Free Called by the Bear 7-9 by V. Vaughn

off. I wonder if they had a fight over the situation.
    “I already have a team checking out their house, and we’ll get to the bottom of this,” says Brady.
    Carly says, “Taylor, I know you can protect yourself, but I would like some guards to monitor your home. The Veilleux had to have gotten in there at some point, and we would be fools to not ensure it can’t happen again.”
    Taylor shoots a startled look at Keith, and he frowns at her in reply. She takes a deep breath and speaks. “I know you’re right. As much as I hate losing my privacy, it needs to be done.”
    Donna says, “Good, it’s settled.” She lifts her teacup and turns to me. “I have more business to cover. But first, what do you have for us, Sierra?”
    “How did you know I wanted to say something?”
    She swallows her tea and says, “Oh please, you’ve been jiggling your foot since you sat down. Out with it.”
    I push my knife in a circle on the table as I muster up my courage to face the inevitable. “Ashton and I think we need to prepare ourselves for a custody battle with Victor. He made it quite clear when he gave me the baby rattle engraved with a V at our wedding, and now that the babies have been born, I expect he’ll do something to get them.”
    Annie hands Audrey a spoon to grasp and says, “You do know we don’t do things like humans, right? This is a matter the prime and prima usually decide.”
    I nod. “I know this is something that has never come up between clans because nobody ever gets divorced.”
    Donna says, “I wouldn’t say never. I’ve seen it when a true mate comes along.” Audrey begins to bang the spoon on the table, and Donna glances quickly at Annie. So she stands up to pace with the baby instead. “Custody is usually awarded to the injured party in the relationship because they aren’t abandoning the family they had,” says the older woman.
    “And because if an interclan relationship becomes a marriage, the couple pledges their allegiance to one clan, and our current situation has probably never been an issue, right?” I ask.
    “Correct.”
    “That’s why Ash and I want us to figure out a plan, because I don’t think Brady and Carly are going to be able to work things out with Victor.”
    Brady thumps his fist on the table, and plates rattle. He says, “As much as I hate to admit this, the Veilleux do have a claim on your children, because one of them is their next alpha.”
    The tiny seed of fear in my belly blossoms into panic. I don’t want Victor anywhere near my children. “No!” I stand up, and my chair scrapes across the floor. “That man cannot touch my babies.”
    Carly gets up and comes to me. She takes hold of my arms. “Hey. We won’t let him hurt your kids, okay?”
    Donna pipes in. “Victor is a lot of things, but he isn’t stupid. He’s not going to harm a potential heir and alpha to his clan. Brady’s right; he does have a claim to your children.”
    A wave of nausea passes through me. Oh my God. “Ash?” Victor’s face flashes in my mind, and his teeth gleam in the memory.
    I turn from Carly to my mate’s strong arms, and he pulls me against his chest. He says, “We’ll figure this out. I promise.”
    I breathe in the scent of my husband and let it calm me. Ashton does make me feel safe, and I know he won’t let anything bad happen to our family.
    “There may be something we can do,” says Donna. “Give me a few days, and I’ll let you know what I find out.”
    Carly asks, “Kimi?”
    Kimi is our medicine woman and the one that set the call in motion to get fertile werebear descendants here.
    “Yes. It’s about time we utilized her against the Veilleux.” She glares at Taylor. “It seems they have no trouble with that tactic, so why should we?”
    Taylor flinches, and a flush rises to her cheeks. A strong warrior like her must be embarrassed that she was unknowingly drugged and made a victim. I reach over to her. “Hey. Any one of us would have done