by Viola Rivard
While the pair was still far enough away, Holly whispered, “If Silas doesn’t send this gremlin packing after five minutes, I’ll do your laundry for a month.”
With massive restraint, Taylor managed not to laugh. “It’s a deal.”
She didn’t think she’d actually win, but she didn’t do her own laundry anyway. Her pack mates had always helped out with the household chores here and there, but ever since she’d become pregnant again, she hadn’t so much as washed a dish.
A moment later, Clover had crossed the clearing and was embracing Taylor. If she’d heard what Holly had said, it didn’t show on her bright expression. Taylor got a quick whiff of her woodsy scent, which had vague hints of the scents of her mates, before Clover pulled back to beam at her.
“I’m so sorry that we’re late. Have you been waiting here all morning? You shouldn’t be out here. Gosh, look at you!” She moved her hands to either side of Taylor’s waist. “I feel like we just got the good news and you’re already so big!”
Taylor laughed off the comment, trying no to feel self-conscious. She was a lot bigger than she should have been, though she couldn’t attribute it to eating too much, as her appetite had been nonexistent. She also wasn’t having twins again, though the knowledge was of little comfort as it left her stumped as to why her midsection was expanding so quickly.
“This is Carly,” Clover said, extending an arm towards her human companion.
Carly had been hanging back, but at the invitation she stumbled forward, at first reaching out to shake Taylor’s hand, and then pulling back to instead give an awkward wave.
“Hi, you must be Taylor. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Her voice was a bit nasally, but not unpleasant. To Taylor’s surprise, she didn’t have a valley girl accent and sounded more liked she’d grown up in the Midwest.
“I can’t say the same,” Taylor replied. She offered her hand to Carly, who took it, only to pull Taylor into an embrace.
“Sorry, I’m a hugger,” she said against Taylor’s shoulder.
Of course you are, Taylor inwardly grumbled.
After she’d pried Carly off her, Taylor could see the younger woman’s eyes shimmering with tears. Carly sniffled and swiped at her cheeks.
With a shaky smile she said, “Thank you so much for taking care of my baby.”
My baby.
Taylor’s throat caught. She wanted to take the woman and give her a good shaking, but all she could do was nod dumbly. There was something about Carly’s eyes, not the color of them, but the shape, that reminded her of Henry. The more she looked at the woman, the more she saw the little boy that she’d been raising. Henry was a gorgeous little boy, but in the nooks and crannies of his features, he looked similar to the woman who had made him.
In a clear effort to fill the silence, Carly said, “Clover tells me that you kept his name?”
Taylor gave another nod, her voice hoarse as she said, “I always liked the name.”
Carly let out a bubbly laugh that was surprisingly pretty, though it revealed her buck teeth. “I never did, but my grandpa passed right before Henry was born, so I wanted to honor him. Henry’s full name is Henry Conrad Hitchens II.”
“Oh,” Taylor said, not sure how else she could respond.
Still beaming an eager smile, Carly asked, “How has he been? Is he well? Has it been tough for you, on account of the arm? You know, they say it isn’t genetic, but my great grandmother had the same thing, except it was a finger that was missing, her ring finger.”
The flurry of words only strengthened Taylor’s conviction that Carly wouldn’t be there to stay. Even if Carly been pretty, Taylor couldn’t imagine Silas, quiet and contemplative by nature, being able to handle Carly in anything more than small doses.
Carly clapped her hands together, showcasing nails that were painted hot pink and bitten to the quick. “So, do you think you could take me to him? Can I meet him? I mean, I’ve already met him, but he was so little then. I can’t wait to see how big he’s gotten.”
“He’s right here,” came Holly’s terse response.
Unbeknownst to Taylor, Henry had awoken during the commotion and had come to sit close to her side. The silvery wolf was staring up at the newcomers through speculative golden eyes.
Carly put a hand to her mouth as she sucked in a breath. “Oh. That’s… He’s a…”
“He’s a pup,” Taylor said, reaching to pat the top of his head. “Henry prefers his wolf form.”
