"Baby?"
"Mmmm?"
"Where's the coffee?"
"Mmmm."
"Baby..."
"Ethan come back to bed," I groaned. "It's cold."
Warm chuckling bounced off of the walls as the fire crackled. I blinked, pulling the blankets down on the small bed to see him tossing some more logs into the stove. He had been rummaging around for the last thirty minutes, trying to wake me up without success until he mentioned coffee.
We didn't sleep at all last night. Maybe a few hours split out here or there, but my lips tugged into a tired smile as the soreness in my limbs reminded me why it was more than ok that I didn't get any sleep. Why we didn't get any sleep. Sleep could wait.
He turned and crossed the short space to slip into bed with me, pulling me to lay with my back against his chest as I faced the wood-burning stove that was licking more rapidly away at the logs. "Do you want coffee?"
"No."
"No?"
"I don't want you to get up again," I groggily replied, scooting back against him while he nuzzled my neck, chuckling lightly and sending vibrations over my skin.
"I like this cottage," he stated softly as he laid his head against the pillow.
"Me too," I breathed out on a tiny yawn. "Cora put Eve and I both in one."
"Eve?"
"I thought I showed you?"
Ethan stilled for a few moments. I rolled over, careful not to roll off of the bed, and faced him. He pulled me to him, closer so my skin was practically painted against his. "If you did I don't remember, I've been very busy sunshine."
"Busy?"
"Mhmm," he hummed.
A soft smile tugged at my lips as my fingers traced the edge of his jaw, his skin that I couldn't believe was here. He was a miracle laying in front of me.
"Well, Eve is back," I told him as he kissed the tips of my fingers. "And Susie, and Lizzie, and my parents."
"Lizzie? Susie?"
"Bernard's light is Susannah or Susie as we call her. Dominic's mate is Elizabeth, or Lizzie."
Ethan's brows raised before he just started laughing. His chest vibrated while he shook his head, his hands rubbing his tired face before he looked back at me. "I feel like I should be surprised but considering everything I'm not. God, Aunt Eve? Levi is going to lose his shit."
"He did," I breathed out. "I helped her kidnap him, Lucas, and Jane last night before I came and got you, I thought I showed you that?"
"Baby, you showed me a lot of things that I have been much more focused on," he replied huskily.
My skin flushed as he laughed lightly, nuzzling my neck and nipping at the fresh mark on my skin. "Well, you need to learn to pay better attention."
"Baby," he whined as he nibbled at my mark, sending shivers over my skin while the fire crackled. "We've been very busy. We're very busy people."
I rolled my eyes, a smile tugging at my lips. "Yes, well, we are probably going to be busier. We have a lot to do still."
"Yes we do," he sighed out, pushing some hair back as he looked at me. "I'm sorry–"
"Stop apologizing about it," I injected. "If you keep doing that, then I am wearing an onsie for a week–that you are not allowed to take off."
He dipped his head as a smile tugged at his lips before he looked up at me through his thick lashes. "If it helps, I was going to tear her throat out then slit mine."
"Well too bad," I replied back. "You're not allowed to. We have things to do."
"Really, like?"
"Well, we're going to kill her, then kill her father, then burn that God-awful house down, then have a herd of children–"
"A herd?"
"Why the hell not?"
Ethan let out a sharp laugh before his chest vibrated rabidly with laughter. He quickly kissed me, a kiss that was meant to be chaste until it was not so chaste. Until it was more than chaste. Until hands roamed all over me while he thrust relentlessly into me with a need driven as much by his beast as it was by him. A need that I returned with ferocity because I finally had my male back and we had a year's of missed love to make up.
I fell asleep again, asleep in his arm as the warmth of his skin wrapped me up like a blanket that I never wanted to leave. It was bliss. It was heaven.
When I woke up he in his boxer-briefs making coffee on top of the stove, trying not to burn some toast; he picked the pieces up out of a pan and quickly tossed them onto a plate as the tea kettle began to whistle. He poured the boiling water into a brass looking coffee pot–a french press it looked like as he set a timer, his skin shivering as my eyes gazed over his back.
