Page 93 of Taken By The Wolves
“That tone,” she says softly. “Go on.”
“I fell in love.” The words are huge and right. “In Braysville. And I’m… I’m staying.”
She lets out a surprised gasp. “Tell me about him,” she says, careful. “What’s his name?”
I press my mouth to Ahya’s curls. “It’s… not justahim.”
Another breath on her end. My mother has a talent for not making me defend myself before I’ve had a chance to explain. “Okay.”
“It’s three hims,” I say, choking on a laugh that’s half terror, half joy. “Nixon. Reed. Finn. They’re brothers—” I search for the right shape, the truest one. “They’re good men. The best kind. They run a lumberyard and build beautiful furniture. Their cabin is in the forest, and we’re surrounded by the most beautiful trees. It’s peaceful, and they love what I love… they see me… All of me.”
“Three,” she repeats, voice even. “Is this safe?”
“Yes.” I don’t let the word wobble. “I feel safer than I have in years. Not because they’re… big and ridiculously strong—though they are—but because they protect me and listen. They’re the best men I’ve ever met. And there’s a little girl, this baby, here who needs us. I know you’re about to tell me to beware of strangers, and you’re not wrong. I heard you in my head the whole time.” A huff of a laugh. “But they’re not strangers anymore.”
“A baby?” Her gasp is watery, and if I had any doubts that she would accept this, they fly out of the window. She knows how hard I grieved after my diagnosis, and how devastated I was to have to let my dreams of a family slip through my fingers.
“Ahya,” I say. “She’s got red hair like mine, and she’s the sweetest little thing. Hang on. I’ll send you a picture.”
I flick to my photo app and forward the picture to my mom. It’s of me, holding Ahya, a close up where I’m staring at her beautiful sleeping face.
“Oh, Scarlet.” My mother makes a sound I’ve heard in kitchens and car rides and doctor offices—when she changes gears from protection to support. “She’s gorgeous… and look at you.”
“She’s happy with me, Momma. She looks at me like I light up her world.”
“It’s the best, isn’t it?”
I smile at Ahya, holding her a little closer.
“Do they love you, baby?” Mom asks. “Do they put you first? Do they support your dreams? Do they make you feel like you can grow and thrive with them?”
“They do.” My throat gets tight. “I love them.”
“Okay,” she says again, and I can hear her smile now, thin but real. “Then I’m happy for you, baby.”
I bite my lip. “I’ll still need to come back and pack up my life. Tools. Contracts. The ugly chair I keep because itwas my first commission.”
“You can take your grandmother’s quilt,” she says, practical through the emotion, like always. “And the muffin basket.”
“You’re giving me the muffin basket? I thought I was only getting that in your will.”
“Someone has to fill it with muffins,” she laughs. “Sugar isn’t my friend these days.” A pause. “When are you coming back?”
“After… some things settle here.” My voice dips. I don’t tell her about the battle or the danger I was in. I’d never hear the end of it. I can’t tell her about Nixon, Reed, and Finn and their true nature yet. There will come a time when I’ll have to if I want her to be a grandmother to Ahya, but that’ll be up to my wolves to decide. I won’t do anything to put their lives at risk. “Maybe next week? Finn offered to drive me. He’s the artistic one. You’ll like him.”
“I’ll like all of them,” she says dryly, “if they keep my girl safe and treat her right.”
“They do.”
“And they understand I’ll have questions,” she adds. “Pointed ones. Over coffee.”
I smile into the dark. “Deal.”
“And Scarlet?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t care if it’s one or three or a whole basketball team as long as you sound like this.” Her voice goes slow and sure. “Happy. You sound happy, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted for you.”