She felt a little smug as she said it, and also guilty. She remembered grappling with her own children’s first shifts, and she’d been well prepared for it. She knew that in Carly’s mind, she’d been expecting to see an infant human, not what appeared to be an adult wolf.
“But, he can be human, can’t he?” Carly asked, worrying her bottom lip. “He’s not stuck like that?”
Clover put an arm around her shoulder. “We talked about this, remember? Pups grow a lot faster than human babies, and most of them can shift back and forth whenever they want.”
“He can also understand a lot of what we say,” Taylor said, more as a warning than anything else.
Carly’s thick brows rose. She instantly fell to a crouch so that she was a level with Henry.
“Hi, sweetie. Do you remember me?”
As she spoke, she lifted her hand towards the boy.
Everything inside Taylor clenched. Even her lungs refused to take in air. What would she do if Henry went to her? In her mind, she could envision a future in which he no longer laid at the foot of her bed, cuddled up at her feet next to Shadow. Where he no longer chased his big brother around, or played with his little sister. Where he lived on the other side of the valley in the cold, dark confines of the Whiteriver den. Or worse still, far, far away from here, sequestered in a house in a human town.
Henry inched closer to Carly, until he was sniffing her hand.
Carly’s smile widened. “That’s it. You remember me, don’t you? I’m your—”
She was cut short as Henry opened his mouth and chomped down on her hand.
Both Carly and Taylor shrieked in unison. Beside Taylor, Holly did an about face, burying her face in the crook of her arm to stifle her laughter.
Taylor rushed to Carly, who had promptly stood and staggered back a few steps, her face pale.
“I’m so sorry,” Taylor said, at the moment feeling nothing but horrorstruck. “He’s never like this.”
“It’s okay,” Carly said, a tremor in her voice. “He didn’t break the skin.”
After turning her hand over, Taylor could see that she was right, though there were angry red marks left by Henry’s canines. Taylor recognized it as a warning bite, though she couldn’t fathom why Henry had made it. Henry seldom bit even when playing, let alone to ward someone off. He was a friendly boy who liked everyone.
Taylor almost told Carly as much, but stopped herself. It would have been cruel, and Taylor had exhausted much of her antipathy for Carly.
Gently, Clover said, “He’s probably just confused. You’re a stranger, but you also smell like him. Who knows what’s going on in his little pup mind?”
Her smile back in place, Carly said, “You’re right. I shouldn’t have come at him like that. I was just so excited to see him.” To Henry, she added, “I’m sorry, little guy.”
Henry’s response was an unfriendly bark.
The panic that had been gripping Taylor for weeks finally began to abate. It was over now, right? Henry didn’t like her. Silas wouldn’t go for her, not in a million years. The bomb that had been set to detonate in the middle of Taylor’s life had been a dud.
Chapter Three
Clover kept the conversation flowing as they walked through the northern woods, talking mostly about the weather. While it felt sweltering to Taylor, it was apparently much hotter at the Shaderunner den and the surrounding regions. Situated in the mountains, Halcyon Valley experienced milder summers and colder winters than places at low
er elevation.
The talk of the temperature only served to make Taylor hotter, and by the time the first glimmers of the lake came into view, sweat was rolling down her back and between her breasts.
“That’s your home?” Carly asked as they neared the lakeside cabin. After Taylor nodded, Carly said, “Do all of your pack mates live in houses?”
“Just Taylor,” Lark said, her voice a little stiff. She was clearly torn between wanting to view Carly as the enemy and her own friendly, talkative nature.
“The wolves feel more comfortable in the den,” Taylor offered.
As they left the clustered trees behind, Shadow finally emerged from the woods. Living up to his name, he made scarcely a sound as he followed behind them, a remarkable feat, considering that he was the size of a small car.
Startled by his sudden appearance, Carly stumbled, caught at the last second by Clover. As she straightened, she put a hand to her chest, regarding Shadow with wonderment.
“Is that one of your mates?” Carly asked.
