Chapter 185

Grace

My breath caught in my throat.

“Charles…”

He smiled at me. His eyes twinkled with mischief as he rocked Richard gently. His voice, like velvet, caressed my senses. I swore he was putting me to sleep just as easily as he was putting Richard to sleep. Richard let out a low, contented rumble and snuggled closer to Charles. Then, he seemed to drop into sleep faster than I’d ever seen him. Charles carried him to the bassinet and lay him down, still humming as he made something above the bed start to glow. It had to be a version of the night light that was now in Cecil’s room.

The song came to an end as I crossed the room. Charles looked down at Richard with an expression I couldn’t parse out. Longing? No, it felt too dark, too determined to be that.

“You’re back earlier than I thought you would be." I hummed, leaning my head on his shoulder. The buzzing in my head turned to a low hum, and my voice was thick with sleepiness and maybe a little envy.

“And… hiding such a talent.”

He chuckled softly. “Hardly hiding, though if you’re asking me for lullabies, I’d oblige.”

I yawned. “Was he being fussy?”

“Unsettled,” Charles said. “He’s worried.”

“Worried?” I asked. “What does an infant have to worry about?”

“A lot of things have changed recently,” he said. “Maybe a normal werewolf baby wouldn’t be so sensitive to the changes, but he’s not a werewolf baby.”

He reached out just as a rumble started coming from Richard and stroked his head.

“I could murder Devin for letting either of them go on without proper interactions with him.”

I swallowed. “Him?”

“You’re an alpha lycan, too,” he said. “I think I’ve told you this before, but you’re… I’m not sure how to describe it other than dormant. Your lycan side is surfacing, slowly.”

“This being that eat more and lose weight business you mentioned?”

“Related,” he said.

Richard shifted a little, and his breathing settled into a deeper rhythm. He pulled a light blanket over him and turned to me.

“Seems a little extreme. Is it normal for a father to be so involved with children at this age in the Clans?”

He blinked. “Yes.”

I laughed, trying to imagine it. “Really?”

“I don’t think Devin was away from me for longer than an hour or so at a time until he was at least able to walk.”

I blinked. “But… you said that his parents…” I glanced down at Richard. “And your mate…”

“Not a maternal bone in her body,” Charles said, and Devin was… unsettled too. It took a long time for him to be calm enough to sleep alone.”

“You had a bassinet in your room?”

“Something like it,” he said, nodding toward the door. “Is that very strange to you?”

I considered it. “I can’t say that my dad was that involved when I was that young… I can’t remember clearly, but I remember when Eason was a baby, and he wasn’t around like that.”

Charles closed the door behind us. “Your father was a werewolf. Culturally, that makes sense, but also, your instincts at that age wouldn’t have reacted to him the way Richard reacts to you or would react to Devin if he were around.” He paused. “Even though Devin is in a lower class, he would, given the chance, recognize him as his parent and thus a source of protection. Ultimately, he would have clung to you as a better source of protection, but that hardly matters.”

I fell into step with him as he headed down the hallway. “I feel like I’m never going to catch up with all these… instinct things you’re telling me I should feel.”

“It’ll be easier when you can feel it, and don’t just have to go off of what I say.”

I hummed. “That would be nice.”

“It would be,” his voice turned warm but not heated—almost tender.

I turned to look at him. “Why do you sound like that?”

He smiled and took my hand, twining our fingers together. “I think… when you have access to all of your lycan instincts, some things between us would be easier.”

“Like?”

“Like you trusting me enough to just ask for help or advice instead of trying to wait me out.”

I winced at that. “That… obvious?”

“Very. How went your follow-up calls?”

I groaned. “Can we not? I’m sure you already know.”

I glowered at him. “I felt like even as I was putting the RFPs together, you already knew how it would go.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know,” I shook my head. “Experience? An instinct? It was like… part of me knew it would be a waste of time, but I had to try anyway.”

Charles bobbed his head. “So, the human proposals didn’t go well?”

“I got on one call, and the woman told me that her company, a very reputable tech company, could not interface with a magical system.” I huffed. “Another said they could install a system that would do the same thing, but the space needed for… whatever equipment the would need would require a whole building.” I huffed. “After seeing where the magical basis or whatever is, there was no way I was going to replace it with a bunch of stuff that would probably put way too much of a draw on our power plant anyway.”

I groaned again. “Don’t even get me started on our power plant…”

“I can imagine having Eason and Esme around, not to mention me, Seraphina, and the Enforcers in the city is causing problems.”

I frowned. “How…” I shook my head. “Never mind. I’m going to assume from here on that most of these issues you… sort of anticipated… Is that why you leave?”

“Partially,” he said. “It wouldn’t be such a problem if Blood Moon hadn’t opened a rift nearby…”

“And how does one close it?”

“Very slowly,” he said. “And it will never be fully closed. It’s not like suturing a wound. It’s more like patching a hole.”

I huffed again. “Then…what should I do?”

He opened his mouth, then closed it. He looked at me oddly. “What do you want to do?”

“I want it to not be a problem,” I said.

“Well, that’s not really a viable option.”

I huffed. “What can I do?”

“Put it to use,” he said. “Guard it, or let it be, and hope for the best. It should be stable enough that it won’t need any more maintenance, but that’s not the same as locking it down from further issues.”

“When you say put it to use… I hope you’re not expecting me to… sacrifice anyone to it or something like that?”

He chuckled. “No. That wouldn’t be really up your alley… Think more like using it as a power source.”

“Is that possible?”

“Of course,” he said. “That would also be in the Noir Coven’s wheelhouse, though.”

I growled. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Why would you even suggest it?”

“You asked me what you could do.”

“What can I do that doesn’t involve the Noir Coven?”

“Guard it or let it be and hope for the best.”

I huffed. “Enough about my problems. What about you and whatever happened in Silverlight?”

He said nothing for a moment. “We need to talk, but… I think it’d be better for you to get some rest first.”

He chuckled and steered me toward my bedroom. “If you catch a nap, I’ll make you hot chocolate and sing you a lullaby of your own.”

I groaned at the thought. I could almost taste the rich creaminess of the hot chocolate and hear his voice. It was so tempting.

“But my dissertation…”

“You wouldn’t be wavering on your feet like this from a few lines if you weren’t already fried.” He opened my bedroom door. “Take a nap, sweet heart.”

"Alright," I conceded, a pout on my lips. "But only because I have a mountain of work waiting for me on the other side."

Charles' smile widened.

I got undressed and climbed under the blankets. Before I knew it, I could hear him humming softly, and then, I heard nothing.

My dreams were dark. Swirls of fire and fear danced on the edges. I could see Alpha Shadow’s eyes staring at me as if from a distance, but the terror of my previous nightmare didn’t come an nearer.

I saw Fenris' smug face. I saw Gareth in his fur coat. I could smell that apple and woodsmoke scent. I could see Devin coming into the house at some unreasonable hour. My life flashed and rushed through my mind, and the sound of Charles’ lullaby drew me back from the darkness and memories. I woke slowly to the sound of my phone ringing. I didn’t know how long I’d been asleep, but I felt a hell of a lot less stressed. An unknown number blinked on the screen. There weren’t a lot of people who could have my number now.

"Hello?" I answered, my voice cautious.

"Alpha Wolfe?" A gruff voice crackled through the receiver. "This is Alpha Magnus Bach of the Duncan Pack."

My breath hitched.