Reclaiming Her Heart

Chapter 89 - Shenanigans

Jadea

The next day, we saw Caden off. Jupiter offered to teleport him, and he took her up on it. This eased some of the tension in my stomach, because I had been worried about him traveling alone.

After breakfast, we met with the complete Knight Necromancer's pack to reunite and talk. We spoke about Keb and how we would have to put extra precautions into place if we went anywhere off Ty's land. And how I could never be alone until this was resolved. "We are planning to stay here until this all blows over," I explained to them. "We need to plan as if we are staying here long term. So, if there are things you need or want from the Ranch, make a list and we can send a group to retrieve them."

There were things I needed... I could only wear the same couple of outfits on repeat for so long...

"When are you planning to send the group down?" Ginny asked.

"This weekend." I already discussed it with Adam. Half our pack would go north to Caden's, while the other went south. The kids would stay with Ty and Nonna. I told them who would be going where. There weren't any disagreements, and so I moved on.

"What cover story was given to the public about the incident?" I asked next, needing to know how we would bring back the band and our main revenue stream.

"We didn't give much," Garret mumbled, eyes down, shoulders drooped.

"There are a lot of videos of you being shot. The public, without an official statement, has come to the conclusion you are dead," Blade continued on.

I shrugged. That wouldn't be an issue. "Let's work with our lawyer and artist manager and see what they have to say on the matter. I want to start dropping hints that I am alive, and we will be back in the future."

"Blade and I can work on that," Briar offered.

"If there are any suggestions on a cover story, let them know," I told the others pointedly. We needed a rock solid story and everyone to be on board. "Now, onto training. We have some things we need to work on."

I went into Ginny's and Persephone's training first, asking Blade and Garret to continue working with them and increasing the difficult levels of their activities. I wanted them to be able to at least participate in pack training as soon as possible, since we would have several packs to train with. It was a great opportunity. "We will do weekly check ins and team assessments to see where more work is needed. When we are training against the other packs, Adam will lead you. During some of these exercises, he will be put into uncomfortable situations," I continued on, showing them how I planned to accomplish such a task.

Adam leading the pack wasn't necessarily new to them. As my co-alpha, I had ensured he knew how to lead our pack and how to guide them during a fight. However, we were going to up the difficulty by placing him in varying states of distress, especially when it came to me, so if there was a reoccurrence of what transpired back at Ulysses' we wouldn't be left up a creek without a paddle. We would be, hopefully, more prepared.

"It's not going to be easy, or fun," I murmured seriously. "Tension and emotions will be high. Mistakes will be made. Things said in the heat of the moment that aren't meant. This isn't personal, it is necessary to ensure our pack's survival. Any questions?"

There were a few, especially from Ginny who was still finding it hard to connect with her wolf.

"After this weekend, I will talk with you about setting some time aside to work with you," Adam assured her.

With that handled, we went on about our day. Which was a lot of chilling and hanging with the kids. Anika insisted on a trip to the barn where she showed me what she had learned while I was gone. I was thrilled to see such improvement, and cheered her on as she continued to jump over the small obstacles with ease.

"There is no way out of it this time," I told Adam. "I'm getting her a horse for her birthday." I expected him to find excuses and try to explain why it wasn't a good idea. However, he surprised me.

"I think that is a great idea."

Pulling him into me, I whispered teasingly against his lips, "Who is this new Adam? And where did the other one go?"

He chuckled at my teasing, arms banding around my waist as he pressed our foreheads together, sharing a tender moment. "You know the answer to that one, baby girl."

Indeed I did.

The next morning, I snuck the kids out early, before everyone else was awake. We visited Jillian, the cook, in the kitchens. Pulling me into a fierce hug, she snuck some of her famous pastries into my hands. As the kids watched her intently while she cut up potatoes for breakfast, I snuck out a bottle of whipped cream and a small bag of flour for later.

Before the breakfast hour, we visited Uncle Ty. He was busy playing a game on his computer—which was perfect. As Aidan distracted him, I handed a paper plate full of whipped cream to Anika. Picking up the broom I'd snuck out of the closet, I shoved the handle thorugh the arms of the chair, trapping him. Ty jerked around to glare at me, gearing up to demand what I was doing, when Anika plowed the paper full of whipped cream into his face.

It splattered everywhere.

We were dying of laughter when the plate slid off his face, an unamused expression turning playfully angry as he tried to launch himself at us and ended up tipping over the chair in the process due to the broom handle holding him. His laughter and promises of retribution dogged our heels as we ran our of his house and beelined for our cabin. Crashing inside, our breathless bouts of laughter filled the space.

"There you are! I was wondering where you all ran off to," Adam started, sauntering out of the hallway, pausing when he caught our impish expressions. "What did you do?" he demanded almost exasperatedly, his hands landing on his hips.

"Oh, nothing," I smiled with innocence as Anika, at the same instant, exclaimed, "We pied Uncle Ty in the face!"

"It was awesome!" Aidan yelled almost monstrously, high on the fun.

"And so it begins," Adam muttered under his breath, passing a hand over his face, as if he was already over my antics.

"What? I've got to make up for lost time!"

A burst of laughter spilled from his chest. "Just leave me out of it," he warned playfully.

"Okay," we all drawled, not sounding convincing at all.

After breakfast, we found Blade and Persephone necking in the small hangout area between the cabins. Filling the spouts of a couple air-blowers we'd found in the garden shed, Aidan and Anika hosed them with the white powder. They tripped over their own two feet as they came crashing out of the flour cloud, looking like ridiculous ghosts.

They took chase, catching the kids and tickling them, wiping off some of the flour onto them. Laughter filled the crevices that had lacked such joy for months. Others watched on, wholesome smiles on their faces, knowing they would be victims at some point.

Right before the lunch hour started, we put Saran wrap across the front door of one of the cabins. Huddling in the bushes off tot he side, with a perfect view of the front door, we waited for the occupants to come out. Derrick was the first in line to leave and ran face-first into the Saran wrap. It nearly knocked him on his butt and it did make Chance, who was directly behind him, ram into Derrick's back, making his face smash hysterically into the plastic.

Squealing, we took off running before they could recover enough to take chase.

During lunch, Ty pulled my chair out from under me when I went to sit and someone put dye in the kids drinks, turning their teeth blue. We all had some good laughs.

We didn't strike again until Garret was supposed to go out for his nightly patrol. Waking up the kids, we set up a bucket of water over the door. Sneaking the kids back inside—because it was still very cold out in the dead of night—we plastered our faces against the kitchen window and watched as Garret, unsuspectingly, opened the door. Mid yawn the bucket tilted, the water splashing over him first--a startled scream renting the air--right before the bucket landed perfectly on his head, muffling his screams. Yanking it off, he yelled into the night, "You are so paying for that you idjits! That's some cold ass water! Ugh!"

Chortling, I snuggled the kiddos on the couch until dawn lit the sky. The next day, after lunch, we got Adam. The kids actually came up with the game themselves. They told him he couldn't pop all the balloons they threw at him. He took on the challenge, already knowing something would happen. One of the balloons Aidan threw had water in it. When Adam popped it, he got soaked. This started a water fight tht got the whole pack involved. We were muddy and cold messes by the end of it, but it had been wonderful.