"I'm sure they would like to see you again."
"I guess I should thank them."
Sebastian tipped his head. "Not necessary, but they would certainly be touched if you did."
"Were there any other parts to this agreement?"
"Three more. The first was that she wouldn't tell anyone about your wolf heritage or about meeting a wolf." He paused for a moment. "The second was that I wouldn't try to reveal myself directly to you or contact you, unless you sought me out."
"But…coming here. Pietro Galvani approaching me—"
"I only promised
I
wouldn't contact you. That didn't mean I could allow you to remain dangerously ignorant of your inner wolf."
Samara couldn't argue that. "What was the last part of the agreement?"
"Your name. If she balked me on that one thing, all bets were off. You were born a wolf, Samara, and I was determined you would have a name from my family. It was the least she owed me, if she wasn't going to give you my last name."
"Who am I named for?"
"My mother."
"The one in the portrait?"
He smiled. "Yes. I'm glad you favor her; it makes your name all the more fitting."
"Where do we go from here?"
Sebastian leaned across the table. "Where do you want to? We could get to know each other, at your comfort level. You're all welcome to stay here with me…Eva and her mate as well. Or you could stay in the dormitory. I would like to get to know you, Samara. The choice of how is your own."
"I need time to think."
"Of course."
* * * *
Samara twirled in front of the mirror, trying to check from every angle the red dress James had bought her. She still wasn't sure she should wear it tonight.
As if she'd spoken the thought aloud, the brothers appeared in the bathroom doorway, dressed in matching tailored suits. Their heated gazes gave assurances she hadn't asked for.
"Yes, I'm obsessing," she admitted.
"You don't need to," Jason said.
For the fifth time today.
"Now that I have a name for my father, I guess not," Samara quipped in return.
"Not before that," James corrected her. "But certainly not now."
"Should I feel judged by his name?"
I'm being peevish, but it feels that way.
"No one would
dare
," Jason cut in again. "You're not the kind of person who would name drop just to get special treatment—"
"Like Christiana would," she guessed.
"Precisely. But if you were to name drop your father, you would find wolves falling all over themselves to ingratiate themselves to you."
James nodded in agreement. "A fair number of humans as well. Your father isn't a poor man, and he's well known in industrial circles."
Jason motioned to the room around them. "Everything in these rooms was provided by Sebastian."
"I see." She hadn't known that. A sneaking suspicion that he had also provided the scholarship plagued her.
I won't ask. Not yet. If I found out—right now—that he has, I might walk away. I have to get to know him and find out why he does things.
Samara made her way back through the bedroom and into the sitting room, lost in thought, her mates trailing in her wake. She glanced at the clock, noting that their parents were expected soon.
Before she could settle on the couch, there was a knock at the door.
Early.
"Yes?"
"Your guests, Alpha Samara," one of the household servants replied.
"Send them in."
James and Jason stood just behind her and to the sides. It was comforting to feel their heat, to know they were watching her back.
The door opened and the couple stepped inside. The brothers got their height from their father, but their dark hair and eyes came from their mother.
Their father tipped his head, but their mother crossed the room and took Samara's hands in her own. She leaned across and kissed Samara on one cheek, then the other.
"My dear, you are so welcome." Her voice was smooth and lightly accented.
Spanish, Samara was sure.
"Thank you."
James spoke up. "Samara, this is my mother, Aurora, and my father, Jacob Trudale."
Jacob moved to Aurora's back, offering another tip of his head at the introduction.
"It's nice to meet you." How Samara managed spit out words, stunned as she was by their mother's beauty, was an uncertain thing.
Up close, she was still having trouble noting signs of age. If she hadn't known the woman had adult sons, she would have guessed Aurora was in her early thirties.
Aurora smoothed a hand over the bandage on Samara's arm. A long spate of Spanish followed.
