by Hawke Oakley
He tried to smirk. “Yeah, diapers are pretty scary.”
“Not that,” I muttered. “I meant waking up to her crying and not knowing what was wrong.”
“You’re right,” he agreed.
Anxiety flared up in my gut. “What if it happens again and it’s not her diaper? I mean, there are only so many things we can cycle through before we’re out of options.”
Ryu put a firm hand on my shoulder. “Scar, calm down. She’s a baby, not an unsolvable enigma.”
I glared at him. “I can’t calm down! A baby popped up in our lives out of nowhere and we don’t know the first thing about taking care of one!”
“I know. We need more information.”
I was surprised that he agreed with me. I nodded.
“We need help from someone who's done this before,” he continued. “I have a few friends with kids of their own. I’ll see if they can come over and help.”
“They won’t think this situation is weird?” I asked hesitantly.
“I mean, it is kind of weird.” He shrugged. “But we can’t go through this constantly worrying about how we’ll be perceived, right?”
I looked over at Angel. She stretched a hand out at me, wiggling her little fingers. My expression lightened with joy as I returned the gesture, touching my fingertip to hers. Angel burst out into laughter and a huge smile spread across both of our faces.
I turned to Ryu and said firmly, “Call them.”
Ryu picked up his phone right away. “Hey, Gabe? We have a little emergency…”
* * *
It was early afternoon when Ryu’s friends showed up. Part of me wanted to slink away and hide, but I knew I needed to stick around and hear their advice. Sitting on the tatami mat with Angel’s carrier next to me, I anxiously waited for a room full of people to arrive, but only two omegas did, without their alphas or children in tow. I figured the alphas must have stayed home to look after the kids.
“Hey!” Ryu cried as the two men stood at the door. I recognized one of them as Gabriel, another wolf shifter from my old pack, but I didn’t know the darker-skinned one—a young man with black hair and golden eyes.
Gold eyes, just like Angel, I thought.
The two omegas entered and sat around the table on the floor. Gabriel sat cross-legged, and the other omega leaned his legs to one side in a pose that reminded me of a cat. I noticed Gabriel looked a bit more haggard since the last time I saw him.
“The second baby wearing you out, huh?” Ryu asked him with a grin.
Gabriel sighed, but he smiled. “Yeah. Noelle’s quite a handful, even at this young age.”
“Scar, you know Gabriel,” Ryu said, gesturing to each of us.
Gabriel was staring at Angel, a smile on his face. He nodded at me and said, “Hey, Scar. Long time no see.”
I gave him a curt nod. Despite our common heritage, I wasn’t sure of how to feel about him assuming a connection between us. “Hi.”
“And this is Raja. He’s a panther shifter from outside Cinderhollow,” Ryu explained.
“Heya,” Raja said, giving me a wave. He was obviously more interested in Angel than he was in me. Not that I could blame him—she was the most beautiful and alluring person in the room.
“Hello.” I noted his eyes again, sharp and bright gold. “So you’re a panther shifter? Do all cats have gold eyes like you?”
Ryu glanced at Angel, realizing why I’d asked.
“No,” Raja said. “It’s common, but not all of us have them. But I don’t think cats are the only shifters with gold eyes.”
“I see,” I said.
“I guess we should talk about why I’ve asked you both here,” Ryu said. “As you can see, we have a new addition—”
“We?” Gabriel asked with his brows raised. “As in, you two…?”
Ryu and I shared a panicked glance.
“Ah, no, not quite like that, we’re not together,” Ryu said quickly. “It’s just that we both found her, and we thought she needed both an alpha and omega to raise her..”
That wasn’t quite true. I was the one who found Angel, without Ryu. But I did need his help. I supposed it was easier for him to condense the story that way, even if it did imply a closer connection.
“Wait, you found her?” Raja asked. “What does that mean?”
“Literally. We found her,” I said. “Someone left her on my bar’s doorstep.”
Both the omegas gasped in horror. Gabriel’s face went pale, and Raja looked indignant.
“You can’t be serious,” Raja growled.
I stared him dead in the eye. “I am.”
“But where did she come from?” Gabriel asked, his expression wrought with concern. “Are you saying someone just abandoned her there?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” I said.
“That’s despicable!” Raja snapped. His fingers dug into the edge of the table like claws. “How can someone do that? Just thinking about doing that to Charlotte makes me feel sick…”
“Me too,” Gabriel added sadly. “I couldn’t imagine leaving either of mine on some dirty bar’s doorstep… Oh, er, no offense, Scar.”
