Her next visit to her lawyer went very differently than the previous one, and Anya felt like the incubus finally understood why she was having such a hard time with the life she had started upon leaving the spa. Anya had felt entirely different about everything after seeing Grigory's picture and knowing where the pack was located. She wanted him, the wanted them. The bond might have been pulled from her, and it was obvious that despite the fact that he had claimed her, she was still able to desire others outside the pack, but Anya still felt a terrible loss of the connection and wanted it back. She wanted the pack back. But she had absolutely no desire to have Mr. Hughes involved in her getting to them. She had been very clear with Mr. Bricker that he was to keep confidential all of the things that she was setting into motion.
It wasn't as easy as selling her house and quitting her job. It couldn't be. Taking time off and flying out to Minnesota wouldn't work either, she wanted them to understand just how 'all in' that she really was. If she was going to reclaim her mates, she was going to do it fully. But she couldn't not yet. She had to be at her house in Somerville until September. She couldn't leave it until October at the earliest. So she spoke with Mr. Bricker about what she wanted him to help her with and about keeping it quiet from anyone who might ask. He would find her a buyer for her house quietly, she didn't want it listed on the market, she didn't want Mr. Hughes knowing she was moving, she was certain he knew her address. She'd been surprised that he hadn't shown up upon receiving the package she had sent him, but he had as of yet, not responded to it.
He would also find her a large house in a remote area within 30 minutes of Duluth, preferably towards the forests to the northwest, she had stressed to him. Mr. Bricker had seemed to think that doing so would be pretty simple. Even if he'd only be able to find a large parcel of land, he could get a large house built on the property in three to four months. He apparently knew people who could get a good job done in that time. She didn't want to know how.
"Your job?" He had asked her and she had nodded slowly.
"There are hospitals in Duluth, Mr. Bricker. I am sure they have children who need care." She had told him. She had four years experience working at the best children's hospital there was, finding a job in Duluth would be the easiest part of her move.
"Your son who is blind. Are there services there for him?" He asked, and she'd raised her eyebrows, she'd never told him that Sam was blind. Marc probably had.
"I am sure that there are also blind people in Duluth that need services. Sam will be fine." She had said softly, certain things, like what Sam needed, she would handle herself.
She had left his office feeling freer than she'd felt in weeks. As she'd continued her work schedule each week after, and had started to do more summer activities with her children, Anya had felt herself relax, and accept herself as she was. Her husband was gone, Luke had really died. She'd been through an intense ordeal in Canada that had served to teach her so much about herself. She could still be loved, she could still love, desperately love. She had loved there, she had loved all of the men that she'd been with, in different, intensely devoted ways, but she had ached for the pack. She'd known it then and she was wrapped tightly within it now.
The rest of June passed in a blur of activity and work. During July, she had received emails from Mr. Bricker weekly about the progress of the house he was having built on a large 83 acre forested land parcel that he'd purchased on her behalf north of Twig, Minnesota, about 25 minutes from Duluth. She had given him access to the inheritance that her husband had been left by his aunt, but he had yet to empty the account of the funds necessary to pay for the land. He told her to expect it, though, so she wasn't too worried.
The house was an extra cost, and she would have to finance it somehow. She still had the insurance money she'd received from when Luke had died, but she didn't want to bury it all in the house. Anya knew that Mr. Bricker would work with her, however, they had started a friendship of sorts, at least concerning her leaving New England as quietly as she could.
In August, she'd taken her four kids and Lindie and had traveled to Florida for a week for vacation. They'd rented a house by the beach in Tampa and had enjoyed a quiet, restful vacation together. Upon returning, school had begun for her oldest two, and Oscar and Dina continued on at daycare. Anya had already begun slow communication with the Hermantown School District about Sam's needs as a blind child, and she'd checked into day care opportunities for Dina and Oscar. She'd sent out a few resumes, stating she wouldn't be available until October 15th, and had already gotten a few replies for phone interviews.
By the beginning of September, she had a position waiting for her at St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth. The house was coming together, Mr. Bricker had emailed her pictures of the rooms, of which there were a ton. The house was enormous, and he called it a 'European design' of some sort. It had eight bedrooms. There was a basement that opened to the backyard, which he's had only a half acre landscaped, the rest had remained wooded. There were two bedrooms in the basement, a mechanical room, a storage room, and four others, including a wine cellar and a recreation room. The main floor of the house boasted a garage with an insane amount of space for her one mini-van, a formal living and dining room, a family room, a playroom, and a top of the time kitchen. The upstairs had six other bedrooms including a massive master suite, and there were a total of seven bathrooms in the home.
She had argued over the size, she'd never be able to furnish the damn thing even if she could pay for it. Mr. Bricker had reminded her that being with the pack would require that much space, that Sergei would be more than happy to help her get what she needed once she was there and had contacted him. She had argued her independence, and he'd chuckled about it, once she was bonded fully to the pack, there would be no hers vs. theirs. She'd just frowned at him and told him to bite her.
On Saturday, September 12th, Anya was sitting on her bed watching a cartoon with Oscar when she heard a knock at her front door. Switching the television off, she patted Oscar's brunette locks and stood up from the bed. She was wearing yellow yoga pants and a long white T-shirt with a cat on it and her feet were bare. As she padded to the front door, she pulled her long hair back from her face and tugged it through a scrunchee a few times. Pulling open the door, she let her green eyes fall onto the Asian man that towered in the doorway for several moments, her mouth dropping a bit as she finally lowered them to look at the babies in his arms.
"Wei." Anya breathed, her heart pounding painfully in her chest as she reached for the little girl who was wearing a pink dress and the most adorable little tights she'd ever seen. Wei released her immediately and watched as Anya cuddled the child close to her body, breathing in her sweet baby scent as she looked at the little boy that was still in his father's arms, sleeping.
"May we come in?" Wei asked, looking past her through the door, and Anya caught a glimpse of the woman and two men who had apparently accompanied the new father to her home.
"Oh, please. Yes. All of you, come in." Anya smiled and stepped back farther into her home, allowing Wei to enter, and his sister Shu right behind him.
Shu immediately approached Anya and wrapped her arms around the shorter girl and kissed her cheek. When she finally looked up, Anya gasped, Shu was crying.
"Anya, thank you so very much." She kissed Anya's other cheek and smiled at the little girl that Anya was holding.
"They are gorgeous, Wei." Anya breathed as she stepped over towards Wei. Both babies had full heads of hair, and while they had their father's coloring, it was a lighter shade.
"His eyes are green, like yours." Wei told her and Anya looked at the little sleepy boy, and she kissed his little head as he stretched in his father's arms.
"We make good babies." She whispered and could feel the heat rise off of him.
"Anya, we can not thank you enough." Zheng stepped towards her and she watched him look down at the baby in her arms with complete and utter devotion, and Anya knew that these two children would never want for anything. They would be safe with these four Asian dragons. And she also knew that she would always be a part of their lives, that was what Wei had promised her secretly that day at Vorhees. And she had whispered her address to him.
"Mama?" She heard Sam's voice and turned around to see him standing in the doorway of the living room, his hand on the wall.
"Sammy," Anya grinned, putting the baby girl in the arms of her uncle and she walked over to her oldest. How was she to explain that she'd given birth to a dragon egg, "We have some very special visitors, Sam. Let's go get your brother and sisters and then we can have everyone introduce themselves."
