Page 52 of Alpha Fate
“Probably Mama and Pops, too. The elders. They wouldn’t want to wipe out the pack completely. They need it to keep going.” Because they need more of us to come for. More breeding stock to poach…that’s all we are to them. We mean nothing more to whoever is involved in this.
I feel sick to my stomach.
“I think you’re onto something there.” Relief washes over her features. “I’ve been so worried about them. Our parents. Our brothers and sisters.”
“Brothers and… We have sisters?” My heart sinks.
“Yes. But if you’re right, I think they’d be okay. Torrin and Elara are 15, and Rafe and Kira are 12. Boy-girl pairs.”
“There are six of us?” I stare at her in astonishment.
“Of course. We always have twins, remember?” She rolls her eyes. “What am I saying? Of course you don’t remember. But you will soon. Anyhow, we make twins. Always with a girl, if not two. Like us.” She shoulder-bumps me. “It’s pretty cool if you think about it. We always have another half.”
“Damn right!” I’m starting to feel a lot better.
It looks like Sierra does, too. She confirms it when she goes on, “I feel a bit better about this now, knowing that the others may be safe. Mama and Pops. The kids. Cassie. Cole…” She lets that dangle.
“Exactly!” I keep my tone bright despite the guilt that rises at the mention of his name. “Can you remember the other females in the pack?”
“I can.” Sierra is decisive. “Definitely. There aren’t that many of us.”
“Then make a list of everyone in that age group. Those who were there, those who might not have been. That’ll give us an idea of how many we’re looking for.”
“Alright…” She purses her lips, “and then?”
“And then we’ll know more or less how many buyers we’re looking for. And we can whittle it down further by finding out about packs that may have been associated with Leadmills. It’s likely they’re connected.”
“Good thinking. You’re actually pretty smart, Sav.” She winks at me before standing up. “I think we should discuss this with Jagger over dinner. I bet he’ll love this.”
“Dinner? Already?” The day seems to have flown by.
“Don’t tell me you’re not hungry. You barely touched breakfast.”
“Of course I did. You just weren’t around when I smashed those pancakes.” I’m bending the truth again. I’d been too nervous about sneaking out to see Gage to even think about eating.
“I bet you skipped lunch if you were sitting at the clinic. Come on, we need to get some meat on that bony ass of yours.” She holds out her hand to pull me up.
“It’s not bony.” I look over my shoulder at my butt. She’s right. It’s bony. “I’m just not in the mood for another evening in the canteen.” Where I’ll probably have to watch Gage from a distance, pretending I’m not longing to be with him. “I’d rather turn in early. Catch up on some sleep. It’s been a busy day.”
“Then I’ll send something up. What do you want?” My sister’s not budging on this.
“Um…a burger?” I pick something randomly. “And…ice cream. With jello.”
“Done.”
“And yogurt. The vanilla pod one.” I’m getting into this now.
“Deal. Burger, ice cream, jello, and vanilla pod yogurt.” She ticks them off on her fingers.
“And lemon cheesecake. You can mix them up if you want.”
Sierra’s eyes bug out at me. “I am not going to do that, Savannah.”
“Fine. I’ll do it myself.” I shrug, then lean in for a brief hug and kiss her cheek, before turning toward my bedroom.
“You’re nuts, you know that?”
“I’m your kind of nuts.” I wave a hand in farewell as I head through the doorway. Time to shower away the smell of the clinic. I just wish I could keep Gage’s scent on me.