Page 12 of Shattered

“To the desert. Interesting.” Mackenzie pushed off the counter he’d been leaning against then strode through the open sliding glass door.

“Don’t worry about him,” Keeley said joining them. “He’s in a rut.”

“You mean all the stuff I keep hearing about?” she asked, staring after the man who couldn’t get away from her quick enough.

“Yeah, I think it has him tied in knots.” Keeley frowned. “So, have you decided what you’ll do tonight?”

Aurora cocked a brow. “What do you mean?”

“Well, are you going to go home when we put the kids to bed, or are you going to stay and see what all the fuss is about?” The blonde woman wiggled her brows.

“Uh, I hadn’t quite thought about it,” she answered, suddenly nervous.

“Well, if you do. I should warn you. You might see a naked ass or two.” Keeley laughed as she hooked her arm through Aurora’s. “Come on, let me introduce you to the newest Dryer and Raferty arrivals.”

“Awesome. How many are there?” Aurora asked.

“As of today, four.” Keeley smiled. “We’re a big family built on growing families. We—well some of us, didn’t have great lives. So, our children give us a chance to experience everything through their eyes and learn to love all over again.”

“Oh.” She couldn’t imagine anyone, with the exception of Mackenzie having a tragic past, especially with all the raucous laughter and loud conversations. They all appeared to be happy and most of all, a family.

Aurora followed her through the house until they came to a room that, if she had to guess, had recently been added to the house. Keeley cracked the door open and inhaled deeply. “I love the smell of baby.” She hummed as they entered the room. There were two pack and plays in the middle of the room. One had three babies in it and the other had a single baby inside. All four were sound asleep.

Against the walls were three more cribs, inside one of them lay a set of twins and then on the far end slept a baby bear cub. Aurora’s heart squeezed. They were all so adorable. She went to the playpen with the smallest baby in it first.

“That’s Bay,” Keeley whispered. “He was born about five months ago.”

“He’s so tiny,” Aurora murmured.

Keeley nodded. “He is. I think he’ll be like his sister Natalie.” She pulled his hat back and exposed a tuft of white-blond hair.

“Oh my...” Aurora gasped. “Blake is his father, then?”

“Bingo.” Keeley pointed to the three cubs in the playpen beside Bay. “This is Arcadia, Espen, and Phelan. They’re Bodhi and Emma’s triplets.”

“Wow.” All three babies were cuddled together. Each of their shirts had their first initial on them. “Identical?”

“Espen and Phelan are. Arcadia is fraternal,” Keeley answered. “The little bear over there is Asher. He’s Hayden and Nico’s adopted son. And, you also know Charisma and Royce’s twins, Julius and Fern.”

“I feel like every time I see you, someone has or is about to have a baby.” Aurora laughed.

“Shifters are very fertile,” Keeley said. “We have to be careful.” She gave Aurora a saucy wink. “But, you already know that, huh?”

Abby.She snorted. “Bastard signed away his rights the minute she was born.” She’d never met the guy who’d knocked up her sister. Nor did she care to. The asshole had left her sister high and dry through the pregnancy. Then when he heard she’d died shortly after Abigail’s birth; he terminated his rights quicker than Aurora could be named Abby’s guardian. However, a year later, he started sniffing around, causing problems.

“Assholes,” Keeley agreed. “You’re here now, though. We’ll take care of both of you. You’re pack after all.”

“Huh, what?” Aurora stepped out of the room with Keeley.

“Part of the pack?” Keeley guided her back to the kitchen and the tables set up outside. “Once you moved here and once you applied for the job, you were part of our pack.”

“I feel like we just had this conversation two days ago,” Aurora muttered.

“Going with the flow is easier than fighting it,” Keeley said. “In about an hour or two we’ll be putting the younger kids to bed. The others will head over to Danielle and Caden’s house to watch movies with Shelby and a few of the teens from the orphanage. Wherever you’d like to have Abby stay, is fine with us. We always have room.”

“Where is their house from here?” Aurora asked.

“Across the foot bridge you passed on the way in.”

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