Her Pack

44

"So what are you two going to do now that it's official?"

"I think it became official when I marked him aunt Lacey." I tease and she smiles. "I'm kidding, I think that I'm going to relax with my husband and maybe regain some sense of peace and quiet."

"You think that's possible?" She asks sincerely and I take a deep breath. "With everything?" Her head motions to my sister who appears to be in the midst of an argument with my father and I feel as if this night couldn't go any worse.

She was very angry that me and Silas cancelled our tradition wedding format. Apparently being my flower girl was her lifelong dream.

"Did my mom talk to you about her?" I ask warily. She nods and I take one look at Silas who is entertaining a conversation with my brother while also keeping a close eye on Anna.

"I always wanted to be a mother assuming I made it long enough to find my mate and have a child. I just don't think I'm meant to mother them any longer."

"You're not. You're their big sister in the same way that Ashley and Michelle are my big sisters. They taught me what they knew but they were never meant to be my caretakers when I was Anna's age."

"You weren't there that day Lacey." I whisper as I lead her further away from everyone. "The day she shifted was a nightmare. She wouldn't listen to my dad. Silas had to be the one to command her to shift back."

"How did he feel about that?"

"He helped me raise them for months all the way from Alaska. He made sure they did the homework and he taught them what he knows. He'd do anything for them, but he can't keep doing it."

"So what's the plan."

I know that Silas would take her into our home in a heartbeat if it meant helping her but we can't do it. We can't continue to make sacrifices because eventually those sacrifices will be damaging.

"The plan is for us to go on our honeymoon." I joke and she gives me a look of sadness. "My mother asked if I could take her back to Alaska. I just don't know if I want to raise a teen girl."

"Well I already offered to help out with her so don't volunteer yourself just yet."

"You didn't."

"I did Milo." She smiles and I feel so guilty that she's forced to get involved. "I don't mind and neither does Oliver."

"Thank you aunt Lacey. Thank you for everything." I pull her into my body and I can feel all of her energy on me.

"You and Silas deserve to have your younger years to yourselves. Especially when he's already twenty seven. Speaking of which, children?" She asks and my jaw drops.

"I'm just asking the appropriate questions. Kaitlins already about to jump her mates bones so I had to ask." She refers to my cousin who is clinging onto her mates arm and I laugh. Two days and they're already down each other's throats and somehow at my wedding reception.

That's family for you.

"Well I'll let you go back your husband." She leaves me with her usual smile and I stand in silence for a moment before approaching Silas who is free of Austin.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look in that dress?"

"Once or twice." I smile before leaning into his lips. "I have something to tell you."

"Does it have to do with a tiny human named Anna?" He asks and I take a deep breath. "Austin was telling me."

"It was actually about how Lacey wanted to know when you were going to give me a baby."

"You say that like I'm not trying to do that every moment we get alone." He mumbles under his breath before taking a sip of his drink and I quickly smack at his chest. "Sorry just a little distracted by the dress."

"My family is here." I remind him and he just keeps his usual smirk on his face. "I'm going to go take a walk. A long cold walk." I shake off his comments but his hands quickly snake around my waist.

"One more hour until it's you and me and a nice long trip back to Alaska."

"You better find a way to reel it in because I'm not going to make it to Alaska if you don't quit it." My grip on his hand tightens and I feel his wolf getting restless.

"I love you and I will make that very clear later." He releases me from his grasp before walking in the direction of Owen who is holding his son. It leaves me to realize I have nothing to do to take my mind off of everything.

It's my wedding and I've run out of people to speak to. I've spoken to my aunts and uncles and I've seen enough of my siblings for a lifetime. There's only one person I haven't tried to speak to.

"If anyone asks I had to go take care of something." I approach my mother and my father and they look concerned. "Ten minutes. If I'm not back by then you can send the authorities." I brush off their worries and I head away from the large tables and dance floor and towards the one place I always end up.

"We have to find a better place to meet. Maybe a living room next time." I mumble as I pick up my dress to avoid getting it dirty. "Also if you don't show up that's super rude considering it's my wedding day."

"I know the last time you saw me was a final goodbye but that doesn't sit right with me and I don't want that to be where we end. I don't see what we have to end if I'm being honest."

"I'm growing up and I got my parents back but I'm still Milo Reece. I'm still the girl you spent so much time preparing for the future. Surely there's more to learn."

"Surely this makes you sad."

I look up at the trees around me and I feel every bit of energy that is bouncing off of this path. The way the birds chirp and how the insects roam around the dirt. How there's just enough music playing down the path for me to still hear it and how the smell of someone's fireplace is encroaching on our land.

"It doesn't have to make you sad, I just thought this was a two way street. I thought you would miss me as much as I miss you. If that's not the case it's fine. Maybe you're just doing to me what I'm doing to Anna. You're forcing me to go elsewhere for support."

"I get it."

I didn't think our bond would last forever and I knew that I couldn't be her eternal prodigy. Everything has an end and I need to come to terms with that.

"Guilting me doesn't work Milo."

Her voice feels like a satin sheet wrapping you up in bed.

"Something must've worked." I keep my back towards her because I'm scared to find out it isn't real. 

"You're not my only child Milo. I would be here all the time if there weren't tens of other Milos."

"There are?" I ask in shock. "There are other people in my position?"

"There is only one Milo Reece but there are others. There are other wolves who need me to protect them from their own kind. You were my biggest concern for a while but you've got it handled."

"That's crazy to think about isn't it?" I ask her. I slowly turn around to meet her kind eyes. "Right? That when I was born my family assumed I'd be killed. You thought the same thing when I was a kid too, but here I am. I'm still standing."

"You're still standing because we took those measures, but don't be fooled. Just because you're time as an Alpha is currently on pause doesn't mean someone out there isn't praying for your downfall."

"You're a powerful woman. Most people don't like powerful women."

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