Chapter 211 Peet Boo
The trek down the mountain and back to the pack lands was consumed by a heavy, suffocating silence. The brothers walked shoulder-to-shoulder under the moonlight, both trapped entirely in their own heads.
Jax’s mind was racing, morbidly trying to imagine the sheer, psychopathic horror of what Fennigan had been forced to look at inside Damon’s subterranean lab. He tried to picture the suspension tanks, the white, soulless eyes of the replicas floating in the dark, and the absolute perversion of their bloodline.
Beside him, Fennigan was doing everything in his formidable power to forget it. He forcefully shoved the memories into a mental steel box, locking them away before they could tear his sanity apart. He couldn't be a traumatized son right now; he had to be an Alpha.
As they cleared the tree line, the sprawling silhouette of the Blackwood packhouse rose up to greet them. Heavily armed warriors were stationed at the massive front doors, their postures rigid and alert. The guards offered their Alpha and Beta sharp, respectful nods as the two men stepped up onto the porch and pushed through the heavy oak doors.
The moment the door clicked shut behind them, the entire atmosphere shifted.
The cold, metallic stench of Magda's death, the lingering ash of the bunker, and any sign of the winters breath, instantly vanished. Here, inside the protective walls of their home, the energy was undeniably alive. It was warm, vibrant, and incredibly safe. This was, and always would be, the beating heart of the pack.
Fennigan paused in the grand foyer, his heightened ears catching a sound that instantly melted the ice out of his chest.
It was laughter. It was coming from the expansive family kitchen down the hall.
Fennigan and Jax traded a look of mild disbelief. They both knew the women were absolutely supposed to still be in the infirmary beds recovering from the Winter's Breath, but trying to keep a pregnant werewolf and a fiercely stubborn former Luna confined to a medical wing was a losing battle, especially when they needed food.
The brothers walked quietly down the hall and stopped in the wide archway of the kitchen. The sight before them completely washed away the horrors of the mountain.
Elana was parked at the head of the large wooden dining table in her new sleek wheelchair. She didn't look defeated in the slightest. Instead, she was fully engaged in a chaotic game with her grandchildren.
Caspian and Briar were strapped securely into their high chairs on either side of her. They were holding their empty plastic plates up, hiding their chubby faces behind the colorful plastic. Then, with a chorus of breathless toddler giggles, they dropped the plates to their trays.
"Peet boo!" the twins yelled in unison, their bright silver eyes crinkling as Elana dramatically gasped in mock surprise, making them shriek with laughter.
Over by the massive stainless-steel refrigerator, Leela was bathed in the cool light of the open door. The pregnant Luna was practically raiding the shelves, her arms precariously loaded down with packages of sandwich meat, a large jar of mayo, and a massive jar of dill pickles.
Sensing the shift in the air, Leela bumped the refrigerator door shut with her hip and turned around.
The moment she spotted Fennigan standing in the archway, the exhaustion on her beautiful face vanished, instantly replaced by a brilliant, radiant light that seemed to illuminate the entire kitchen. She didn't ask if he had killed Magda. She didn't ask about the blood money. She just looked at the man who had torn the world apart to keep her safe.
"Oh, my Alpha," Leela breathed softly, her voice thick with absolute love and relief.
Hearing their mother's voice, Caspian and Briar completely abandoned their game with Elana. The twins turned their little heads toward the archway. The plastic plates clattered uselessly onto the floor as their faces lit up with pure, unadulterated joy.
"Dada!" they giggled happily, kicking their little feet against the high chairs and reaching their chubby arms out toward him.
Fennigan let out a long, shuddering breath, the last of the war completely draining out of his shoulders. The monsters were dead in the dark, and his family was right here in the light.
Fennigan didn't hesitate. The Alpha crossed the sprawling kitchen in three long strides, wrapping his massive, soot-stained arms around Leela. He pulled her flush against his chest, burying his face in the crook of her neck and breathing in her familiar scent.
Jax stepped into the kitchen right behind his brother, his silver eyes immediately scanning the room. He found exactly what he was looking for sitting at the dining table. Ginny was nestled comfortably in one of the oversized padded chairs, her face pale but glowing with a quiet, exhausted contentment as she gently rocked a sleeping, swaddled Iggy against her chest. Jax was at her side in an instant, dropping a heavy, lingering kiss onto the top of her head before gently stroking his newborn son's soft cheek with his thumb.
The kitchen was packed, radiating the undeniable, chaotic warmth of a true pack nest. Sitting across from Ginny were Toby and Sarah. The young, newly bonded couple looked dead on their feet, their clothes still rumpled from the bunker, but they had refused to leave the family's side. They were pack family now, through and through. Ever since the twins were born, Leela had taken the two young wolves under her wing with a fierce, motherly protection, and in return, Toby and Sarah had become her most trusted extra hands whenever she needed help wrangling Caspian and Briar.
Fennigan pulled back from Leela just enough to press a kiss to her forehead, then turned his attention to the high chairs. He scooped both Caspian and Briar up into his arms at the exact same time, completely ignoring the ash on his clothes as the toddlers babbled and happily patted his scruffy jaw.
For a few precious minutes, the Alpha and the Beta just stood there in the heart of their home, soaking in the miracle of their surviving family. They took the time to speak to everyone, offering low, rumbling words of comfort to Toby and Sarah, sharing a quiet, knowing look of solidarity with Elana, and simply breathing in the safety of the room.
But the clock was ticking, and the High Council wasn't going to wait.
"We need to go check on Miller," Fennigan rumbled softly, reluctantly lowering the twins back into their high chairs and ruffling their hair. He gave Elana's shoulder a gentle, reassuring squeeze as he stepped past her wheelchair. "We have to see how far he's gotten with the Weaver."
Leela, ever the pragmatic Luna, didn't try to stop them. Instead, she swiftly finished slapping together two massive, towering sandwiches with the meat, mayo, and pickles she had pulled from the fridge. She shoved them directly into Fennigan and Jax's hands, her eyes brooking absolutely no argument.
"Eat," Leela commanded softly. "Both of you. You can't dismantle the High Council on an empty stomach."
"Yes, ma'am," Jax muttered around a mouthful as he immediately took a bite, the simple, grounding taste of the food hitting his exhausted system like a lifeline.
With their mates safe, their children smiling, and half-eaten sandwiches in hand, Fennigan and Jax finally turned and walked out of the warm, chaotic kitchen. They headed straight down the dimly lit corridor toward the pack’s secure tech hub, ready to drag Damon's financial secrets out into the light.