Page 11 of Hayes (Alpha Daddies #7)

Chapter Nine

Six hours later …

“I’ve got you, Little one. Don’t panic. I know you’re confused. It’s the fever. You’re almost ready to shift. I promise it won’t ever be like this again. Only the first time.”

Hayes was holding his Little girl in his arms. He couldn’t stand to put her down, but he also knew he was only making her hotter. She was burning up.

Her transition probably wasn’t any longer than average, but she’d spent the first several hours fairly lucid and then sped through the last hour, her fever rapidly rising.

Until the end, she’d been mostly accommodating and non-combative. He couldn’t blame her for the tears and arguing about damn near everything for the last thirty minutes. He would never hold her responsible for her fevered confusion or even mention it again. She probably wouldn’t remember.

She’d endured countless bottles and diapers because she’d burned through them all so fast. She’d been very accepting of the numerous times he’d taken her temperature, too.

What Hayes knew for certain was that his girl had a very sweet disposition. She was deeply submissive and would probably be well-behaved most of the time.

He couldn’t begin to imagine what her odd ability to smell things in the distance meant or how it would affect her place among the Alpha Protectors, but he was grateful her power seemed rather innocuous. So far.

She squirmed in his arms. “I need to get down, Daddy,” she whined.

She was currently naked, wrapped in a towel. He’d been wiping her down with a cool washcloth, trying to ease the burning fever. If she wanted down, she was probably ready to shift.

“Okay, Little one.” He lowered her to the kitchen floor, removing the towel.

Keeping his hands on her so she wouldn’t fall, he squatted down to meet her gaze.

“You’re ready, Rylee. You’ve got this. Easy peasy.

You’re going to take a step back, close your eyes, and imagine your wolf coming to the surface. Let her out, okay?”

She nodded and shoved against him. She knew better than he did that the time was now.

He hated releasing her, gritting his teeth in the hope she didn’t trip over her feet in her delirious state. Luckily she seemed balanced as she took several steps back, braced herself, and closed her eyes.

He watched with pride as she inhaled deeply and let the shimmer of her shift take over.

A few seconds later, she stood before him on all fours, her glorious wolf a dark blond that matched her hair.

Her eyes were the same piercing blue. It was normal for a wolf’s hair and eyes to match their human side, but she still took his breath away.

Hayes smiled at his beautiful mate. “You did it,” he praised.

She looked around the room and then down at herself before taking a tentative step forward with one paw and then another. If he wasn’t mistaken, she was grinning.

She was certainly pleased with herself, judging by the way she started prancing around the kitchen. She even tipped her head back and howled, shocking herself.

Hayes laughed. “Well, your voice works.” He remained squatted in the same spot, not wanting to move and startle her. He held out a hand, and she came to him to nuzzle his fingers. He reached up to pet behind her ear, enjoying the way she playfully growled.

After a minute, she turned toward the back door, trotted that direction, and nosed at the handle.

Hayes stood slowly. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go outside right now, Little one. It’s late, and we don’t know how your power might be affected in your wolf form. Let’s go out tomorrow in the daylight.”

She shook her snout back and forth, tipped her head down, and narrowed her gaze at him.

It was about as fierce as she was capable of, and he wanted to laugh, but he needed to be stern with her.

Neither her wolf nor her human would be permitted to challenge him.

Not because he was an ogre who intended to boss her around with no rhyme or reason but because he wanted her to be safe.

He joined her by the door, reached under her snout, and tipped her head back. “Listen to Daddy, Little one. You do not make the rules. I do. Are we clear?”

She lowered her gaze submissively.

“Good girl. Now, I assume you realize it would be reckless of you to bound off into the night, right?”

She nodded vigorously.

“Are you curious about what you can scent?”

Another nod.

“Okay. You may step out onto the deck for a few minutes. That’s it. If you set even one paw off that deck, I will spank your bottom so hard you’ll never wish to disobey me again. Are we clear?”

Another quick nod.

Hayes hoped to heaven he wasn’t making a mistake in this decision. He didn’t think his mate would blatantly disobey him. It wasn’t in her nature. If he suspected she might, he wouldn’t let her outside. She’d given him no reason to doubt her word, though. Or her nodding as the case may be.

As soon as he opened the door, Rylee took a step backward. If her wolf could gasp, she did. She stared at the deck for several seconds before taking tentative steps outside.

Tipping her head back so her snout was in the air, she inhaled deeply, her nostrils flaring.

Hayes tensed. She looked as though she was scenting danger, but he suspected in this case, she was simply stunned by her abilities.

Suddenly, she jerked her head to the right and growled as if a predator were standing on the deck with them.

Hayes knew no one was there. Several Alpha Protectors were in the area, guarding the house.

Nothing would get by them. Nevertheless, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

He worried she knew something no one else could know.

It was possible. After all, she wouldn’t be the first mate in recent history to have abilities that baffled the Alphas.

The urge to shift next to her so he could attempt to sense whatever had her upset was strong, but he wouldn’t do so. It was best to go back inside.

