Page 53 of Taken By The Wolves

“Did you find her?” he asks, placing the book on the arm of the couch.

“We did.” Nixon runs his hands over his sweat-damp hair, staring at Scarlet… our very own sleeping beauty. “But it isn’t good news.”

“She doesn’t want the baby?”

“Nope.” I lean over the little bundle, wondering how anyone could bear to leave her alone in the woods. But unless you’ve lived through hell, it’s hard to judge the ones it scorches.

“She’s in a state of distress. I tried my best to encourage her to let us help her, but she’s adamant we leave the baby to die.”

“We’re not doing that,” Finn blurts. “Are we?”

Nixon sighs. “Of course not.”

“So, we’re daddies now?”

“I guess we are.” Nixon drops his clothes and kneels next to the baby, staring at it. All of us are staring at it.

“You ever think you’d see a female shifter?” I ask.

They whisper no, the wonder of it still aching in our hearts. “She’s a blessing born from tragedy,” I murmur.

“She’s a miracle.”

“Scarlet loves her already,” Finn says. “She talked about taking her home with her, but I pointed out that wolves don’t belong in the city.”

We both stare at him, and then at her beautiful face, so peaceful.

He touches her hair gently, reverently. “She told me she can’t have children.”

Nixon’s head jerks back, his shock reverberating through me, too.

“Why?”

Finn shrugs. “Doctors told her.”

We all look at the baby again; her tiny fingers curled, lashes brushing her cheeks. The goddess has blessed us with this child, and she will continue to bless us with others. Our mate is made for us alone, and that thought sends a ripple of satisfaction through me.

“She isn’t ours,” I say, as my brothers stare at me. “But she will be in all the ways that count.”

Finn bites his lip. “What if Gregory finds out who she is? We’re not going to be able to keep her scent concealedforever.”

“We’ll find a way,” Nixon growls. “That asshole isn’t going to hurt another female, if I have anything to say about it.”

“So, we claim Scarlet now. Tell her what she is to us. Tell her what her role will be.”

“Steal her from her life and her family,” Finn says, still stroking her hair. “You didn’t see her when she talked about leaving. Her whole face lit up. She loves her life and her business. She’s so passionate.”

“She can be passionate here,” Nixon says.

“Let’s take her to bed,” I tell my brothers. “While the baby sleeps, let’s remind her why staying is her only option.”

“You think good sex is a cure-all?” Finn asks.

“I think good sex is the glue that will bond her to us. Until the claim, that is.”

“Maybe.”

Nixon rises and gathers Scarlet into his arms. I pick up the basket with the child, an action so foreign that I marvel for a moment at how quickly our lives have changed and how quickly we’re adapting.