Beneath the Surface

Flood

The next day, Stephanie and Caleb came to see us, as did Caleb's younger sister Ashley, and her mate, Harry. I admitted to nerves when I met Harry; despite his rather mild-mannered appearance, he was, in fact, the Alpha of the Darkshard pack, and they were ferocious SOBs. But not without cause; Ashley's father Jared had had almost all of Harry's pack exterminated due to Harry's father not ceding some land Jared had wanted, and Harry had been forced to watch almost his entire family die. Hence the Darkshards' reputation going up a notch. But they'd always been at war with Ashley's old pack, for reasons unknown, and it had always been the Lightshards who started it. 

Harry proved himself to be a good sort, thankfully, and within ten minutes he had us all in stitches. He had one hell of a dry wit, and could crack jokes with the best of them. I felt much more at ease once we'd all broken the ice, at which point the meeting turned to what the hell we were going to do about Ben and his pack. 

"Ben, in one word, is an ass," Harry said, his voice grim as he dropped his lighthearted mood. "So I can get 100% on board with putting him down like the rabid animal he is." He gave Ashley's hand a reassuring squeeze, and she smiled at him, but there was clear and open pain on her face, and the way she clung to his hand suggested a recent reunion after a prolonged separation. "I shan't get into all the nasty details," Harry added, "but let's just say you weren't the only one who suffered at the hands of that she-bitch and her ridiculously inbred father. Ash went through seven different types of hell, because, surprise surprise, her twin is tight with that... ugh, I won't say the word. But you get the idea."

I winced. "For God's sake," I said angrily. "Are we still dealing with the ghost of Christmas past?"

Ashley sighed and nodded. "Brandon believes in 'keeping it in the family'," she said. "Makes sense, because, well, the Whitewaters were a large and numerous pack in their heyday, and even after most of their members abandoned their incestuous ways, Samuel and Simon set out to, well, more or less proceate their way across the United Kingdom and beyond. It's no surprise, then, that Brandon ate it all up; our parents were brother and sister, and Mum is, sadly, a distant relative of one of Samuel's by-blows."

"Her father got rather jealous when he found out about me," Caleb added, sharing a sad look with his sister. "You can guess the fallout."

I dropped my head in my hands; Brody put an arm around my shoulders and squeezed as I processed this latest bit of bad news. "That settles it," he said. "I think it's time we put the last scions of Samuel and Simon to rest for good. Steph, how does it stand on your end?"

"We've done some research," Stephanie said. "And, in short, they really did - um, sorry - proceate their way across the United Kingdom. And beyond, as it turns out. Benjamin is using his own distnat family ties to call on their loyalty, and a third have already responded. Harry and I are trying to sway the others over to our side, but they're content to sit on the fence and wait for the dust to settle."

"Pardon the pun, but that settles it then," Brody said, giving my shoulders a squeeze as I reclaimed a small sense of calm in the midst of this flood of bad news. "There's no help for it; all out war is needed to squash Benjamin once and for all."

Barry nodded, before glancing over at GiGi. I sensed an unspoken question and answer passing between them, and Brody raised an eyebrow at his father. I did the same. "You two?"

GiGi blushed. "Yes," she said. "And so are you, miss."

I sighed as Brody threw me a questioning look. "I didn't want to run the risk of word getting out in case someone from the pack was kidnapped and made to talk." I sighed. "Call me crazy, but if Ben found out I'm carrying Brody's cub, he'd stop at nothing to get me back, and I don't even want to know what he'd do once he got his paws on me again."

Brody kissed my temple. "I understand," he said, and I could tell he really did. He wasn't mad at me, but there was a high degree of worry as he tightened his arm around my shoulders. "Then the sooner we get Benjamin put away, the quicker we can have an environment in which the unborn cubs can be raised in peace." He did frown then. "Wait. Is your cub going to be my half-sibling, Father? Or an aunt or uncle?"

That broke the tension, and we were all soon in fits of hysterical laughter. "Just call our cub your half-sibling and be done with it, rascal," Barry said, wheezing as he got his breath back. Harry had tears in his eyes, and Stephanie was all but on the floor, as was Ashley, the two of them leaning against each other as they recovered, and neither Caleb, myself or Brody were much better. 

But it felt damn good to laugh. And with the threat of war on the horizon, the more moments of mirth we could store away, the better. 

Because the flood was coming. And it wasn't going to discriminate.