Hayes set his palm on her head, but just as he was about to tell her to return to the house, she jerked her gaze the other direction and growled again.

“All right, Little one. That’s enough. Inside. Now.” He released her head and pointed toward the door.

She switched her attention from the darkness around them to him, seeming to snap out of a trance before turning and trotting into the kitchen.

Hayes was relieved as he shut and locked the door. Fuck, that had been unnerving. When he turned around, he was shocked to find his mate already in her human form, and she jumped into his arms, nearly catching him off-guard.

He caught her, tucking a hand under her bottom while supporting her back with his other palm. “I’ve got you, Little one.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight as he walked them into the living room. As soon as he sat on the sofa, she leaned back, met his gaze, and shuddered. “That was so weird.”

He lifted his brows. Weird didn’t begin to cover it. “What did you smell, Baby girl?”

“Everything.” She shuddered. “I couldn’t judge how far away anything was. It spooked me.”

“That’s why you jerked your gaze from side to side.”

“Yes. I could scent other animals. It was kind of like how I thought your brother’s steak was much closer than a mile, only now that’s even more intense.

I can tell you what everyone ate for dinner for miles around us.

I’m pretty sure I could even scent things that weren’t grilled.

There was a strong scent of tomato sauce.

Someone had eggs.” She curled up her nose.

Apparently eggs weren’t on her list of foods she enjoyed.

“And the steaks Isaac made were very nice—if you like that sort of thing.”

Hayes chuckled. “Well, one thing I can do is send out a group text and find out who had spaghetti and who had breakfast for dinner. Then we’ll know how far away those scents were.”

She slid her hands along his shoulders. “You’re so calm about this.”

“I told you, you’re not the first mate in recent months or years to have odd powers. Yours is not even close to being the weirdest.”

“You’ll tell me about the others?”

“Yes. After you sleep for a long time. You have to be exhausted. But first, tell me what other animals you could scent.” This part was important. Probably the most important.

“The usual ones like squirrels and rabbits…” Her eyes went wide. “Why on Earth would I know what squirrels and rabbits smell like?”

He grinned. “I have no idea, Little one. I suspect it’s innate.”

“Do you know what they smell like?”

“Nope.” He did not. But he wasn’t surprised she did. “Was that it? Squirrels and rabbits? You thought they were on the porch, and they scared you?” He knew that wasn’t the case. “Maybe other Alpha Protectors? Could you scent them?”

“Yes. Four of them are close. I assume those are the ones you said are protecting us tonight. And I’m betting the reason they’re surrounding us is to make sure the bears don’t get too close.”

Hayes swallowed. Bingo. This is what he was fishing for. His mate could scent the bears. And that was from a great distance. “You’re correct, Baby girl.”

“I’ve never seen a bear before. Are there a lot of them in the area? Is that why the Alpha Protectors exist?”

“The Alpha Protectors’ job is to guard the valley from any threat that might occur.

One of those threats is other wolf packs in surrounding valleys.

Though we live in harmony most of the time, over the centuries there have occasionally been rivalries that required negotiation.

Usually diplomatic and not requiring a physical fight.

You’ll learn the scent of everyone living in this area who is a member of our pack’s Alpha Protectors and their mates.

That way you’ll know when you scent a wolf that doesn’t belong. ”

“And the bears? Are they dangerous, too?”

“Bears can be dangerous. The bears you’re able to scent are new to the area. They moved here recently. And Rylee… They are shifters.”

She gasped. “Bear shifters?”

“Yes. We’ve had several interactions with them.

Most of them are kind and have been helpful.

A few are rogue. We have greatly increased our patrolling to stay on top of them, which stretches us thin.

However, with more and more of our new mates having unforeseen powers, we can relax our patrols some. ”

She frowned, cocking her head to one side. “Why’s that, Daddy?”

He gave her hips a squeeze. “Because shifters like you can simply tell us when the bears are approaching.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh.” She grinned. “I never thought about my existence being of any particular importance within the pack. Do the new mates patrol with their Alphas?”

“Not yet, Little one, but they are diligent about paying attention to their surroundings. Several of them have different powers. I’ll explain it to you better after you’ve slept.”

She yawned as if the reminder made her feel suddenly more tired. “Maybe I could sleep here on the couch?”

He shook his head. “Not a chance. The only place you’ll ever sleep for the rest of your life will be in my arms.” He rose, cupping her bottom, and turned to settle her on the sofa where he’d been sitting.

He guided her to lie on her side and covered her with a throw blanket before kissing her temple.

“What you can do is rest here while I change the sheets on our bed and clean up a bit so the scent doesn’t continue to overpower you. I’ll come get you when I’m done.”

She grabbed his wrist and tugged.

He bent to kiss her again.

“Thank you, Daddy,” she murmured, already drifting off.

Hayes stared at her for long moments, taking in her beauty and his good fortune. He had no idea what the coming days would look like or what her strong sense of smell meant for the future, but all that could wait. For now, they needed sleep.