by Viola Rivard
He quickly assessed the situation, noting that there were far too many wolves for them to take on in a fight. He and Cain were downwind of them, and somehow, they hadn’t noticed Hale shift. He slowly backed away, shifting into his human form as he did so. The shift was equally uncomfortable in reverse, but once fully into his human form he merely felt compressed, rather than stretched much too thin.
Hale moved to stand beside Cain, the two of them ducking to hide in the shadows. Hale hated hiding, it felt cowardly, but as the wolves continued to pass by, he recognized that it was the only logical option. His first estimates put the band at fifty members, but he quickly revised it to a hundred, and then beyond as more and more wolves of all different sizes and colors poured over the hillside.
“Who are they?” Hale asked, keeping his voice at a whisper.
“I don’t recognize their pack's scent,” Cain replied.
Hale didn’t think it was possible that they could even be in the same pack. There were too many of them, and they just kept coming.
Morning sunlight was bathing the mountainside when the last of the wolves passed by. A handful of stragglers scurried along, rushing to catch up the herd. Cain and Hale waited, listening for any stirrings of life. For a few minutes, all was quiet with the sort of silence that only came during a snowfall. Then, they heard the sound of heavy steps crunching.
What emerged from the forest was not precisely a wolf. It had the sleek body of a brown wolf, as well as a similar face, though the contours were sharper. On its neck, it sported a long, thick mane that reminded Hale of a lion, though the fur appeared longer and glossier. The mane gave him a certain elegance, which clashed with his oversized fangs and massive, protruding claws.
Hale had seen plenty of oak trees that were bigger, but he could understand how the rumor had taken root. Never in his life had he ever seen or heard of a living creature that was quite so large. He and his brothers were the largest wolves Hale knew of, but compared to this thing, they would have looked like ankle-biting pups.
Unlike the members of the herd, it did not pass by them. It stopped some distance away, looking in their direction with its jade eyes.
Hale was jarred from contemplation as Cain stepped forward, emerging from the cover of darkness. He issued a curse but made no effort to pull Cain back. The damage was already done. To his further astonishment, Cain looked the creature directly in the eyes and then executed a deep bow, his fist crossed over his chest.
Hale could only stare in disbelief, both at the colossus and his brother’s reaction to it. Cain gave him a not-so-subtle kick in the shin.
“Show your respect,” he said under his breath.
Hale wasn’t sure if he would have bowed. Probably not. Thankfully, it didn’t matter. The creature regarded them for all of ten seconds and then appeared to lose interest. He continued on at a leisurely pace, bringing up the tail end of the herd.
His herd.
It had to be. Unless there was a second wolf, one as tall as a mountain, then he couldn’t imagine that thing being subservient to anyone.
“Who the fuck is that?” Hale asked hoarsely.
Cain’s back had straightened. “I do not know.”
“Then why bow?”
“Because we were in the presence of a god.”
“A god?” Hale asked, his tone mocking. “Really?”
Cain gave him an impatient look. “What else would you call that?”
Hale stared after the creature, no answer coming to him. All that occurred to him was that he had just seen something so inconceivable that it couldn’t have been conjured in his worst nightmares, yet for some reason, he hadn’t been afraid.
CHAPTER 7
TAYLOR LAID the sleeping baby down on the cot and tucked him in with a supple deerskin blanket. Henry reminded her a bit of Shadow, in how quickly he was adjusting to her rhythms. Whereas Fawn had more wolf-like sleeping patterns, resting often, but for only a few hours at a time, Henry slept for long stretches, waking only to feed. In only two short days, he had picked up on Taylor's nocturnal sleeping routine, would remain awake after evening feedings, and then go back to sleep during daytime ones.
