by Tl Reeve
“She might not want to give it up,” Aurora stated.
“My girl, Riley, she’s a good kid, she’ll willingly share. I’m bettin’ Riley will want to read it to her, instead of me.”
The sweet, endearing term he used in reference to his daughter was adorable, and for some odd reason, it made her belly wobble in pleasure. “Can I bring anything? Tonight?”
Mackenzie shook his head. “Just you and your kid.”
“Tell you what, how about I bring dessert?”
“We’d appreciate it. You should be aware, though, neither of my kids like cake of any kind. Pies are fine, and Riley would love you for life for cheesecake.”
“And you?” she pushed, wanting to either make him something, or purchase an item special for him. “What kind of dessert do you like?
Mackenzie shrugged. “To be honest, never really thought about it. We didn’t get much sweets growing up, our parents were dirt poor. When the Martins took us in, I found I didn’t really like overly sweet things.”
“There has to be something…something you ate once and enjoyed or something you occasionally have a craving for.”
Mackenzie rubbed at the scruff on his chin, deep in thought. “None that I can think of, star.”
This time when her cheeks filled with heat, it wasn’t from embarrassment, but with pleasure. Aurora wasn’t much of a cook; she was more of a re-heater. She wasn’t much of a baker, either. There was only one thing she was capable of making, and that was her beloved grandmother’s famous apple cake. Many summers, Aurora sat in her Nana’s kitchen peeling the apples that would be used in the cake. Aurora still recalled the sense of pride she felt when Nana had let her make the cake from start to finish. No one at the annual church picnic even realized Nana hadn’t made it. Some were saying it was the best one she ever made. From that day on, whenever someone requested the cake, Nana had Aurora make it. She knew from experience; it’d hit all his requirements.
“I know the perfect thing then.”
“Don’t put yourself out,” he grumbled.
“I’m not…promise and it’s the least I can do. You’re providing the entire meal, and watching Abby,” she reminded him.
Mentally she began to make a list of ingredients she’d need. What she didn’t have, she’d pick up from the store on the way home from getting Abby from school. If she timed it all just right, the cake would still be warm after they’d finished dinner.
“I need to get going,” she stated, her hand on the front door handle.
“Drive carefully,” the dark timbre of his voice sent another wave of arousal down her spine.
“Will do.” She stepped out on the porch as the door closed firmly behind her. That had gone a hell of a lot easier than she’d expected it to.
Mackenzie waited until Aurora backed out of his driveway before he grabbed his keys and headed out to his truck. The little girl was sick. How had he missed it? He’d smelled her just fine when she waved to him on the way out the back door of Keeley’s house to play with the other kids, but open heart surgery? What the fuck?
He growled.
Aurora had been caring for her sick daughter on her own. He didn’t smell another male on her, except Kalkin and it’d been due to her sitting beside his brother. The wolf residing within him popped up for the briefest of seconds before dissolving back into the darkness. However, what he saw of the black and grey beast, startled him. His wolfish ice-blue eyes glimmered with intention.
When Aurora asked him if he remembered the Halloween party, he hadn’t been exactly truthful. He had a gap in his memory but didn’t think anything of it. The trauma he sustained would always cause dark patches. He accepted it. Most days he’d been thankful to still be alive. However, he worried something important had happened and he’d missed it.
Mackenzie started his truck and headed in the opposite direction of Aurora. He had to see Danielle. If anyone in Window Rock would know what to do with Abby it’d be her. Maybe they could work out an arrangement for Danielle to come over on the nights the little girl was at the house with him and help heal her, if it was possible.
What the fuck are you doing? Mackenzie came to a stop sign and sat there. Once more he tried to play the savior. Trying to integrate himself into someone’s life who might not want him there. He sighed. He didn’t expect anything in exchange. The little girl was sick. Shouldn’t anyone in his position want to do the same?
