Chapter 114 Chapter 114

Chapter 114 Chapter 114
Logan

It was our fifth time having breakfast together.

Sienna, Elias, Mara and me. I reviewed some files as Maurie walked around the dining room, setting up breakfast. Sienna kicked me under the table, shooting me a dry look when I snapped my head up. She meaningfully raised her eyebrow at the files and I held back my chuckle as I put them away.

Almost forgot she didn’t like me working during meals.

“Grandma Mara, can I have some more eggs please?” A tiny voice pleaded.

“You already have enough,” Sienna scolded him. I stared at his plate. His portion was a little bigger than the rest of ours, but I knowing Elias, he needed even more. Elise had said his appetite would grow as he entered his transofromative stages. He was shifting more often now, practicing with Mara for hours after returning from the academy.

Mara shot Sienna a small smile. “He can have some more,” she lifted her plate and scooped some eggs into his. “We have a long day of practice ahead of us.” 

The pack was holding a ceremony the next day; the Pyre of the fallen. It was an event to honor our fallen heroes; warriors who had lost their lives defending the pack during an attack. Everyone one would spend the day busy with the preparations, so the academy was closed for the day.

Sienna playfully squinted her eyes at Elias when he grinned widely at her, but she let it slide. Explaining to Elias that Mara was Sienna’s mother and therefore his grandmother hadn’t been so easy. He’d had questions to ask; like why she hadn’t said it from the beginning.

Luckily in the end, he’d understood that she hadn’t been sure of how Sienna would take it and had just ended up stalling and keeping it from her. After telling Elias she’d already apologized to his mother. Mara offered an apology to Elias and me which we easily accepted.

There was silence in the room as we dug into our breakfast,  it it wasn’t the uncomfortable kind. Minute later, I pushed my chair backwards. I kissed the side of Sienna’s head. “You’re still meeting up with Livia and Nessa?”

She nodded at me, passing her napkin to Elias to wipe at his mouth. “I’ll leave as soon as Mara leaves with Elias.”

I kissed the side of her head again before bumping fists with Elias and asking him not to trouble his grandma. Nodding lye goodbye at Mara, I picked up the file I’d been reviewing and made my way out. 

I headed straight for Elise’s shop, waiting only a few minutes before she was able to see me. It was weird. Months ago, I would have demanded to be immediately spoken to. Now, I realized I didn’t have to be in such a hurry all the time. Life seemed…

Slower. A bit more calm.

Elsie had her files ready by the time I made my way to the small corner of her shop she used as her office. She slapped them onto the table, nudging them in my direction. “We have more injured Lycans than we’ve had in a long while.” It was customary to do a review on the well being of the entire pack before the Pyre of the fallen.

It was a time stamp in its own way, helping us assess how many Lycans had been lost and how many were injured. I flipped through the file, my heart sinking at the heavy stack. It really was a lot. With Bruce’s betrayal, the pack had been successfully attacked a lot more than it usually was.

I took out the thankfully much thinner file at the bottom. “The mortality rate?” I questioned.

She drew out the papers, splaying them over the table. It rose by ten percent, but it’s still little considering the attacks we’ve suffered in the past months.” 

She was right. 

Her voice carried on. “On the bright side, a lot of our injured are showing progress with their treatment, and our birth rate has increased as well since the last calendar.” There was a proud look in her eyes. “I believe seeing their King start a family made a lot of them want that too.”

Her words warmed some part of me I hadn’t even known existed.

Hopefully, they were the truth…

I flipped over the pages of the file and then handed it over to her. “Please ensure you follow up with their treatment. We still haven’t been able to get to the root cause of the attacks… I need everyone as fit as possible.” She smoothed her hand over her dress, giving me a nod.

Livia was at the door of the shop when I walked out. I arched my eyebrow at her. She was supposed to be at the clearing with Nessa and Sienna to put the place together.

She casually waved her hand in the air to indicate that everything was fine. “A few Lycans are getting tired and Nessa thought it might help to give them some energy tonic.” 

“And Sienna?”

Her smile was teasing. “The Queen is fine.” She replied. “I worry she might be overworking herself at the clearing but she assured me she’s okay.” I stopped listening at ‘overworking herself’.

I lightly scratched the stubble on my chin. “Maybe I should head to the clearing. I was still going to come check things out.” I added as an afterthought. Livia simply laughed and gave a small salute as she walked into the shop.

“Sure you were.” she teased.

I turned on my heel and brushed her words off. I wasn’t being overprotective. And if I was, she was first my mate and my Queen before anyone else’s. I wouldn’t have her stressing herself under my watch.

A few minutes later I got to the clearing, scanning the area for Sienna. Someone tried to walk past me with a heavy bag of apples blocking their view. I sidestepped for them to walk through but I was a little too late. They bumoed into me on an ‘oomph’ as I instinctively reached out to steady them.

The familiar scent of honeysuckle assisted my senses.

I gazed down into surprised brown eyes as the apples crashed through the ground around us.

“Logan?”