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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

SEBASTIAN

Claire doesn’t return to work that afternoon. I hold my angel captive in bed, feeding her French toast and giving her orgasms.

The next morning, however, she insists, so I make the thirty-minute drive to the hospital in Lakewood.

Shifters aren’t susceptible to most human ailments, so it feels odd walking through the revolving glass door, past an entire fleet of wheelchairs, and into the gleaming lobby.

The curmudgeonly older woman at the help desk eyes me suspiciously when I ask for directions, and she sends me on what feels like a wild goose chase up to the labor and delivery ward.

When I finally reach the correct room, I hesitate. My wolf doesn’t like the strange smells and sounds, and every fiber of my being tells me not to intrude.

And yet I know Adrian will want to hear this. If it were me, I’d want to know .

Clearing my throat, I knock softly, and a tired female voice beckons me inside.

I open the door and lock eyes with my alpha. Adrian is seated in a chair by the window, holding a tiny pink bundle in his arms. The baby’s face is scrunched and wrinkly, and there’s a shock of black hair poking out from a white woolen cap.

It floors me to see my formidable alpha cradling his daughter so tenderly.

“Sorry to intrude,” I mumble, glancing at his mate.

Cassie is reclined in the hospital bed, looking exhausted but happy.

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” she murmurs, offering me a wry smile.

It’s more than I expected from Cassie, considering I once kidnapped her to use as leverage against her brutal bear shifter of a father.

“This better be important,” Adrian rumbles. He keeps his voice low to avoid disturbing the baby, but it still sounds like a growl.

“It is. At least . . .” I trail off. “I just thought you’d like to know that Murphy’s been taken care of.” I glance over at Cassie, whose cheeks have lost all their color. “He won’t bother you or your family ever again.”

Cassie nods, and I turn back to Adrian. There’s a new intensity to the protectiveness that seeps from his pores, which I’m guessing has everything to do with his new baby girl.

“Thank you,” he growls, though his eyes soften. “I can’t tell you what it means to have him gone. What it means to both of us.”

I give a curt nod and turn to leave, but Adrian’s voice halts me in my tracks. “Cass and I were just saying that Sibby needs a godfather.”

“Sibby?” I repeat. It’s an odd name for a baby — even a half human, half shifter one.

“It’s short for Sybil,” Cassie explains. “It’s the closest we could get to ‘Sebastian’ for a girl.”

“What?” I turn to look at her, and Cassie nods, a slow grin spreading across her face. “I never thought you liked me much.”

“You’re the reason we found each other,” says Cassie. “And you never stopped looking for Dane.” She presses her lips together and swallows, a well of emotion in those deep brown eyes. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”

A lump rises in my throat as I chance a glance at my alpha. And here I thought I was his greatest disappointment.

“Would you like to hold her?” Cassie asks softly.

My throat goes dry. I don’t know the first thing about babies. What if I drop it or squeeze it too tight?

Adrian emits a low growl that says he doesn’t feel like being separated from his pup, but Cassie shoots him a glare that any she-wolf would admire, and he nods. “Wash your hands first. She’s half human. Don’t want her getting RSV or —”

Cassie clears her throat loudly, cutting him off. “We are not putting our baby in a bubble. ”

Wordlessly, I do as I’m told and sit down on the edge of the bed. Adrian hands me his daughter, his movements slow and deliberate, and I stare down at Sybil.

She’s so tiny — tiny and perfect, with a puckered little rosebud mouth and big brown eyes.

“Bloody hell,” I choke, my hands shaking as I try to find a comfortable position. “How am I supposed to —”

“Hold her like a football,” Adrian suggests.

“A what ?”

“An American football,” he amends, showing me how to support Sybil’s body with my arm.

My eyes itch as I stare down at her, and I hurriedly scrub them with the edge of my sleeve.

“Everything all right?” Adrian asks.

I sniff loudly and nod. “I’m going to have one of these soon.”

“What?” My alpha and his mate say in unison.

And just like that, the whole story spills out of me — how I tracked Murphy, how I found Claire, and what happened when I realized she was my fated mate.

By the time I finish, Adrian and Cassie look shellshocked, and little Sybil has fallen asleep in my arms.

“You’re happy,” says Adrian, his voice half amazed, half accusatory. “And you’re scared.”

“Fucking petrified,” I grind out, unable to tear my eyes away from Sibby’s nose, which is a perfect replica of Cassie’s, only smaller.

If Adrian’s pup has this sort of hold over me, what the fuck am I going to do when Claire gives birth ?

“So was I,” says Adrian quietly.

His admission takes me by surprise, and I jerk my head up to look at him. “Does it ever go away?”

“It hasn’t yet,” he says, rubbing his hands together as he stares down at his daughter. “But I’d rather be terrified of fucking up the best thing that’s ever happened to me than be back where I was with nothing to lose. You get used to it.”

But for once, I’m pretty sure my alpha is wrong. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this feeling.

I’ve never had a family of my own. The pack is all I’ve ever had, and I’m pretty sure they all just tolerate me. Now I have a beautiful mate, and soon I’ll have a pup to love.

I am, without question, the luckiest bastard who ever lived.