paused. "No. I couldn't."

Greyson let out a breath. "Good. You weren't wasting your time crying over a random body."

"We should go. It's probably not the best for you to be here."

"It's my grave," Greyson pointed out and shrugged his shoulders.

"No," Indianna said firmly. "It is not your grave. You are alive. It's not yours."

Greyson sighed and looked down at Indianna. "What's that?" He gestured to the book that Laura had given to Indianna.

"Your mum gave it to me. It's about the Royal Family."

Greyson scoffed. "The Royal Family is made up. The stories in that book are just a bunch of fairytales, sugar."

"Your mum seems to believe in them," Indianna said.

Greyson rolled his eyes. "She always has," he said. "They're stories, that's all."

"Well, Laura thought that they might like them," Indianna said and rubbed her stomach.

"As long as they remain stories," Greyson said. "I don't need my children's heads being filled with fairytales and them thinking they are real."

Indianna raised her eyebrows at Greyson. "How do you know they're not?"

Greyson gave Indianna a look. "If they were real then I'd like to think they'd give us a hand with your psycho brother." Greyson wrapped his arm around Indianna and turned her away from his grave. "But we're on our own, sugar. The Elders have abandoned us. No one is coming to save us."

"Way to put me in a cheery mood," Indianna mumbled.

"Sorry," he sighed. "I've got a lot on my mind. We've been planning how we're going to get Rogue's men all day without getting caught. I'm a little stressed."

"So, what is the plan? When do we start turning Rogue's men?"

The two of them started to walk back to the pack house and Greyson looked down at Indianna with a small smirk. "Oh, sugar, we've already started."

"What?" Indianna gasped. "What have you done?"

"We spent the morning going through the list that Lily gave us. We worked out who were the easiest targets and made a plan of attack. Harry and Oscar have gone to retrieve the first of Rogue's men. Doc has managed to come up with his own version of a mind block. We don't know if Rogue has a mind link to those he's branded, and in case he has the injection that Doc has produced will block it. Harry and Oscar are going to bring the man back here and we're going to brand him. He'll then be a member of our pack."

Indianna was silent for a moment. She swallowed nervously. "It's happening," she whispered. "It's actually happening."

"We've got this, sugar," Greyson said. He gently cupped Indianna's face. "Okay?"

Indianna nodded.

"Great. Now tell me, is my good old friend Alex still in the cells?"

"I don't think he or Alice have left-"

"Brilliant." Greyson pulled away from Indianna and quickly made his way over to the stairs that led underground to the cells.

*Greyson!* Indianna yelled in her head and hurried after him as fast as her pregnant body would allow her. *Don't you dare harm him!* When she made it down to the cells she gasped when she saw Greyson had Alec by the neck, pinned to the wall.

"Greyson!" Indianna shouted. "Let go of him!"

"I've forgiven the dude and I was the one that was kidnapped and held hostage!" Alice called. She stood nervously to the side. "Please don't kill him, it would be nice to see if we can get along for longer than a day."

"Greyson Evans-"

*Relax, sugar.* Greyson's voice was calm. *I'm not going to hurt him.*

"Please!" Alec spluttered. "I'm on your side, I promise-"

"My mate trusts you," Greyson said slowly. His eyes were narrowed and he was glaring at Alec who gulped. "And I trust my mate. So, Alex, I'm going to give you a chance."

"Y-you are?"

"One," Greyson spat. "If you cross me I will kill you. Do you understand?"

"You couldn't be clearer," Alec said quickly.

"You are not allowed to leave the house. Indianna may trust you, but I don't. I'm trusting her, not you, and I definitely do not trust you to leave this house. You need to earn my trust, am I clear?"

"Definitely! 100%-"

"Tomorrow you are going to help us," Greyson cut him off. "You will meet Harry at 9am in my office. You are going to tell him everything you know about Rogue. Every tiny fucking detail."

Indianna wasn't sure how it was possible, but Alec looked even more uncomfortable. "Harry... He... Brook-"

"Yeah, he's not going to forget about that quickly. He likes to hold a grudge, especially when it comes to Brooklyn. She's my oldest friends mate and my mates best friend. She is family. My family. You have a lot of work to do to earn the respect of this pack. You'll start by doing everything you can to make up for keeping Brooklyn away from Harry."

"I promise I'll do everything I can," Alec said. "I'm an Alpha and I haven't been acting like one. It's about time I start."

"Your words mean nothing to me. Act on them," Greyson said sternly and dropped Alec to the ground. "You're free to leave the cells. Find an empty room in the house, let Indianna know where so I know where to find you."

"Thank you-"

"Go."

"Gosh, death clearly did you wonders," Alice grumbled and helped Alec up from the floor.

Greyson's eyes darkened but when he looked at Alice his lips twitched slightly. "Alice, I think it'd be wise to introduce your mate to your brother. He's been even more annoying today and that's because he's worried about you. Go."

"Sir, yes, sir, Mr Bossy," Alice called and left the cells with Alec.

Indianna couldn't help but chuckle. "You're not mean to her."

"She's Kal's sister," Greyson shrugged.

"Did I hear you call Brooke family?" Indianna said with a smile. "You two seem to annoy the hell out of each other."

"Our relationship isn't perfect, but she is family," Greyson said. "Don't get all mushy on me, sugar, and don't ever tell her that I said that."

Indianna laughed and took Greyson's hand, pulling him close to her. "Thank you," she said quietly and kissed him softly. "For trusting me about Alec."

"He had all day to run. If he wanted to he would've."

"So, you trust him?"

Greyson scoffed. "Of course not, not yet. We'll see if that changes."

"It will," Indianna said confidentially, but Greyson wasn't listening. His eyes had glazed over and she knew that he was communicating through mind link.

Greyson suddenly blinked and squeezed Indianna's hand tightly. "They have him," he said. "Harry and Oscar have him. They're on their way back now."