He crossed the four-lane highway and continued to the orphanage. None of what he was doing was the same. He had children of his own. He couldn’t imagine what it must be like to wonder from one day to the next, if it would be the last time he saw any of his children alive. No, this was about Abby and nothing about Aurora.
He pulled up to the orphanage and put his truck into park. When he stepped out, he was greeted by several of the orphaned children. Each one had been saved by the mission in Massachusetts. He scrubbed their heads and accepted leg hugs from the children too small to give proper ones. They were thriving with Danielle and the girls—Marie, Shelby and Charisma. After Mackenzie made sure to greet each child, he continued around the house and entered through the side entrance. Rapier had added it on to expand the clinic Danielle used to triage and take care of their new additions. It made mission work a hell of a lot easier and kept small prying eyes from disturbing the sick or injured.
He knocked on the door then entered. Danielle sat at her desk, rocking a small bundle in her arms while feeding the baby. Her features were soft. Her eyes were a bit misty. Damn woman took her work seriously when it came to healing fractured souls. Mackenzie cleared his throat, and she glanced up at him.
“Hey,” she whispered. “This is... Well, he doesn’t have a name.”
“Abandoned?”
She nodded.
Mackenzie frowned. “Where?”
She gave him a pointed look.
“Right, sorry.” He held up his hands. “Can I ask you something?”
Danielle smiled and pointed to the chair across from her. “Anything.”
“Have you met a little girl named Abby? You know, before the Halloween party?” he hedged.
“I have,” Danielle said. “Why?”
“Do you know much about her?”
Danielle placed the bottle on her desk then placed the small bundle to her chest and neck. Mackenzie caught the whiff of feline and frowned. He couldn’t see much of the cub, but what he could, the baby had the colorings of a leopard with sand and black fur. He drifted off in Danielle’s arms while she rubbed his back. “I do. She’s sick, Mac. Very sick. Yet stronger than anyone I’ve seen in a long time. She also has abilities.”
Mackenzie sat back. “What?”
“She hasn’t manifested them in front of me yet. I think it’s a matter of time and she will.”
“What about her heart?” he prodded.
“Every time I see her, I do a little bit more work on it. I haven’t told Aurora because I don’t think she’d believe me yet. The damage was significant. The doctors did an amazing job cleaning and opening the valve, so it works properly, however there’s still some thickening of the valve walls and some narrowing.
“Fuck,” Mackenzie grumbled under his breath. “Will it ever be right?”
Danielle shrugged. “Time will tell. She might need a new heart if we can’t fix it completely.”
Fear lanced Mackenzie’s chest.
“Hey, now,” Danielle whispered. “She’s with us, we’ll figure it out together.”
“Yeah, hopefully.” He scrubbed his face. “She’d like me to be Abby’s sitter while she works at the Sheriff’s Department.”
“Take her up on the offer,” Danielle said. “It’ll make my job fixing her easier.”
Mackenzie nodded. “I was going to, even if you couldn’t help her.”
Danielle frowned. “Do you remember the Halloween party?”
“Why does everyone keep asking me about the party? Did I miss something?”
His
mated sister stared at him for a moment. “What if I told you, your wolf showed up?”
“I’d say you’re lying,” he replied. “I haven’t been able to shift in over twenty years.”
Danielle pursed her lips. “What if I told you I have proof you did?”
“I’d say, show me,” Mackenzie said.
She pointed to the closet in the corner of the room. “There is a white bag inside the closet. Grab it and look inside.”
Mackenzie went to the closet and opened it up. Like Danielle said there’d been a white bag with his name on it. His heart hammered in his chest. Sweat beaded across his forehead. He didn’t understand the visceral response he had to the bag until he opened it up. Inside lay his shredded clothes from the night of the party. No, that can’t be right. The clothes I wore are hanging up in my bedroom.
“Mac,” Danielle whispered, while a thread of calm, soothing energy filtered through him. “Look at me.”
He did.
“Those are your clothes. Keeley and I saw your beautiful wolf. He is amazing.” She smiled. “Don’t be scared.”
