“Mommy, I here.” A sweet little voice whispers loudly in my ear. “You wake up for snuggles?”I take a deep breath of that deep forest pine scent I love so much and open my eyes. Dre is laying across me, playing with the ends of my hair. His big green eyes are giving me a pleading look that brightens when he sees me smile at him.“Andreas, my sweet little wolf.” My voice is scratchy and dry. I swallow back tears and shut my eyes tight. Every inch of my body hurts, but I don’t want him to see me cry. That I’m not dead allows relief to flood me. My baby can smother my all he wants. I wrap my arms around him and kiss his forehead. “Yes, my darling, we can snuggle. How long was Mommy asleep?”“The doctor said bringing the kids would help when you woke up.” Bronx says from a loveseat next to the hospital bed. He looks tired and relieved. Maya is leaning on his shoulder, sound asleep, with half an orange slice in her hand. Bronx gets up and lays Maya on the chair, then comes over to the bed.
Bronx’s POV“Alright, now that Kas and her sisters are out of the room, there’s something else I want to discuss with everyone.” I stand up and nod to Carly. She opens a folder and passes sheets out to everyone. “Endymion. Now known as Andy Latmus Briland. We found him.”Arrow looks at his paper and back at me. “King Endymion? He’s been reincarnated?”“The one and only. Right here in Montana.” I sigh and sit back down. “He was born to a werebear, werewolf hybrid who is mated to a human, but the child is one hundred percent werewolf. His father, Dave, says when his wife, Shelly, was pregnant, a Native American God and a beautiful blonde-haired woman came to him in a dream and told him the baby’s name. Andy has genetic markers similar to all the Menae that would indicate he is: aye, a god, and bee, their father.”“Selene has far-reaching influence and genetics don’t lie.” Heph rubs his grimy hand over the thick scruff of his chin. “So it’s really him. Now what? What is it to us?”“This
"Hey people, time to close shop. Report to your trainers." I clap my hands to get everyone's attention in the weightroom. "Let them know I said you can finish your sets later today."As everyone racks their weights and files out, Arrow stops and shakes Milo’s hand, then claps him on the shoulder casually. "Mister Stone, when you're done, I have some suggestions for improvements to shooting range training. No hurry. I'll catch up to you in the dining hall.""The shooting range?" Milo looks confused. "Thaaat’s Ashley’s area, but, uh, yeah sure. I’ll find you before dinner."“Great. I’ll get Maisy to join us.” Arrow smiles and shakes Milo’s hand again.”“Sorry to interrupt.” The reporter gives them a polite smile, then introduces himself to Arrow. "Sean Hormell. Nice to meet you.""Arrow Khe." Arrow gives the man a slight bow, but doesn't shake his hand. "Nice to meet you.""Khe? Are you related to THE Maisy Khe?" The reporter's eyes brighten. “The psychiatrist?”"You believe you mean, D
“Why don’t you two go wake up Mommy? I have a surprise for her birthday.” I kiss Maya and set her on the ground. “I have some things to discuss with Uncle Marco.” “Daddy, what if she says she’ll give me cookies?” Dre’s big green eyes grow worried. He’s a sucker for Kas’s cookies. I wouldn’t blame him if he spilled the beans. Especially if they were the ones with those dark chocolate chunks in them. We told the kids about Andy coming yesterday after daycare so they would know a new friend was coming and to make him feel welcome. Everyone swore to secrecy so their Luna would have a happy birthday surprise. They were all given a smiley face sticker to seal the deal. Diane insists it works. “Brave warriors can resist cookies cause they know the Moon Goddess will reward them with bigger, better things… like chocolate cake.” Marco leans down and ruffles Dre’s hair. “Trust me she’s gonna love this one. Don’t ruin it for her.” Dre thinks about it for a moment then gives Marco a salute and
Marco’s POV“Marco, what’s it like to be a werewolf?” Andy looks around the busy dining room. It’s tough to tell what he’s thinking, but I think he forgot about his plate of macaroni and cheese. He shifts in his seat uncomfortably and looks at his plate. Before I can answer him, he wipes his hand over his forehead.“You need a break, Andy?” I push my chair out, but don’t stand up. The Doc said I gotta give him a chance to decide for himself. “We can find a place to sit outside for a minute if you want or we can finish dinner, then go for a walk.”“Can we go outside now, please?” He slides off his chair. Alpha Bronx sees us get up and looks at me, but I give him a nod to let him know we’re okay. Andy walks beside me out of the dining room into the hallway. As a little quiz, I ask him to show me where the closest exit is. He looks up and down the hallway and points to the backyard.“Good job, kiddo.” We walk out the back door and down the path. He shakes his little hands while we walk,
Alright, lemme give you an update on my guy Andy. He’s been at Blood River for almost six weeks now and he’s doin’ great. We haven’t had to step away for a break in over a week and that was only cause he hadn’t been to a full moon celebration before. When he saw there was nothing to fear, he wanted to go back to the party. His parents are right about him being polite. He’s well behaved too. They came to visit a few times and they are so proud of how easy he is fitting in.He gets along with all the kids, especially Dre, cause they’re both kinda quiet. They can sit and play quietly for as long as we let them. I’m not sure he and Dre even talk much. They just hang out. Even Maya seems to be more chill when Andy’s around.Andy also gets along with my boy Deago. They both love being outdoors. Deago showed Andy where the best tadpoles are and Andy showed him how to make friends with squirrels. Clash can’t even fathom being friends with animals he considers food, but he’s happy they spend t
Andy’s dad, Dave, is a nice guy, but I ain’t never seen him in bear form. Bronx tells me he’s a docile Kodiak bear named Maskwa. Clash says a docile bear is impossible. I’m not sure what to believe. In the military, they trained me to disable threats. If Maskwa decides he’s going to become a threat to Andy or anyone else in my pack, I’m gonna disable him.They say Kodiaks are less aggressive than grizzlies, but way bigger. As far as werebears and werewolves go, a wolf has a chance of survival if he meets a grizzly cause they’re mean, but they’re not that big. Can’t say the same if he meets a kodiak. Bears like Maskwa can crush skulls with their jaws like it ain’t no thing. I hope you ain’t never have to hear that sound.“Clash, do NOT attack the bear.” It’s the opposite of everything we have ever been taught. Back in the day, we earned a reputation. There wasn’t no werebears that wanted to cross me or Clash. Even a grizzly. “It’s Andy’s dad. Maskwa is our friend.”“I’ll be the judge o
Bronx’s POV“Bronx!” Kas calls and runs down the hallway of the hospital wing. “Is Andy okay? What happened? Wait, where’s Marco? I heard him use his Alpha tone after we went inside. Is he okay? Who sent a call to the pack?”“Baby, slow down. Slow down.” I stop pacing and pull her into a hug. I sigh deeply and kiss the top of her forehead. “Sy asked Marco to stay in the exam room in case there was a problem. Sy lulled Andy to sleep. Now she’s examining him. She is probably going to take away a few memories, too.”“Take away memories?” She tries to pull away with wide eyes. “Why would she do that?”I try to avoid her question and distract her. “Are the other kids okay?”“Yeah, Diane is making them hot chocolate now. Tyree and James are with her and Delilah is going to portal back from the bakery in about five minutes. She had to wait for the afternoon manager to get back from break.” She shakes her head, distressed. “The kids are asking a million questions and we don’t know how to answ