“How bad is it?”
“I think he could go without healing if you can’t do it.”
Noem waved. “No, it’s fine. I shouldn’t have problems if the wounds are small.”
Nootaw guided him toward Merle. Jago had cleaned his chest wounds and was working on his face, and Merle was awake, blinking at Jago, who was scolding him. “I seriously don’t get why you’re here, Merle. Zach told you to go home.”
“It wasn’t an order.”
“A strong suggestion, then.”
Merle tried to sit up and winced. Nootaw rushed to his side and helped him while Noem kneeled on Merle’s other side. “I’m fine.”
“Yeah, we gathered that from the wounds,” Jago snarked as he dabbed none too gently at Merle’s face.
Merle rolled his eyes. “I’m fine, really. I was trained to fight, you know?”
“And you haven’t trained in weeks.”
“Yeah, but I haven’t forgotten what I learned. David is wounded too, but you’re not telling him off for being here.”
“That’s because he was ordered too.”
“And I would have been.”
“But you weren’t.”
“Can you two shut up and let me heal those wounds, please?” Noem asked. Merle and Jago obeyed and Noem made quick work of Merle’s chest. He healed the wounds on Merle’s face too, once Jago had cleaned them, then got up. “Jago, if you’re done here you can come with me to the other group. We need to check if they need help.”
Jago looked like he wanted to say no and stay to scold Merle a bit more, but Noem grabbed his wrist and pulled him along. Nootaw stayed with Merle, unsure about what to do. Then Merle leaned against his chest and Nootaw reacted instinctively, wrapping his arms around his mate. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I fought a wendigo.”
“And a wolf.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t do too well against him.”
“But you took out a wendigo on your own. It’s impressive.” Nootaw buried his nose in Merle’s hair, and the fact that Merle could have died suddenly hit him. He gasped for words, but he didn’t know what he wanted to say.
Merle patted his chest. “I know.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“But I can feel it. So I know, don’t worry.”
Nootaw hugged him tighter. They stayed there until a commotion pushed Nootaw to look toward the house. Kameron was there, surrounded by other shifters. He was sending them home, clasping their shoulders and telling them they’d done great.
Nootaw’s home was there, so he got up and hauled Merle in his arms. Merle smiled lazily. “You know, I could walk. Noem healed me.”
“I know, but I like you in my arms. Besides, he might have healed your wounds, but you’re still tired.”
“I’m not complaining.”
Nootaw walked toward Kameron. Kameron arched a brow at the sight of Merle in Nootaw’s arms, but he didn’t say anything until they were inside. “How is he?”
“Fine. Noem healed him.”
“What was he doing here?”
“I’m right here, you know?” Merle groused. “And I was there because I’m one of your recruits. I managed to kill a wendigo on my own, so you can’t tell me I’m not good at it.”
Kameron chuckled. “I wouldn’t dare. Why don’t you go shower and sleep?”
“I need to see Zach.” Nootaw would have to take care of Aranck until Nepi was better, but he had no idea how to do that.
“The baby.”
Merle stirred in Nootaw’s arms. “Yes. His mother was hurt, so I need to take care of him.”
“He’s your son?”
Nootaw felt Merle’s eyes on his face. He nodded at Kameron, unsure of what else to do. “Yes. I found out only today.”
“Right.” Kameron sighed. “Got to your room, get cleaned up. Zach should be back by the time you’re done.”
Nootaw started to walk away, but Merle asked, “How many did we lose?”
“One enforcer. There are wounded, but the docs and the Nix are taking care of them,” Kameron answered.
“What about Tom?”
“Gone. He fled when he saw he was losing. It doesn’t look like he thought this out very well, and he was overwhelmed by the numbers.”
They left Kameron in the kitchen. Nootaw had to climb into the shower with a queasy Merle, more because he was still shocked from taking a life than because he was hurt. Besides, Nootaw wanted to be close to Merle, too. He knew he could have lost him that day—would have, if Merle hadn’t been so lucky to kill the wendigo with only one bite.
They didn’t talk about Aranck until they were both back in the bedroom and dressed. It was Merle who brought it up. “So, you’re a dad.”
“Yes.”
“What about Nepi? Are you... do you want to build a family with her? I know I can’t be a mother to Aranck, and besides, she’ll be there, so he doesn’t need me.”
“Nathan has two fathers,” Nootaw said, thinking of Andy and Xavier’s adopted son.
“I know, but he doesn’t have a mother. I don’t want to confuse him or something.”
