For Fox's Sake (#3, Completed)

2. Home

The groans I heard from her parents told me everything I needed to know, but my niece gave me her widest smile, undeterred by the others. "Always, Nat Nat."

"This little miss," Riley gently pinched Maggie's chubby cheeks, "has realised that she can get away with everything she wants whenever she is with her grandparents, especially ever since your mum got her memory back. And it doesn't help that she has her dads wrapped around her finger, right boys?"

"What? That's so not true," Rafe and Aiden objected in unison, although Riley was unconvinced, flicking both brows up at them.

"Sure." My sister-in-law shook her head. "Ask them what they did when Maggie requested ice-cream right before going to bed."

My eyes darted between my brother and Aiden, both of them refusing to meet my gaze.

"Come on, boys." Riley pinned her crossed arms above her bump, waiting for her mates to confess, yet neither of them dared to speak. "Tell Nat how Aiden flew you both to the late-night gelato shop in Glasgow to get your toddler a tub of strawberry ice-cream."

"In our defence," Aiden protested, "your parents set the bar pretty high when they portaled to Florence with Maggie so that she could have the best gelato in the world."

"That's what I tried to say as well," my brother chimed in.

It was pretty hilarious to watch these two tough Alphas explain themselves to their mate. As much as they liked to growl and protest, they turned into gooey cinnamon rolls around Riley and their daughter, which was pretty cute.

I loved how much they adored their family, even if seeing the strength of their mate bonds only reminded me of the fading words written on the inside of my wrist. Words that were meant to bring me joy, yet every day that I did not get to hear them and meet my mate brought me closer to losing hope.

"You see what I have to deal with?" Riley's words brought me back to the present. "Anyway, enough chit-chatting. Michelle has been waiting for you all day long."

My mother's presence here was yet another reminder of how different things were now. I spent most of my life thinking that she was dead-we all did.

But then we found her-working for the demon who tried to destroy the shifter world. Even worse, her memory of us and her life before was gone. And while Riley and the boys destroyed Markolf and saved us all, my mum's amnesia remained.

Helping her get on with her life, not being able to tell her who we all really were to her, was just as painful as growing up without her. Because even though she was back in our lives, she thought of us simply as Riley's friends.

"How has she been doing?"

"Great." My brother gave me one of those smiles that he only gave whenever he was truly happy. Which, to be honest, happened a lot whenever he was with his family. "She has been remembering more and more ever since Maggie's birthday. And everyone here has been fantastic- the old Windcrest wolves have been spending time with her, telling her about the pack life back then, while all the new tribes members have been doing their best to make her feel at home in the new environment."

It wasn't easy to ask what I was about to, but I needed to know. "Have you talked to her about what happened to dad?"

"We did. I told her the truth- what a bastard he was to the pack and to us, how he betrayed her in the name of his screwed up greater good idea and how he hurt my Riley's family." Rafe swallowed hard. "How I had to kill him to stop him."

So much time had passed since that day and it was still no easier for Rafe to talk about it, despite all the pain and damage our dad has caused us. His words to us, as he attacked my brother, were still ingrained in my mind. Embarrassments, unworthy of carrying the Macalister name-that's what he called us. My brother- because he didn't follow my dad's beliefs for wolf shifter domination. And me? Because I was an Omega wolf.