Page 39 of Taken By The Wolves (Blackwood Forest #2)

REED

We sit in the main room, a vast space framed with wood beams and old stone, the walls alive with family history.

Hunter sits in a high-back wooden chair that’s more like a throne.

Nixon paces, too keyed up to rest. Finn leans against the hearth, as if he’s deliberately trying to show that at least one of us is relaxed.

Scarlet sits on the couch beside me, legs tucked under her, cradling Ahya against her chest with a fierce stillness I’ve come to recognize as her armor.

The room quiets as Hunter’s eyes drift toward her.

“So,” he says, rubbing a hand over his jaw, “she’s a wolf... but also a bear?”

“That’s what we’ve been told,” Nixon answers, his voice edged but even. He stops pacing to stare at our mate and foundling.

Hunter glances at Robert, his brother, who sits in a thick chair by the window. The man’s been silent since we arrived, but the weight in his gaze is heavy with skepticism.

“It’s not possible,” Robert says. “Not biologically.”

“It shouldn’t be,” I agree. “But she’s here… a female wolf shifter. And our spiritual guide senses it in her. She’s never wrong and would certainly never joke about something so serious.”

Evan shifts forward in his seat, brows drawn. “The essence of three individuals can’t combine,” Evan says.

Hunter shakes his head. “There has never been a child born of two species of shifter.”

“I know,” Nixon says. “I know what I’m telling you doesn’t make sense, but can we let Ahya play with your sons.

If she sees them shift, maybe she’ll recognize something in their appearance, in their essence.

If she shifts into a bear, we’ll know for sure.

We’re not asking you to believe us blindly.

” He turns toward Hunter. “We want to know for sure. Just let her spend time with your boys.”

“And if she shifts into a bear?” Hunter asks, still watching Scarlet.

“Then we’ll all have our answer,” Nixon says.

Goldie sits nearby with the twins balanced on her lap, already wriggling toward freedom.

“Goldie?” Hunter says gently.

She nods, lifting the boys off her legs. “Connell. Coran. Go play, loves.”

The twins waddle over to where Scarlet sits, their chubby legs and wild hair making me smile even in this heavy moment. Ahya watches them, her blue eyes bright and still like she knows what’s coming.

Goldie moves toward the rug in the corner, where soft toys and wooden animals are scattered across a thick woven mat. The boys settle into play instantly, babbling and growling at each other.

“They don’t shift often,” Goldie explains, looking back over her shoulder. “We’ll need to be patient.”

I glance at Evan. “Would it help if one of you shifted? Something to mirror?”

He rises without hesitation.

We all go quiet.

Evan steps into the center of the room. Then, with a deep inhale and a ripple of energy, his skin splits, fur rolls across his body, and in seconds, a massive brown bear stands where he had been.

Ahya lights up immediately.

She squeals with delight and immediately squirms in Scarlet’s arms. Scarlet looks stunned but places her on the ground.

The strain in her face darkens her usually relaxed features.

I understand it’s the human part of her that’s wary of animals, especially one as big and ferocious-looking as Evan.

He approaches, his long snout huffing hard enough to ruffle Ahya’s hair.

His eyes fix on Scarlet like he’s trying to reassure her that he means no harm.

He bends over Ahya, and she reaches out to touch him like he’s the most magical thing she’s ever seen.

The twins laugh, too, scrambling toward their father. And then it happens.

They shift into little brown bears, scampering around Ahya.

Ahya stops. Her little body goes still.

Then she shifts.

Fur spills over her skin, sleek and black, limbs thicken and shorten in a blink. Where a little girl lay, now a bear cub tumbles forward, nose twitching, paws heavy and soft. She barks, a tiny, giddy sound, and lunges at Coran, rolling into a clumsy pile of cubs.

My heart stops.

Scarlet gasps, one hand pressed to her lips. “She’s… she’s a bear.”

Finn makes a low, reverent sound from the fireplace. “No more questions.”

“She’s not just a bear,” Goldie says softly, her voice trembling. “She’s the girl from my dreams.”