"Are you hungry? I don't think I burnt all the toast."
I sighed as his blue-green eyes looked back at me, my heart bursting with happiness. Just watching him, just seeing him again like this–part of me wasn't sure if it would ever happen again. He cocked his head as I opened my mouth, only to have another sob roll out. Quickly I covered my mouth, but I couldn't stop it. The sobs were uncontrollable.
He was over to me and holding me to him before I knew what was happening. Murmuring comforting things to me while he let me cry on his shoulder. I think half his chest was wet with my tears by the time it all over, a cry that more than needed to come out.
"Baby, it's ok," he told me again while he stroked my hair.
"I just missed you so much," I croaked out.
"I know," he murmured against the skin of my neck. "I missed you so damn much sunshine. No more dying, ok?"
A tiny smile tugged at my lips as I nodded. "No more dying."
"Do you want to try and eat something?"
"Please, coffee too?" I asked.
"It should be ready in a few minutes, I found a french press. I was going to make blobs, but we didn't have the stuff to make it here."
I bit back some more tears as I pulled back to look at him. "I missed the blobs."
He sighed, his eyes slightly watery again as he pushed my hair back. "The blobs missed you, baby."
He leaned forward to kiss me, a soft growl vibrating off of him as his lips started to move slowly over mine. I felt like I was melting again; the blanket dropped down to my waist, bare chest against bare chest while veins hummed out to veins. It was perfection.
It was perfection until the timer went off. I laughed against his lips before he nipped at me. He jumped up and trotted over to the coffee pot, pushing the little nob down slowly while I reached around until I found his shirt. I slipped it on then stood up, stretching up high before I walked over to him.
"I don't think there's milk or cream babe," he said more to himself.
I felt my brows furrow as I looked around. I dug in some shelves untilI found some powdered creamer, which I wasn't really sure of, but I was sure that I didn't want to drink black coffee.
Ethan squeezed some honey on his toast and mine while I mixed up my coffee. His arms wrapped around me as I watched myself stir the spoon in the liquid over and over and over again until everything had been properly mixed, his chin leaning on my shoulder. "I love you Charlotte."
I leaned back against him, my hand coming through his hair as he dipped down to kiss my neck. "I love you too Ethan."
We ate our toast and finished off the coffee before we decided to venture out of the cabin. We decided to venture out of the cabin, but Ethan was not a fan of that idea. Not at all.
We ended up on the floor in front of the fire, wrapped up in each other's arms while the fire crackled away. Eventually, though, we did eventually leave. I made Ethan start chewing some leaves of the moon plant. He hadn't complained before, but I think we were too consumed with each other to notice anything else.
I was throwing on a sweatshirt when there was a knock at the door. Ethan finished buttoning his jeans as he marched towards the door, the hair standing on the back of his neck as he opened the door to see Lucas and Jane waiting on the other side.
"Morning!" Lucas called out.
"Morning Lucas," I replied as he moved past Ethan to hug me again.
"Well, it's really more afternoon sis," Lucas teased. "Not like I care. Well, I do–"
"Lucas is pissed because Levi kicked us out of their cabin last night, so we actually stayed at your parent's place," Jane said with a sly smile.
Lucas rolled his eyes as Jane rubbed her cheek against mine. "It's my mom!"
"Yes, and your father misses her–"
"Ew ok, we're not talking about that," Lucas rushed out.
Ethan laughed as he walked back over to me, kissing my neck and causing Lucas to roll hi eyes. Jane just shook her head and looked back at me with a soft smile. "Your father is making waffles. We're having brunch and Lizzie said if you don't hurry that she's drinking all the mimosas without you."
"Shit, Evan–"
"Ethan I already called him," Lucas rushed out. "I didn't tell him, mostly I didn't think he'd believe me. I told him you were at our place. Lander actually thinks we're all at Jaxon's place, who thinks that we all went on a hunt for the day."