“That’s my son, Shadow,” Taylor explained just as Shadow was prancing up to her. He rubbed the side of his snout against her by way of greeting, and Taylor was quick to put her arms around his neck, relishing in the small gesture of affection. She didn’t doubt that he’d been upset with her, but unlike Hale, he could never stay mad for long.
“He’s so…” Carly paused to swallow. “Handsome.”
Clover, having not seen him since the winter, appeared equally taken aback by Shadow’s size, though she recovered more quickly. She had just begun to greet him when Lark pointed towards the cabin.
“Those are Taylor’s mates,” she said.
Taylor’s head snapped around. Sunlight hit her eyes, and she lifted her hand to shield them. Leaning against the cabin and dressed in identical white furs were her mates, Alder and Hale.
For a moment, she couldn’t tell one from the other. With their furs over their shoulders, Taylor couldn’t see Hale’s telltale scar. Their expressions were the same; not quite neutral, but cool and assessing.
Taylor hadn’t expected to see either of them there, let alone both of them. She felt a spark of excitement, but it quickly fizzled out when she remembered her last exchange with Hale, wherein he’d all but accused her of not loving Henry.
For once, she hadn’t fought back. He must have seen that as a victory, but the truth was, she was simply too overwhelmed to defend herself. She had wished, and still did, that she could crack open her skull and let him peer inside so that he could understand why she was doing this. Why she had agreed to allow Carly into her territory and was facilitating this stranger being close to the pup Taylor had been raising as her own.
Alder was the first to approach them. Taylor knew it was him the instant that he favored her with a warm look. As he reached them, his arm came out to wrap around Taylor’s waist. A second later, Clover was on him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Alder, it’s been ages!”
“Have you gotten taller?” Alder asked, planting a kiss on the top of Clover’s messy hair.
After a quick exchange of greetings, Clover’s attention shifted to Hale, whom she practically pounced on. Taylor’s attention was drawn less to the sibling reunion and more to the stunned look on Carly’s face as she gaped at Taylor’s mates.
Taylor didn’t take it for granted that Alder and Hale were hot. In fact, the knowledge had wreaked havoc on her self-esteem early in their relationship, and still popped up from time to time, even after being together for three years. She could never quite shake the feeling that they were out of her league. She thought she looked nice enough, the scar on her face and her ever-fluctuating weight notwithstanding, but they were both beyond gorgeous, the sort of men that may never have spared her a second glance, had they not been biologically compelled to mate with her.
Alder leaned down to press a kiss near Taylor’s ear. “How did it go?”
Something about the low, whispery tone of his voice made her shiver. Taylor sometimes wondered if her attraction towards her mates would ever wane, but as of yet, it’d shown no signs of abating.
Leaning her head against his arm, she whispered, “He bit her.”
She expected Alder to be as aghast as she’d been, but he only gave a small frown and said, “Hm. Strange.”
It annoyed Taylor, just a little. From the night she’d first told him about her plan to bring Carly to the valley, she’d failed to get a read on Alder’s opinion. While Hale had been very vocal about his feelings, Alder refused to take a side and was resistant to Taylor’s efforts to probe him.
Of her two mates, she would have expected Alder to react more harshly than Hale, as he seemed more bonded to their two adopted pups than her other mate did. But true to form, Hale had reacted to the news of Carly coming with a tornado of rage, while Alder remained calm and collected.
After Clover’s enthusiastic greeting, she introduced Hale to Carly. The young woman looked up at Hale, her mouth popped open, cheeks flushed, and pupils dilated. In spite of her longstanding issues with jealousy, Taylor wasn’t initially riled up. As she watched Carly practically drool over her golden-haired, finely chiseled mate, she felt only amused, with perhaps a tinge of pride. Once you got to know him, Hale was far from a prize, but he sure made a fine presentation.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Hale said, practically purring the words. He reached out to pluck a leaf from Carly’s brassy locks and then held it out in front of her.
