Heart's Desire

Chapter 13 - Monty

Sasha's house is cool yet cozy, with an uncluttered, rustic atmosphere. Log beams span the raised ceiling overhead, and stone accents give the place a calm, forest-river feel.

She leads the way to her living room, where everyone had gathered before we'd arrived, and invites us to make ourselves at home.

"Y'all want coffee?" she asks. "I just made some fresh."

Dane and Julian accept; I decline, and (unsurprisingly) Kit follows my lead. He stays close to me, observing everything with quiet curiosity.

"What about the little ones?" Sasha asks, bouncing Luna on her hip. "Do they like juice? Or chocolate milk?"

"Just plain milk, if you have any," Julian says. "Sugar makes them a little... wild, if you know what I mean."

"Wild?" Sasha laughs. "This little angel?"

Luna watches her with wide, mismatched eyes, clearly fascinated by a stranger who looks and smells like family. The twins were too young to remember her from the last time she visited.

"I'd say 'demon' is more accurate, except I know some actual demons who are better behaved," Julian says, taking her back from Sasha and handing her off to Dane, who pops her in the play-pen with her brother.

Martin laughs. "If you think two wolf-children are a handful, try four. Travis keeps joking about getting 'fixed,' but I think he's half serious. I don't know how Mom and Dad managed..." He trails off and clears his throat. "Anyway, I can't imagine eight."

"Neither can I," Julian agrees. "Two are quite enough for me. I don't know what I'd do if we didn't have Monty to lend a hand now and then."

He casts me a smile and I shift my weight awkwardly and rub the back of my neck.

"And Monty!" Sasha exclaims, playfully whacking my arm with the back of her hand and grinning at Kit. "When were you gonna tell me you'd found someone, Mister 'I'm a lone Wolf'? How'd you two meet, anyway?"

"Oh, uh..." I hesitate, unsure how to answer without either lying or telling the truth. To my surprise, Dane answers for me.

"He's a client, Sasha, not his Mate. Monty's protecting him."

"Oh!" Sasha's eyes go wide. "But then..." She frowns as if perplexed by something and glances between me and Kit. "I could have sworn..."

"We'll explain later," Dane says tersely. "After we've found Mom and Dad—one way or another."

Sasha nods, her expression clouding with grief once more. The babies had provided a momentary and welcome distraction, but our business couldn't be put off any longer.

"Alright. Let me get that coffee and milk, and we'll start." She retreats to the kitchen, and Julian follows to help, carrying Luna and Luca's little cartoon-covered sippy cups.

The rest of us find seats on the dark leather sofas and chairs. Jake takes a chair, Martin and Freya sit on the smaller couch, and Dane and I take the larger sofa, leaving a space for Julian when he returns.

We keep the talk light while we wait, catching up with each other and asking after those who couldn't be here on short notice.

"Ingrid wanted to come," Freya says, "but she had a big performance with her quartet in New York. I told her to stay focused on that, for the moment. Too many of us will just make this harder, and missing that performance could ruin her career."

Dane nods. "What about Travis? He couldn't make it?"

Martin shoots him a look. "Chiaki's due in a week. She doesn't want to travel, and he doesn't want to leave her, obviously."