An Alpha's Duty

Chapter 13

Ryan and Luke shifted back before they reached the main house and jogged the rest of the way.

They stopped short when the house came into sight. Each trying to process what they were seeing.

A large canopy tent had been erected not far from the house. Most of the tent was open for everyone to see inside with a small section closed off in the back.

As they neared the tent, the sound of raised voices became clear and it wasn't hard to guess who was causing most of the commotion.

A group of pack females stood outside the tent looking nervously around with their husbands and children. Only a small selection of these women supported noticeable bumps and they appeared to be in more distress than most.

Approaching carefully, Ryan tried to assess the situation. Ever since his sister had fallen pregnant with Poppy he'd developed a slight weariness of pregnant women. From experience he knew how quickly their moods could change and didn't want to push any of them over the edge.

Some smiled in relief as he made his way towards them whilst others continued to watch the source of the raised voices.

Nearing the tent neither Ryan nor Luke was surprised to hear the loud voice of Virginia weighing in with both Ashley and Elaina's.

Walking around the tent he surveyed the whole scene in front of him.

Virginia stood at the front of the queue, her daughter Jesse behind her. She was holding her newborn daughter whilst listening to her mother argue on her behalf.

Ryan knew his mother had been worried about Jesse since she'd given birth a few weeks ago during the pack shut down. Normally they would have called more qualified wolves into help her during the delivery but they'd been forced to rely on the resources within the pack.

Her and the baby had fared considerably well despite the lack of experience their midwifery team possessed. Baby Skye had been born healthy and Jesse had recovered extremely quickly.

Still he wasn't surprised that Jesse was at the front of the queue to be seen. What he was surprised about was Virginia stopping her examination.

He picked up Lenah's scent and looked into the tent to see if she was okay. Finally, he spotted her talking to Poppy whilst she braided her hair.

It still fascinated him how comfortable his small niece was around her. They'd met under the worst of circumstances. It would have made more sense for Poppy to fear Lenah but nobody could doubt the little girl's was smitten with his mate. She seemed so comfortable with her as she passed Lenah small flowers to weave into her hair.

He picked up their conversation and was not surprised to hear his niece talking about her favourite film 'Frozen' smiling broadly when he heard Lenah talk back. It amused him how knowledgeable Lenah seemed to be about the film and he guessed they now had two 'Frozen' fans living under the same roof.

He resigned himself to actually having to watch the whole film through at some point, so far he'd been lucky to escape after the first few songs. Though he would never admit that he had a soft spot for that little snowman.

Turning back towards the queue of women he noticed some of their young kids playing with their hair and looking longingly towards his mate. No doubt hoping that she'd plate their hair like one of the princesses he'd seen in Poppy's room. Some had even started to edge towards the tent only to be dragged back by their mother as they waited for the dispute to be resolved.

As he approached the three women currently arguing, they all fell silent under his presence. Turning between the women, he noticed Virginia glaring at Elaina and shifting her eyes nervously to Lenah inside the tent.