"Geez Lucas, did you write all that down?" I asked as Ethan slipped the long sleeve shirt he wore here last night on.
"I probably should have," he thought out loud.
"Don't worry, we'll probably be getting them later today," I told him.
"Why? What's the plan?"
"To kill her of course," I replied. "Dad's been thinking on the rest of the details. I'll let him explain. Waffles?"
Ethan sighed and took my hand as he slipped on his work boots he wore over here. "Waffles."
"Ya well, we got to get my dad first," Lucas said, scratching the back of his head as he eyed us.
"What he means is he didn't want to disturb his dad without Charlotte because he's pretty sure Levi is in a, 'I will kill you if you disturb us,' mood," Jane corrected.
I bit back a laugh as Lucas grumbled while Ethan just rolled his eyes. "Come on sunshine," he said as he pulled me out of the door with him.
His arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me close to him as his head dipped down to kiss my mark again. I sighed and leaned into him as I steered us towards Eve's cabin tucked away in the woods.
Eve's cabin that Lucas and Ethan bickered in front of for around ten minutes on who was going to knock first. Jane and I stood there, our arms crossed as our males went back and forth with each other.
"Has he always been like this?" she asked as she eyed Lucas.
"Pretty much," I sighed out right as the front door ripped open.
"Son, shut the hell up!"
"Uh, hi dad," Lucas said with an awkward wave.
Levi rolled his eyes and looked over at Ethan. "Dominic came by and said there was waffles?"
"What?! Hadrian told us to..."
I burst out into laughter as realization his Lucas. Levi seemed to catch on and started to laugh as he walked out to me, dressed in his faded jeans and a sweatshirt. "Hey, Charlie girl."
"Morning," I replied as I hugged him.
"Aunt Eve?" Ethan's mouth was wide open as Eve walked out of the house, matching faded jeans and a green sweatshirt that looked like the same brand as the navy blue one Levi had on.
"Hi sweetie," she replied as she walked over to him and hugged him.
He stood shocked for a few moments until he finally hugged her back. Levi smiled, a smile that looked so much more happy than I think I had ever seen him. He looked down at me, his silver eyes dancing in joy. "Well, let's go get some of those waffles before Dominic eats them all."
Ethan held his hand out for me. I walked to him as Eve hugged Lucas; he bent down slightly so she could rub her cheek against his and nuzzle his hair, a mother rubbing the scent off on her pup again. Jane sighed, a tired happy smile on her face while she chewed on the green leaves of the moon plant.
"I never thought I would love these mountains," Ethan breathed out as our group waked toward my father's cabin.
"Well I do," I added. "Dad seems so too."
"Eve said Micah turned his pack over to your daddy, Charlie girl?"
"Mhmm," I replied. "After dad killed Xander, they all did. I have no idea what he'll actually do. The packs are smaller up here, but still, that's four packs."
"I'm sure he'll think of something," Eve stated as she leaned her head on Levi's shoulder, his arm around her waist. I smiled, my eyes catching the fresh bruised mark on her neck; they more than deserved a lifetime of happiness.
Dad was in love with the waffle maker that he had dug out of the attic in the house, but mom was not so convinced. It smoked a little too much for her liking as it made waffles, but she just drank her coffee while my dad made crispy waffle after crispy waffle. Well, at least dad called them, 'crispy' to make up for the middle burnt parts.
Dominic already had two by the time we got there and Bernard was laughing with a mimosa in his hand. He had on some jeans, a white buttoned-down shirt, and a black blazer. He was wearing colors other than black. Ethan's mouth dropped more at that sight than anything else.
"Ethan!" Dagny danced over to us with Alice in her hands while Vincent helped Lizzie make more mimosas in a pitcher.
Ethan smiled and hugged the little pink haired witch, then gave Alice a loving scratch on the head as Susie strolled over to us. "You must be Ethan," she said with a smile.
"Yes," he replied as Bernard waved at me, tipping his glass in my direction. I don't know if I was going to get used to seeing the man so happy.
