4

Our family kept us sane. Whole.

“Dad—”

“I heard.” He walked over and put his arms around me. The touch and contact soothed me. “We’ll get to the bottom of it.”

When he released me, I looked at Mom as she wiped tears from her eyes. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. “I heard her voice. I’m positive it’s her.”

She straightened her apron and patted her hair. “Then we’ll figure it out. You’re not sure if she has a mate with her?”

“The only voices I heard belonged to someone who called her mom, and two men who asked where to put boxes. I think they were with the moving company. She didn’t speak to them in a familiar way.”

My older brother, Axel, walked in. “That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a husband.” He must’ve heard our conversation. That was a common thing in this house. “Just that he didn’t speak while you were listening.”

I nodded. “I know.” The thought of Ava with another man made my dragon want to rage, but having my brother there helped more than just dad. “What else should I expect? I abandoned her eighteen years ago.”

“I tried to find her,” Mom whispered.

“What?” I narrowed my eyes at her. “When?”

“When we moved back.” She sighed and turned off the stove. “This is ready when you guys are hungry.” She moved to sit at the table, and I followed.

She took my hand and continued her explanation. “I fought the idea of contacting her from the moment you took control again. Once you were back to yourself, fully, I argued with myself day and night. Then, you seemed to do okay.”

I hadn’t done okay, not at all, but I’d hidden it well.

“After a few years, when you showed no interest in finding a mate, the idea kept popping into my head, but I put it off. Then, when we moved back and I saw the house was empty, I had to try.”

“What did you do?” My dad set a bowl of meaty stew in front of me. I ignored it, my stomach in knots.

“I pretended to be interested in buying the cabin. I contacted the county registrar, the tax office, anyone I could think of. I did internet searches of her name. Heck, I even uploaded an old picture and tried to do a reverse image search.”

My eyebrows flew up. She paused and took a bite of the stew my father had dished out and put in front of her. “Needs pepper,” she murmured.

Axel jumped up to get it for her. Mom took care of us, good care of us, but we also tried to return the favor at any opportunity. It was the only way to treat the person who gave us life and sustenance.

“Mom,” I urged.

“Sorry, right. I couldn’t find anything. Nothing. It’s like she never existed.”

I blew through my nose, and a teeny bit of smoke came out. Shit.

Axel and Dad noticed and stood, walking around the table to put their hands on my back.

The touch helped. “Thanks,” I said. “I need this.”

“If you need a hug, just stand up.”

When I’d been ready for my first change, in the days before, the agitation and anger was so bad they had to sleep in bed with me. It was weird at first, but it was a familial love and comfort. The awkwardness passed quickly.

I breathed deep and the itchiness under my skin faded but didn’t disappear. “I think I’m okay.”

Mom squeezed my hand. “If I’d known she was moving back, I would’ve told you. I only found out today that someone was moving in the cabin, but I assumed she finally sold the place.”

I nodded. “Me too. I saw the cleaning service there last week, but never in a million years imagined she’d come back after this long.”

“We all felt the pain of losing Ava,” Axel said. “She was like the sister we never had. I know Jury would’ve felt the same way.”

Our younger brother had been an infant when we left. He was eighteen now and had just gone through his shift. As a beta, his first shift hadn’t been as bad as my own.

My mother chuckled. “It was like I’d lost a daughter.”

Dad squeezed my shoulder in agreement. “Yep.”

“So, now what?” I asked. “What do I do?” I knew I sounded like a whining child but fighting my dragon’s urge was taking all of my willpower.

“I don’t know,” Mom whispered. “I could go down? Take a pie?”

“Maybe,” I said.

“If she’s moved on, you’ll have to respect that.” Mom looked worried at the prospect.

“I will. But it won’t be easy.”

Go to her now.

I ignored my dragon instead of engaging him. Sometimes that was the best tactic, blocking him out.

Axel let go of my shoulder and returned to his food. Dad stayed in place.

“Brother, give it a week. Keep your distance. Let them settle in, then you can go by and see how she is.”

No.

“Plus,” Axel continued. “That’ll give your dragon some time to calm down and come to terms with it. I can sense his agitation.”

He roared in my head and I winced. “Stop it,” I chided him out loud.

He grumbled but settled.

“Okay,” I said. “But I’m going to need your help.”

“Eat,” Mom commanded. “Then we can watch a movie.”

It was a good idea. I knew I was waylaying their evening plans but sitting between my dad and brothers on the couch while I forced my mind to focus on mindless entertainment would go a long way to soothing my beast. When he was in a better frame of mind, I’d lay down the law.

He grunted. He didn’t like the idea, but too bad. He was going along with it.

I’d never been a patient man, by any means. But I’d waited eighteen years for her. Another week wouldn’t kill me.