He had fallen asleep early that morning, just after sunrise. Taylor had kept him with her as she'd helped Sarah with her pack's dinnertime routine. Sarah had given her a sling for the baby, but she still kept him tucked inside her shirt, with the sling tied tightly around her belly to keep him from falling, while keeping her arms freed up. She had kept both of her own pups in her shirts and against her skin for as long as they would fit, so it felt natural to keep him so close. With his skin against hers, she could feel his body temperature and his minute movements that indicated he needed a changing, wanted attention, or help with a feeding.
Putting him down felt bittersweet. She was glad to be free of the weight but also missed having him against her. Thankfully, she had another pup who'd been waiting his turn.
As soon as the baby was tucked in, Shadow wriggled under her shirt. Though tall in his human form, he was also lean and sinewy. He managed to fit, but just barely. Taylor gave it another week before he was popping the seams in even her widest blouses.
"Hi, puppy," she crooned.
For once, he didn't go for her breasts. Instead, he sat on her lap with his head popped out of her neckline, staring down at the pup contemplatively.
"What's on your mind?" She asked.
He hadn't nursed in two days. Not long ago, that might have crushed her, but now it was somewhat of a relief. Henry had gotten rather proficient at nursing and had gained quite the appetite. Keeping him fed was a full-time job and making enough milk for the both of them would have likely exhausted her.
Shadow had quickly adopted the eating habits of Sarah's older pups. Just as Taylor had worried, he had no interest in playing with pups his own age, or anywhere near his age. His favorite playmates were Carina and David, who were twelve and ten, respectively. To Taylor's utter disbelief, Shadow's wolf form was larger than both of theirs. Thankfully, Carina had gotten her mother's gentle, authoritative style of dealing with pups and she had no trouble getting Shadow to behave and play nicely with the others.
Earlier that night, she had told Shadow that Henry would be coming home with them. She had hoped to wait for Hale so that they could tell him together, but she had no idea where her errant mate had gone or when he'd be back, and she'd finally succumbed to Shadow's relentless line of questioning. He had taken the news pretty well though he'd seemed more confused than excited. She'd tried teasing out what was wrong but found that as was often the case, Shadow didn't know what was wrong either. He had just shrugged his shoulders and then shifted and scampered off to play.
Now that she had him to herself, she was no more likely to get a straight answer out of him, but he had had time to think, and sometimes that made all the difference.
He cocked his head up to look at her. "He doesn't look like you, or Pa."
"Is that what it is?" she said, smoothing his hair back. "He doesn't look like us because we didn't make him, not like we made you. He had a different mama and papa, but they couldn't take care of him."
"Aunt Sarah and Uncle Cain?" He asked, his little brows furrowing.
"No, no one that you know. They live far, far away from here."
"Why couldn't they take care of him? Because of his arm?"
The kid was nothing if not astute. "No, but that's an excellent inference."
She pressed a kiss to his head as she considered how to explain something she'd often wondered herself, having grown up without a family. It had taken over twenty years, and becoming a parent herself, but she thought she equipped to put in terms that he might understand.
"You know how Holly is the very best at finding mushrooms, nuts, and berries?" She asked.
His head bobbed. "And eggs, too. One time, she found a duck's nest that was hidden in a tree log that was half underwater. And turtle eggs that were under the underground."
"Just
'underground' is fine," she corrected. "And that's because Holly is a very good forager. In fact, she's the best in the whole pack. And do you know who the best hunter is?"
"Pa," he said, without hesitation. Then, a look of concern flashed across his face. "Don't tell Papa."
Taylor chuckled. She doubted Alder would take offense, but she humored Shadow with a nod.
"Pa might be the best hunter, but Papa is the best tracker, isn't he?"
Shadow's eyes lit up. "He is."
"Foraging, hunting, tracking, they're all skills. Nobody can be good at everything, and most of the time if you want to be really, really good at something, you have to settle for being kind of bad at another thing.
"Being a parent is also a skill. Not everyone who has a pup can be really, really good at being a parent. I'm sure that Henry's mama loved him very much, she just didn't think she would make a very good mama."