“I’m not,” he mumbled. “Confused more like it.”
She nodded. “I understand. Something or someone triggered your wolf.”
Mackenzie narrowed his eyes. “Maybe it’s the upcoming trial.”
“Perhaps,” Danielle agreed. “You can talk with Jasmine or Brie, if you need to about this.”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t think I can.”
“It’s a lot to take in,” Danielle said. “We’re here for you. If you need us.”
“I appreciate it.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, Abby and Aurora will be over tonight for dinner. I need to get a few things from the store and find a bed for Abby.” He turned to Danielle. “Thanks, for this.” He held up the bag. “Now burn it.”
It didn’t take Mackenzie long to find a bed for Abby. He figured Saber would have something available in his workshop, but also didn’t want to plan on it. Thankfully, his friend did, and Saber and Rashid would be delivering it before Abby and Aurora showed up for dinner.
Once he picked the kids up from school, he headed to the store and grabbed what he needed for dinner. The conversation he had with Danielle swirled through his mind. He couldn’t deny what she showed him. It didn’t make sense to him how he could have shifted as he did, and not remember, though. Why he also told her to burn everything, also bothered him. Guilt and fear ate him up in those moments. Both, he realized were due to him not remembering himself shifting nor what happened in the gap where his wolf took over and he returned home. None of it made a lick of sense.
“So, Abby and Aurora are coming to dinner?” Riley asked, putting a bag of apples in the cart.
“Yeah,” he replied, grabbing a bag of potatoes.
“Do you like them?” his daughter prodded.
“They’re good people.” He shrugged.
“‘They’re good people’? Aren’t you going to watch Abby?” Liam piped up, joining them. In his arms had been a few different types of meat.
Mackenzie had been clear when he sent the boy on his mission. Lean red meat and alternatives. Liam brought back a couple of steaks, some chicken quarters, and pork steaks. “I am.” Mackenzie maneuvered them to the drink aisle. “Great job picking up different choices for Abby.”
“Whatever,” Liam said. “I’ll eat the steak.”
Mackenzie snorted. “You’d eat all of it, if I let you.”
The boy shrugged.
“She’ll be staying with us while her mom works?” Riley grabbed a bottle of white grape juice and a box of packaged drinks.
“At the Sheriff’s Department with your uncles and brother,” he said.
“Cool.” Riley skipped along the aisles as they continued shopping.
If Mackenzie took a moment to be honest with himself, he hadn’t been able to get Aurora out of his damn head. About the only time he could, was when he’d been working, and now that had been shot to shit. Then he allowed the aggravation of his situation cloud his ability to focus on anything but rage and determination. All the boxes in the living room had been anything he’d bought with Holly, anything Holly had left behind, and everything he and his children didn’t need around them anymore. In the morning, the local charity thrift shop would pick up the stuff and take it out of their life forever.
“Do you like her?” Liam grunted.
“Abby?”
“Her mom,” Liam stated.
“Aurora is nice, but I think I am done with all of it,” Mackenzie said. “It’s not meant for me.”
Riley frowned.
“Yeah. Seems like it,” Liam replied.
“Liam!” Riley shrieked. “Our father has given up everything for everyone around him. He deserves to be happy.”
“Not sayin’ he doesn’t,” Liam snapped. “But, come on, Rise...”
She lifted her chin. “I’m not talking to you.”
Liam growled. “Fine.”
“Both of you stop.” Mackenzie growled now. “I’ve met the woman once. Stop acting like I’m going to be a mate to some woman and her kid.” However, the twitch in his dick and the way arousal flowed through him at just the thought of Aurora, confused him.
“Sorry, dad,” Riley murmured.
“Yeah, sorry,” Liam added.
He sighed. “Come on, we have a few more things to grab then we’ll get home. Rashid and Saber will be there soon to bring in Abby’s bed.”