"Susannah, but everyone calls me Susie," she said as she extended her hand to him.
"She's mine!" Bernard called out with a smile, causing us all to laugh as Ethan shook her hand. I walked around to the kitchen and hugged my mother while Derek helped her make hash browns and bacon. She nuzzled my cheek and kissed my hair before she looked over at Ethan and winked at me.
"Well, hello dear," she said to him with a smile. Ethan froze as Susie went over to hug Levi and Eve as Lucas walked around to high-five my dad. My mother laughed and shook her head at him. "Well come here, and I am your mother in law after all."
Ethan eyed me then pulled my mother into a hug. She laughed some more as my dad wiped his hands on his jeans while Dominic pulled me into a hug. "Mimosa?" he asked as my father walked around towards Ethan and Levi.
"Please," I breathed out as Lizzie winked at me.
"Did you wear the–"
"No!" I hissed out at her as my cheeks flushed. "Not funny Lizzie!"
"What's not funny?" Derek asked as he zipped to me.
"Nothing," I replied before I hugged him. He kissed my cheek as Elliot strolled over, wiping his eyes some more before Derek zipped over to Eve.
"I'm just so happy!" Elliot exclaimed with weepy eyes. I chuckled and hugged Elliot again as my father stopped in front of Ethan and Levi.
Elliot and I looked up, watching the scene as my father looked over Ethan before he just sighed. "Welcome to the mountains son," he said with a smile before he startled Ethan by pulling him into a hug.
I muffled my laugh in Elliot's chest before I turned to see my father let go of Ethan to walked over and shake Levi's hand before they hugged. Levi scratched at his hand and looked around the room. "Well, this is some crazy shit you got going on up here King."
My father barked out a laugh. "Coffee?"
"Please," Levi breathed out before he looked at Lucas, who just groaned before he headed to the kitchen to get Levi his coffee.
"Lucas, I see you fetched your parents alright?" my father asked with a sly smile.
Lucas grumbled as Levi barked out another laugh while Lucas poured some coffee into a cup for Levi. Eve leaned up to kiss his neck that was bruised around his mark with hickeys, hickeys that matched hers–it was like they were in high school, but who gave a rat's ass? Seeing Levi this happy, his eyes filled with joy instead of the usual hardness that lingered made my eyes slightly water for him.
My father was laughing with Levi as they watched Lucas gripe some more. "Sensitive thing."
Levi nodded as he pulled Eve to his side. "Yup, Lucas you may need to stay up here with Hadrian. I think the mountains may be good for you," he teased with a devious glint in his eyes as my father laughed some more.
Lucas just shook his head while Dominic kissed my cheek and leaned back against the counter with me. "If she wasn't still here, I would say this is close to perfect."
"It is, regardless of what she does," I replied with a soft smile as Ethan walked over to me, flickering his eyes to my father a few times before he pulled me to him.
"Thank you," Levi told Lucas as he handed him a coffee while Derek brought Eve a mimosa, his eyes still watering as he hugged her again. "Well, so when do we get to kill her?"
My father chuckled as he poured pancake batter onto the waffle iron. My mom looked over as the waffle iron started to smoke up again. "Honey..."
"Willa it's fine, they're just a little crispy!" He gave her an innocent look before he turned to me. "Want one baby girl?"
"Sure dad," I replied before I leaned against Ethan's chest.
He dipped down and kissed my hair as my dad put a few on a plate for us. Ethan took them for us with a nod then pulled me over to the couches where we sat caddy-corner from Bernard and Susie.
I was about to sit down when Bernard walked over and hugged me to him. Susie just sat back, her eyes still glassy as she looked on at us. "Thank you little wolf."
"Don't thank me, Susie saved us," I breathed back. "We really should be thanking you."
Susie shook her head. "You can thank me when this is all over by buying me a nice bottle of scotch."
