Holly and Dan had returned home a short time later, exhausted from their run, only to panic when they realized what was going on. Holly now sat at my side as I clutched the gun, her eyes tearful. I knew she blamed herself for the missing baby. Dan had gone out with Jackson, spearheading search parties as they combed the woods, looking for the scent of a young child.
Other wolves had shown up, too. To my surprise, the Anderson pack leader - Connor Anderson - had arrived with the Alliance, along with his sister Gracie. I’d had no idea they were part of the Alliance, but Gracie assured me they liked it. She’d stayed with me while Connor joined the rest of the men. At first she’d been a little offended at the thought of all the women hanging back, but then she’d declared that she’d go all ‘she-wolf’ on Roscoe the moment she saw him, and seemed to like that thought very much.
Even Bathsheba had shown up with her husband, and they were busy making phone calls and organizing people from downstairs while I sat upstairs and hugged my girls close.
I…hadn’t handled this well. I’d wanted to be strong and bold and decisive in a crisis. Instead, I’d totally lost my shit. It was too close to home, too personal. I realized this, too. I wanted to be strong when it came to family matters, but the truth was, I had a hard time coping. Just like when I’d sent my pack away after Cash and Carlos died, when they’d needed me more than ever. I…wasn’t a good leader. I was good in the easy times, but when things got hard? I fell apart.
And I was incredibly grateful to have Jackson at my side. He’d taken over things with brutal efficiency, handing out baby clothes for the others to get the scent, warning the Alliance members about Roscoe and the possibility of a fight, and returning every so often to caress my cheek and reassure me that things would be fine.
He was a wonderful alpha.
And he’d been right about the Alliance, I realized. As more and more people showed up to help out or simply show support, I realized this was what Jackson wanted for us. When something went wrong, we weren’t alone. People pitched in to help. They were there for us, even if it was as simple as guarding the door or handing out drinks to those scouring the woods.
The Alliance wouldn’t be a bad thing after all.
While I mused on this, voices rose downstairs. They didn’t sound happy. I patted Holly on the knee. “Get in the safe room with Trina and don’t come out until I tell you it’s okay.”
She nodded and raced into the room. I flew down the stairs, heading toward the commotion. It seemed to be coming from the front of the house, so I headed there.
And stopped in surprise.
Connor Anderson and his sister Gracie stood in front of Roscoe, refusing to let him enter the house. Nearby, a few were-cougars were giving him ugly looks. All were arguing.
The baby was nowhere to be seen.
I stormed forward, pushing my way through the crowd. “Where’s Eddie, you son of a bitch?”
He sidestepped me when my hands reached for his shirt, moving behind Connor. “I came to help you look, you dumbass.”
That made me stop short. I looked over at Connor, the Anderson alpha.
He shrugged. “That’s what he told me.”
I narrowed my eyes at Roscoe. It didn’t make sense. “You…didn’t steal the baby?”
He gave me a disgusted look. “Why would I hurt a kid? That ain’t what an alpha does.”
None of this made any sense to me. “I thought…I thought you took him to force an exchange.”
“Fucking hell, woman. I want a pack, not jail time.”
My hands lowered. I seemed to be having trouble grasping that my most hated enemy - the man that had harassed me since Cash had died - had shown up to assist in the manhunt. “Why….why would you come help out?”
“Cause he’s a kid and he’s a wolf? That’s what we do.”
Why was I now feeling like the a**hole in this? “I don’t think I want you here. Don’t think I haven’t forgotten about what you did to me.”
Connor eyed my bruised face, his arms crossing over his chest. He looked over at Roscoe. “That you?”
For once, Roscoe’s hard face looked a bit ashamed. “I was pissed off. Got carried away. I almost had the pack in my hand and she had to go and get herself another alpha.”
“I’ll show you carried away,” Gracie said, and smacked a fist into her open palm threateningly. “Beating up on girls? You wanna try beating up on me? I’ll kick your ass into next week—“
“Gracie,” Connor said, holding up a warning hand to his sister. “If you’re just looking for a pack, you’re welcome in mine.”
“He is?” both Gracie and I echoed.
“He is,” Connor said grimly. “I’m used to putting a**holes in their place. He’d just be one more in need of a lesson. But you’d have to show throat.”
Roscoe’s face hardened into a sneer. “I’m an alpha, boy.”
