Page 67 of Salvation

“What’s your name?” she asked the young woman.

“Summer.”

“I think they’re going to be okay.”

The baby was quieting down already, staring up at Anna with yellow-green eyes. Her breath caught in her throat, and she couldn’t drag her eyes away. She looked and looked and looked, and it reminded her of the way she’d first passed Todd in the saloon doors. Something shifted inside her, and this time, she recognized the feeling.

It was her soul announcing,This one is mine. This one belongs to me.

The man. And now, the baby. She took a deep breath. Was this really happening?

She held the baby closer, and the tiny eyes blinked.Are you a good wolf or a bad wolf?they seemed to ask.

Anna shook her head and whispered, “I’m not a wolf at all.”

“You sure fight like one,” Summer murmured.

Anna sat a little straighter. “I’m not a bear, either.” She glanced at Todd, wondering what he would say. “I’m just me.”

That’s all I want,his eyes said.All I need.

She looked down at the baby. “But I’ll do everything I can to help you, sweet little thing.”

The baby seemed content with that and gripped Anna’s pinkie in her tiny little fist.

“Wow,” Anna breathed, looking at her.

“I don’t know what to do,” Summer cried, tossing up her hands. “They don’t have anyone.”

Todd made a gruff sound that sounded a lot like,They do now.

“I don’t know anything about babies,” Summer went on, overwhelmed.

Anna didn’t, either, but something deep inside her promised she would figure it out fast.

“Doesn’t take much,” Todd said, petting the cub between its ears. “A little feeding, a lot of holding. A lot of love.”

It looked like it would take ten men with a crowbar to pry that cub out of his arms. Anna smiled.

The sun was just starting to set outside, and the light filtering through the back of the van was a soft orange-pink. It backlit Todd’s body and streamed in around the bundle in his arms. During the fight, everything had been harsh desert tones, but now, everything had calmed to a warm, comforting glow.

“We got this,” Todd whispered to the cub. “Don’t you worry, little guy.”

Then he looked at her, and she smiled. It seemed crazy to feel so calm in such a crazy situation, but she was. Calm and serene.

She nodded at Todd, then looked down at the baby girl in her arms. “We got this.”

Chapter Seventeen

Todd lost track of time. He got lost in the softness of the tiny cub’s ears and in the presence of Anna nearby. Jesus, what a woman. She’d just had the reality of shifters introduced to her in the worst possible way, and yet she hadn’t fled for the hills. When she looked at him, it wasn’t in disgust or horror. She just smiled.

But when the engine of an approaching car sounded outside, she clutched the baby and paled. “Are they back?”

The cub panicked, too, sinking its claws into Todd’s arm and burrowing against his chest.

He murmured to the cub. No, the rogue wolves weren’t back, and thank God for that. Footsteps sounded, and Soren’s face appeared at the open door of the van. The second he peered in, he did a double take.

“Holy shit.” Soren’s eyes darted between Anna, him, the young woman, and the babies. “I mean, shoot,” he added, shooting an apologetic look at the babies.

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