Nootaw took Merle’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Why would he be confused? He’s only five months old. He’ll simply grow up with two fathers and a mother. If you want to. I understand if raising a child is too much for you.”
Merle shook his head. “It’s not. I won’t say it doesn’t fucking scare me, because I never thought I’d have a kid, and I won’t know what to do most of the time, but I’m willing to try. Will Nepi be all right with it, though? Won’t she expect to get back with you?”
“We were never together, Merle. What we did was only to have a child. Nothing more.”
“So she won’t care?”
“No, and even if she does, I don’t. I’m with you. We’re mated. That’s forever.”
Merle beamed. “Yeah.”
A door opened in the distance and a baby’s cry echoed through the house. Merle wrinkled his nose. “I think it’s time I meet your son.”
“Our son.”
“Right. Our son.”
Chapter Seven
A hand smacked Merle on the nose and he jerked up, blinking at the sunlit room around him. There was a giggle, then the hand was back, pulling on the hair on Merle’s stomach.
He grimaced and reached down to untangle Aranck’s hand from his hair. He looked at the other side of the bed, but it was empty. Nootaw had left him alone with Aranck, and Merle had no idea what to do—or how to salvage other body parts Aranck seemed to find highly interesting, like his fingers.
Aranck started to bite down on Merle’s index finger, but Merle slipped it from his grasp. “Nope, buddy. You can’t bite people.”
Aranck gurgled. He was a sweetheart, and Merle was slowly getting used to having him around. It had taken him a few weeks to be comfortable changing diapers and feeding Aranck, and he still felt odd sometimes, but they were getting by.
The door opened and Merle turned to look at Nootaw coming in with a bottle full of milk. Aranck took advantage of Merle’s distraction and bit down on his finger. Merle pressed his lips together to stop the swearing that bubbled up and extracted his now damp finger from Aranck’s little mouth. “There, Daddy brought milk. That’s a lot better than my finger, I swear.”
“Ilk!” Aranck yelled. He made grabby hands toward Nootaw and Nootaw handed him his bottle.
The three of them settled in bed again, Aranck between Merle and Nootaw. “You should have woken me,” Merle said. He watched Nootaw rake his fingers in Aranck’s soft black hair and smiled.
“It was just a few minutes.”
“I know, but still. He could’ve rolled off the bed.”
“Right. Sorry.” Nootaw squirmed, something he didn’t usually do.
“What’s wrong?” Merle asked.
“Nothing.”
“Spill it.”
Noot
aw took his cell phone from his pocket. “Jared called. He said Nepi will be out of the hospital in the next few days.”
Merle’s heart squeezed painfully, and he looked down at Aranck. He couldn’t say he felt like a father just yet, but the thought of giving Aranck back to his mother and not being able to see him whenever he wanted to was surprisingly painful. “Do you know what’s going to happen?”
“No. I haven’t talked to her yet, but I know Kameron wants to before I do.”
“Right. Do you think...”
“No. He’s my son too. She won’t try to take him away.”
“How can you know that? You told me how fathers don’t have anything to do with their kids in your tribe. It wouldn’t be surprising.”
Nootaw reached out and took Merle’s hand. “But we’re not in the tribe anymore, and Nepi will have to get used to that. I know she came with me for Aranck and to save herself and him, and not because she thought the tribe’s lifestyle is wrong, but I think she knew things would change. Besides, Kameron wouldn’t let her push us out from Aranck’s life.”
That much was true. Kameron seemed to enjoy having Aranck in the house a lot more than Merle would have thought. He’d even found the alpha cooing at Aranck the other night. Aranck was teething, and he woke up several times every night. Merle and Nootaw took turns at getting up, and Merle had had the scare of his life when he’d gone to Aranck’s room only to find him gone from his bed. He’d found him in Kameron’s lap in the living room, and Kameron had shooed Merle back to bed.
Someone knocked on the door. Merle looked at Nootaw, but Nootaw just shrugged and yelled, “Come in.”
The door opened and Chogan looked in. “Everyone’s covered?”
“Aranck’s here,” Nootaw answered.
Chogan came in and left the door open. “He’s who I came for.”
“Oh, so much brotherly love.”
Chogan ignored Nootaw and wiggled his fingers at Aranck. Aranck burped and threw his bottle away to crawl toward his—for now—favorite uncle.
“Is Jared here?” Merle asked.
“No. He left for the hospital a few hours ago,” Nootaw said, lifting Aranck and blowing a raspberry on his stomach. Aranck laughed and grabbed Chogan’s hair. “He likes hair, huh?”
