Free Three’s a Clan by Roxy Mews Page A

them.
    “So.” Amber kept leaning forward. The billow of her shirt caught in strange ways. It almost looked like she was…no. It couldn’t be.
    There was no way Amber would come back here…back to this fight that had to happen if she was pregnant.
    Amber coughed loudly until my eyes were on her face rather than her belly.
    “So we are here to plan. We aren’t here to demand anything, we are just tabulating allies.” Amber let the breath go in and out of her lungs a few times before she continued. “Dad, we didn’t bring any of the Alakin Pack with us. The ones that would fight could be compelled by the Matheo. I’m not strong enough to protect their minds. Some aren’t sticking around in Chicago for us to go back to either, but the ones who left did agree to go west instead of east.”
    “What are you asking me? You want me to take my Pack, and you realize some of those men and women are former Alakin too…you want me to ask them to attack for you?” Alpha put his hand to the back of his neck and squeezed the skin like he was a pup being carried away by his mother.
    Amber didn’t stall. “Yes.”
    “I’d have a better shot of giving you a villa in France than a strong army right now, kid. Don’t you want a pony or something instead?” Rick looked to the sky and sighed.
    “The only way I want a pony is if I get to eat it.” Amber stayed sitting, but her shoulders bounced a bit as she chuckled.
    “So are you here to kill the Matheo or whine about your ponyless childhood?” I waited for Amber to flip me off before I continued. “I am pretty sure he wants me dead too. He’s keeping me around for something, but I haven’t figured out what yet.”
    “Maybe you haven’t been taken out because you are planning on fulfilling your role as Protector. From my understanding, you have strong ties to your Matheo. It would be in your best interest if he came out on top, wouldn’t it?” Mary wasn’t the timid little witch waiting to be rescued any longer.
    I felt her reach for my brain again. She was persistent. “Quit poking at my brain. If I wanted to betray you, you’d have been dead in Chicago. Let’s not forget who took out the majority of the Alakin Pack.”
    “Let’s not forget who lives with the man responsible for the harvest, and hasn’t even attempted to take care of the problem.”
    Mary was getting on my last nerve now. I let my eyes flash. I’d bet good money the chick could be compelled.
    “I happen to like not having a target on my back any more than I already do for breaking up the harvest in the first place.” I waited until Mary stopped pressing in, but she didn’t look away. At least she wasn’t trying to get inside my brain anymore. “You realize all the hybrids he’s creating are at least in part my Family. All those hybrids are created with his blood line. And they can all be compelled. I don’t know how much of that is loyalty, and how much is his controlling magic, but I’d prefer not to find out solo.”
    Jake spoke with care, but the tension in his voice revealed he wasn’t as under control of his rage as he would like to be. “Not all of his hybrid children can be compelled.”
    I nodded. “I don’t think he knows why you are different either. I don’t know why you are different. But I do know that you and Amber are in danger if you show your faces to anyone outside the people here.”
    No one missed Amber’s hand move from her knee to her stomach. Her very large stomach. My eyebrows hit my hairline. The hybrid had more balls than all the men in my Family put together. My ears picked up the tiny sound then. A heartbeat. A heartbeat fast as a tiny hummingbird among us. There was much more at stake here. I’d never really given much thought to the next generation before because there was a strong likelihood I would piss enough people off to assure I wouldn’t ever meet them. I felt protective over the child she was carrying, much like I had with its father.