Page 136 of The Beta's Heart

“Little grandiose for me,” he chuckled as if he read my mind. “But my late mate, CeCe, was a gamma, and we could afford the house of her dreams, so how could I refuse? Now I rattle around it like a BB in a boxcar. My son died with CeCe, or maybe I’d be a grandpa by now.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Ash and I said at the same time.

“No use crying over what you can’t change,” he muttered, and we wisely left it alone after that.

As soon as he parked, we climbed out of the vehicle and headed inside, which was just as ostentatious as the outside, and Peri oohed and awwed at every fancy detail.

Ray led us to what was obviously his sanctuary, a smaller, square room with comfy recliners and a flat-screen TV, a faint tang of tobacco smoke lingering in the air and probably soaked into the shelves of books lining the walls.

He motioned for us to sit down, and we chatted for a few minutes before he brought up the reason for our visit.

“So, you wanted to know more about your fathers. I’m proud to say Beta Hunt and Alpha Gabe were my best friends growing up. They were good men, and their deaths were a tragedy on many levels.”

He paused, the weight of his next words almost tangible.

“They’d both already found their mates and had you two pups by the time I met CeCe and moved down here. That was about six months before Dark Woods was invaded. Soon as I heard, I raced back to help, but it was little more than a graveyard by the time I got there, and all I could do was help sort the dead. There were too few survivors to name every face and make sure they were buried under the right tombstones. It was a grim job, but a necessary one.”

“Did you find my father?” I asked, leaning forward on the edge of my seat, same as Ash was doing. “Or Ash’s?”

“Alpha Gabe was dead on the front line, and Beta Hunt lay next to Luna Kristy.” Ray’s face hardened, his eyes distant as he dug into the painful memory. “Your mom was one hell of a fighter, Alpha Ash. Even pregnant, she wasn’t going to sit in no safe room while her man fought for their lives and their pack.”

“Pregnant?” Peri gasped, one hand latching onto Ash’s forearm, and my eyes flew to his.

“I knew about that.” Ash patted her hand and gave me a tiny nod. “I overheard Royal and Julia Price talking one day. They said Mom was going to have a little girl who they planned to name Amalie.”

“After that, I searched among the living for my best friend’s sons,” Ray went on. “Foryou. Alpha Ash, you would have been two. Beta Ty, you weren’t even that old yet. Alpha Jay Carson and his luna took you in, Alpha Ash, which made sense since they were your blood kin. Beta Ty, your mom escaped with you and fled to the Moonset pack with most of the other women and children.”

“What about Seymour?” I nearly stuttered saying his name. “My uncle?”

“Seymour? Is he still alive?” Ray sat up, his eyes wide and intense. “I didn’t think he made it! He was shot in the head, and the triage deltas on site said there was nothing they could do. Last I knew, they were transporting him to Moonset’s clinic so he could be comfortable until he passed.”

“I’ll … tell you what happened to him later,” I said, swallowing hard. Peri’s hand found mine, her grip firm and steady, and Ash, sitting on my other side, placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Before she died, my mom said that she knew she could count on you to help us.”

“If either of you had nowhere to go, I was fully prepared to take you in,” he said, obviously misunderstanding what I was saying.By ‘us,’ I’d meant my mom and me, and he was still talking about Baby Ash and Baby Tyler. “That was the vow the three of us made. Me and beta and alpha. If something ever happened to either of us, we’d take care of the surviving family. I even told Alpha Jay and Bekah to get in touch with me if they ever changed their minds or needed help.”

“I wish we could have met you before now,” I said sadly.

“Same,” he sighed, “but I’m a selfish man, I’m sorry to say. It hurt too much to be around my best friends’ sons and know that was the closest I’d ever get to either of them again, so I kept my distance. Besides, I knew you were safe with your families.”

“Are you aware that Uncle Jay and Aunt Denise died in the sickness?” Ash asked him. “And my cousin Jayden and I went to live with Royal and Julia Price at Earthshine?”

“The king sent out notices when an alpha or luna died, so yes, I knew, and I’m sorry for your loss. Both Alpha Jay and Bekah kept me updated on y’all till then, but everything fell apart during that dreadful year. I lost my mate and nearly my wolf and myself. When Bekah stopped contacting me, I assumed you both had also passed in the sickness, Beta Ty. I was ashamed, so very ashamed, when I learned you’d grown up alone in an orphanage. It broke my heart. I’d failed Beta Huntandyou.”

“I’ve had a great life at Five Fangs,” I assured him. “I promise you didn’t fail me. I grew up with lots of friends, the alphas treated me like a little brother, and, best of all, I found my mate there. Her mom and dad have welcomed me into the family with open arms, and I’m happy as can be.”

“Good,” he murmured. “I’m glad.”

“Iwouldlike to hear more about my dad, though, and Ash would, too. Roger Poe has been telling us about our grandparents, but he didn’t have many stories about our dads, and I’d love to know them when they were alive and happy.”

“Oh, I’ve gotplentyof stories!” Ray’s sad expression softened, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Your fathers were quite the characters, and I fell right in with them. Heh! Let me tell you about the time we decided to take a road trip into New Orleans at Mardi Gras…”

#

Peri

The afternoon sun streamed through the windows of Ray Hawkins’ cozy study, casting long shadows that danced on the walls. Tyler and Ash sat on the edge of their seats, their eyes locked on Ray, who was about to start his third story.

Curled up on the couch beside my mate, I rested my hand on his leg, feeling the tension in his muscles, but knew that all I could do was what I was doing: Being close, offering support, and sending him wave after wave of love through the mate bond.

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