Page 18 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“Are you kidding? I’d love to!” I swallowed the squeal I wanted to let out. I loved these pups to death. I took her seat and continued to feed them while Evie left the kitchen. “Damn, even after almost eight months, you can’t really tell them apart, can you?”

“Leo’s got a freckle on the top of his left ear, and Lucas has one next to his belly button. Otherwise, no. Sometimes, I’m tempted to ask Valeria to double-check that they’re fraternal, but it’s not like it matters in the end.”

“No, I guess not. They are still fucking adorable. When are you going to have more?”

Cory’s knife slipped and hit the cutting board instead of the carrots he was julienning, almost slicing his thumb.

“I’d like to survive these two first, Bells,” he chuckled.

“These innocent little cherubs? What’s to survive?” I teased.

“For one, not sleeping at the same time. It’s like they synchronize at night. The moment one falls asleep, the other one wakes up, and on it goes. By the time we get one to sleep, the other decides it’s time for a snack.”

The haunted look on his face made me chuckle. I knew how much he loved being a dad, and I doubted he’d hold off much longer despite his words.

I chatted with my brother for a while longer, chopping up veggies for him as warriors and my pack members began coming in and out of the kitchen, picking up the salads and wraps as fast as Cory dished them out. I wanted to feel bad about it, but Cory loved to cook, and like Mom, his love language was acts of service. Seeing the happy faces on people as they ate his food was something he cherished.

Once the lunch rush died down, I made up two plates and brought them up for Violet and Adam. I could hear giggles from the stairs and smiled in surprise when I saw what was making Adam laugh. Violet was scrubbing the chocolate syrup on the wall as she chatted with Adam, who was currently scrubbing the ceiling while Chris held him up in the air.

“I brought lunch,” I said, sad to interrupt their happy bubble. “Sorry, Chris. I didn’t know you’d still be up here. I can go getyou a plate, too.” I considered giving him Adam’s plate, but his lunch was not going to fill up a wolf like Chris.

“That’s okay, Luna. I was helping Adam. I can go get my own lunch. We’re almost done.”

I sat on the bed for five minutes before Chris put down my little ball of chocolate fudge and excused himself. I fed my wild monkey while I chatted with Violet a bit, and then took my little chocolate thief with sticky hands to get his second bath of the day. The warm water took a while to melt the now-dry chocolate, but eventually, we got clean and presentable and I even had enough time to give the volunteers a tour of the grounds before dinner.

For the first time in a long time, I fell asleep and didn’t have any nightmares.

I was well-rested and in a good mood in the morning, which was a rare event over the last year. After getting ready for the day, I woke up Adam and took him downstairs to figure out breakfast, but Cory was already there working like a maniac.

“Jesus, how long have you been awake?” I asked, sitting down and beating the eggs in the bowl he pushed in front of me.

“About an hour. Lucas was hungry so I brought Leo down while Evie topped Lucas off and got started on breakfast.”

After breakfast, Cory and I escorted Violet down to the Luna office. I showed her how things worked while Cory continued on to my office. It wasn’t much of a system, so I told her to go nuts and left her to her own devices. I shut the door behind me, and I heard the internal lock click in place, making my heart ache for my sister. I made my way to the Alpha office, where Cory was on the phone. A worried frown was on his face.

“She’s just entered, Dad. Hang on, let me put her on speakerphone.” Cory placed the phone on the coffee table.

“Morning, Bells,” Dad’s voice came out of the little speaker.

“Hi, Dad. Everything okay?”

“For us? Yeah, baby. We’re good. Mom’s still bummed about not going.”

“She’s a busy lady. I understand. You guys can come when things aren’t so hectic. That’s better, anyway.”

“She’s already demanding it,” Dad chuckled. “Listen, I got a call from Troy that I wanted to speak with you both about.”

“Troy? Alpha Troy?” I asked. I hadn’t seen him or his family since I moved up here.

“Yeah, except he hasn’t been alpha for a while.” Right, his son Cade took over as alpha almost five years ago.

“What’s going on with him?”

“Their pack grounds burned down in the wildfires outside of Redding a few days ago. He was hoping we knew a pack with enough grazing lands so they could relocate some of the cattle they were able to save while they looked at new properties to relocate the whole pack,” Dad explained.

“Shit. That sucks. Was everyone okay?” I asked.

My heart was going out to them. I knew better than most what a tragedy of that size did to a pack.

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