Chapter 63
Chapter 63
Samara
“How do you know all of this?” I ask Roman when we’re back in our room. Everything about Sloane and Scarlet seems so intuitive to him while I feel like I’m watching a play in another language and have no idea what’s going on.
“Samara, Scarlet and Sloane are starting out the same way that Theo and I did. That’s how lifelong friendships begin. You wouldn’t know that because, first, you were so much younger than us and your sister,” he says, making Ayla growl.
He kisses my forehead, but continues, starting to unbutton my shirt.
“Then, you were so busy trying to spend time with us, that you never made any friends yourself. Once you were hiding as an omega, and I’m guessing you never created those types of friendships. It didn’t seem like it when we left anyway,” he says, pushing my shirt off my shoulders and pulling it out of
my pants.
“So that’s what friendships should look like?” I ask him.
“Well, yeah. In the early stages anyway. Did you see them hooking pinkies?”
“Yeah. What’s that about?” I ask.
“Some friendship thing. Maybe a promise, maybe swearing to keep a secret. Whatever it is, it’s the start of building the kind of faith that when you’re an adult, makes you trust that person with your life or in my case and probably Theo’s, we would have trusted our mates with each other. There are very few people I would trust with your life, but Theo would have been one of them. You didn’t see us when we were that young. You had just been born. Trust me, their friendship will grow over the years and hopefully turn into something similar to what Theo and I had.”
He kisses my forehead again and unhooks my bra, sliding it off my body.
“I have the distinct feeling that you have something on your mind, Alpha,” I say.
“You are always on my mind, Samara. Always.”
My mate reminds me again of what an incredible lover he is, making me moan and scream in pleasure until we both collapse, curling up together before
falling asleep.
In the morning, Roman wakes me before going to warrior training. “The girls were up really late. Don’t expect Sloane to be up anytime soon,” he says.
“How late?” I ask.
“I got up to feed Aria in the middle of the night and I checked on them. That was about three in the morning and they were still up talking. I’ll let Austin know, but don’t be worried if they sleep late this morning,” he says, leaning over me as I lie in bed. Now that I’m pregnant, he’s refused to allow me to spar. I don’t mind. I don’t want anything to hurt our pup.
“You should have woken me up. I could have fed Aria.”
“You’re growing my pup in your belly. You need your rest.”
“Is that a friend thing, the late night?” I ask him.
“Oh yes, definitely,” he says, kissing me again before heading out.
Curious, I get up and walk down the hallway. The door to Sloane’s room is slightly ajar and when I peek inside, I see the two girls, lying on the floor with pillows pulled from the bed, a blanket underneath them and one over top of them.
As if she can feel me watching her, Sloane’s eyes open. She lifts her head and looks at me.
“You don’t have to get up. Roman said you were up late,” I whisper.
“Is that okay?” she asks.
I step into the room. “Did you have fun?”
She nods.
“Then it’s okay. When you wake up, we’ll look at furniture for your room.”
“Thanks, Aunt Samara,” she says, laying her head back down.
“I really do want you to be happy here, Sloane,” I say watching her eyes fall closed before stepping back out.
I poke my head in to check on Slade. Elizabeth or Austin brought him at some point last night. By the time I get to Aria’s room, she’s starting to fuss.
“Hey, beautiful girl. Let’s get you changed and fed,” I say to her.
I take care of Aria, enjoying this quiet time with her, excited that one day soon it will be Roman’s pup in my arms. I feel his mind connect with mine, probably wondering at the feelings. I’m having and then I hear Pierce start purring when he hears my train of thought.
‘Are you coming down for breakfast?‘ he asks.
‘Yes. I still need to get showered and dressed, then I’ll be down.‘
Once I’ve put Aria back to bed and gotten ready, Slade is awake. I take time to get him ready and then I carry him downstairs.
“Luca!” he says, when he sees his new friend. I put him down and wave at Austin and Elizabeth as Slade runs to sit beside Luca.
Elizabeth walks over, watching the boys. “This is working out very well. They’re not exactly close in age, but Luca is a lot like Austin. He’s protective and it looks like Slade needs that right now.”
“Like an older brother,” I say, watching them. That I do understand. Theo was always my safe place.
“I heard the girls are still asleep?” she asks as we go get food for us and the kids.
“Yes. I checked on them earlier. According to Roman, they’re already becoming best friends.”
“I’m really glad. You know, you and I can become friends too, Luna,” she says.
I stop and look at her. “I’d like that, Elizabeth. Roman made me realize this morning that I never had friends. I don’t really know how to be a friend. But I’m willing to learn.”
“You know what, I think I like it that I get to be your first forever friend,” she says to me.
I smile at Elizabeth. “I like it too.”
