*Rion*
Ever since our initial argunt about the twins wearing dampening charms, our ho beca cold, the atmosphere tense. Daphne and I made small talk in the mornings but our tight schedules and busy lives made it easy to avoid the unpleasant subject.
This particular morning was no different. As I prepared to leave the house to continue efforts with Jasper on building and training new warrior recruits for Thorn Forest, I glanced at my wife out of the corner of my eye.
Motherhood truly fits her perfectly. She wasn’t just skilled in the way she handled our girls. I watched as she picked up Ayla, tucking the little girl against her chest and bouncing her up and down.
Ayla had been fussy this morning, whining and whimpering like a puppy but as soon as her mother held her, she was all smiles, reaching out so she could touch Daphne’s face gently with her chubby fingers.
Daphne absolutely glowed while she held our children, but I couldn’t help but notice that this morning, the maternal grin she wore for our daughters didn’t quite reach her eyes.
I knew the reason and it caused to turn away to continue getting dressed.
The girls were still growing at an abnormal rate. While that was concerning in a way, I couldn’t ignore the fact that they were the happiest babies I had ever seen. They seed to laugh so easily and their gray eyes were bright and full of life.
Daphne excelled when it ca to motherhood in every way and for so reason, she just insisted that we put those barbaric charms on our babies. It didn’t make any sense.
I couldn’t help but feel as if it was her parents’ influence. She was their daughter, after all. Perhaps it was natural to believe that what her mother and father said was law and should be followed no matter what. Her parents were quite persuasive.
It was all the more reason that I couldn’t budge on the subject.
“You look like hell,” Jasper quipped when we t up later that morning.
I gave him a dirty look before craning my neck to look past him. Our new recruits were already doing their warm-ups, stretching, and running in place beneath the morning light.
“Is everyone here?” I asked finally, beginning to stretch as well before we began to spar.
Jasper nodded but he eyed critically. “Fatherhood got you down?” he pressed.
I felt my shoulders slump. “You could say that,” I said, intent on dropping the subject even before it ca up.
Only a couple of the recruits had any sort of general combat training. Jasper and I began the lesson by sparring with each other while the n watched our technique.
“Are Daphne and the girls alright?” Jasper murmured as I shoved him away after getting out of a headlock he just had in.
“Are we really having this conversation now?” I hissed at him, sweeping my foot out, intent on kicking his feet out from under him. He dodged neatly. “Now’s not the ti. Focus on the spar.”
“I’m focusing just fine,” Jasper said while rolling his eyes before throwing a fist toward my jaw, which I narrowly missed by taking a step back and ducking. He smirked at . “You’re the one who’s getting a little sloppy.”
As if to prove his point, he grabbed around the shoulders and threw roughly to the ground, towering over while our recruits murmured appreciatively at his form.
I glowered at my best friend but Jasper was unfazed. He shook his head before shooting a hand out toward so he could help to my feet.
“Looks like our Alpha is a bit rusty this morning,” he said to the group. He turned to look at over his shoulder. “Why don’t we go for a quick run to clear our heads before we continue sparring?”
I studied my friend, realizing that he was actually concerned about , so I relented and ordered our n to start jogging along the periter of the community. While I thought it was imperative that we focus primarily on combat skills, Jasper and I both knew that stamina was equally important when in a battle.
Jasper and I led the way, guiding the guys into a light jog along the edge of the Thorn Forest community. I looked over when so small wooden booths caught my eye that I was pretty sure hadn’t been there the week before.
I spotted Daphne, her long wavy hair reacting beautifully to the late morning light. She was talking to a couple of n and gesturing to the wooden booths. That’s when I rembered that she had been working on starting a small shopping square in the heart of Thorn Forest. It looked like it was well underway.
Despite the fact that we were currently in the middle of a long, ongoing argunt, I couldn’t help but be proud of her at that mont. She was the most beautiful and the most capable woman in existence. I was absolutely sure of it.
“Do you need to be hosed down, Alpha?”
I glared openly at Jasper, who was smirking widely. I gave him a firm punch in the shoulder as we ran.
I spared one more glance at Daphne, deciding that we would settle this argunt once and for all as soon as I got ho later that evening. I hated the tension between us.
***
I hurried ho later that evening, sweaty and exhausted but eager to get ho. My body automatically sought out the warmth of my wife. As soon as our ho ca into view, I quickened my pace.
“I’m ho!” I called after opening the front door.
I frowned. The house was quiet. Normally, Daphne would be downstairs waiting for with the twins nestled in her arms, their little dimpled faces lighting up as they saw . I loved taking them in my arms after a long day.
Slightly irritated at having the best part of my day stripped from , I dropped my bag by the door and made my way up the stairs.
I could hear Daphne’s gentle voice through the door of the nursery once I got to the top of the steps. I pushed the door open without knocking.
I froze in the doorway.
At first glance, everything seed completely normal. Daphne was holding both girls, who were sleeping peacefully in their mother’s arms. Both girls were dressed in matching purple pajamas with moon patterns on them. Their little cheeks rested against Daphne’s chest.
What caused to freeze were the thin glowing bands on my daughters’ ankles.
Daphne stared at , her eyes widening briefly at my sudden appearance. Her eyes went from mine to the large ring-shaped devices on Ayla and Selene’s ankles.