Bernard chuckled as Ethan pulled me down to him as Alice hopped over to us while Vincent and Dagny sat on the floor next to the coffee table. I smiled and patted my lap for the little bunny that Ethan helped onto the couch so she could hop into my lap. "Hello Alice," I said as I stroked her fur.
"Oh my God, Vincent!"
"Yes, love?"
"Take a picture!"
"Why?" Vincent asked as he eyed her, his cheeks so full of food he looked like a chipmunk. Dang pointed almost frantically to me; Vincent turned his head and rolled his eyes. He pulled out his phone then pointed it at us. "Alright Alice, smile!"
"Aw, that is so cute!" Dagny practically squealed as Vincent snapped a photo.
"You know what will be cute?" Lizzie rhetorically asked. "Aurelia's head on a stake. Hadrian, I was thinking we could make a rug out of your brother? Or a human canoe?"
"I like the canoe," Levi said before he took a sip of his coffee. "Lizzie right?"
"Yes," she replied with a cheerful smile.
Dominic kissed the skin before her ear, causing her to slightly blush as she turned towards his neck to hide it. "She's mine."
Levi smiled as Eve leaned on his shoulder, a satisfied sleeplessness in her eyes. "Good thing, you needed someone to keep your ass in line."
Dominic narrowed his eyes as Lizzie laughed lightly. "He's right, you are a troll at times."
"She's right Dom," my father added. "And her head on a stake is more or less very doable Lizzie," my father said as he pulled the top of the waffle iron down onto fresh batter. "So, we know tomorrow that you all have a lovely meeting with her?"
"Shit," Levi hissed out. "Ya," he said on the edge of a sharp laugh. "We've got a meeting alright."
Ethan growled lowly as he pulled me closer to him while Dominic took a long sip of his drink. "Well, Hadrian was thinking that we could more or less crash it," Dom added.
"What?" Ethan rushed out. "Are you insane?"
"No," my father answered simply. "It's a national council meeting and, well, not everyone is represented. It's only fair," he added with a sly smile.
"I like this dad," I said before I took a sip of my mimosas. "Elliot don't forget to bring your phone."
"Oh, I think I had wet dreams last night about filming this," Elliot laughed out.
I laughed with a few others while Ethan and Levi more or less stared at my father in confusion. My dad opened up the waffle iron and forked out the freshly cooked waffle onto a paper plate that had at least a dozen of them stacked on it that sat to another plate that had probably a dozen more.
"Right well, Levi and Ethan, I assume that the girls have given you the sum up of the plan?"
"More or less," Ethan breathed out while Lizzie walked over with a cup of coffee for him. "Thank you," he said with a tired smile to her.
She sat down next to me, rubbing Alice's fur while I picked at the waffles in the plate on Ethan's lap. "Well," my father sighed out. "As you know, she has no more rogues. They more or less are cured. The caves are emptied, the warehouses burned down–actually where are Cora and Jake? Do we know how much she shit her pants over that?"
"Cora and Jake are coming, they're finishing checking on some rogues with Micah, Barrett and Evie. Barrett and Evie wanted to see if they could dream walk on any of them and get something useful. I told them all to come by too with Frieda when she headed over," my mother said. "I asked them this morning about Aurelia, they said that they haven't heard from her but Riley called on the satellite phone and said that there were a lot of witches outside watching the warehouses burn down. It's safe to say she knows. I doubt she knows who, but she definitely doesn't know."
"She didn't say anything?" I asked Ethan.
He shook his head. "No, but it was the night before last. She must not suspect us or is very good at hiding it. Could be both."
"You know what would be good is if the other vampire came in and were spotted in town, you know–make it look like they're coming to see their victory. Make her think it's them and steer her over way into left field," I thought out loud.
"Derek?" my father looked over at Derek, whose eyes were swirling while a devious smile tugged at his lips.
"I can call Alister and Alex. That would be brilliant. She won't attack at first, she'll want to watch them. She's been burning our coven houses down, this could make sense. It could be seen as an act of vengeance for that. She only knows about the rogues in the warehouses right?"
