Page 23 of Shattered

He pulled up to the orphanage and put his truck into park. When he stepped out, he was greeted by several of the orphaned children. Each one had been saved by the mission in Massachusetts. He scrubbed their heads and accepted leg hugs from the children too small to give proper ones. They were thriving with Danielle and the girls—Marie, Shelby and Charisma. After Mackenzie made sure to greet each child, he continued around the house and entered through the side entrance. Rapier had added it on to expand the clinic Danielle used to triage and take care of their new additions. It made mission work a hell of a lot easier and kept small prying eyes from disturbing the sick or injured.

He knocked on the door then entered. Danielle sat at her desk, rocking a small bundle in her arms while feeding the baby. Her features were soft. Her eyes were a bit misty. Damn woman took her work seriously when it came to healing fractured souls. Mackenzie cleared his throat, and she glanced up at him.

“Hey,” she whispered. “This is... Well, he doesn’t have a name.”

“Abandoned?”

She nodded.

Mackenzie frowned. “Where?”

She gave him a pointed look.

“Right, sorry.” He held up his hands. “Can I ask you something?”

Danielle smiled and pointed to the chair across from her. “Anything.”

“Have you met a little girl named Abby? You know, before the Halloween party?” he hedged.

“I have,” Danielle said. “Why?”

“Do you know much about her?”

Danielle placed the bottle on her desk then placed the small bundle to her chest and neck. Mackenzie caught the whiff of feline and frowned. He couldn’t see much of the cub, but what he could, the baby had the colorings of a leopard with sand and black fur. He drifted off in Danielle’s arms while she rubbed his back. “I do. She’s sick, Mac. Very sick. Yet stronger than anyone I’ve seen in a long time. She also has abilities.”

Mackenzie sat back. “What?”

“She hasn’t manifested them in front of me yet. I think it’s a matter of time and she will.”

“What about her heart?” he prodded.

“Every time I see her, I do a little bit more work on it. I haven’t told Aurora because I don’t think she’d believe me yet. The damage was significant. The doctors did an amazing job cleaning and opening the valve, so it works properly, however there’s still some thickening of the valve walls and some narrowing.

“Fuck,” Mackenzie grumbled under his breath. “Will it ever be right?”

Danielle shrugged. “Time will tell. She might need a new heart if we can’t fix it completely.”

Fear lanced Mackenzie’s chest.

“Hey, now,” Danielle whispered. “She’s with us, we’ll figure it out together.”

“Yeah, hopefully.” He scrubbed his face. “She’d like me to be Abby’s sitter while she works at the Sheriff’s Department.”

“Take her up on the offer,” Danielle said. “It’ll make my job fixing her easier.”

Mackenzie nodded. “I was going to, even if you couldn’t help her.”

Danielle frowned. “Do you remember the Halloween party?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me about the party? Did I miss something?”

His mated sister stared at him for a moment. “What if I told you, your wolf showed up?”

“I’d say you’re lying,” he replied. “I haven’t been able to shift in over twenty years.”

Danielle pursed her lips. “What if I told you I have proof you did?”

“I’d say, show me,” Mackenzie said.

---