Page 13 of His Treasured Mate

I kissed the top of her head. “Try to get to sleep, ladies.”

My heart swelled with pride as I left the room. Cammie had a fierce protective side when it came to her sisters.

I placed my hand atop my stomach and felt our newest addition kick. No one had ever told Cammie she would someday be Alpha, but it was an assumption she'd come to over the last few years.

I worried that this little one would be a boy. Her father indulged her curiosity and often treated her like his heir, even though she could never be. It wouldn't be easy to explain the wolf hierarchy properly to my eldest daughter should that occur. I certainly didn't look forward to that conversation.

But I also worried that it wouldn't be a boy. I'd made it clear that, no matter what, this was going to be my last pregnancy. I intended to hold to that, but I also feared what that could mean for our Pack should I fail to produce a son and proper heir.

Just down the hall the main room was filling quickly with exhausted, half-asleep people.

I jumped into action despite my own exhaustion and swollen feet.

Taking a pile of bags of pillows and blankets out of storage, I began to pass them out around the room. Sydney and I had spent hours organizing them all so that each bag contained full bedding and a bag of snacks and bottle of water for exactly this situation. The bags may have been a little dusty from years of unuse, but the inside was clean and ready to use.

“Thanks, Lily.”

“Of course. Please find a cot and try to get some sleep. We have people monitoring the storm and damage, but you're all safe down here.”

In this situation, my job as Pack Mother was simply to ensure people’s needs were being met and to reassure them that everything was going to be okay.

It wasn't long before others joined in to help with the distribution.

Thomas's mother, Cora, was there, along with his sisters, Lizzy and Clara. I knew Ruby would be in James's shelter and Peyton would be with Luke and Sydney. We'd all practiced this so many times, but it was surreal to realize it was actually happening.

“How are you holding up?” Cora asked me.

“I'm fine. The girls are settling back down.”

“You should be with them.”

“No, I shouldn't. My place is here, and you know that better than anyone.”

She sighed. As the Pack Mother before me, she knew damn well that this was no time for me to hide. It didn't matter that I was so fat I couldn't see my swollen feet, or that I had four terrified pups down the hall. I had to be okay with just knowing they were safe and the rest we'd deal with later.

“I just worry about you. We all do.”

I smiled. “I'm fine. Really.”

“These bags were a wonderful idea,” she said, and I knew that was her way of conceding the argument.

“It was a lot of work, but worth it,” I admitted.

A loud crack of thunder had more people screaming and scrambling into the room.

“It's bad, isn't it?” I asked.

“Maybe. But the most important thing is that everyone is safe.”

“Are we sure of that?”

“Lizzy's taking attendance for this shelter as people arrive. As I understand it, there are others doing the same in the other two shelters. If anyone's missing, we'll know it.”

I nodded, but I was still nervous.

My wolf didn't like being underground, but she really didn't like the thought of one of ours being left out in this storm. I started to pace.

“Lily, are you okay?” Sam asked me.