Chapter 290 Ginny was Still Human
As they all finally settled in around the massive, heavily scarred oak table, the atmosphere in the dining room shifted from survival back to something resembling normalcy. Vannie had filled the space with the mouth-watering aroma of perfectly crisp bacon, scrambled eggs, and warm, honey-drizzled fruit.
The bright, demanding squeals of the royal toddlers immediately drowned out the quiet clinking of silverware.
Fennigan gently wiped a smear of berry juice from Briar's chin, a deeply grounded warmth in his eyes. But even as the indestructible Alpha King engaged with his daughter, the lethal, tactical machinery of his mind was actively turning. He shifted his liquid-mercury gaze across the table to his towering Beta.
"What of the fifteen Alphas?" Fennigan asked, his deep voice keeping the conversation low but commanding. "Did you tell them everything?"
Jax swallowed a bite of bacon and met his brother's gaze, his golden eyes hardening like ancient amber. "I told them exactly what Damon did. I didn't hold a single detail back about the bunker or how far the monster went. That is why they pledged their armies. They know exactly what we're facing."
Fennigan gave a single, sharp nod, his heavy jaw ticking as he considered the board. "Good. Now, we wait for the High Council."
Leela paused, her fork hovering over her plate. They had shipped the mangled body of Damon's synthetic clone straight to the Council's doorstep to send a brutal message that the Blackwoods cleaned their own house.
"It all depends on what happens when they open that crate," Fennigan continued, his chest vibrating with a low, dangerous rumble. "If they autopsy that body and truly don't know anything about the clones, they are going to come straight after me and Jax for a number of reasons—but murdering our own father in cold blood will be the main one."
Jax let out a dark, welcoming chuckle at the thought of a fight, practically daring the capital's guard to step foot on their mountain.
"But," Fennigan's eyes narrowed with cold, tactical brilliance, "if they did know about his cloning research, they won't make an immediate move. They'll panic, go radio silent, and bide their time until they think they can come in here with something to use against us."
Before the dark, heavy weight of the impending war could completely swallow the table, a sudden, wet snort broke the silence.
The three adults instantly snapped their attention to the highchairs.
Caspian had enthusiastically shoved a fistful of smooshed strawberries toward his mouth, missed his target entirely, and successfully jammed a chunk of the fruit directly up his own nose. For a microscopic second, the sturdy toddler just blinked, his dark eyes crossing slightly as he tried to process the strange sensation.
Then, he threw his head back and let out a bright, bubbling laugh. With a forceful, toddler-sized exhale, he blew the smooshed berry right out of his nostril, launching it with a wet splat directly onto his plastic tray.
The suffocating tension instantly shattered. Fennigan let out a deep, chest-shaking chuckle, immediately reaching across the table with a cloth napkin to gently wipe his son's messy face.
As Fennigan chuckled and wiped the smooshed fruit from Caspian's face, Leela’s gaze naturally drifted down the length of the massive oak table.
Ginny was sitting quietly beside Jax, gently rocking a sleeping Iggy against her chest. She was smiling at the twins' chaotic antics, but as Leela studied her best friend, the smile looked incredibly fragile. Ginny’s skin was unusually pale, almost translucent in the morning light, and there were deep, bruised shadows of exhaustion beneath her eyes. When she reached for her water glass, Leela noticed a faint, uncontrollable tremor in her hand.
"Ginny?" Leela asked softly, her elemental eyes narrowing in concern as she cut through the lively chatter. "Is something wrong? You don't look like you feel well."
Ginny blinked, immediately sitting up straighter and trying to force a brighter expression. "I'm okay, Leela. Honestly. I think it's just the after-effects of everything we've all been through. The adrenaline is finally crashing."
A sudden, sharp pang of realization hit Leela. She and Ginny had navigated life together for years as best friends back when Leela lived entirely in the human world, long before she ever knew about her elemental magic or her true Lycan heritage. But now, surrounded by indestructible Alpha Kings, towering Lycan warriors, and her own rapid healing, it was entirely too easy to forget.
Ginny was still human.
She didn't have an inner wolf to rapidly repair her nervous system. She didn't have ancient, magical blood to bounce back from the apocalyptic stress, terror, and sleep deprivation of the past week. Her mortal body was bearing the absolute, unmitigated weight of the trauma.
"Ginny, your body doesn't heal like ours does," Leela pointed out gently, the deep bond of their long friendship shining through her tone. "Maybe we should take you to see a human doctor. Just to be safe and make sure your system isn't completely depleted."
At the mention of a doctor, Jax completely abandoned his breakfast. The towering Beta immediately shifted his massive frame, turning his full, intense attention to his mate. His golden eyes rapidly scanned Ginny’s pale face, actively cursing himself for not noticing her exhaustion sooner.
"There's a hospital in the next town over," Jax rumbled, his deep voice instantly shifting into his commanding, protective baseline. "The head staff there knows about the wolves. They treat our kind and keep our secrets. We can take you there today. That way, they can give Iggy a full medical check-up, too."
It was a harsh, unavoidable vulnerability for the pack right now. With Magda gone, the Blackwoods were entirely without a medical professional. The former pack healer had been violently exposed as a treacherous pawn in Damon's twisted games. Ginny had been eagerly apprenticing under her, but her medical studies had been abruptly and permanently cut short the second Magda and Damon's true, poisonous nature came to light.
"I really am fine, Jax," Ginny protested lightly, shaking her head as she shifted the baby higher on her shoulder. "I think Iggy is just going through a massive growth spurt. He's wanting to feed constantly, and it's just draining my energy a little more than usual. I just need some proper sleep."
Jax wasn't having it.
He reached out, his massive, heavily scarred hand gently but firmly covering Ginny's trembling fingers on the tabletop. He looked at the pale, fragile mother of his son, having just survived a nightmare where he nearly lost his entire family.
"I don't care," Jax insisted, his tone thick with a fierce, absolute protectiveness that left absolutely zero room for debate. "We aren't taking any chances with your health, Gin. After breakfast, we are taking you."