“We have the longest journey ahead of us, so we should be going.” Jinx lifted Claire into his arms. “You know how to reach us when you need us.”
Ty stepped forward and offered his hand. “Thank you for everything. We’ll see you again soon.”
He shook his hand, before nodding to Jackson. “I hope it is on good terms and not in the midst of a battle.”
“Eric and I will be out in a minute,” Lukas hollered packing up his equipment.
Jackson opened the door, and stepped into the hall before allowing Jinx to lead his family out.
“Come on, lass, let’s get you home.”
“I don’t know what I was expecting when we came, but I guess I thought more would happen, I suppose.”
“Me too, lass, but I have a feeling we’re going to have all the excitement we could want in the coming months.”
“You think it’s going to be bad?”
They stepped outside, heading to the plane. Garth and Hugo were waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Once Lukas and Eric were done they’d be on their way back home.
“There’s no real way to tell, but I do suspect there’s going to be more Alphas like Avery in the mix, and others who are just resistant to the change,” Jinx said. “The idea of having Tabitha overseeing everything is going to make others nervous.”
“It doesn’t make you nervous?”
“No, not really. I know Tabitha and Ty are trying to take over. They want to make things better for everyone, and make sure there’re no more Alphas like Avery.” He paused at the bottom of the steps, letting the cold air blow around him.
“Do you really think one day we won’t be able to hide what we are?”
He nodded. “Someday we won’t have to worry about others finding out and trying to experiment on us. It’s going to take some time. We need to get everyone together, and eliminate any problems before we go public.”
There was still a lot to be done before that, rules that had to be established, and issues that had to be eliminated. Most of all, they had to do away with the rogues who were eager to kill Tabitha.
Epilogue
The forty-eight hours were almost up and less than half of the clans were on board with Tabitha. Many of the others had questions about what everything entailed, giving Tabitha and Ty a lot to handle. A handful had flat out refused to have Tabitha or anyone else above them. Jinx glanced at the list and noticed there were still five clans they hadn’t heard from, one way or the other.
The Minnesota Alpha, Calvin, was demanding an audience and insisting his questions were answered before he would make any commitment. There was something more to it. Did Calvin plan to demand something in return for his loyalty?
“You’re not going to work all night again, are you?”
Jinx glanced up to find Summer standing in the doorway, in a cute emerald green baby doll nighty. “Umm, not if you’re going to wear that, lass.”
“Wear? I was thinking you’d take it off me.”
“I think we can arrange that.” He scooted his chair back from the desk. “Come here.”
“Hmm, another office christening.” She sashayed to him. “You’ve been working too hard, too much on your mind. Let me reduce your stress.”
“Everything has changed. I’m just adjusting to it, and trying to protect my family and our clan.”
“I know, love. Did Ty mention if he’d approved Eric working with the Nerd Crew?” She slipped into his lap, running her fingers up his chest.
“Yes, that’s all set. Which will allow for Lukas to have less to deal with.”
“Good. Then you can give him more responsibilities and spend more time with us.” She leaned in, pressing her lips to his neck. “Now come to bed and take this off me.”
“That’s the perfect way to end a long day.” He slipped his arm under her and stood. As he carried her to the bedroom, screams erupted from Claire’s room. “I guess that puts any plans on hold.” He set her down.
“It won’t always be like this. Each day there’s progress, especially when she’s with little Lisa,” Summer told him as they raced to Claire.
He flung opened the door and their little lass sat in the middle of the bed, clutching the stuffed tiger that had become her source of security.
“Lass, we’re here.”
Summer went to her and picked her up. “It’s okay, sweetie. It was only a bad dream, we’re here.”
“Mommy.” Claire cried and held onto Summer’s neck.
“Did she?” He stepped into the room, a lump forming in his throat. Did he really just hear their little girl speak?