“Thanks,” she said, her fingers trembling as she took the leaf and cupped it in her palm.
Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, Taylor looked around to see if anyone else had noticed the exchange, but Lark, Clover, and Alder were conversing, and Holly was staring at the lake, looking like she’d rather be anywhere else.
Carly caught Taylor staring and her face reddened further. Clearly hoping to shift attention away from herself, she pointed towards the cabin and asked, “Who’s that?”
Glancing over her shoulder, Taylor grimaced when she saw Olivia.
Some people called her Olive, but Taylor had yet to earn that privilege. She was technically the second shifter Taylor had ever met, having accosted Taylor and Alder as they journeyed to Halcyon Valley over three years ago. That night, Taylor hadn’t even known that Alder was a shifter, so when she’d first seen Olivia morph from a wolf into a tall, feral-looking female, she’d thought for sure that she was looking into the eyes of death.
Only moments later, Alder had revealed himself to be a shifter and had carried Taylor to the safety of the valley, where she would not see Olivia again for many months. At the time, they’d been enemies, but after a tentative peace treaty the packs had learned to tolerate one another. Olivia was now a member of Taylor’s agriculture group, helping to oversee the Whiteriver wolves that worked the fields.
While she and Olivia weren’t exactly friends, Olivia did seem to regard Taylor with a certain amount of deference for being Alder and Hale’s mate. It wasn’t anywhere near Karin-levels of deference, but Olivia was at least respectful, usually. At the moment, she stood with her hands on her hips, her green eyes narrowed on Taylor. All Taylor could do was offer a helpless shrug.
Nearly as tall as Alder and Hale and with sharp, but attractive features, Olivia was an intimidating sight up close. As she sauntered up to the group, her eyes still narrowed, Carly shrank back to be closer to Clover.
“I don’t think we’ve met,” Clover said, extending a hand.
Olivia took it, giving a single quick shake before letting go.
“Olivia. Whiteriver beta,” she said tersely.
Clover smiled in spite of the stiff greeting. “Oh! You must be Silas’s sister, then?”
At the mention of Silas, Carly began combing her fingers through her hair at a furious pace. “Is he here now?”
Taylor wondered what exactly Sarah and Clover had told Carly. In her letters, Taylor had tried to convey that Silas wasn’t a sure thing. He wasn’t actively
pursuing a mate, and there was no telling if he would be interested. However, from Sarah’s responses, it had seemed as if it were a done deal. Sarah couldn’t stop gushing about how Taylor and Carly would be such good friends, how they had so much in common, and how happy she would be to have another human living in the valley.
Looking at Carly now, Taylor struggled to imagine a single thing they might have in common, aside from their species and gender.
I would have never abandoned my baby.
There it was, that poisonous thought that seemed to slither in whenever she thought of Carly. She hated that she felt that way, but she couldn’t deny that the feeling was a part of her.
“Can I have a word with you?” Olivia asked, ignoring Clover and giving Taylor a pointed look.
Clover interjected, “How about the three of us girls have a chat while you guys show Carly around.” She gave her brothers a bright smile. “Shaderunner is the only pack Carly’s ever seen. I think she’d be interested to see how wolves live in the valley.”
“Sure,” Carly said, looking anxiously between the females.
For her part, Taylor instructed Shadow to take Henry to play. The younger pup had already been at his brother’s side, watching everyone converse while displaying no particular interest towards Carly.
Lark tried to invite herself along, but Taylor urged her to keep Carly company. The conversation to come was going to be contentious enough without Lark adding her input. Taylor couldn’t keep Holly from coming, but the fox’s presence wasn’t problematic. She followed behind them, hanging back and keeping to herself.
They walked in silence for several minutes. It wasn’t until they’d reach the pebbled shore of the lake that Olivia rounded on Taylor, her chin jutting up as she glowered downwards.
“Is this some sort of joke?” she seethed. “Silas will never be interested in her.”
Clover was the first to respond, catching on right away. “She’s not conventionally attractive, but she has a really big heart and she grows on you.”