Toxic Rose Thorns - Chapter 43: Chapter 43

Knightly
Phoebe is sleeping. It's the first time I've seen her rest since arriving. Ayrie is playing on her tablet as she runs her fingers through Phoebe's hair. Aizen is writing in his notebook. His writing is a hundred times better than mine.
Learning Phoebe's mother's name has left me speechless. They would have killed me if I had gone anywhere near their little princess if she had been raised by them. I've heard the story of the pup that had gone missing before Alpha Anastasia could claim her mate and she had one. Gabriel Lucas.
Anastasia Rizen was one of the strongest alpha females in the world until she disappeared thirty-two years ago. Like my father's, their bloodline is practically royalty in my world. It explains a lot actually. Phoebe is a she-wolf. An alpha waiting for her mate to release the power born dormant in her blood. Something her mother never got. How she ended up with a mortal like Phoebe's father is a mystery. Especially when she knew who her mate was.
Alpha Rizeb is going to skin him alive when he finds out what's become of his granddaughter. I might be next on that list. It also explains how Ayrie was able to survive the wolfsbane poisoning. Why they're both as strong as they are. Aizen will shift in a few months. Ayrie has to wait for her mate. That might cause a problem in itself.
My father was going to tear that pack apart had I not said what I did. He'd risk a nationwide war to get to Ruin and Kendra. Xochtl is going to find out what it means to have fired Phoebe the way she did. To have allowed Kendra to do what she did to Ayrie.
Arnold didn't push me to go home because he knows I'm not strong enough to start his training. He knows that I need to be near the pups and Phoebe for the time being. But the way he looks at Ayrie. There is no way in hell he's going to stop from coming for her if I don't put a stop to him.
"Hi, Mommy," Ayrie's voice catches my attention. My wolf perks up lazily as we watch Phoebe stretch.
"Hi, baby," she greets her. "Where's your brother?"
"Here," Aizen says mindlessly from the corner he made himself comfortable in.
He put a stack of pillows there and hasn't moved since Phoebe fell asleep. The two of them are very well-behaved for their age. My siblings weren't like that growing up. If they could find a way to fuck shit up, they would. My mom did encourage that, though. She's just as wild as the rest of us.
"I fell asleep," Phoebe says embarrassed. Her cheeks are flushed and the design from the pillow she fell asleep on creased on the right side of her face. She stretches and looks over at Ayrie. "I can't remember the last time I took a nap during the day,"
"I take that as my first win then," I smile at her. She grins and gets up to go to the bathroom.
How am I going to explain everything to her? How do I tell her that her life could have been better had she grown up with her own kind? How do I tell her that she's not human?
"Can I talk to you for a second?" she asks coming out of the bathroom and drying her hands on the back of her jeans.
"Sure," I kiss the top of Ayrie's head. She crawls off the bed and runs over to Aizen. He scoots over without looking up from his notebook.
"That one is my favorite," she points at something.
"Not this one?" he asks her pointing under her finger.
"No, that one is funky,"
"You're funky," he rolls his eyes.
"Don't," Phoebe stops her from hitting him when she raises her hand. Ayrie tucks it under her leg and giggles. I didn't even see her move and Phoebe wasn't even looking in their direction. "No fighting,"
"Fine," she says and lifts her legs to prop the tablet against her knees. Aizen doesn't even care that he was about to be assaulted by his sister.
"Our pups are excruciatingly well-behaved," I say when we step outside.
"Because they know we're just guests here," she laughs. "Wait until they get really comfortable with you. Ayrie's tiny but her slaps sting down into your soul,"
"I believe that," I laugh.
"Aizen's passive aggressiveness is soul-crushing. Just you wait. You've never felt stupid until a five-year-old tells you how dumb you are," she sighs like she's remembering him hurting her feelings.
"What's going on?"
"Tomorrow is Ayrie's un-birthday and I would still like to take them to Disneyland. I was wondering if we needed permission for that. I don't want to cross into anyone's territory. Especially with everything going on. She'll never let me live it down if I don't keep my promise. I'd like to get there in the morning so she sees the Alice in Wonderland characters,"
Phoebe definitely has her priorities straight where it concerns our pups. She's also a quick study.
"We don't need permission for that. I'll show you the claimed territories and how far ours reaches," I assure her. She takes out a little envelope and holds it up for me. "What's this?"
"Extra tickets for you and your parents," she says quietly. My chest tightens when she looks up at me nervously as if I'd ever deny a request to be around her and our pups.
"Thank you," I say taking them. "You didn't have to do that,"
"I did," she clears her throat. "I don't like rollercoasters,"
"What?"
"I don't want to get on the rides. They scare me. I was willing to do it for her but I would appreciate it if you took her instead,"