"A weekend visit."
"Did you give me his cookies?"
"No. Those were for you. I have his here in my pocket." She morphed into a small, black fox. "Catch me if you can, Noah."
A tiny roar echoed through the halls and Westwood took off, a tiny blur of fur following close behind her.
He ate his last cookie before making his way to his brother's study.
The door was open, and he found Blake outside on the terrace that overlooked all of Aphelion. His domain.
His kingdom.
Blake's eyes were hooded and dark, but his shoulders sagged with a giant exhale.
"You absolute shit," Blake said without any real heat and grabbed him for a fierce hug.
They didn't bother with some of the posturing that human males did when they hugged, the shoulder slapping, and back pounding. This was an embrace. Brother to brother. Alpha to pack. A pure, shining bond.
"I thought you were going to die. We all thought you were as good as dead."
"Sorry about that. Some things have to be done, you know?"
"I do know." Blake nodded as he released him. "It's damn good to have you back."
"So, I guess you want the debriefing."
"What actually happened? I mean, I have the progenitor of the Asakku under my roof, and that's not something I ever expected to happen. I've got dragons patrolling the skies and news that Remus is advancing this way with an army of undead."
"Fuck. Those things Ondrej was telling us about?"
"Possibly. Or it could be to distract us from other targets. I wish I could send Randi to Mars until this was over."
"You could send her to the goblin realm."
"She wouldn't go. I know she's strong, but she's pregnant and I..." Blake sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face.
"How's our bottom line? What's the board saying?"
Blake waved it off. "Happier than pigs in shit. We're up two points and poised to climb. Our assets are solid and Woolven Industries is safe."
"Good."
"But you know what I need right now? And I blame you. She wants more of those Bissinger’s truffles we had at the wedding. She wants them, and I acquire them, and then she's mad at me for shoving chocolate at her. I don't know what to do here."
"You know what? Buy the whole goddamn company. Then she can take them or leave them as she sees fit." Parker shrugged. "Yeah, maybe I'll do that for you guys for a wedding gift."
Blake nodded in agreement. "I actually feel like she'd accept that coming from you. Although I seem to recall forbidding you to gift her with anything else. Ever."
He was referring to all the weapons he'd hidden in her room that she could use to maim or cause egregious damage to him. Parker snickered. "That was pretty awesome, wasn't it? And hey, without those weapons, her learning that you're a werewolf would've been much harder on her. I'm pretty sure I'm the reason you two ever got together." He smirked.
From the look on his face, Blake still wasn't amused.
But Parker was, and that's really all that mattered.
"Okay, let's get to the debriefing. What do you remember?" Blake handed him a glass of whiskey. "Here, have a drink."
"Don't mind if I do. Wait, it's not that Wolfsbane stuff, is it? That's how I got into all this trouble to start with."
"No, I don't live on the edge like you do."
"Just checking." He took a long pull off the glass and it burned on the way down. Smooth like velvet. "I don't know what I can tell you that you don't already know. The Asakku tracked Belle to the spa and, when I did some recon, I met Tirigan."
"Where did the hunters come from?"
"They had a witch. They were in an alleyway gearing up to storm the fucking castle."
"So it was obviously planned. Organized."
"Well, I'm pretty sure there wasn't a hunt club next door to a supe spa."
"Listen, smartass," Blake growled. "I need every detail so I can protect this pack."
Parker suddenly felt the weight on his brother's shoulders. "I'm sorry, Blake. I just don't remember much."
"Tell me what you do remember."
"The witch had a crystal skull. They knew exactly who and what Tirigan was."
"It will comfort you to know that your mate and her father left no one alive."
"It does comfort me, but why are they targeting us now? We've had a good relationship with the hunters, except for that Breslin freak, for ages. They weren't Breslin's brood."
"That's what I needed to know."
"Have you heard anything from Lenore?"
"No, nothing. But she's in good hands with both the demon wolf and the boogeyman at her side. Peter has gone to ground."
"They knew we were there, though. So, I'm wondering who they're working with."