“Well, now, I feel even worse about slapping him,” she muttered, glancing toward Easton.
“It’s okay, kiddo. I’d have done the same.”
I leaned around her and held out a finger to Rowan.
“Is this my namesake?”
Raina took her daughter and cuddled her. “This is Rowan.”
“She’s beautiful, Raina. You named her after me.”
“You named your son after me. Well, I guess Sasha did, but she said it was because you would have wanted her to.”
“Think the world can handle two mini versions of us?” I teased, and Raina grinned.
“I imagine they’ll keep us on our toes if they’re anything like their parents,” my sister agreed then she reached out again and touched my face. “God, I’ve missed you so much.”
“I missed you, too,” I assured her when Raine came around the corner with Lincoln.
“Daddy!” he cried and ran to me.
More tears poured down my sister’s face as I scooped up my son and settled him on my lap. Sasha came over and settled on the arm of the couch beside me.
“I can’t believe this,” Ivy stated. “I saw what was left of the truck, Rowan. I went to your memorial. How did you survive that?”
“Patrick and Josh,” I said again. “Then Easton and Lincoln got me out of there and to help as soon as they realized I was still breathing.”
“The doctors kept him in a coma for a long time,” Lincoln shared. “They were trying to give his wolf time to heal as long as they could.”
“What doctors? Where?” Raina asked.
“We took him to Jax Barlow,” Easton said. “He helped us get him to a doctor who specializes in severe injuries to our kind. Rowan was in and out. In so much pain. They put him into a coma for nine months. We stayed at his side the entire time. Barely leaving.”
“Barlow’s a good wolf,” Bastion said. “I’ve seen him several times, and he’s never once hinted you were still alive.”
“He’s a friend,” I told them.
“You’ve been searching for answers,” Cyan cut in. “Did you come to the same conclusion as your mate?”
“Do you think our father is responsible?” Raina demanded.
Sasha tensed beside me.
“My mate believes he is, and that’s good enough for me,” I stated. “Plus, there’s the fact he hasn’t shown up once since I’ve been here.”
“What do you mean?” Raina asked then passed Rowan back to Bastion. “Are you saying our father knew you were alive and didn’t say anything?”
Sasha growled as I nodded, though I’d already shared this information with her.
“I should have let Bastion beat the hell out of him when he wanted to,” Raina snarled while Bastion grunted.
“Told you I didn’t trust the bastard,” Bastion said. “Not after the stunt he pulled with you when we were supposed to meet.”
“I keep asking myself how I didn’t see who he was,” I admitted.
“Because he’s our father,” Raina said. “God knows, he drilled that into us our whole lives. The importance of family first then pack. Hell, even when you took over as alpha, he still tried to control things. He never outright challenged you because he knew he wouldn’t win, but he tried to lead you where he wanted you to go.”
“He told me once, if I decided to follow in my mother’s footsteps, he’d set me up someplace nice. Make sure I was treated well,” Ivy told us.