She hugs me quickly before releasing me and knowing that she wants to be forever friends, before we’ve even spoken to them, makes my decision much easier.
‘Are you sure, Samara?‘ Roman’s voice enters my head.
‘I’m sure,‘ I tell him. I want people that I trust, people who are not only forever friends with us, but also with our pups, to lead my family’s pack.
‘Let’s talk to them after breakfast.‘
We’re just about finished with breakfast when Sloane and Scarlet emerge.
“Hey sleepy–heads. How was the sleep over?” Elizabeth asks them.
“Good. Can we have one in my room tonight?” Scarlet asks.
“I’m okay with it if Alpha and Luna are,” she says.
The girls turn to look at me.
“I’m okay with it, but you probably need to go to bed a little earlier than you did last night,” I tell them.
“Yeah, I don’t know if we can do that again,” Scarlet says.
Roman smirks at them. I can tell he’s thinking that they will absolutely stay up really late again tonight.
While the girls get breakfast, Roman and I meet with Austin and Elizabeth in his office.
Roman tugs me into his lap, wrapping his arms around my stomach. Austin and Elizabeth smile knowingly. I guess this is common with pregnant mates.
“So, Austin and Elizabeth, Samara and I have a proposition for you.”
The two of them sit in their chairs, holding hands, curious but not nervous at all.
“What’s that?” Austin asks.
Roman looks at me and I nod that I still want this.
“You know my father has taken over Samara’s old pack,” he says. Austin’s eyes become very serious and he sits forward.
“Yes, and the Beta and Gamma followed you here,” he says, obviously expecting that Roman is going to ask him to help out.
“My father isn’t interested in maintaining the pack for eighteen to twenty years until Samara and I can have two heirs.”
“Whatever you need from us, we’re happy to do it,” he says and Elizabeth nods.
“Well, this is where I want your honest opinion. We want you and Elizabeth to take over the pack as Alpha and Luna until such time as our son reaches maturity and can take it back. Without a Beta, Luca will already be established as that pack’s Beta.”
“You want me to become an Alpha,” Austin says slowly, as if unsure that he’d heard Roman accurately.
“Yes, but I want to know if you’d find it offensive that your son would become Beta to the pack, not an Alpha,” Roman says.
Austin sits back, running his hand through his hair.
“I, uh … Elizabeth, what do you think?”
“What is your plan for Slade?” she asks. Now it’s her turn to sit forward. She’s in Beta mode.
“We obviously haven’t announced this yet, not even to my parents, but we think that Slade should take over Dylan’s pack. While Samara and I don’t want Sawyer’s son to take over the Brenner family pack, he would be taking over his family’s pack and that feels right to us.”
Elizabeth looks thoughtful for a moment.
“What if we had another son?” she asks. “Luca and Slade are close in age. If we continue to nurture their relationship, Luca could become Slade’s Beta in Dylan’s pack. If we had another son, he could grow up with your second son and they could take over the Brenner family pack together. Would that be an option?” she asks.
“I don’t know. Is that an option?” Roman asks, looking at Austin.
He shrugs. “If my mate wants a pup, I’m giving her a pup,” he says, smirking at Elizabeth. “It might take a while, but I’ll put forth my best effort.
Roman snorts and Elizabeth smacks her mate on the arm. Lturn and look at Roman.
“I like that idea. I like it a lot,” I tell him,
“I do too. We trust you, both of you. We wouldn’t trust just anyone with the Brenner family pack. I love the idea of our sons growing up together, building friendships together that will extend into their leadership of their own packs.”
“Our daughters will be growing up together too. The Brenner pack is only an hour from here, close enough that it will be easy for our pups to grow up together,” Elizabeth says, turning to Austin. “I say we do it.”
Austin looks at Roman. “What about your Beta position here?”
“I haven’t gotten that far yet. I’m open to suggestions.”
“I’ll think about it. I’m not sure Adrian is ready for a Beta position, but Beta Adam might be,” he says, referencing Sawyer’s previous Beta.
“Test him, let me know what you think,” Roman tells him.
“I will. So, are we really doing this?” Austin asks.
“We are. We won’t pull the trigger on the change until we deal with Dylan. But once that’s done, I’ll move Dad to that pack, and you to the Brenner pack
Austin looks at his mate. “Wow!”
“Definitely wow,” she agrees.
“I had no idea what you were going to ask of us, but this was definitely not it.”
“If we’re going to have our pups grow up together, it would probably be better to have Scarlet visit here and let Slade visit there. He’s young enough that he hopefully won’t have the memories, but Sloane definitely will.”
“Agreed,” Elizabeth says, then smiles at me. “I guess it’s a good thing you and I decided to become forever friends. It sounds like that’s exactly what we’re going to be.”
“Yes it does.”