We all look at her.

“I saw my boys,” she continues. “Running through the woods. And there was a wolf girl with red hair, laughing as she ran beside them. I didn’t think anything of it, but now…”

She gestures to Ahya, who’s rolling in pure joy with the cubs, her dark fur shining.

“She’s real.”

“You didn’t tell us,” Hunter says, his voice a growl that reveals his displeasure. Mates don’t hold secrets. Maybe it was an innocent oversight, or maybe Goldie was worried about how her clan would react to the news of bear and wolf uniting.

When Goldie shrugs, Hunter is quiet for a long time, his gaze flicking from Ahya to Scarlet, then to Nixon.

“So, it’s true,” he says, voice rough, “She’s the bridge between us. We need the clan. The elders. Everyone.”

“Do you trust them?” Nixon asks.

“Not entirely.” Hunter’s hand tightens on the intricately carved arm of his chair. “But if you want your mate and your daughter safe, this is the only path.”

Scarlet, who’s been staring wide-eyed at Ahya as she plays, interrupts. “If it keeps her safe, we’ll go.”

Nixon looks at her like she’s the ground beneath his feet, then he turns back to Hunter. “We’ll go. But we go together. And we leave when I say.”

“Okay. But before then, we want to see Ahya shift to wolf,” Hunter says.

I catch the flicker of unease in Scarlet’s eyes. We’ve all seen Ahya shift to wolf, but only in fleeting, instinctual bursts, usually when she’s overwhelmed or overjoyed. We’ve never asked her to do it on command. She’s still a baby.

But right now, she’s not struggling.

She’s thriving.

Still in bear form, she rolls over Connell’s back, growling softly in play, then flops onto the rug with a cub-sized sigh. She stretches out, tongue lolling, and I swear she smirks. Coran nuzzles up beside her, and for a second, they breathe together. Two packs, entwined.

Finn stands. “Maybe if I shift, too?”

He walks into the center of the room, exhales, and shifts. His wolf explodes forward in a smooth, effortless burst. Silver-gray fur. Broad chest. Powerful shoulders. He stands tall beside Evan’s bear form. It’s a sight to behold.

We all brace.

No wolf and bear stand this close without a challenge, but here they are.

And then, without warning, Ahya shifts again.

This time, fur peels back slowly, elegant in its transformation. Her limbs stretch longer, and her paws shrink. And where a bear cub lay seconds ago, a furred wolf pup now blinks up at us with sharp blue eyes and a wagging tail.

Gasps echo around the room.

“She’s so young,” Robert murmurs. “That kind of control shouldn’t be possible.”

“She doesn’t know it’s control,” I say. “She’s just herself.”

She yips, tail whipping wildly, and bounds across the rug toward Evan, who’s still in bear form. She leaps and licks at his massive paw, then spins around and skitters toward Scarlet, circling her once before flopping right into her lap. Scarlet laughs, burying her fingers in Ahya’s silky fur.

“She’s showing them who she is,” Scarlet whispers.

And then Ahya shifts again, from wolf back to human, bare and glowing, her cheeks flushed from the energy.

She laughs in a bubbling, radiant sound that fills the whole room with light.

She claps once, then shifts right back into a cub and lunges at Coran like the chaos of existence is her favorite game.

Hunter scrubs a hand over his face, his voice stunned and reverent. “That’s… evolution.”

“She’s showing us what’s next,” Goldie says softly, her eyes wet. “That division on species lines isn’t our future.”

I look at my brothers. At Scarlet, who is smiling through tears. At Finn, still in wolf form, his eyes locked on our daughter like he can’t look away. At Evan who lowers his massive head in a slow, respectful gesture toward the cub and pup tangled on the rug.

Ahya shifts again, mid-tumble, wolf to girl to bear, and collapses in laughter.

“We’ll take her to the bear clan compound,” Hunter repeats, firmer this time, finally convinced.

And just like that, it’s decided.

The girl born of violence and miracle will be taken into the heart of the bears’ world. A place we were never supposed to venture.