"Right," my mother said with a nod. "We have her messenger continuing to report all is good up here. She has no idea Xander is dead."
"And what of Hale?" Levi asked.
"At Cole's and will be coming in for the meeting with him," Ethan replied.
"Dibs on killing Cole," Dominic called out.
"Get in line Dominic," Bernard added with a coy smile. "I have plans for him and that witch."
"We all do," I breathed out as my father gave a tired smile.
"So, this brings us to the topic of debate in our group. How do we kill her? Kill them? Listen, they are both going to die I think the act of how is more or less the issue. We can kill them there and be done with it, or drag them up here and have them open the portal up on the other side, and let them have some fun as well. If they die here, they'll find them. We have people, 'waiting,' for them," my father said.
"She needs to suffer," Dagny said. "Greatly."
"She needs to watch it burn and burn with it," I said as an idea clicked in my head. "Burn them down with it. We go to the meeting, surprise her and Hale, beat the shit out of them, drag them to the roof and somehow secure them on it, then burn the thing down. I want her to watch her allies burn as she burns too. I want her to watch and know that she is done. I want her to watch as we walk away to live our lives as her empire turns to ash. Burn her. Set that whole goddamn house on fire."
"We do still have explosives," Ethan thought out loud.
"And plenty of gasoline," Lucas added.
Levi chuckled darkly as he smiled at me, pride in his eyes. "Well Charlie girl, I think that's a real good plan."
"Me too," Eve added as Levi kissed her hair.
Bernard nodded while Susie smiled at me. "Let's make calls to the other packs. Have them ready to attack Donald, Joe, and Lawrence. We can fetch the witches too. We'll need them to disarm her defense while we are there."
"We should let them get the meeting started while we do that," my father said. "She'll be distracted and won't know that we will have that whole house surrounded with an army."
"The moonflowers," my mother breathed out. "We need to send word out like we had talked about. We don't know if everyone in those packs are supporting her and I won't have us killing innocents."
"Right," my father said with a nod. "We need anyone who supports us to have moonflowers outside their dens. We pass those homes by and take out the others."
"How many of the cured rogues would want to fight?" Vincent asked.
"Most," my father breathed out. "I haven't met one that doesn't want to. That's not the issue. The issue is that some are very sick still. I won't have those wolves fight. The ones that are strong can, I've told Micah to organize it with the others so we can sort through them."
"We have five core packs, and some rogues. There were about five hundred rogues in the caves and the warehouses, only around four hundred that we could save, and about two hundred–and that's generous, that can fight.
"We have the five packs in your are, and now we have the mountains," my father thought out loud. "How many do you have between you all?"
"Between Ethan, Jaxon, and I, I would say a little over two hundred–we lost too many in the last fight. Ajax and Deryl have a little over a hundred. We also have Torrence, Fitz, and Brandon. Torrence's pack is small, but Fitz and Brandon have around a hundred. So I would say on the conservative end around four hundred even."
"We have about a hundred we can take down with us," my father mused. "I would add maybe a hundred more rogues, but I am wary too. I think that is conservative as well, they were all so sick."
"Still," Levi thought out loud before he took a sip of coffee. "That's about five hundred men. Five hundred and really we only have two main areas; the first that pack house and the second would be the line of packs we need to wipe out. What about vampires and witches?"
"Between the covens? I would say fifty," Derek said as he chewed on his bottom lip. "Maybe more if I can convince them."
"Convince them," Levi told him. "Witches?"
Bernard eyed Dagny for a while. "We've got about a hundred if we are thinking in both covens. There are fifty that are more local that I know we could easily get here," Dagny said. "We also have about forty of the fifty with familiars that would be helpful, one has a panther."
"A panther?" I asked.
Vincent nodded. "His name is Bagheera."
"The Jungle Book?" I asked with a surprised smile.
"Yes," Dagny replied. "Alice loves him too. Such a sweet thing."
"Alice, you have all kinds of friends," I said as I gently scratched her back.