"But she could have gotten better at it if she tried, right?" Shadow said. "Like, how I used to be bad at talking, but I tried and I got better. Or how Fawn always fell down a lot, but now she never falls down when she walks."
"You're right, but it took a lot of time, practice and hard work, didn't it?"
Shadow shrugged.
Taylor said, "Maybe Henry's mama had other things she was good at, or things she wanted to become good at, so she decided that it would be best to give him to another mama, your Aunt Sarah, who's already a very, very good mama. And now, your Aunt Sarah gave him to us."
"Because you're a better mama than her?"
Taylor grinned. "No, though I appreciate the vote of confidence. Can I tell you a secret? But you have to promise not to tell any of the other pups?"
Shadow looked shocked, and then quickly recovered, affecting a serious expression that made him look just like Alder. Secrets were his kryptonite. He loved hearing them, and God love him, he was great at keeping them, better than any adult Taylor had ever met. She would sometimes make up silly little things for him to keep a secret, tidbits of information that were the sorts of things that came up in casual conversation, like her favorite color or the name of her childhood goldfish.
"Yes," he whispered.
Taylor looked around for dramatic effect, and then whispered, "Aunt Sarah has a lot of little boys, and some of them are pretty good big brothers, I guess. But when she heard about you, and what an awesome big brother you are to Fawn, she knew that Henry had to come live with us. That's because Henry needs the very best big brother to help take care of him."
Taylor couldn't remember seeing her son look so thrilled and so thoroughly pleased with himself.
"I get to be his big brother?"
They spent what must have been an hour just sitting beside the sleeping pup, talking about the new responsibilities Shadow would be taking on once Henry got a little bigger. He had a lot of ideas, and it was clear he'd been thinking about having a new pup for a while. Though he and Fawn were twins, he'd taken on the role of an older brother quite early, as he'd developed so much faster than her. Unlike most young children, they had almost never fought, if you didn't count play-fighting, and Shadow had always been attentive to Fawn's needs, often placing them above his own. Taylor wasn't lying when she told him that he was the very best big brother, and just knowing that he was on board made the prospect of raising another pup seem that much less daunting.
She was facing the doorway when Hale returned. Shadow noticed him first, by scent. He scrambled free from her shirt, yelping excitedly just as Hale appeared in the entrance. She could tell he'd come straight to them. There was still unmelted snow on his clothes and his shoulder-length hair was wet and clung to the sides of his face. She could see outlines of fatigue on his handsome face, but they shrank back as a broad smile stretched across his face.
"Who are you and why do you smell like my pup?" He said, scooping up Shadow and dangling him at an arm's length.
"I am your pup," Shadow said in between excited giggles.
Hale eyed him with mock scrutiny. "I don't know about that. My pup has way more fur than you."
Taylor couldn't wait for him to finish his game. She sprang up and went to him, squishing Shadow between them as she wrapped them in a bear hug.
"You're back." Her face was against his chest, her voice muffled by his wet furs.
"I'm back," he said, running a hand through her hair.
"I hate it when you run off without telling me where you're going."
"In my defense, I didn't think I'd be gone all that long."
Fingers knotted in her hair, he pulled her head back and claimed her lips in a swift, dizzying kiss. It went on for longer than she was comfortable with, with Shadow being there, and she had to push him back.
Having patiently waited his turn for Hale's attention, Shadow announced, "The new pup is coming with us and I get to be his big brother."
"I've heard something about that," Hale said, setting Shadow down. "Do you think you're up for it?"
"Uh huh," Shadow said, nodding vigorously.
Hale scratched his chin. "Well, you should probably go tell the other pups. On the way in, I heard a few of them saying that he's their little brother."
Shadow's mouth fell open. "Who said that?"
"Sorry, don't know their names. You should definitely go get to the bottom of it, though."
Without waiting for further instruction, Shadow dashed off, calling out that he would be right back. Hale told him to take his time.
"You diabolical bastard," Taylor said, without an iota of malice.
