Charlie was already sitting beside me, but he curled in closer, as if afraid to hear bad news. I ran a hand along his back and smiled at his brothers, who were watching nervously while Ash told us what he knew.
"We haven't found the family, yet. The property is listed under the name of a Dr. Egbert Jenkins. I looked him up, and the mate we have on record is a Linda Jenkins. They're also legally married, not that it matters to us. As for children, they never reported any births, so my office doesn't have a record of their boys. I reached out to some of our people in law enforcement. They are watching the family bank account and credit cards. But I'll tell you her car was found in long-term parking at LAX, so she could be anywhere right now."
"Fuck, and she's got the boys with her. And neither one of them knows she's their abductor, rather than their mother. Well, at least we have names. What are we going to do with these brothers? How are you going to find their families while keeping it a secret?"
Ash smiled apologetically at the guys. "Hate to say it, but I need to take a DNA sample from each of you. I know it sounds invasive, but all you have to do is swab the inside of your cheek with the kit I'll give you and then write your name on it."
"And what will a paternity test accomplish, Ash? Aside from proving who their kinfolk are, when you find them, anyway."
"Exactly, Lucian. With the DNA in place, the families will have to prove themselves while your guys stay safely here until we find matches. My assistant is going through the records as we speak, looking for reported stillbirths in the territory from twenty to twenty-one years ago. After that, if we haven’t found matches, I'll reach out to every pack alpha in the state and pick brains. Losing a child is hard thing. Some people never get over the grief. It won't surprise me if every stillborn pup wasn't even reported. But it's a starting point."
Charlie beamed at Ash. "Not only is it a starting point, it shows you care enough to think it through. Thank you for your help, sir. And if you could, please don't stop searching for Alex. He saved my life. I want to thank him and make sure he's okay."
"This Alex kid, he was really your friend?" Ash didn't have the particulars. We couldn't share them without talking about the omega's special powers.
"Yes, sir. I refuse to believe otherwise. Besides, why else would he get shot helping me escape?"
Laughing so hard he began to cough, Ash had to stop and pounded a fist against his chest. "Charlie, you'd be amazed what some guys would do for a pretty face."
Charlie turned and batted his lashes at me. "Your friend was talking, but all I heard was ‘pretty face.’" Luckily, Essie came out with refreshments and distracted us from any more heavy conversation.
Nine
Charlie
Three weeks later…
Fortunately, nobody but my brothers were around when Romeo brushed my hand as we both reached for a slice of bacon. Otherwise, I might have been annoyed when he accidentally discovered the secret I'd been suspecting, or part of it anyway.
"Charlie! When were you going to tell us about the baby? After I was gone? Sheesh! Do you guys know what you plan to name her yet?"
Propping my chin on my hand, I lazily chewed my bacon while my brothers pretty much lost their minds. Freaking Romeo, though. He usually knew better than to share things he saw without asking first. To be fair, he'd discovered a happy surprise.
Romeo looked my way and froze, then immediately hollered for everyone to stop talking. "Charlie, noooo… I did it again, didn't I? I'm so sorry. I got caught up in the moment and didn't even think. And even if you knew about the pregnancy, how would you know the gender yet? Me and my big mouth. If it helps, I totally feel like crap now."
"Good, it serves you right." I stuck my tongue out, then passed him a piece of bacon. "Don't worry about it. Anyone would goof if they accidentally discovered something exciting."
"So exciting." Bobbing his head, Romeo's smile proved he was genuinely thrilled. "You're the first of us to find your true mate, and now you'll be the first to have a baby. I saw a picture of her in my head, Charlie. And it was clear as day. She was older, school-aged, I would say. And so pretty. A miniature version of your mother but with Lucian's nose. I don't envy you because she looked smart, too. Like she'll be quite the handful."
I covered my mouth with both hands while I blinked away tears. When blinking didn't work, I tried fanning my face. "Doggonit, Romeo. Don't you know better than to make a pregnant person cry? I can picture her now, and I have to wait forever to meet her."
Phoenix snorted, rolling his eyes. "Not sure when four months became forever, unless Teacher taught you a special biology course the rest of us missed."
Pushing his chair back, Darcy jumped up and ran around to hug me. "Ignore Phoenix. The rest of us do. Four months feels like forever to me now too. Your daughter sounds delightful, and I feel like Romeo is right. She's going to be smart and keep you on your toes. Don't worry. No matter where we are, you'll always have us to support you."
Frowning, Paul looked at the clock hanging on the wall behind the table. "What time is Ash coming, anyway? Did Lucian say?"
The reminder six of my brothers were leaving today didn't help my fight against the impending tears. Sniffling, I reached for my napkin. "High noon. I can't believe you guys forgot. It's so fitting. Except Ash is no Gary Cooper. And he's not coming to try to seek revenge by killing me."
Darcy got what I meant. "No, but I see the correlation. He isn't coming to take your life, just half our brothers." Sighing softly, Darcy went back to his seat and took a sip of tea. "It's going to be okay, though. I would tell you guys if it wasn't. My intuition is clear—this is going to be a good thing for those of you who are leaving today."
Nodding his agreement, Romeo looked around the table. "That's why I made a point of touching each of you today. Charlie was an accident, but the rest of you were on purpose. I'm sorry I'm leaving and won't be here when the rest of your families are found, but I'm nothing but a phone call away."
Cary snorted, twirling his pointer finger at the ceiling. "Whoop-de-doo, Romeo. No offense, but your psychic powers only work by touching someone. You might be able to cheer us on by phone, but you won't be able to touch us and get a vision. What if the rest of us belong to serial killers or bank robbers? What if my parents turn out to be both deaf and blind? They would never be able to understand my superpowers if I can't project images or distort sound for them."
When we all started laughing at Cary's ridiculousness, he sniffed and held up his hands. "What? It could happen. Obviously. I mean, look at Alex and Josh. I bet they never thought their parents were kidnappers, now did they? Or how Josh started his life named Two and living in a barn with fourteen other stolen babies."
Harvey sent a glass of water flying through the air, hovering over Cary's head. "Quit trying to freak everyone out or I'm going to dump this on you. Don't test me. You know I'll do it."
With a wink to Harvey, I grinned at Cary. "Don't risk it. He's the crazy one. Who else would name themselves after an imaginary friend?"