Merle rubbed his head. “At least mine is short.”
“Mine isn’t that long,” Chogan protested. Merle gave his braids a pointed look and Aranck chose that moment to grab one and pull. Chogan winced and freed his hair by tickling Aranck.
“You heard anything about Tom?” Nootaw asked his brother.
“No, nothing yet.”
Nootaw didn’t like to talk about the battle, and Merle understood why. He hadn’t pushed yet, but killing his own brother had hurt Nootaw more than he wanted to admit, and keeping everything bottled in couldn’t be good for him. Merle thought he should talk to Gentry at least once, but Nootaw hadn’t caved in yet.
Talking to Gentry was helping Merle a lot. He’d started after the battle, because it had been obvious that he could fight, even after what had happened to him. Getting over the nightmares wouldn’t be easy, and Merle was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to do anything if he ever found himself in front of Tom, but it didn’t mean he was as useless as he’d thought he was. Talking with Gentry had solidified that opinion, and he was planning to start training again as soon as he and Nootaw could talk to Nepi and plan things for Aranck.
Chogan put Aranck down as he sat on the edge of the mattress and continued talking to Nootaw about their tribe. Aranck pouted a bit, but Merle held his hands out and Aranck crawled toward him. Merle picked him up and settled him between his legs. Aranck beamed at him and placed a wet kiss on his cheek.
A soft gasp made Merle look toward the door and his eyes widened when he saw his mother there. “Mom?”
Nootaw and Chogan both turned to look at Merle’s mother. Merle felt Nootaw tense beside him, so he put a hand on his mate’s thigh. Nootaw covered it with his and Chogan got up. “I’m going to go. Jared will be waiting for me.”
He didn’t wait for anyone to say goodbye, but he did nod at Merle and Nootaw. Merle’s mother stepped aside to let him pass, and Merle wasn’t able to tell what she thought about him.
He wasn’t sure what to do. She probably wanted to talk to him, but he was with his family, and Aranck was playing with his fingers. He didn’t want to put the boy down just to be insulted by his mother.
When she stepped into the room, Merle looked straight at her. “If you’re here to tell me off because I mated with Nootaw again, then you can leave. I don’t want to fight with you, especially not in front of Aranck.”
She shook her head, her eyes never leaving Aranck. “Who is he? Or is it a she?”
“He. Aranck is Nootaw’s son.”
“Our son,” Nootaw said, reminding Merle of that time a few weeks before. He smiled, and he saw his mother look at him.
“He’s our son, Mom,” he confirmed.
“His mother?” Merle’s mother asked.
“Not that it’s any of your business until you decide to welcome Nootaw in our family, but Aranck’s mother was hurt. She’s in the hospital.”
“No, I meant to ask if your... mate was going to leave you for her.”
Nootaw growled and Merle patted his thigh. “No, he’s not going to, Mom. We’re mated and in love. He didn’t know about Aranck until recently.”
Merle’s mother looked shaken, and Merle hoped it was a good thing. “So you decided to adopt him?” she asked.
“I didn’t decide anything. He’s Nootaw’s son, Nootaw is my mate. I wasn’t about to make Nootaw choose. Besides, I love Aranck.” When Merle’s mother didn’t say anything else, Merle asked, “What are you doing here, Mom? I thought you weren’t talking to me.”
“I came to talk to you.”
“About what?”
“I... your father and your brother are angry at me. We talked a lot in the past weeks, and they convinced me to give Nootaw a chance.” She looked at Nootaw. “I’m sorry. I let gossip and prejudice influence me. I can’t say I understand how Merle could give you all his faith so quickly, but you’re not my mate. I love him, and I want him to be happy. If you’re what makes Merle happy, then I guess it means you’re family.”
Her words were cool and not overly friendly, but it was a start, and Merle was happy for that. She left soon after that, and he knew they’d be okay, in time.
His problems hadn’t magically disappeared, but as he settled deeper in his bed, kissed his mate and cuddled their son, he thought he could deal with some problems if it meant he could have his family.
About the Author
Catherine lives in Italy, country of good food and hot men. She used to write fantasy as a child, but it was reading her first gay erotic romance novel that made her realize that that was what she really wanted to write.
After graduating from college in English language and translation, she divides her day between writing, reading, taking care of her son and reading some more.
You can find her on Facebook and Twitter or on her website: authorcatherinelievens.wordpress.com
Email: [email protected]
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