Hale gave her a wicked look. "Is the pup asleep?"
Taylor didn't bother answering. She grabbed him by the cheeks, pulling him down to resume their kiss. This time, his mouth moved against hers with unbridled aggression, his tongue thrusting into her while his teeth scraped at her tender lips. His hands grasped her hips, lifting her up so that her pelvis could grind against his erection. She was whimpering as she broke their kiss.
"We should probably wait a couple minutes, make sure he's not going to come right back."
She knew what his response would be, but she had to do her due diligence.
"Taylor, it's been over a week," he all but growled. "Unless this den starts collapsing on top of us, I'm going to be inside of you in the next minute."
"Minute?" she repeated, careful to hide her excitement.
"Quit talking."
Hale silenced her with his mouth. He let her down, only so that he could rid himself of his wet clothes. His clothes fell in a heap on the floor, seconds before he had her pinned to the bed. She waited for him to flip her onto her knees and take her in his favorite position, but at first, he didn't kiss her and didn't touch her. He just stared at her.
She was starting to squirm under his gaze when he finally began removing her clothes though that in itself was weird. Economical to a fault, he didn't bother getting her any more naked than she needed to be for his purposes. Tonight, he removed each piece of her clothing, so slowly and methodically that she found herself analyzing his face, looking for the telltale signs that he was Hale and not his brother.
The last piece of clothing to go was her undershirt. As soon as he removed it, Taylor was fumbling for something to cover herself with. She feigned cold, but really, she just didn't want him looking at her stretch marks. Though she'd lost a considerable amount of weight since the twins were born, the marks on her belly and upper thighs were stubbornly persistent. It never bothered her to have Alder see them, he'd even traced them a few times, playfully teasing her. But around Hale, she deliberately hid her midsection. The last time he'd tried fully undressing her, she'd actually smacked him. There was a small, sad little part of her that believed after all this time, after everything that had happened between them, that Hale would stop being attracted to her. He made so damn insecure.
“I love you,” he said.
Taylor could count on both hands how many times he'd said that to her, and almost every time she'd had to nag it out of him. In res
ponse, she did the only reasonable thing. She sat up and placed a hand on his forehead.
No fever.
Scowling, Hale removed her hand and brought it to his chest.
Slowly, he repeated, “I love you.”
Blinking back tears, Taylor said, “Are you sure you're Hale?”
“I love you,” he said, stroking her cheek. “I love you, and I will never leave you.”
“Four times,” she said, a slight hitch in her voice. “You said that four times now.”
He leaned in to kiss her, but she placed two fingers over his lips.
“You have to stop saying shitty things to me when you're angry. I know you think you can just apologize and everything will be okay, but every word chips away at me.”
“I can only promise that I'll try to do better.”
“You scare the hell out of me, Hale. You have no idea how many time a day I wish I could crack your head open to see what's going on in there.”
She felt his lips curve beneath her fingers. “Usually, I'm just thinking about how I'm going to get you alone.”
They both laughed. He started to advance on her, brushing her fingers aside with a flick of his hand. In an instant, he had her backed against the furs and she had to place both hands on his chest to stave him off. He could have easily maneuvered her into submission, but instead, he loomed over her, looking annoyed.
“Do you need me to say it a fifth time?” he said, lips twisting wryly.
Taylor shook her head. “I might start crying if you do.”
“Then what is it? You have ten seconds.”
“I think I might need at least a minute for this.”
“Six seconds.”
No turning back, now.
Taylor took a deep breath, and then said, “One more. We can have one more.”
Hale cocked his head. “What?”
“One more pup, silly.”
She had expected him to look thrilled, but instead, he leaned back, eyeing her warily.
“Taylor, you don't have to do that.”
Taylor pushed herself up and climbed into his lap. She grabbed a fur, and he helped her to wrap it around them. To her relief, he wrapped his arms around her. She settled her head against his chest.