Page 8 of Pack: Posy 3

Being a runt, I was used to always being the shortest person, but that didn't mean I had to like it.

"Hi, guys. I'm afraid your brothers aren't here right now."

"We know," Archer said.

"Mom sent us over to help you get ready for tomorrow," Wayne explained.

"I appreciate that," I said, "but why do you both look like mud puppies?"

"Ha ha ha!" Wayne giggled. "Hear that, bro? Mudpuppies!Ha ha ha! You're funny, big sister!"

"We, uh, took a little detour on the way over," Archer snickered.

"Don't worry. We'll use the garden hose and wash the bikes and ourselves down." Smiling widely, Wayne reached out to pat my shoulder, but I pulled back before he could get mud on me. "Oops! Sorry. Anyway, you think of some jobs for us to do and we'll do them, okay?"

"Well, for starters, can you rinse the walk and porch off after you hose yourselves down?" I returned his smile with a dimpled one of my own.

"Sure thing! Playing with water isfun!"

"Although playing with fire is funner," Archer snickered again.

Oh, Goddess, it mini Wyatt and mini Ash,Lark marveled,but no mini Jayden to balance out trouble!

"Come around to the backyard when you're done," I said with a laugh, "and you can help me figure out what I need to do."

Leaving them to it, I went back inside the house to finish up my list. I'd picked up my pencil again when a brilliant idea struck me.

A mini Jayden, huh? Hmm.

I tapped my pencil on my chin a few times as I debated, then finally decided to just do it.

Oh, Emerson, I linked.Are you busy today?

#

Angelo

I was worried about Thoreau.

He'd been with us for seven days now and still could not sense his wolf. We fed him well and made sure he had proper sleep, I healed his bruises and wounds, and thestreghe(witches) gave him antidotes to the wolfsbane, but the boy's wolf did not respond.

I think we all know the truth, but don't want to admit it,I thought to myself as I watched Emerson.

He was coaxing Reau to take a second drink of the potion my sister had brewed and sent over. The first dose should have neutralized the aconite he'd been shot full of, and it hadn't. Reau despised the taste and texture of the potion - not that I blamed him; it was nasty stuff - and was working himself into an epic meltdown.

"Em, if he drinks any more of that, it'll make him sick," I said in a gentle tone, not wanting to stress my mate out any more than he already was. "It's not doing anything, anyway."

Looking as helpless as I felt, my love set down the glass and pulled Reau in for a tight hug, holding him against his chest until the boy stopped crying.

"Sorry, Reau," he muttered into his baby brother's thick curls. "Why don't you go see what Leo's doing?"

Reau nodded and leaped to his feet after Emerson released him.

"Remember to knock first if his bedroom door's closed," I called as the boy raced out of the living room.

" 'kay, Gelo!" he shouted, making me shake my head with a smile.

The day we brought Reau home, Emerson had explained to both me and Leo how the boy was born with a condition that affected his social and emotional development. Reau could learn things in school as well as any kid, but he acted much younger than others his age.

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