Page 23 of Taken By The Wolves (Blackwood Forest #2)

REED

On the journey back to the cabin, the baby wakes, and her soft whimpers grow into a full cry that rattles through my chest. I wince at the unfamiliar sound, as Scarlet tries and fails to calm the infant with nothing but her arms and her voice.

“Nixon, we have nothing to care for this baby. None of us has experience with children.”

“We should call Hunter,” Finn suggests. “Ask Goldie to help?”

“Who’s Goldie?” Scarlet asks as the baby cries even harder, and panic tugs at her cheeks. She grips the baby tighter.

That’s a whole other conversation. Until a year ago, the idea of calling on a rival shifter species would have been laughable. But now?

Nixon scrunches his jaw but nods. He fishes his phone from his pocket and dials as the world blurs past the window, leaving the life we knew far behind.

***

When we arrive home, Scarlet’s in full mama mode, asking for old shirts and towels and a pair of scissors. In a few minutes, she’s fashioned a chunky diaper and a soft garment for the baby to wear until help arrives. I watch with fascination at her resourcefulness.

“You have experience with kids?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “No, but they’re little humans, right? They need the same things as we do.”

Despite having some creature comforts, the baby’s still whining, most likely for food.

When there’s a brisk bang on the front door, Nixon practically sprints to open it.

The cabin door swings open, and Hunter steps in with Robert and Evan, their bearish frames filling the doorway as they pass through. Hunter’s carrying a large bag, Robert, a small boy, Evan, another small boy, and Goldie follows with a stack of blankets.

Hunter lowers the bag. “Formula, diapers, bottles. Some neutral baby clothes… hand-me-downs, if that works.”

“It works,” Scarlet says, already rummaging. “Thank you so much.”

Robert, Evan, and Hunter all stare at Scarlet, then at us, their brains working. Is she our mate? Unlike wolves, bear shifters can’t tell, and we’re not about to have that conversation in front of her, so I hope to the goddess they don’t ask.

Robert glances at the baby as Scarlet switches the cloth diaper for a disposable one, and his eyes bug out of his head. “Is that a…?”

“Girl,” Nixon says. “Yeah.”

“But how?”

“It’s rare, but not unheard of.”

“Where did you find her?”

Finn, who’s pulling bottles from the bag and studying them, looks up at Robert. “In the forest near here. She was abandoned.”

“That’s so sad,” Goldie says. She approaches the baby, her eyes wide and almost wary. Then she smiles at Scarlet. “I’m Goldie, by the way. Six men, and no one can manage an introduction.”

Scarlet snorts. “I’m Scarlet. Thank you so much for rushing over to the rescue.”

“It’s not every day we get a baby-related SOS.” Goldie runs her hands over her jeans and reaches into the bag for a packet of wipes. “We should wash her face and hands and then give her a bottle.”

“I’m on it,” Evan says. He hands his little boy to Robert so he can tip formula into a bottle. “Need to stand this in some hot water.”

“I can help you with that,” Finn says.

I lean against the counter, feeling like a spare part in my own home.

“I’m so far out of my comfort zone, it’s a dot on the horizon!” Scarlet says. I know exactly how she feels.

“Whose baby is it?” Hunter asks, his serious gaze watching everything. As the bear alpha, he understands the pack politics of a discovery like this.

“It’s complicated,” Nixon says. “An alpha’s mate was violated. This is the resulting offspring, cast out from the pack.”

“They left her to die?” Goldie asks, horrified.

“Yeah,” I say. “No alpha would want a cuckoo in their nest.”

“She’s not a bird,” Scarlet blurts, her fingers intertwined with the baby’s. “She’s a perfect child.”

“She’s a reminder of something horrific,” Nixon reminds her gently. “For her mother and her mate. We believe Aura was cast out, yes. But she wasn’t forced to abandon the child. Word on the grapevine is that Gregory has already taken another bride.”

“He’s a fucking asshole,” Scarlet hisses. “What kind of man deserts his woman after she’s been violated?”

“A territorial beast,” I say, because that’s precisely what Gregory is.

The truth is, I don’t know what Nixon would do in the same situation.

Our eyes meet as though we’re having the same thought, and he shakes his head.

He might have a similar initial reaction, but I know my brother.

He always wants to do what’s right, and the way he looks at Scarlet…

I know the lengths he’d go to to keep her safe and avenge her if she was wronged.

“So, what are you going to do?” Hunter asks. “You can’t keep it, obviously.”

Scarlet stiffens, her hands gripping the edge of the table until her knuckles turn white. The air around her seems to harden.

“Turning her over to the authorities isn’t an option,” Goldie says, voice steady. “Not if she’s shifting.”

Goldie reaches across the silence, resting a gentle hand on Scarlet’s shoulder. Their eyes meet in a quiet exchange thick with understanding.

Goldie’s hand stays on Scarlet’s shoulder a moment longer, steadying her like an anchor against the storm of everything we’ve laid out.

I can see in Scarlet’s eyes the clash of maternal instinct with the reality of what we are, and what this world is, and I admire her for standing amongst strangers and not running.

Evan presents Scarlet with a bottle, and she gathers the baby into her arms hovering the milk over its lips. It latches onto the teat gratefully, and gulps away, while Scarlet’s eyes soften and her lips part in wonder.

Hunter exhales slowly. He shifts his weight like he’s grounding himself, then asks again, “So… what are you going to do?”

It’s a fair question. One we haven’t answered.

The room falls into silence, broken only by the soft gurgling of the infant in Scarlet’s arms.

Nixon’s jaw ticks. Finn paces near the window, hands clenched at his sides like he’s bracing for an argument.

Scarlet doesn’t speak right away. She stares at the baby, her thumb gently stroking the soft curve of her tiny shoulder.

Finally, she looks up. Her voice is quieter than I expect, but firmer than anything I’ve ever heard. “What are we going to do, Nixon?”

Nixon turns to her, slowly. His expression softens a little, his heart showing through his tough outer shell.

“We’ll figure it out,” he says. “Together.”

Together. Is he ready to claim Scarlet? Is he prepared to tell her everything?

Goldie eyes us all, interest gathering in her curious eyes. “We’re close. If you need anything… supplies, help, advice, say the word.”

Hunter grunts his agreement, lifting one of the twins from Robert’s arms. The toddler lets out a soft yawn, tiny fists curled against his father’s chest.

“So, you’re keeping her,” he says, understanding something we haven’t faced up to ourselves.

Nixon rubs his stubbled chin. “For now.”

Hunter heads for the door.

“Good luck,” Robert adds, following them out with Evan not far behind.

Goldie lingers, eyes scanning Scarlet one last time. “It’s tough, but totally worth it,” she says with a gentle smile.

Scarlet offers her a worried smile in return. Goldie grins and leaves, and then it’s us: me, my brothers, Scarlet, and the miracle child who has landed at the center of our lives like a bomb.

Scarlet sits back in a chair and exhales.

I don’t know what’ll happen next, but what I do know is that nothing has ever looked as right in our kitchen as Scarlet does right now.