Page 12 of The Tiger's Secret Baby (Savage Shifters Special Ops 4)

Ember rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. “I give up. You guys change back and put your clothes on. I can’t have a bunch of naked heathens running around. I’m going to help Ginger with dinner.”

Laughing, she walked away into the house.

Dinner was well organized. Ginger, the main cook, had all the food ready. The older kids served the younger ones. Then, once everyone was served, they began to eat.

After dinner, the younger kids collected the dishes and took them to the kitchen. They washed, dried, and put them away under strict supervision.

Then, it was storytime. The kids gathered in the living room. Usually, someone read a story from a book. But tonight, Magnar asked if we could tell about one of our adventures.

We told them a watered-down version of how we rescued their friend, Elise, from the Iranian terrorists. They were extremely excited, because Elise had told them bits and pieces of the story.

When it was time for bed, there were several of the kids who said that they wanted to grow up and be just like us. That was a great feeling. I liked feeling like a superhero to kids.

After the kids had been put to sleep, I told the guys that I was going to get a cape, start wearing my underpants on the outside of my clothes, and put a big D on my chest.

They all slapped their foreheads, in sync.

Gage checked in with Steve, as the night crew had been on duty for a couple of hours. They hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary. However, no one was letting their guard down.

We went up to bed. Later, I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I would sneak into the kitchen to see what kind of food she had in the fridge. However, I saw Ember sitting at one of the tables. Her flowing red hair glowed in the low light. She was turning a mug of something around in slow circles, her mind clearly in another place and time.

My heart lurched as those old feelings came creeping back in like a low fog. After watching her for a minute, I went back to bed. She never knew I was there.

It took me a very long time to go back to sleep. When I finally did sleep, images of her invaded my dreams.

5

Ember

It was virtually impossible to get the kids to settle down to do their lessons. They were all excited to have Gage, Jared, Damian, and Lucian visiting us. I understood their excitement. This was the first time that they had met adult shifters. After all, the kids were in my care because, for some reason, their families were unable to care for them or chose not to care for them. I didn’t have any shifter friends that I could invite to come over. After Damian left, I pretty much lost myself in the kids and everything else in the world, including my friends and family, just seemed to slip away until they no longer existed in my life.

I had to say that every one of these men would make great fathers, if they weren’t already fathers, including Damian. They were patient with the kids and their never-ending questions. They didn’t seem to mind that the younger kids seemed to view them as some kind of jungle gym.

Rose looked a lot like Damian. She definitely had his eyes, and they shared a lot of the same facial features. She was tall, lean, and had a very muscular build. She also possessed the stealth and grace of her father. To be honest, she had always been more like him than me. Seeing that had always hurt my heart, because it made me miss Damian all that much more – or at least what Damian and I used to have.

She seemed to gravitate toward him more than the other men, likely because they were both tiger shifters. I was really quite surprised that Damian and the other guys hadn’t noticed how much she looked like him. After all, being in special forces, one would think that they would be more observant and see details like that.

I really needed to tell him that she was his daughter. I wasn’t really sure how to do that. “Surprise, we’re going to have a baby – ten years ago.” Or how about “Congratulations. You’re a father. Surprise.”

I would also have to make it clear that I didn’t want or expect anything from him. I didn’t need any money from him. I had always found a way to get by with what we had.

He and Rose would have to decide how big a part he would play in her life, too. Obviously, I wouldn’t let him have full custody of her, and I didn’t think that he would try that, regardless of how mad he became with me.

Once Damian knew, there would be the task of telling Rose. She had asked me a couple of times over the years what had happened to him. I had always avoided answering her questions directly. She knew her father was still alive and that he was a hero. She knew that he had joined the military when I was pregnant. I never directly told her that he didn’t know he had a daughter, but she wasn’t stupid. She likely knew.

After the kids’ academic lessons were finished, they rushed outside to work on the barn. The men pitched in. I just did my best to stay out of everyone’s way.

That afternoon, the phone rang. I didn’t want to answer it, because I was pretty sure who was on the other line, and I didn’t want to deal with that today. I wasn’t a coward, and although I never sought them out, I wasn’t a person to back out of a confrontation. I would stand my ground.

However, Duggers was beginning to wear me down. I didn’t want to answer the phone. I didn’t want to look outside when a car came up the road, because I didn’t want to see him and that smug face of his.

The phone stopped ringing, and I sighed from relief. Then, it started back up again. I knew that he would call me nonstop until I answered. One of the kids saw the look on my face and went outside to get Lucian. He came into the house just as I answered the phone, put it on speaker, and said, “Hello.”

“Have you had time to think about your options?” Duggers’ voice came through the line. He sounded very arrogant, and I could picture the condescending look on his face.

“My answer is the same as it has always been, Duggers. My ranch is not for sale. Not to you or to anyone. This is my home and my children’s home. Period. The end.”

“You will change your mind,” Duggers answered. “Mark my words.”

---