"Well, get that cat and the rest of them down here," Levi said. "How do we want to break it up?"
"Well, obviously you all have to be at the meeting. We should bring the alphas after we take their packs and have them executed," my father said, his eyes almost black as his voice dipped a little lower. A chill running down my spine while my mother rubbed his back, calming him down. "How many does she have on guard at that house?"
"About a fifty to seventy-five wolves and witches combined. She'll have more, probably a hundred, there with all the guests," Ethan answered.
"Issach and Blaire?" I offered. "We could poof them here. It would be hard, but we could poof them and some of their men. That would allow us to flex more people to the other packs. How many are we looking at in their packs?"
"Well, there are the main three and I would estimate around three hundred," Ethan thought. "The other two, maybe two hundred? Levi?"
"I would say that's generous, I would put them more on the lower end of four hundred, maybe the high upper end of three hundred. The rogues were really her major source of hard power, those packs were more just a buffer."
"So we send four hundred to reclaim those packs," my father said. "The rest come here to the pack house. We need the guards and witches gone."
"Lizzie and I can handle that with the other vampires," Dominic said. "We'll convince them all to leave."
"That's a lot of people Dominic," my mother stated, eying in with a concerned brow.
He waved her off. "Willa, Lizzie and I could make them all shit themselves in a matter of ten minutes, and Alex can literally just crush their skulls."
"What about Alister?"
"Temperature," Lizzie breathed out. "He could freeze or boil them. Make them sweat a little too much."
"Perfect," my father breathed out. "I want them split in half. Half at the house and half with the others."
"So at the same time or?" Derek asked.
"Well, it would be nice for her to see it burning. Before. Get in, get out, and burn it down. These packs are not worth more time than that," my father told him.
"And what do we do with them?" I asked. "After? What do you want to do?"
"Well," Levi sighed out. "Torrence stepped up in Greg's pack. Maybe there are good wolves that will want to step up as well?"
"If there are then they can after we vet them out," Ethan added. "We don't need some asshole coming back for us in a few years out of spit."
"Agreed," my father breathed out. "We watch them, vet the wolves out if there are any. If not then I say the neighbors can split them up how they want."
"Joe's does border a nice little lake," Levi mused. "Wouldn't be bad to have a lake."
Eve slapped his arm playfully while Lucas nodded with a mouth full of waffles. "Come on mom! Lake Tikanni would be so bad ass!"
"We'll see," she said, a coy smirk tugging on her lips. "What do we need to do Hadrian?"
"Make the calls to Brandon, Fitz, and Torrence. We'll put the men on their packs and the other's that touch the ones we're attaching. I'll talk to Micah so we can round ours up. Susie, you all need to round up your coven and Lizzie, you need to go fetch the other vamps."
"What about the core packs?" Ethan asked.
"We'll wait a little longer, then go get them this afternoon. She's already going to have her panties in a twist over the warehouses. Let's stagger retrievals and make sure we have enough dust–"
"We do, we can check," Susie added in. "I need to check on the plants and make sure they're taking. Does anyone have moonflower seeds? Normal seeds?"
"Evan and Lyanna may," Ethan mused.
"We need them," Susie said. "We can charm them so they'll grow overnight. Let's not forget the wolves that we want to send the message to."
"Right, let's get on that ASAP," my mother stated.
"We can have our trackers carry them," Levi said. "We have contacts in those packs that can help."
"I've got some seeds back home too," Bernard added. "We can pop in and get them, then give them to the trackers when we start to fetch the core pack alphas."
"Sounds good," my father said with a nod.
"And what if it doesn't work?" Lucas asked, his eyes haunted by the past that was still much too close to us. "What if we fail again."
"Then we fail again," my father replied. "We're not always going to win. That's life. Good isn't always going to win, bad shit happens all the time over and over and over again. But we keep trying. We keep working. We move on and we do what we must."
"We're not stopping until that damn witch is burning with that damn house of hers," Levi almost snarled out. "That will be well worth the pain and wait."