Jason sighed. "Samara will be fine, Mother. Every day, the wound gets better. The doctors say it will only be another day or two of wrapping. No, she doesn't need to see our family doctors, and yes, we are watching closely. Please, for the love of the Night Mother, speak English for Samara."
Deep points of color rose in Aurora's cheeks. "My apologies, Alpha Samara. I was not aware you did not speak my language."
"I'm working on it," Samara admitted. "I have required language lessons, and I'm taking Spanish right now. I'm afraid I took French in high school, and I never cared for it much."
Aurora and her mate shot each other the sort of questioning look Samara was starting to loathe.
I said the wrong thing again.
Jacob broached the subject first. "You weren't required to learn multiple languages in your youth? You didn't travel extensively to learn them as you did?"
"No. I lived in the same city my whole life."
The same house, until I was seventeen.
Thus starts the inquisition.
"Who are your parents?" Aurora asked, seemingly confused by the conversation.
James leaned forward to faux whisper to her. "Time to name drop."
"Are you sure?"
"Certain." Jason nodded emphatically.
Samara prepared for whatever fallout there might be. "My father is Sebastian Travalian."
They stared at her, unmoving.
Not reacting. This is bad.
"My mother is…was supposed to be his mate, but she—"
Aurora enveloped her in a hug. "No wonder you were strong enough to survive the Hunter's Fang! Oh, my poor dear."
"That was because of James and Jason." Didn't they know their sons had saved her life?
Jacob placed a hand on the side of her head. "You will never be endangered with us, Samara. Never again. You have my vow. I will step up your security immediately."
"I don't understand," she admitted.
James groaned. "I
knew
there was something missing in Sebastian's meeting."
Aurora released her.
"What are you talking about?" she demanded.
Jason guided Samara to the couch. "Sit down. This may be a bit of a shock to you."
She sank to the cushioned surface, ill at ease. What hadn't she been told? What other secrets were there?
James squatted to one side of her and Jason to the other. The elder twin seemed to struggle with where to start.
"I'll explain." Jason took the lead in an atypical move.
"Thank you." James sounded relieved, which intensified her unease.
Jason looked up at his parents. "Samara was raised by her mother all these years. She only met Sebastian today."
Aurora went a vivid shade of burgundy, and Jacob put his hand on her shoulder, probably in soothing.
"You've seen how wolves call you Alpha."
Samara nodded. "Of course. We're all alpha level."
"No, Samara. You aren't
an
alpha. You are
the
Alpha, the only child of the current reigning Alpha."
Her head spun at the truth of it, and Eva's lessons on line of succession raced through her memories. That meant she—along with James and Jason—would rule after Sebastian. The Trudale family had just become royalty.
James cleared his throat. "For all intents and purposes, you are a princess, the heiress apparent to the throne of our people."
A wild laugh bubbled up, and Samara swallowed it with no small amount of effort. "Heiress apparent and I don't even speak Spanish."
Or Greek. Or Italian.
"How many languages do our people speak?"
Aurora straightened. "Never fear. We will teach you all you need to know. If you wish it." There was a hopeful note in that.
"I do."
Chapter Ten
Three months later
"The car is coming in, Samara," Marietta reported.
She smiled, then started pacing. At the far turn, she collided with James's chest. Jason stepped in behind her and rubbed her lower back, easing muscles under far too much stress. She moaned in response.
"Have you decided how to tell him yet?" James teased.
"Oh, stop," she pleaded.
Jason laughed long and hard. "You really
are
more afraid to tell your human father you're a wolf than you are to tell him you're married to two men or that you're pregnant, aren't you?"
"He grew up in a commune with his mother, for pity's sake! He's one-quarter Cree, and the Nations tend to be progressive about alternative lifestyles. Pregnancy and sexual…tastes aren't likely to throw him."
"This way, Mr. Tyler," Marietta intoned.
Samara sighed and turned toward the door, just in time for her father to turn the corner. His smile went brittle and he stared at her well-rounded midsection.