Dinner went off without a hitch. He’d been pleasantly surprised by both Aurora and Abby. Their conversation earlier had seemed forced, now it’d been so effortless to talk with her. They sat at the kitchen table while the kids introduced their favorite shows to Abby. The arousal Mackenzie experienced earlier hadn’t gone away. If anything, it intensified, leaving him achy and a bit irritated. It also surprised the fuck out of him. He didn’t understand it, like he didn’t get why he’d shifted and not remembered.
“What do you think?”
“I think Abby is going to fit in just fine,” Aurora said, standing. She grabbed the dishes off the table and carried them to the sink. “What do you think?”
“Yeah, they’re thick as thieves now.”
She turned on the water, and Mackenzie sat there for a moment. Aurora hummed as she placed the dishes into soapy water then began to wash them. He sighed; she didn’t have to do the damn dishes. He had a dishwasher three feet from where she stood.
Mackenzie stalked toward her. He inhaled and the scent of honeysuckle and jasmine swirled around him, tempting him. His lip curled. His body tensed. Every inch of him, including his dick, which had been flaccid for twenty-plus years jerked to attention. His mouth watered. His gums ached. What the fuck is wrong with me? He held himself in check, but the longer he continued to stand there with Aurora in his kitchen, the more the need to rip their clothes off and bang her against the counter grew.
He stepped toward her.
If she realized he stood behind her, she was oblivious. Unlike when he saw her earlier, her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, exposing the length of her neck to his perusal. He saw it then. The size of a small tear drop just below her jaw and ear. A mark. With the size of it, he suspected a wolf had done it. But, who? He stepped away. She belonged to someone in the pack. Which brought up another question, why weren’t they offering to help care for Abby.
“Uh... I have a dishwasher,” he said, returning to his coffee and his chair.
She faced him. He cheeks were scarlet, and he scented her embarrassment. “I didn’t realize.”
“Not a problem. You don’t have to do them, though,” he replied. “Riley and Liam take turns.”
She grabbed a towel to dry her hands before taking a seat beside him. “I’m really bungling this up.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Like I told you before, tonight was just a meeting for our kids to see if they’d even get along, and they liked the cake, which surprised the hell out of me. I thought
for sure Riley and Liam would hate it.”
“Did you like the cake?” She looked at him with big hopeful eyes.
He had. It’d been the right amount of sweet and tart. “I did.”
“Oh, good. I’ll remember to bring one by every so often as thanks.” She smiled. “Which reminds me. After talking with Kalkin about my salary I can offer you two hundred dollars every two weeks. I know it’s way below what most spend on daycare, but until Abby and I are more stable, it is all I can offer.”
He shook his head, and Aurora slumped back in her chair.
“I am so sorry I’ve wasted your time,” Aurora murmured. “Thank you for a lovely dinner.”
“Horse shit,” he muttered. “I don’t want your money.”
She looked at him. “What?”
“I said, I don’t want your money.” He took a drink of his coffee. “Abby needs a place to stay, I’m home, anyway. Three days a week isn’t going to break me.”
“But...I can’t—I have to pay you something. I won’t be seen as someone taking advantage of you. You’ve been through enough,” she said.
“You’re not taking advantage of me. Besides I am sure your mate will be understanding as well when you tell him you found a sitter for Abby.”
Aurora tilted her head. “A what, now?”
“A mate.” He pointed to the mark he glimpsed. “You’re wearing his mark or is it a she?”
Aurora covered her neck. “Uh...Mac. You really don’t remember the Halloween party, do you?”
He frowned. “No.”
“Huh, interesting.” She smiled at him. “It’s not what you think it is. I, uh, tried to use a flat iron on my hair this morning and nothing would tame these curls.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I kind of burned myself.”
The smell of her lie burned his nostrils. Yet, when push came to shove, he didn’t force the issue. Maybe she didn’t know who they were. Maybe they’d been little pricks who went after her without her realizing it. The more he thought about it, the more it pissed him off. If someone had marked her and left her to fend for herself, he’d kill them. Aurora and Abigail deserved someone who would care for them. Not fuck ‘em and leave ‘em.