Chapter 4 An Unexpected Answer

Lyric POV

Cole stiffens beside me. "What were they doing?" he asks, already pushing himself out of his seat.

I stand too, and he immediately turns and furrows his brows. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going with you to look into the hunters."

"No, you're not. You're going to stay here because you're weeks away from giving birth, and we have no idea what we're going to find."

A growl slips from my chest.

"Don't growl. Think smart right now, Lyric. Not emotionally."

I know he doesn't mean it the way it sounds. I know he's worried about me and the twins, and if the situation were reversed, I'd probably be saying the exact same thing to him. That doesn't stop the words from stinging.

"Fine. I'll stay home barefoot and pregnant."

I turn and walk toward the door before he can respond.

"I got her, Alpha," Winter says, hurrying after me.

She catches up in the hallway. "Your hormones are raging, bitch."

I roll my eyes. "I know. The worst part is knowing I'm being unreasonable and still being completely unable to stop myself from being unreasonable."

"I don't know if it's because I spent most of my last pregnancy being held captive or because that pregnancy was so short, but these two are kicking my ass."

"Do you think they're Lycans?" she asks.

"Honestly? I don't know. Kairo and Cole both think they are because Kairo said every she-wolf in his pack who carried Lycan pups had a difficult pregnancy."

We make our way outside and into the garden before settling onto the bench beneath the gazebo. The fresh air helps a little. Not enough for me to stop being annoyed with Cole, but enough that I no longer feel like throwing something at him.

Winter looks around. "Where is everybody? It's almost twelve, and I haven't seen anyone."

I laugh. "Everybody has lives now. There's no immediate danger at this present moment, so everyone finally has a chance to enjoy their newly found mates."

My hand moves over my stomach absentmindedly.

"Um, hello? Do you really think people still aren't going missing?"

I look at her. "We're in the same meetings, Winter. I know they are. But with no leads and nothing to follow, what exactly can we do?"

"She's scared," Nova says quietly.

The realization makes some of my irritation disappear. "I am too," I admit to her. "Both we are in danger just as much as our pups."

"I just don't like knowing there are people hunting anyone with a gift," Winter says.

No, she doesn't, and neither do I. I have four children who already have gifts of their own, and the triplets are prophesied to become more powerful than any of us truly understand. Then there are the two growing inside me, and I have no idea what they'll be capable of.

Sometimes I still wake up seeing that laboratory. The cages. The bodies. The things done to people simply because someone decided their gifts made them valuable enough to torture.

And that was only one lab. I know there are more out there that we haven't found.

"The hunters being this close is the first real lead we've had," I say. "Because why are hunters in our forests? Who are they hunting that brought them this close to our borders?"

"Yeah," Winter says. "And did they catch them?"

That question sits heavier than the others. Neither of us says anything as the garden falls quiet around us, but my mind isn't nearly as peaceful.

Too many possibilities. Too many people who could already be missing before we even know to look for them.

We sit in silence for a while before Winter finally looks at me.

"I miss Mason, Ly."

Her voice is so quiet that for a second, I wonder if I heard her correctly. I go completely still because I miss him too.

Not my mate. Not the man Selene chose for me.

Mason.

The boy who cleaned my cuts when I got hurt. The boy who spent almost every day of his childhood beside me. The boy who had been part of our lives long before any of us understood mates, prophecies, or the things waiting for us.

I look over at Winter, and tears are already sliding down her cheeks.

"I try not to bring it up to you," she says. "I find myself talking to Dom about it, but he's not you, Lyric. You're my sister... and he was my brother."

Something inside my chest breaks.

"I'm sorry, Winter," I whisper.

She immediately shakes her head. "Don't you dare do that."

"Winnie—"

"No." She wipes angrily at her face. "That was a high-emotion moment. You thought he killed your mate."

I look down at my hands.

"I'm mad at Selene," she says, and the anger in her voice makes me look back at her. "Because she staged Cole's death to kill my brother."

She wipes her face again before looking directly at me. "Call her."

I blink. "What?"

"Call her. Now."

"Winnie—"

"No, Lyric. I know you can do it. She always comes when you call."

"Winter."

She glares at me.

"Just do it, Lyric," Nova says quietly.

I sigh because apparently everyone has decided this is happening except me.

"And tell her to bring Mason," Winter adds.

My eyes widen. "Winter."

She doesn't blink. She just keeps glaring at me, and I already know that look. She isn't letting this go.

"Fine," I mutter.

I look up at the sky. "Selene, can you please come down..."

I glance at Winter.

"...and bring Mason with you?"

Nothing happens.

A few seconds pass, then a minute. I shift on the bench, beginning to wonder if Selene has finally decided she's tired of answering me.

Another minute passes.

I open my mouth to tell Winter that maybe—

"Hey, Winnie."

Every muscle in my body freezes, and Winter stops breathing beside me.

Mason's voice comes from behind us.

Neither of us moves.