When they arrived in the room, everyone was there. Callum and Sonia. Lucien and Leah. Jian-Li, Xun, Wei, and Chen. Hook, Poncho, Moose, and Jabber. Yuri and Aurora. Barb, Ruby, Jezza, and Flo. And Gregor.

All eyes came to him and he immediately felt overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the wave of loyalty and tenderness that swept over him, nearly taking him back on a foot, definitely settling firm in his soul in a way that felt like it’d be there forever.

He gladly took that feeling and turned his attention to his brother and his woman.

Cain didn’t look comfortable.

Teona didn’t look happy.

It was Teona who spoke.

“You think we could do this a bit more private?”

“This is my family,” Abel declared. “And when something important is happening, I keep my family close.”

He felt Delilah move and looked down at her to see her exchanging glances with Jian-Li. And if Delilah’s look mirrored Jian-Li’s, it was filled with pride.

Abel felt his back get straighter and he threw out an arm.

“You wanna take a seat?” he offered.

“Good standing,” Cain muttered.

Abel nodded and then got right down to it.

“You grew up with our parents.”

Cain watched him warily and nodded.

“Why didn’t I?”

“We’re twins,” Cain stated.

“Got that,” Abel returned.

“We’re anomalies,” Cain told him.

“Got that too, though, found out when I was two hundred and five when you were lucky enough to have your parents share that info with you,” Abel replied.

Cain took that hit with a subtle wince but powered through it.

“They knew of The Prophesies.”

“And how’s that?” Abel asked.

“Pop knew King McDonagh,” Cain answered. “When we were born, the king explained.”

Abel said nothing, but he felt Callum become even more alert.

“Through The Prophesies, they knew it would be you,” Cain went on.

“There were two of us. How’d they know that?” Abel asked.

Cain shook his head. “I’ve no idea. But I’ve not fathered a child. I have no idea what parents know and what they don’t. They just knew, and turns out they were right.”

Abel couldn’t argue that.

“I’m your keeper,” Cain said quietly and with total seriousness, regardless of his words. “What our parents did was necessary.”

They’d get into that in a second.

“Are they alive?” Abel asked and braced when he felt what was coming from Cain and Teona.

“No. Pop died when we were attacked when I was forty-seven human years, about nine wolf. But he gave Ma and me time to run. We got away. She was killed fifty-two years ago. She died protecting me. They took her head, but she succeeded in her goal. I got away.”

His words were terse and he didn’t hide the burn in his eyes.

Abel got that.