Page 43 of Taken By The Wolves
“Third, we find the mother and return the child,” Reed says quietly. “But we risk getting involved with a volatile pack.”
I swallow hard and press on. “Fourth, we tell Scarlet the truth. About who we are. About what she’s seen. And pray she chooses to stay.”
Reed exhales sharply. “You’re seriously considering that?”
Finn’s voice is quiet. “We crossed a line with her last night. Made her trust us. Took things further than we should have. She gave herself to us. We showed her what life could be if she were our mate.”
“And we gave ourselves to her,” I say. “It’s already done.Now we owe her the truth.”
“But that doesn’t affect the child,” Reed says. “That child… It’s a miracle.”
“It is.”
I rub my stubbled jaw.
“What are we choosing here?” Reed asks. “The baby? Or the woman?”
I meet his eyes.
I close my eyes. My wolf claws at me from the inside, roaring to claim my mate and only protect what’s mine. But my heart, the human part, pushes back.
I open my eyes and square my shoulders. “We’re choosing both. You remember what Mom used to say about the goddess… that she had her ways and that questioning them was a sure way to turn fate away from your favor.”
“And Dad used to say that the goddess was wily and liked to test us, and it was up to us to use our free will to decide our own paths,” Reed reminds me.
I sigh and rub the bridge of my nose. “Aura knows that Blackwood Forest is our territory. She ventured into rival territory, risking herself to leave the baby where we’d find it. She didn’t want it to die. She wanted us to find it.”
Finn sighs. “That’s exactly what I thought.”
“So what?” Reed’s usual humor is replaced by stress and tension. “She thinks we’ll be great daddies? Gregory can’t want that child… the way it was created…” He shakes his head, lines bracketing his mouth. “So, we’re supposed to raise it alone. Scarlet’s leaving unless we can convince her otherwise. This baby isn’t guaranteed a new momma with its three daddies.”
Finn snorts. “I’m trying to imagine Nixon changing diapers.”
“You think I can’t?”
He shrugs. “This morning started out spectacularly, but it’s taken a weird turn.”
“You think the goddess wants us to raise this baby… this female?”
“I don’t know. But what I do know is the woman in there is waiting for us to tell her what this is all about. Whether it’s the right time or not, we have to tell her about the world she’s stumbled into. Then, we work out what to do next together.”
I inhale deeply. The weight of legacy, of pack politics, and all the complexities of being a shifter in a human world sits heavily on my shoulders. But so does the need to protect what we’re building with our mate and find a way to handle a child that is a gift to the world, even if it isn’t ours.
Scarlet’s already claimed more of my heart than I thought any mate ever could. And, from the way she’s looking at that cub, I think she’s lost her heart, too.
“Let’s go.”
I lead the way back inside, ready to face whatever comes next.
Everything we’ve been hoping and dreaming about is now at stake. I don’t know what Scarlet will choose when she learns the truth of who and what we are, but I know this: the goddess is watching us now, and whatever she wants will come to pass.
21
SCARLET
I sit in the office surrounded by the familiar scent of fresh lumber laced with the faint tang of sawdust like my studio at home.
The baby sleeps in my arms, a perfect little angel with red curls and cheeks so soft, they seem too fragile to be real. My fingers trace the curve of her tiny cheek, marveling at how peaceful she looks nestled against me.
