Knox suddenly reappeared and smiled at them both. "Jerrod, my dad has a room for you. They'll get you settled and after I get my family situated, I'll come find you. Davina, you ready to go meet Dominic?"
She bit her lip and frowned.
Knox glared at her. "Quit being a pussy." He smiled at her.
"Okay, okay. I'll go. But if this doesn't go well, I'm going to kick your ass," she shot back. She loved the banter between them. Knox and Jerrod had been the closest thing she'd had to family in years. Hopefully her own father would be family too. She wasn't very hopeful though.
More than likely, she'd meet him and then she'd leave. The thought of it made her sad, because she'd be leaving Knox and Jerrod behind, but she couldn't stay somewhere that she wasn't welcome or wanted.
Knox laughed. "You'll be fine."
He was so much more confident than she was. Davina reluctantly followed him into the pack house, taking in the glass windows and the brightness of the room. So many scents hit her immediately, mostly werewolf and fresh baked bread. Her mouth watered. She loved that smell.
Knox led her into a small room off to the side and the smell of a panther shifter and a werewolf hit her in the face. She'd never thought to smell that scent before. Not the werewolf, but the panther. He was the first of her own kind she'd ever met.
A man was standing inside, his large muscled arms crossed over his chest, and a woman was sitting on the couch. Davina stopped, her gaze on the man that had sired her.
Domnic Beckham wasn't exactly what she'd expected. He was a big man, probably close to 6 foot 5, and heavily muscled. He looked sort of like a werewolf in that regard. His hair was black like hers, and his eyes blue. They glowed brightly for a moment, the irises taking on a cat like appearance that she'd only ever seen in the mirror. He had on a t-shirt and jeans and looked completely at ease.
His mate was beautiful, and Davina noticed that she looked a lot like Daniel's mate. If she was the Alpha King's sister, she would be descended from them. She was tiny, especially next to Dominic, with long brown wavy hair and the blue eyes that were the same shade as Knox's eyes. Remington blue, she'd heard Knox say to Lyra before. Who knew royalty had their own color?
Dominic stepped forward a smile on his face. "Hello Davina."
Knox reached out, took her hand and squeezed it and she glanced at him and smiled, then looked back at her father. "Hi." This wasn't at all awkward. She wanted to sink into the floor, or maybe turn around and leave. Knox wouldn't let her though; she already knew that. Asshole that he was.
Natalia stood up and walked over to her. "Welcome. He's still in shock about this whole thing, but it's nice to meet you. I'm Natalia. Dom told me what all happened between your mother and him. He had no idea that she was pregnant at all, so he's still trying to wrap his head around all of this."
Davina relaxed a bit, glad that Natalia had sort of broke the ice between them. She saw Dominic smile down at his mate. Apparently he was glad too.
Natalia wasn't what she expected. She'd sort of figured the woman wouldn't show up, or she'd look down her nose at Davina. Instead, she seemed warm and relaxed. Davina hoped it wasn't all an act.
"So have you been living in England all of this time?" Natalia asked.
"No, I've sort of been all over though I've been back in England for the last several years," she said quietly.
"Well, quite a bit of the pack is English, including our son Dimitri's mate, Zoey. You're welcome here, Davina. I know this is awkward but we're happy you're here, and Dimitri, Dylan and Damien are looking forward to meeting you," Natalia told her with a smile.
Dominic nodded. "Yes. You're more than welcome here. I'd like to get to know you."
"So would I," Natalia agreed.
"You're not upset that I'm here?" Davina asked curiously. Maybe she shouldn't have asked that, but she couldn't help herself. Why were they so accepting of her? She was his illegitimate child.
Natalia shook her head. "No. You're a part of him, and Dom's the love of my life. Plus, I know being a shifter like you have been can be lonely. You have family here, and a pack that is willing to accept you."
Davina swallowed back the tears. She hadn't expected them to be so accepting, especially Natalia. But she was. "Thank you."
Natalia stepped forward and gave her a hug, and Dominic followed suit. It felt good. She was so used to holding back from everyone and hadn't really experienced family until she'd moved in with Knox and Jerrod, but even that hadn't quite been the same. They were like brothers to her, but still...
"You'll be staying with us for as long as you'd like," Dominic told her. "We have a house here on the territory. We started building it when Vanessa got pregnant."
"Vanessa is Damien's mate. She gave birth to twins, and then two years later, her twin sister Violet got pregnant with twins," Natalia said. "And since then, they've both each had a second set of twins."
"Wow. Knox said they're all twins?" Davina asked. Those households were probably a bit crazy. She was glad she liked kids or she might run.
"Yes. Lots of twins," Dominic said with a laugh.
Davina smiled, then something caught her attention. "Are you pregnant?" Maybe she shouldn't have asked, but now that she really focused on it, she could faintly here the heartbeat.
Natalia smiled. "Yes. I'm having another pup."
"You are?" Knox asked.
Davina glanced back at him. She'd forgotten he was even in the room with them.
"Yup."
He smiled. "Congratulations you two. He crossed the room to Davina. "Will you be okay?"
"Of course," Davina agreed automatically.
Knox lifted a brow at her, and she sighed softly. "Yes, Knox. I think I'll be okay."
He nodded. "I'm going to get my family settled and Leila's shifting process will begin early in the morning. Tomorrow night, Leila, Lyra and Jerrod are being inducted into the pack." He looked at her meaningfully.
She knew what the look he was giving her meant but she just nodded. "I'll be fine."
Knox left the room.
Davina turned back to Dominic and Natalia. She might have to stay just to meet her new sibling. She'd always wanted a sibling when she was younger, though her mother had never remarried. Now she was about to get four of them.
It was a lot to take in, but she had known about her brothers for a while. She'd known about all of the twins, and their ages. She'd had Knox go over it with her more than once so she could remember their names. Now she'd have to put faces with them all. She'd seen pictures, but they hadn't stuck in her head that well, and she knew it would be better when she met them. The only one she hadn't known about was the new pup Natalia was carrying, though it seemed Knox hadn't known either.
She'd pestered him with questions over the last few years once she'd learned he knew her father. She'd wanted to know everything, though she'd asked it all slowly so she'd remember the details. It was weird knowing she sort of had a family out there who knew nothing about her. She'd sort of felt like the unwanted child looking in through the window while they'd all remained oblivious to her existence. But not anymore.
She'd been nervous that Dominic wouldn't be interested in meeting her though Knox had been pretty sure Dom would want to. Knox of course knew her family while she didn't and he'd been right. They'd wanted to meet her and they seemed accepting so far. She wondered if her siblings would be equally so.
"You ready to come meet your brothers? They're all waiting. They didn't want to overwhelm you when you first got here," Dom told her quietly.
She took a deep breath. "Yeah. Let's do this." Here went nothing.