“Rion,” she said, not sounding at all repentant despite the obvious betrayal that was currently spreading out across my face.
“Take them off,” I said, hearing the rage building in my voice. The words were low and dangerous.
Daphne was unfazed. She carefully set the twins down in their cribs before crossing the room to . “It’s going to be fine. My parents assured that they were perfectly safe. The girls didn’t even notice them at all when I put them on.”
I glowered down at her before looking over her head at the girls sleeping peacefully in their cribs. I clenched my jaw before turning and storming out of the room. Daphne shut the door carefully behind her before following after .
“Rion,” she hissed as she chased down the stairs.
Now that we were a safe distance from the girls, I whirled around to face my wife, who still looked annoyingly calm.
“How could you put those vile things on them without consulting ?” I demanded harshly.
Daphne didn’t even flinch despite the fact that I had gotten right in her face and was towering over her. She frowned up at . “Because I knew that you would react like this.”
I stared down at her in disbelief. I chuckled darkly. “So, you knew that I would be upset and yet, you went ahead and put the dampening anklets on our daughters anyway?” My voice seed to rise with each word. I hated how I got satisfaction out of Daphne finally flinching.
She clenched her jaw, the stubbornness that I usually find attractive flitting across her features. She balled her hands into fists at her sides. “You’ve been avoiding and the subject for weeks now, so when the anklets from my mother arrived, I decided to take action.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You still should have told !” I snapped. “They are not just your daughters, Daphne.”
She looked as if I had struck her, her wide eyes filling with tears but her jaw was tight. “That’s rich coming from you,” she said, laughing without humor. “I’m the one who has been primarily with them and trying to understand their powers. They’re growing every day, Rion!”
“Enough!” I practically roared, stopping when I saw the genuine fear on Daphne’s face. I gritted my teeth before turning and shoving the front door open.
“Where are you going?” Daphne demanded.
“I can’t handle this right now,” I said between my teeth. “I’m going for a walk.” Then, I tore out of the house, already regretting it when I got a brief look at Daphne’s tragic expression as I shut the door behind .
I was still angry after I spent an hour briskly walking through the community. A few of our mbers gave wary looks but I ignored them. I couldn’t believe that Daphne would go behind my back like that, even though a part of understood why she did it. I knew I hadn’t been the most patient and was more stubborn and unyielding than anything else. Maybe I did back her into a corner, but she still shouldn’t have done it.
I just wanted this behind us so that I could hold her again without restraint.
Once back, I panicked for a brief second when I found our bed empty and the house eerily silent. I checked the nursery to find the girls still sleeping blissfully. That cald instantly. There was no way Daphne would have left our daughters ho alone.
I found her in the guest room downstairs, curled up on the large bed. I watched her back stiffen when I opened the door. She didn’t move as I approached the bed. I reached out and grabbed her shoulder firmly, pulling on it so that she rolled on her back and stared up at .
“I ant it when I said that I would never tolerate sleeping apart from you ever again,” I said in a low voice.
Her eyes were red-rimd, a clear sign that she had been crying, but they glinted with recognition of sothing I said to her back when we were running from Gareth. I wrapped my hand around her upper arm and pulled her up from the bed. “You’re sleeping with in our bed. Tonight, and every other night after this one.” I pulled her along behind , up the stairs to our room.
There was a good few feet between us. We didn’t say a word once we ca into our bedroom. I had my back to her and was surprised when I suddenly felt her hand touch my shoulder.
I rolled over to face her and wasn’t expecting the glow from the moonlight streaming through our window to illuminate her angelic face. Her eyes shone brightly with remorse.
“I’m sorry for putting the charms on without talking to you first,” she murmured.
My heart imdiately lted and I brushed the pad of my thumb over her cheekbone, pushing so of the moisture there away.
“Thank you,” I said quietly, stroking her smooth skin. I smiled slightly. “I should apologize too. I know I haven’t been the most understanding person in the world. I just couldn’t handle the idea of putting any kind of dampening device on my babies.”
Daphne nodded in understanding. “It’s going to help them and it hopefully won’t be for long,” she said, widening her eyes and then averting them shafully. “I could have explained my thought process a lot better earlier–”
“Shh,” I hushed gently, shifting so I could kiss her forehead. “We were both just worried about our girls, but we’re going to do better now.”
She nodded glumly. “I really do think the charms will help them.”
I let out a breath and nodded too. “If you truly think so, then I will allow it,” I said. “But I want them to begin lessons controlling their powers as soon as possible, which ans we will need Eva’s help.”
A tiny wrinkle ford between Daphne’s eyebrows. “But Eva’s anklet–”
“We will have it removed,” I said firmly. “I trust Eva to ntor the girls. She is already so good with them. She has proven herself as far as I’m concerned, so I’m insisting she be given full access to her powers once again.”
Daphne looked worried, and I knew she was concerned about how her parents would react to the news.
I cradled Daphne’s face in my hand, my eyes begging her not to worry. “I’m the Alpha of this pack, and I plan to take full responsibility if anything happens due to this decision.”
Daphne gazed into my eyes and took my hand gripping it firmly. “We will both take full responsibility,” she corrected.
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