He laughed. “I’d have to agree.” He squeezed Elain’s hand. “Whatever will be, will be, sweetheart. Regardless, that’s something that can wait until after yer wedding.”
Elain winced. “Eloping is really looking good right now.”
Carla burst out laughing. “Wow. The princess bride wanting to elope? That really says something, doesn’t it? Life did get pretty crazy.”
Liam’s expression turned serious. “And likely to get crazier. I don’t want to worry either of ye, but honestly? We’d all be better off under the same roof. At least for a while.”
“Safety in numbers?” Elain asked.
He nodded. “Those crazy buggers killed my sisters-in-law. And one of the Lyalls’ cousins’ mates. All to try to locate me to find ye. I doubt the Clan Council can stop them simply with a won challenge. Rodolfo Abernathy’s pride’s on the line now. The man killed his own son and grandson for disappointing him.” He sipped his coffee. “I’d be surprised if he didn’t kill Paul as well before the day was over for losing to ye.”
Elain’s stomach turned. Okay, the guy was a creep, but kill him? “You really think he did?”
Liam shrugged. “Hard to say. Wouldn’t surprise me, let’s just say that.”
Carla shook her head, her expression grim. “Elain, I’m sorry I gave you a hassle about wanting to take karate when you were a kid. I’m so glad you did now.”
Elain managed a smile. “Me, too, Mom.”
Back in the car and on their way home to Arcadia, another question came to Elain. “Dad, do you think Mai’s baby is safe?” It still felt both odd and gave her a thrill to call him that.
Sitting in the backseat, she watched him glance at her in the rearview mirror. “Maybe not. Part of me says let the word get to Abernathy that she’s got Down’s syndrome so he’ll leave things be. Part of me thinks that if he finds out a child of his bloodline is imperfect, that he’s just batshit crazy enough to try to kill it. I sincerely doubt anything our Clan Council says would deter him.”
A wave of protective fury washed through Elain. “If I have children. What about that? Will he come after them?”
“Again, it’s hard to say. These are questions for Lacey and Lina. Or even things ye might see yerself when ye start having visions.”
“But do you think he’d try to kill or abduct any of my kids?”
“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s a fecking arsehole of the worst kind.”
Elain sat back, silent the rest of the way home. When they arrived, Ain, Brodey, and Cail stepped out onto the porch to greet them.
She hugged all of them. Ain made her look up at him. “What’s wrong, babe?”
“I want to take those fuckers out. Take the fight to them. Finish this so they quit fucking with our family.”
“Who?” Ain asked.
“The Abernathys,” she said.
The men exchanged a worried look. “Where’s this coming from? What happened?” Ain asked. She knew he was concerned since he didn’t even give her grief about the swearing.
“Have you heard anything about Paul Abernathy since the challenge?”
From the look on Ain’s face, she knew he had. “Tell me.”
He glanced at his brothers again before answering her. “That’s the problem. No one’s heard anything else about him. None of the doctors they might use, no one. It’s like he disappeared off the face of the planet.”
“Or like his grandfather killed him and buried him in the woods in Maine?”
Finally, Ain grimly nodded.
“And Abernathy won’t just give up that easy, will he?”
“Probably not. But we are not going to take a fight to them. There were plenty of Clan wars to last those of us who remember them for the rest of our lives. Defending ourselves is one thing. Unprovoked aggression is another.”
“Okay, fine. But what if they come after us again?”
“If they come after us again,” he said, “then yes, we’ll pull out all the stops and finish it.” He hugged her tightly to him. “Until then, let’s just enjoy the life we have. Okay?”
She tried to relax into his embrace. “Okay.”
Brodey and Cail surrounded her, too, adding their arms to Ain’s warmth. Elain closed her eyes and breathed in their scent. Because of the Abernathys, she’d lost her mother and been forced to fight for her men. She’d lost a childhood of not being with her father, time she could never get back. Not to mention Mai’s baby might be at risk. Or her own future children.
If he tries again, he’s a dead man, she swore to herself.
With all the events of the past few weeks following her mother’s arrival in Arcadia, Elain had gratefully turned over most of the wedding planning duties to her mom and Mai even though it left her out of the loop on some things.
Surprisingly enough, that was fine with her. The night before the wedding, she lay snuggled in Ain’s arms while waiting for Brodey and Cail to come to bed.
“How many of your brothers are coming to the wedding tomorrow?” she asked him.
He laughed. “Two. You’re marrying them.”
She gently shoved him. “I meant your other brothers. You told me you still have ten brothers still alive.” She couldn’t imagine having a family that large. “And why didn’t we bring them into the mess with Abernathy and the cockatrice?”
He shrugged. “They have their own packs and families to take care of. I didn’t want to drag any of them into all of this. It’s our problem, not theirs.”
She sat up and looked at him incredulously. “Are you telling me none of your other brothers are coming tomorrow?”
“It’s all right. Three of our brothers are younger than we are, but the rest are older. Some much older. Most of them don’t even live here in the States. We’re not exactly close to all of them. Doesn’t mean we don’t love them or that they don’t love us, but we all have lives to live.”
“But…but they’re your brothers! Don’t they care you guys are getting married?”
“I called all of them and they wished us well, but it’s okay, really. I think all of them sent us cards. We’re going to have more than enough people here tomorrow to help us celebrate.”
Brodey and Cail chose that moment to walk into the bedroom. She pounced. “Did you know none of your brothers are coming tomorrow?”
Brodey frowned. “You feeling all right, babe?”
Cail smacked him on the shoulder. “I think she means our other brothers.”
“Exactly. Why am I the only one bothered by this?”
Ain chuckled. “Exactly. You are the only one bothered by this.” He took her hands in his and kissed them. “Seriously, we’re fine with it. We love our brothers. Don’t get us wrong, if they needed our help, we’d be there for them in a flash. And if we asked them for help, we know they’d be there for us.”
“Well, maybe not Brighton,” Brodey grumbled.
Cail laughed. “Yeah, he is an idiot.”
“That’s not very nice!” Elain protested.
“Well,” Ain said, “it’s the truth, unfortunately. He’s the one immediately older than we are, born before us.”
“The boy’s just not right in the head,” Brodey said.
“You of all people shouldn’t pick on one of your brothers,” she scolded.
“Babe, Brodey’s exactly right,” Ain said. “He’s not a bad guy, he’s just…”
“Simple,” Cail helpfully offered.
“That’s mean!” Elain said.
“No, that’s kind,” Brodey countered. “I think he took one too many headers off a horse in his day.”
Cail snickered. “He never could ride worth a shit.”
“All right,” Ain said, apparently sensing how upset Elain was growing. “That’s enough. Babe, we’re sorry, but he is our brother, and we do know what he’s like. You’ve never met him.”