“So am I.” Connor didn’t back down. “But if you want to be part of my pack, you need to show throat and accept that not everyone gets to be alpha.”
“And if I don’t like it?”
“Then you can get out of our territory.”
“I ain’t in your territory right now,” Roscoe said.
“You need to get out of mine, too,” I told him. “And you’re not invited to this pack. At all.”
He glared at us, but Connor didn’t budge and neither did I. At my side, Gracie continued to smack her fist into her palm, clearly itching for a fight.
After a moment, Roscoe dropped his eyes. “I’ll head out once the kid’s found. I still want to help. Ain’t right that the kid’s lost and we’re busy having a pissing war.”
“Agreed,” Connor said, glancing over at me for my verdict.
“Fine with me,” I said. “But I don’t ever want to see you here again. Or next time, I won’t tell Jackson to back off.”
He said nothing, simply stalked away.
I exhaled a breath - one I didn’t realize I’d been holding. My hands trembled, so I put them on my h*ps and tried to seem all casual. Roscoe was leaving. He didn’t have the baby and I still didn’t know where poor Eddie was, but Roscoe would be gone and out of my hair soon. Thank god. I looked over at Connor. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” he said easily. “Just took a few alphas giving him hell to make him realize his place. He’s not as alpha as he thinks he is.”
“Maybe not,” I began, then cocked my head. I could have sworn I’d heard my name outside, in the distance.
The house grew silent.
“Alice!”
There it was again, but this time coming from the back of the house. I headed to the kitchen and passed by Bathsheba, who was still making calls, her cellphone at her ear. The back screen door slammed behind me, and I strode through the tall grass, listening for my name again.
“Alice,” the voice called again, and I began to run toward it, toward the edge of the property. That was Jackson’s voice.
I ran toward him, and began to laugh with delight, giddy relief surging through me.
Jackson strode through the edge of the woods, heading back to the house. Two were-cougars walked beside him, and his arms were full of wiggling, squirming, muddy wolf puppy. He held up the puppy with a relieved grin of his own, a smear of mud on his face.
I launched myself at him, pushing past the others. “Is that—“
“It is,” he said, and held the puppy out to me.
I pulled the cub into my arms and inhaled. Sure enough, the puppy smell of wolf was mixed with Eddie’s familiar baby scent. My little guy had figured out how to turn wolf before he’d even figured out how to walk. Figured. I laughed, and my laughter turned into sobs as I pressed frantic, relieved kisses onto his ruff.
Baby Eddie was home. The pack was whole and safe. I continued to kiss my squirming bundle, ignoring the puppy tongue that tried to lick my face and the happy, relieved conversations of the other shifters around me. Someone pulled out a walkie-talkie and began to murmur into it, but I was oblivious. I just needed to get Eddie inside and to the others so they could see he was okay.
I cast a grateful look at Jackson over my shoulder. He was the best, but then, he knew that.
Chapter Eleven
It took a few hours for the others to come in and head out. Someone had brought a couple of cases of beer and people relaxed and celebrated while Dan, Holly, Trina and I fussed over the baby. We gave him a bath and put him to bed, and Holly opted to sleep in his room. She pulled her bunk across the door to ensure that he couldn’t shift again and get back out. We’d clearly have to watch him closer, but judging from the chastised look on Trina’s face, it wouldn’t happen again.
Spence and Len had returned home from the concert, embarrassed to find the house crawling with shifters and caught red-handed. They were horrified to hear the news about baby Eddie, and as punishment, Jackson was taking them under his wing and apprenticing them for his plumbing company. I didn’t think that was much of a punishment and said so.
“You haven’t had to deal with sewage much, have you?” he said with a grin.
Judging from the smirk on Dan’s face, it wasn’t going to be a good punishment. I let it stand. Spence and Len needed jobs anyhow. This would give them something to learn, at least.
True to his word, Roscoe had taken one look at me and Jackson, hugging baby Eddie. He’d turned around and left in his car. I hoped we never saw him again, but it didn’t matter. Virginity didn’t matter, either. Jackson and I were a cohesive team, and it was obvious to everyone present. He was part of our pack - alpha, leader, and father to the others, and mate to me. Roscoe would never be able to worm his way in. Not now.
Bathsheba and Beau had pulled us aside and ensured that everything was fine before they left. I thanked them for their help, but Beau simply shook his head. “This is exactly what the Alliance is for,” he told me. “Banding together to help each other out. No thanks are necessary.”