Page 28 of Taken By The Wolves (Blackwood Forest #2)

SCARLET

The morning unfolds in a cascade of new roles.

Ahya's cry carries through the silence, a tiny whimper that crescendos, and in a heartbeat, I’m awake.

She needs a bath, but Nixon suggests we use the shower.

The water is tepid on his skin and mine as we gently soap Ahya’s fragile frame together.

Her surprise is endearing as the water trails through her red curls, slicking them to the gentle curve of her head.

She blinks wide-eyed, then relaxes, lulled by the warmth.

Gentle laughter drifts between us, me at how startled she is and Nixon at how perfect she looks with her hair teased into a mohawk.

She’s so tiny that, clutched against Nixon’s broad chest, cradled by his huge hands, she seems impossibly small.

Reed dresses her in a powder blue onesie and Finn mixes her formula to her liking. They head out soon after, Nixon and Reed to the lumberyard, and Finn to his workshop, leaving me cradling our little miracle. I’m more complete than ever.

Ahya is the sweetest little thing. She listens, entranced, when I softly sing the lullabies I remember from childhood.

When I lay her on the rug with a tiny plush toy Goldie packed for us, she kicks with delight.

When her eyes flutter shut, she fusses only briefly before curling into me and slipping into a deep, peaceful sleep.

Before I realize it, lunchtime arrives, punctuated by the rumble of the truck and footsteps through the front door. Nixon and Reed enter, bags of tacos and sodas in hand. Finn is right behind them, carrying more.

“I could have made sandwiches,” I say, fishing a taco from a bag and letting the aroma flirt with my senses.

“You’re taking care of Ahya,” Reed says, his gaze drifting to her sleeping form. “That’s full-time work on its own.”

“She’s no trouble,” I admit. “I thought babies were supposed to be exhausting, but she’s so easy.”

“Wait until she shifts,” Reed teases. “Then you’ll be chasing her around the house.”

I freeze at the reminder of that part of her nature. “Do you think she will?”

“It’s hard to predict,” Nixon says, between giant bites of his taco. “Sometimes the shift comes later. But in Ahya’s case, maybe being left alone triggered it early. A human baby wouldn’t survive the woods, but a wolf cub might.”

“Poor baby,” I whisper. Fear climbs in my chest as I think how close she came to freezing.

Nixon wipes his hands. “We have something to talk about.”

My heart skips. “Finn mentioned.”

All three men fix their eyes on me. My stomach flips.

“You’re making me nervous,” I laugh, but it comes out like a squeak.

“It’s not bad,” Reed says, offering a crooked smile. “One more truth bomb, amidst everything you’ve already learned.”

Nixon’s pale blue eyes are so serious, my mouth is suddenly dry.

“You came here and found us.”

“You found me,” I remind him.

“Whatever.” He waves his hand as though the specifics are unimportant. “You’re here with us, not because of a set of random circumstances but because fate brought you to us… You’re our mate.”

Finn adjusts his weight beside me, his expression solemn and steady. Reed nods with silent support in his gaze.

I laugh and it bursts out of me unexpectedly loud, making Finn jump.

“Scarlet, we’re serious.” Nixon leans forward, crowding.

Outside, the forest crowds in, the trees bending in the wind that rattles the windows in their frames, reminding me that everything about this palace is unfamiliar.

“Our mate bond,” Nixon continues, “it’s not like a human relationship. It’s deeper. When we claim you… when you choose to be ours… it’s forever.” He reaches across the table, takes my hand, and his touch is warm, grounding me. “You’ll feel it? The bond. I think you already do.”

Reed stands behind him, arms crossed over his broad chest, his brows furrowed in concentration. “It’s not only about love,” he adds. “It’s total devotion. It’s waking up every day knowing we belong to each other and this place.”

My heart pounds like a drumbeat because he’s right. The pull he’s talking about is like roots springing from my feet to anchor me, waking old and powerful sensations inside me.

But I shake my head.

