Page 54 of The Syndicater (Dark Verse 6)

Alpha grunted. "You don't stay away from mine."

"Boys," Amara sighed, rolling her eyes.

Alpha ignored them and went straight to Tempest, who turned that megawatt grin at him and easily came into his arms.

"How's my favorite niece?" he asked her, and she'd seen him enough times to recognize him as a favorite person, too. She immediately lunged for his eyepatch, which she loved to put into her mouth for some insane reason.

"No, baby," Amara chided. "We don't chew on people's clothes."

As if she understood, she went for his nose instead, biting the top of it. Alpha felt the unscarred side of his lips go up. There was something so simple, so pure about being in her company. Were all babies like this? Because if they were, he was going to make a fleet of them with his wife. The idea of knocking her up was immensely appealing to him.

Another car pulling into the driveaway made them all turn. The doors opened, and Morana came out first, followed by Tristan, who extended his hand and brought out his sister.

His wide-eyed sister, who was looking at the mansion with her mouth open, like she had never seen something like it before. Alpha paused with that thought. Was it possible that she hadn't? He observed her closely, seeing her eyes moving around to take the structure, the front lawns that sloped down, the entire vista of hills, before coming back to the people, all of whom she'd met except Amara. Her eyes stayed on Amara for a long second before moving and stopping on Tempest in his arms.

He watched like a hawk as her face froze, her eyes staying on the baby much longer than it had on the house or the strangers. He exchanged a look with Dante, seeing that he'd noticed it too. Of course, he had. It was his little princess. Then, as if catching herself, she immediately looked to Amara.

Interesting.

Amara took that as her cue and moved to her with a soft smile, one he'd seen her give Zephyr when she'd been grieving.

"It is so good to finally meet you," Amara greeted in her raspy voice. Luna's eyes widened slightly at hearing it, her eyes going to the scar Amara had on her neck, completely exposed. She had covered it up until recently, but he'd noticed her leaving it uncovered more often now.

"Welcome to my home." Amara took hold of both her hands, giving it a squeeze even he could see. She looked to Tristan, who stood right next to his sister, not having left her side since he'd found her. He kind of understood. Had he been in Tristan's place, he probably wouldn't have either.

"I'm so happy for you," Amara told Tristan sincerely, and he gave her a nod. Alpha didn't understand their friendship much, but he knew it was a deep one.

"You…" Luna began, her tone soft, but everyone looked at her. "You have a beautiful home."

Amara beamed at her, pulling her in and leading her toward the entrance where they stood, the perfect hostess. "You've already met my husband, Dante, and my brother-in-law, Alpha?"

Luna nodded, glancing at them both before looking at Tempest.

"This is my daughter, Tempest," Amara offered, her eyes also seeing what he was. She was a professional head doctor; she was probably ten steps ahead of all of their observations.

Luna gave Tempest a small smile that trembled on her lips. "Hi, Tempest."

Tempest looked at the newcomer with a wide look, her big eyes on her gold necklace. She lunged for the necklace, almost grabbing it in her grubby hands, and Alpha contained her squirmy, wiggly body.

There was silence for a few minutes, slightly awkward, as they all just stood there, not knowing what to do next. He wished his wife was there. She was an expert at breaking awkward silences and putting people at ease. Fuck he missed her, even though it had just been a day.

"Okay," Morana clapped once, commanding everyone's attention. "This is awkward."

Dante huffed a laugh, Amara grinned, Tristan's lips twitched as he tugged his girl closer to himself.

But Luna looked around them all, biting her lip. "I'm sorry if I'm making things awkward."

Jesus. This girl had some solid damage done to her if her first thought was blaming herself.

Her words made Tristan place a hand on her shoulder, looking her intently in the eyes. "We are family here. There's nothing to be sorry about."

That made Morana emotional for some reason, making her sniffle. Amara looked at Tristan in mild awe. Even Alpha was slightly surprised. He'd not heard the man say an emotional word in all the time he'd known him.

His sister, maybe not knowing how rare it was for her brother to say emotional things, just took a deep breath and nodded.

Dante slapped Tristan on the back, breaking the bubble. "I knew you weren't a lost cause."

"Fuck off," Tristan shot back, and Alpha felt solidarity with him. While he wasn't close to the man, they could agree Dante was a pain in the ass.

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