Page 75 of Outnumbered

Inside was a carving of a raven that looked exactly like Beatrice. “Oh, wow! Thank you, Kieran.”

He smiled and said, “You’re welcome.”

“That’s really good, did you do it?” Caleb asked him.

Kieran nodded. “Thank you.”

“It looks just like Beatrice,” Dan praised as he inspected it. “Do you sell these?”

Kieran shook his head. “It’s just a hobby.”

“You could make money doing this,” Dan said. “Let’s talk after.”

Kieran’s ears reddened and he nodded.

Turning back to me, Dan said, “So, the rest of the royals got you a combined gift. And it’s actually a gift for your entire pack, not just you.”

I looked at him curiously. “Oh?” What could it be?

Caleb looked just as surprised as me, so obviously he hadn’t known.

Katar slid a large envelope down the table and Caleb caught it and opened it. He stared at the photo a second and then set it on the table so everyone could see it.

It was an aerial view of a forest.

“Thank you,” I said, confused.

All of them laughed.

“What is it?” Caleb asked.

“An aerial view of your pack’s territory,” Emrys answered.

I gasped and looked at each of them. “You’re serious?”

“Whoa,” Branson breathed.

“Where?” Caleb asked and picked the picture up again, holding it tenderly like he might break it.

“To the east of Jinla, about twenty minutes. It’s one hundred acres and we have one housing plot flattened and ready for you to build your first house, with utilities and a well all ready for you,” Dan said. “The crew is ready to go flatten other areas for whatever hybrids join you.”

I leapt out of my chair and hugged the large man, then made my way around to hug all of them. “Thank you.” Just last week I had debated asking Dan about the possibility of us getting territory for our pack, not just our fivesome, but for all hybrids.

“Well, as King of the Hybrids, Caleb needs his own territory,” Kara said. “And when you start building, I’ll help you set up a healer’s cabin.”

Tears built in my eyes and I smiled at her. “That would be wonderful.”

“Don’t cry or I’m going to cry,” Jolie said and fanned at her face.

“Come on, let’s go see your new car,” Riddick suggested.

Caleb stayed back to hug his grandparents and thank them, clearly much more emotional about the gift than me, as it had a completely different meaning for him.

My car was actually a silver SUV with tinted, bulletproof windows. “It’s perfect,” I said with a nod. Exactly what a pack of hybrids who were constantly targeted needed.

“We’re glad you like it,” Fox said. “We argued about what to get you for several days.”

Rhys laughed. “More like a week.”

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