Chapter 106: Grace
“Sawyer,” Rhys said, his single word, laced with warning.
“He can’t fight children!” Sawyer shouted. “He can’t fight her!”
“And he didn’t.” I said feeling calmer than I felt. I had known he was going to be upset by the information, but I hadn’t thought it would be quite this bad. I hadn’t thought that he was going to yell at us.
“It’s bad enough he wanted to.” Sawyer grumbled, crossing his arms angrily.
“It is.” I agreed, placing my hand on Rhys chest to let him know I had this. “It was not a good look for him. And we handled it. At least for now. But unfortunately, Arlo is our access to old research. We know very little about what exactly we are facing, as you very well know, so now that you’re healed and the heat has hopefully simmered down, we’re going to need him to cooperate with us. He was just worried about you.”
“It still doesn’t give him the right...”
“I know.” I said softly, placing my hand on his. “But we need his help.”
“Wait is that why you moved the kids up to the Alpha floor?” Sawyer asked, sliding into his coat now.
“Yea,” Rhys answered. “We figured that if Arlo, one of our closest allies, had these feelings, others would too. This way we could protect them a bit better. Also, the security to our suite has been updated, both to the floor, and our rooms. It was necessary after Ethan broke in, and now with the kids. It’s not a long-term solution, but it’s working for now.”
“Has anyone else tried to challenge the kids?” Sawyer asked.
“No.” I said gently. “But also nobody has really had access to them, but us, Alana, Leon and Heather. Maizie and Michael are the only ones at this time that we allow to leave the floor and there are rules to it.”
“Any other secrets you’ve been keeping from me?” Sawyer asked bitterly.
“Actually, yes,” Rhys answered, and I looked at him in surprise. I hadn’t expected him to tell Sawyer anything else, but I could feel through our bond that he was feeling guilty.
“Well get on with it then.” Sawyer grumbled as we started walking back to the packhouse.
“Caleb is back, and he has a daughter...”
Sawyer froze just before the double doors that would have led us back outside.
“I’m going to need you to repeat that.” Sawyer said after a long moment.
“Caleb is back, and he has a daughter. You are an uncle, Sawy.”
“Tell me you’re kidding me... There’s no fucking way.”
“It’s not common knowledge yet,” Rhys told him uneasily. “But he saved my life in the battle, and he’s... different.”
“After we fell for the Ethan act, no offense Grace, you’re telling me you fell for Caleb’s?” He asked in disbelief.
“Out of line.” Rhys growled at his brother.
I gently squeezed Rhys’ hand. I understood Sawyer’s point, but he hadn’t seen Caleb. He hadn’t heard his story the way we have or seen how he interacted with Sammy. He was going off of what he knew his brother to be, not who his brother has become, and it was different. I probably wouldn’t have believed it either if I hadn’t seen it for myself. Sawyer would have to do the same as we had. I mean, Caleb hadn’t even flirted with me once, and before he tried to take me for himself.
“He’s changed.” I said simply, “But you’ll have to see it for yourself.”
“You better hope he isn’t using you both after all we’ve learned these last couple of weeks.” Sawyer warned.
“We aren’t being stupid,” Rhys glared at his brother. “You haven’t seen him in any of our meetings, and we aren’t just letting him free. He’s contained to the Alpha floor.”
“You let him on the Alpha floor?!” Sawyer raged, and at this point I was beginning to wonder what Rhys was thinking in telling him.
“Yes, that’s why I wanted to tell you before we go upstairs, and you happen to see him.”
“You trust him around all those Lycan kids?”
“His daughter is one of those Lycan kids,” I said, trying to soften the blows a little. I couldn’t imagine the brother I thought I would never see again, not only coming back, but coming back with a daughter. I mean, I had a fake brother come back, and that was traumatizing enough.
“You banished him.” Sawyer hissed, as he started to walk again.
“I did.” Rhys said sadly. “And he learned some hard lessons. But I thought you would be happy he’s back.”
“He’s still Caleb. And sooner or later he’s going to fuck up. And then you’re going to banish him again.”
I smiled sadly at him and Rhys. This was fear talking. This was I don’t want to believe in the good and that people change because I don’t want to get hurt again.
We climbed the steps up to our floor in silence. Everything in my life had changed in the last few months, and as soon as I had thought it was figured out, everything changed again. So much of my life had been the same, to be fluctuating so much the way it was, was completely out of my comfort zone. I was barely hanging on most days, but I was also the most determined I had ever been. Rhys made it abundantly clear that I was to be his Luna Queen, and the last thing in the entire world that I wanted to do was disappoint Rhys. And I knew that Sawyer was already worried that Caleb would disappoint them both.
We opened the door to our floor, and it was chaos as usual these days. It was lunch time, Caleb, Maizie, Michael, and a thirteen-year-old, named Carly, were all in the tiny kitchen making grilled cheeses for lunch. The rest of the kids were running around or lounging on the couch, trying to be patient.
Sawyer’s breath hitched, and he froze as he stared into the kitchen. I don’t know whether he was more surprised to see Maizie or his brother right in front of him, even though we had just talked about both being there.
Caleb looked up and smiled when his eyes landed on Sawyer. Despite, Caleb and Rhys being twins, Caleb and Sawyer had always been closer.
“Brother!” Caleb exclaimed, dropping his spatula and coming over to greet us. “It’s so good to see you!”
Caleb opened his arms for a hug, but Sawyer, surprising us all, reached out, but instead of hugging him, shoved him backward right onto his ass.