"Dad?" She prompted him, hoping for a positive response.
"Was
this
why you said you couldn't come home this year?" His voice held a note of awe.
"My doctors aren't happy with the idea of me traveling by air, and I'm not sure a ship would be much better. If we ran into rough seas…" She shrugged, though the thought of sea sickness made her more than a little queasy.
He walked across the room to her, then reached out to touch her distended abdomen. He hesitated and met her gaze, probably seeking permission.
"Go ahead."
He stroked from side to side. "After all those doctors saying you couldn't… I'm so happy for you. But, you're so big."
"Twins will do that." James offered his hand. "James Trudale."
Liam shook it.
Jason extended his as well. "Jason Trudale."
He was slower about shaking that time. Liam looked from the rings on Samara's hand to the matching rings on both of her mates'. "Would it be rude to ask what the situation is?"
"Of course not." Samara hastened to assure him. "Yes, I'm married to both James and Jason."
"Brothers?"
"Twins." Jason tipped his head to punctuate it.
"Aha. So her carrying twins is—"
"Possibly our doing," James finished for him. "There hasn't been a set of twins in Samara's line for at least four generations."
Samara reached back to rub at a sore spot, and both her mates moved at once, leading her to a gliding rocker. Once they had her settled, she searched out Liam.
He'd seated himself on the couch, and was watching them, a speculative look on his face. "This makes you happy?"
"Completely." Every day was a new delight with her mates in her life, and Marietta's descriptions of Alpha wolf life with babies was more than she'd hoped for.
He smiled. One eyebrow went up. "Which one is responsible for…" Liam motioned up and down her body.
"Both of them."
"Both of us." Their voices overlapped with hers.
That seemed to satisfy him. "This is quite the house." He moved smoothly to another topic.
"Sebastian's house." But he knew that. She'd told him as much as she dared in letters and phone calls. He knew she'd met her biological father. He knew that she was temporarily staying with him, while they got to know each other. Most importantly, he knew she still considered Liam her father.
One of my fathers.
Marietta wheeled in a cart loaded with food and drinks. "Roberto will be in with coffee and tea in a moment," she told them. "In the meantime, can I get anyone food or juices?" Her focus on Samara let her know the intent was to feed her.
Again.
"I would
love
some meat, cheese, and crackers. And an orange juice. Thank you, Marietta."
She set to work, making the plate for Samara.
"Servants. Antiques. It's not the life I can give you." Liam sighed.
"And you know that doesn't matter to me. Next year, it's Christmas back home. I promise. If you don't mind us crowding you in, that is."
He laughed. "Crowd away. I'll build new rooms on."
"The Trudale family would probably join us for the holiday, but they can stay at a hotel or a house in town. They'll be here for dinner, so you can meet them then. Oh…and Eva and Brand stayed to meet you, as well."
"And Sebastian?"
Samara smoothed the turtleneck she was wearing to cover her mating marks. "He's around somewhere."
His eyes narrowed. "There's something you're not telling me."
Both her mates tensed a bit. Marietta cast a look his way that told Samara she was ready to defend her charge.
"It's…nothing. Really." But it was.
And I still don't know how to tell him.
His expression said he wasn't convinced.
Before he could push her further, Sebastian strode into the room. He went directly to Liam and offered his hand. "Welcome to my home, Liam. It's been a long time."
Liam hesitated, then shook it, calculation in his eyes. "I know you. You visited my grandmother more than once."
"Rain Cloud was a wonderful woman. One of the finest diplomats our people have ever dealt with. My deepest condolences on your loss."
"You?" He looked from Sebastian to Samara and back again. "
You're
the one Florence cheated on me with?"
"I have no right to expect your forgiveness, but there were extenuating circumstances I would like to explain, if I might. Not that I'm excusing my actions. I wronged you, and Florence wronged us both."
Liam snorted. "Rain Cloud always did call you a wolf."
The room seemed to hold a collective breath.