Page 55 of Season of the Wolf

“How do our numbers compare to theirs?” Ethan inquired.

Elise turned to Dallas to interject.

“There’s no way of telling for sure, but I’d bet he’s been multiplying his army pretty rapidly,” he answered.

“Yes, we can imagine,” was Declan’s solemn response. “I’m sure he’s turned several hundred innocents to mutts by now.”

“It’s his favorite tactic,” Josiah added.

“Acoward’stactic,” was Ivan’s take on it.

I agreed wholeheartedly.

“So, this is where we are, boys,” Elise sighed. She’d given them the condensed version of our plight, but eventhatwas weighty. “Are there any questions?”

Some shook their heads, some mumbled responses, but the general consensus was that they understood.

I could have been wrong about this, but … they definitely seemed to be looking forward to what was to come.

Declan stood to his feet, and the rest of us were silent as he went to stand before Elise. He pulled her into his arms, and amidst a long embrace, spoke to her with such conviction, it mattered very little that I didn’t understand what the words meant.

“Du côté de mon frère, je vivrai ou mourrai. Mais ce dont je suis certain, c'est que je me battrai.”

I was only at a loss until Liam whispered the meaning in my ear, broadening my perspective of the six who joined us today.

“At my brothers’ side I will either live or I will die. But what I’m certain of, is that I’ll fight.”

Among the many other traits and strengths I observed among them today, one stood out above them all.

Loyalty.

Chapter Seventeen

Evie

Coming up as an only child, I’d never awakened to so much noise.

Ever.

Boisterous conversation and laughter startled me conscious, only to find Liam smiling at me from his side of the bed—bright-eyed, seeming to love all the commotion. I, on the other hand, felt like my head had just hit the pillow. This must have been the norm to him, having grown up in such a full home.

What sounded like a stampede thundered through the house and I guessed there was some sort of roughhousing going on down there. With a groan, I buried myself beneath the comforter.

“Rise and shine, beautiful.”

The sweet words only made me marginally less aggravated when the blanket was snatched away, letting sunlight beam across my face again.

“Just ten more minutes,” I whined, smiling when a kiss was placed on the corner of my mouth.

He always knew how to get to me.

“In ten minutes there won’t be anything left to eat,” he warned with a laugh. “Trust me.”

I opened my eyes some, remembering that there were six more his exact size downstairs. He was probably right about that.

I hopped up, hoping the aroma of pancakes and bacon weren’t only a tease, a trace memory of the breakfast my brothers had already devoured.

I finger-combed my hair as best as I could, but it was a mess and all over the place. It would have taken more time than I had to fix it correctly, and like Liam said, breakfast was no longer an unlimited resource around here.

---