Free Rocky (Tales of the Were) by Bianca D'Arc Page B

They’d always been so kind to her. So welcoming. She knew they’d be good for her boys—and her—if she let them into her life. There was no doubt in her mind on that score. She reached across the table to take Marissa’s hand in hers. “I’d love to have you here.”
    “So you’re definitely staying?” Marissa asked.
    “I’m not too proud to admit I need help with Tony’s killers still on the loose. Once they’re dealt with? I don’t know exactly where I’ll live yet, except that it’ll be somewhere in these woods so my boys can grow up where it’ll be safe for them to be what and who they are. Even though I’m not like you, I’ve felt very welcome here , and I know my boys would do well with such good people all around. Everyone here has been so helpful.”
    Marissa sighed. “I’d hoped—” she began, but cut herself off from whatever she’d been about to say. “Never mind. Things will happen as the Lady wills. For now, I’m just glad you realized the twins need their Alpha.” She smiled at her grown son. “We all need those little boys and we’ll be ready to help you raise them, watch over them and teach them about being grizzlies whenever you, or they, need us. You’ve made a good decision to raise them here.”
    They talked about building plans until the work crews showed up. Rocky and his dad went out to meet them, toting the new plans with them.
     
    Between the fussing of the twins, the whirlwind of construction, Rocky’s mom helping Maggie sort out being a new mom and the danger she felt approaching, Maggie was worn to a nub over the next week or so. She floated in a limbo of uncertainty and frantic activity while the house started taking on its new shape and some of the interior finishes were being tackled. Rocky asked her advice on colors and designs, which made her feel part of the new building in a way she hadn’t expected.
    The boys would eventually have their own room, right next to a giant master bedroom on the second story of the new part of the house, but that would n’t be for a while yet. For now, she was enjoying the makeshift den/bedroom and Rocky’s extensive library. She’d made use of it often when the boys woke her up and she couldn’t get back to sleep right away.
    Time passed quickly with everything remaining carefully obscure between Rocky and Maggie. A status quo of sorts had been reached, though he was insinuating himself more and more into her life. He was her helper at all hours with the boys and always seemed to be there when she needed him.
    One memorable night, Rocky again helped her with the middle of the night feeding. He soothed one twin while the other nursed. He changed them and talked to them in a rumbly whisper that seemed to set them both at ease. They fell asleep again with little fuss.
    “Thanks, Rock,” Maggie whispered, standing next to him as they gazed down at the sleeping babies.
    She and Rocky had learned to work as a team over the past weeks. Maggie wasn’t getting enough sleep, but Rocky was there even when she felt most like a zombie. He didn’t talk much, moving silently around the room to make her life so much easier. He cared for the boys as if they were his own flesh and blood, and she watched him wistfully at times, wondering if Tony would have been half as attentive to his sons as Rocky was.
    Tony had been less hands-on than Rocky in many ways , though he’d done his share of the chores in their home. Tony had been sort of half in this world and half in the next most of the time, his head in the clouds, thinking profound thoughts. He didn’t seem to know exactly where clean laundry came from, except to occasionally show his appreciation.
    Not that Tony had taken her for granted. Far from it. But he’d had important work to do that she hadn’t always understood…or known about, for that matter. He’d traveled a lot, and sometimes had clients visit his office, but she ’d never really understood that many of those