Fated for Her Wolves - Tara West Page 0,77
his way home. She wanted her family to be whole again. After Tor said his goodbyes, Amara toyed with her eggs. Rone always cooked them to perfection, but she’d somehow lost her appetite.
“Amara, what’s wrong?” Drasko sat beside her, twirling a lock of her blonde hair around a finger.
Her shoulders fell. “The Spiritcallers are dying.”
“Can’t you heal them?”
She shrugged, emotion tightening her throat. “No.” That was all she could muster.
“They don’t want her to,” Rone said from the sink, where he was stacking dirty pans.
Drasko gaped at them. “What?”
“It’s their time,” Hakon said and refilled his coffee with a scowl. “Do you think Amara can keep everyone alive for a thousand years?”
She blinked at her alpha. Why was he accepting their decision so easily? He walked around the counter and kissed her forehead before returning to his laptop on the sofa.
“We need to prepare a party for Luc,” Rone said, his enthusiasm sounding forced. “Let’s bake him a cake.”
She snapped out of her trance. Luc was coming home, and she refused to sulk any longer. She’d missed her Army tracker so much.
Heaving herself off the stool, she went to their walk-in pantry. “I’ll get the mixer.”
But after she was inside the pantry, she shut the door behind her and released a shaky breath, clutching the shelf like a lifeline. Why had news of the Spiritcallers affected her so deeply? It was selfish to expect the tribal elders to want to remain on the earth forever, but she was still sad. Maybe because her confidence in her healing powers had been shaken. She’d healed stage-four cancer in a few minutes. She’d brought Drasko back after he was bitten by a werewolf. Yet she couldn’t save this sweet elderly family from mortality. One day she and her mates would be that sweet, elderly family. One day she wouldn’t be able to save them.
The door cracked open, and Hakon popped his head in. “You okay?”
Straightening, she forced a smile. “Why wouldn’t I be? Luc’s coming home.”
He stepped inside and pulled her against him. “Did you think you could keep healing them forever?”
Wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders, she heaved a shuddering breath, sinking against him. “Yes, actually.”
“The goddess has shown you Valhol.” He pulled back, searching her eyes. “Is it really such a bad place?”
“No.” Despite being at least a thousand years old, their goddess and her mates looked young and vibrant. She wondered if Raz and her mates would regain their youth, too.
He pulled her close again and feathered a kiss across her brow. “They will be young again, free of their mortal bindings.”
“You’re right.” She held him tight, feeling his strength flow through her.
The baby kicked hard. Hakon looked at her tummy. “I felt that.”
Placing a hand on her belly, she spoke soothing words to her child. “I think she wants me to finish breakfast.”
Hakon took the mixer under one arm as if it weighed no more than a feather, then led her to the door. “Come on,” he said, waggling his brows and tickling her palm with his thumb. “You need to keep up your strength for Luc’s welcome home party.”
She laughed. Her mates didn’t care how swollen her stomach and ankles were. They had ravenous sexual appetites. Good thing she did, too.
AMARA WOKE FROM AN evening nap with a vision of Luc riding shotgun in Agent Johnson’s truck as they wound their way through the snow to their house. She sat up, a hand at her throat, and looked around for her mates, but their bedroom was empty. She wished she could shoot out of bed and race downstairs to greet her Army hero, but nature called. She rolled out of bed like a bowling ball and waddled to the bathroom. After washing her hands, she threw on a robe and went downstairs as Agent Johnson’s truck pulled into the drive.
Rone was putting Bjorn in his playpen with another bottle.
“Luc’s here!” she said, her voice cracking with emotion. How she’d missed him.
“We heard,” Rone said. “Hakon and Drasko are already outside.”
She grabbed Evin out of the playpen, settling him on her hip and following Rone to the door. Rone ran outside, joining her alphas in welcoming Luc home. Her oldest boys clung to her knees on the threshold, giddy with joy when Luc jumped out of the truck and grabbed his canvas bag. Relief washed over her when she saw he was whole and healthy. Maybe a tad underweight, as usual when he returned from long missions, but