“No,” I whisper. “I don’t… I don’t belong here. I have a home, a life, and family.”

“Your home is here. Your life is here. We’re your family, Scarlet. And you’ll bear our children to make a new pack.”

I shake my head, knowing for certain now that they’re wrong about all of this. “I can’t have children, Nixon. I’m barren.” I wince at the archaic word but it’s the only way I can make him hear the truth. “You need to find another mate.”

“There is no other mate,” he says. “It’s you. You’re the one marked for us. Born on the wolf moon. You’re ours, and there’s no changing it.”

“I can’t have children, Nixon. You’re not listening.” Frustration curls my fists in my lap. “There must be a way for you to find another mate. What if I died.”

“No,” Finn says, surprising me with this firmness. “There is no other way.”

“This is…” I look around, trying to find words that wouldn’t be insulting.

I want to say it’s primitive, crazy, ridiculous.

It’s a fantasy, an illusion, like the magicians on TV that wow with sleight of hand tricks.

But none of those is right. “I’m an ordinary woman,” I say.

“Not even that. I can’t give you what you need. I’m broken. I’m not what you want.”

Nixon’s fist thuds so hard against the table that I flinch.

“You are exactly what we want, Scarlet. Do you hear me? You’re not broken. You need to be with us to fulfil your destiny.”

“I don’t have a destiny, Nixon,” I yell. “This isn’t a fairy tale. You want to claim me, to bond me to you, but I’m human. I don’t belong in this world of yours.”

Finn is slumped forward, sunlight catching the dark threads of his hair and turning them bronze.

His eyes are soft with understanding, his voice low and rich as the earth that cradled Ahya.

“Goldie’s human. She didn’t think she belonged with Hunter, Robert, and Evan, either.

She fought it for a long time, but the bond changed her.

The forest changed her. But we can’t do this if you don’t want it. ”

“We can,” Reed says. “We can do what Gregory did and force the claim, but we don’t want that. We’ve never wanted that. This only happens if it’s what you want, Scarlet.”

He stands and crosses to me, laying a hand firmly on my shoulder. “Scarlet, you’re not just a woman. Not anymore. The forest called to you. The goddess handed you a miracle child, the chance of a mate-bond, and a place in this pack. It’s fate.”

I glance at my hands, relishing the strength of Reed’s reassuring grip, Nixon’s firm words and Finn’s gentle explanations.

These men… these wolf-men have done nothing but look out for me.

Since I arrived at their cabin, they’ve been gentle and considerate, passionate and kind.

They’ve given me space to develop feelings and waited to explain their world to me.

Now they’re promising me a forever commitment and the family I thought could never be mine. “You said… you could give me children?”

Nixon nods. “Our seed is meant for you. If you choose us, if you ask for the claim, and let the bond settle into your body, it will heal what was broken. You were told you couldn’t have children in the human world.

But here, with us… anything is possible.

We will breed you, Scarlet. We will fill you with babies, and this house with our pack. ”

The cabin seems to brace with my hesitation. Outside, a bird trills and I close my eyes, fighting the sting there. I came on a quick trip to do business, but instead, I found men who want to promise me forever, a baby I’ve bonded with, and a world that doesn’t want to let me go.

“I thought I knew who I was,” I whisper. “I thought I had a path.”

Nixon reaches for my hand, and his fingers tighten around mine. “You did. And it led you here.”

“This place,” Finn murmurs, “You’re part of it now, Scarlet.”

I look from one to the other, these men who carry the wild in their eyes and speak like prophecy.

“I need time,” I say, my voice trembling.

“Take it,” Nixon murmurs. “We’ll wait. But know this, Scarlet. Your place is here. Not because we want you to stay. Not because you’re a part of us already. But because the forest, the goddess, the bond… you were chosen for us to love.”

And in my heart, something soft cracks open.

Because they’re not willing to overwhelm my choice and claim what’s rightfully theirs. They’re waiting for me to choose them, too.