Page 41 of Planet Wolf

“No. We don’t want you to take too much. A little bit every day until we get you caught up. Plus, now I can check your bloodwork to see how you’re doing every so often. You’re going to feel better. It might not be perfect, but it will be better. Oh!” Alfie was downright animated. “You know what animal secretes the vitamins, when we get it in our food?”

That much seemed obvious. “The pig?”

“Right.” He grinned. “Somuch better.”

Carl shook his head. “Watch out. He’s going to publish a paper on this.”

“No, he won’t.” Jadon yawned. Had he gotten any sleep? “I think these papers probably are already out there. We used to know how to take care of our people, whether they were half or whole Wolf shifters. If my father hadn’t destroyed your family’s life, Esther, you would never have gotten sick. My dad and those like him—they’re responsible for what happened to you. For your pain, for your mother’s. And theywillpay. Every single one of them.

Jadon sounded deadly serious. I didn’t have to read his thoughts to pick up on his lethal intent.

I let his protection drift over me, and I moved on. Finding out I had fathers—or a father and uncles?—was a lot.

I snorted, fiddling with my hair. “When I was a little girl, I used to dream that my father would come for me. He’d just appear one day and be like, Esther, I’m sorry I’ve let you down. But I’m here now, and I’m going to live with you and your family.” I rolled my eyes at my stupid childish daydreams. “Then my mom would suddenly be well, and we’d all live happily ever after, of course. Oh, and I’d be able to eat pizza with no problem.”

Carl walked over and knelt in front of me. “They would’ve come for you if they had known how to find you. They have to go take care of their mate now, but they’ll be back. There is no way, now that they know about you, that they won’t want to have you in their life. We have to take care of ours. Alfie’s got his way, and that’s going to help tremendously. Jadon and I will handle the rest. I can assure you, no one is going to take us unawares, knock us out, and shove us onto an abandoned planet without you.”

It hadn’t even occurred to me that the same people who took out my fathers would come after my mates. Of course,nowit did. Anxiety crept up my back. “Are my fathers bad Wolf-shifters? Not strong or whatever?”

Jadon and Carl looked at each other, then the Alpha answered me. “They seem pretty strong. They do an incredible amount of work in space, which isn’t easy. I don’t know how they fight, per se, but really only Alphas and Enforcers are good at that.”

Alfie threw his shoe at Jadon. “I can fight, too, asshat.”

Some of the mood lightened. I sighed. “Let’s just be extra careful when I meet your pack tomorrow.”

“Ourpack.” Jadon kissed me. “And they’re never going to let anyone hurt you, either. It’s time to change things on Planet Wolf. It starts with us, but it won’t end with us.”

* * *

I was actuallyawake before the guys the next morning. I lay on the veranda to watch the sunrise. Usually, I didn’t have the energy to be up so early, not unless I absolutely had to be, but I had enough sleep, surprisingly. Why not watch the beautiful colors fill the sky?

Carl stumbled out, rubbing his eyes before he lay down next to me on the lovely outdoor sofa. “You weren’t where you were supposed to be.”

“How long did it take you to sniff me out?”

He breathed in my hair before he rubbed his finger over his mating mark on my neck. “Half a second, maybe.”

“You’re the best tracker in the universe. I was sure you could find me.” I leaned up against him. “The colors are different here. I haven’t seen the sun rise very much on Earth, but I know it wasn’t quite so purple.”

Carl leaned down on my shoulder, closing his eyes. “Too early.”

He was not a morning Wolf. “You aren’t going to appreciate the beauty of a new day with me?”

His answer was a snore in my ear. I laughed and went back to watching the sky. I hadn’t given any thought to that folder I’d been handed on my way out of Earth. I needed to do something with that. My head was clearer than it had been before, so for the first time, I could think about it without even a struggle.

Men and women all over the galaxy fled their home planets for the same reasons that screwed with my life. I couldn’t do anything about politics, but I could take the Union out of the equation.

I kissed Carl’s neck. “I need to borrow your tablet.”

He groaned and wrenched his eyes open. “Of course. Take it. I’ll get you your own today. But, for now, it’s inside, in the kitchen. Hold on, I’ll get it.”

“No.” He was adorable. “I’ll get it. You lay there and sleep. I’ll be right back.”

He closed his eyes. “Okay.”

I went inside and turned toward the fridge to grab some juice while I was grabbing the tablet. I was halfway through drinking it when it occurred to me that I should probably not be ingesting it without thought. I didn’t want to start the beautiful day by puking.

I set it down and went back out to Carl before I realized I needed to also use the glasses that would let me read his tablet. Those were harder to find, but I found them on Jadon’s desk. By the time I came back outside, the sun had risen and instead it was the early morning glow of daybreak.How lovely to see that, too.

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