I shrugged. “None taken. I’m as pissed off as you two are.”
“You’re a wolf, right?” Raja asked. “Couldn’t you just track the scent trail and find whoever put her there?”
“I tried that, but the scent trail vanished,” I explained.
Raja narrowed his eyes. “How is that possible?”
I was getting tired of constantly having to explain myself. “It just did, alright? It disappeared into thin air. I don’t know how, but that’s what happened.”
“Maybe they tricked your nose somehow,” Raja said.
I growled. “Watch your mouth, kid. A wolf’s nose doesn’t lie.”
Before Raja and I got into a spat like cats and dogs, Ryu intervened. “Even if the person did do something to trick Scar, it doesn’t change the fact that Angel was abandoned. We should focus on helping her, not getting retribution on the person who did this.”
Raja glanced down at the table. “You’re right. Sorry.”
“So, then, getting back to business. Ryu and Scar, you two are serious about raising this baby?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes,” Ryu and I said firmly at the same time.
Gabriel seemed surprised that our decision was so steadfast. “Well, then, you’re right. You will need help, especially if you don’t know much about childcare.”
I frowned, suddenly aware of how oblivious we both were.
“It’s okay,” Gabriel said quickly, shooting me a smile. “I didn’t know much about kids either during my first pregnancy. Thankfully, a lot of it is common sense. And when you give birth as a shifter omega, I think much of what we know is instinctual, too.”
“But I didn’t give birth to Angel,” I muttered.
“Right. But you’re still an omega.” Gabriel smiled. “Hey, think about it this way. If you ever have biological kids, you’ll be well prepared already.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Right. That’s never gonna happen, but thanks.”
From the corner of my eye, I caught a slight frown on Ryu’s face. But before I could think about it for too long, Angel started crying again. Instantly, everyone’s attention was on her. Anxiety clutched my stomach again.
“What do we do?” Ryu asked the other omegas.
“Diaper?” Raja suggested.
Ryu quickly checked the situation. “No, it’s clean.”
“She might be hungry,” Gabriel said. “When was the last time she ate?”
“I gave her some mashed up food before you arrived,” Ryu said.
“Is she too cold? Too hot?” I asked, panic building.
Gabriel placed the back of his hand gently on her forehead. “Her temperature seems fine to me.”
Angel continued to cry. It hurt to know she was in discomfort and we didn’t know why.
“Is she teething?” Ryu asked.
“Proba
bly not, she’s a bit old for that,” Raja said. “She has all her baby teeth already.”
“Then what does she want!?” I cried.
Gabriel paused, then said, “Scar, try holding her.”
“What? Why? Will that help?”
“It might,” he said. “Go on.”
I swallowed hard, afraid of what seemed like the daunting task ahead of me. I’d never held a baby, not even once in my life. The closest I got was holding Angel’s carrier in my mouth. But the thought of being responsible for physically holding a baby? What if I dropped her?
“You won’t hurt her,” Raja insisted, as if reading my thoughts. “C’mon.”
Carefully, I wrapped my hands around her crying form and gently lifted her out of the carrier. My arms trembled with nerves and I was afraid something would happen, like my prosthetic arm suddenly failing. Was it really safe for me to hold her like this?
“Hold her against your chest,” Gabriel instructed.
Angel continued to cry. I had no choice but to listen to Gabriel. Steadily holding her, I pressed Angel carefully to my chest and held her head up.
The crying stopped.
Everyone in the room held their breath.
A few moments passed and Angel continued to be quiet. She gurgled slightly as she pressed her cheek to my collarbone, but other than that she had no complaints.
“She stopped crying,” Ryu said breathlessly. “What does that mean?”
Gabriel smiled. “It means she wanted to be held. She wanted the warmth of a parent.”
Those words filled me with joy like I’d never known before. Angel thought I was her parent.
“Look, I think she’s falling back asleep,” Raja commented.
Indeed, Angel’s eyes drooped back down as she rested comfortably against me. My heart fluttered. She felt safe with me. The trembling in my arms died down. I held her, gentle and firm. I hadn’t known that holding a baby—my baby—would feel so good. Now that I was holding her, I never wanted to let her go.
“I think you two are gonna do just fine,” Gabriel said with a grin.
Ryu and I exchanged glances. Warmth pooled in my chest as he smiled at me. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so… happy. It was a strange, foreign sensation, one I thought I’d lost a long time ago. But now, holding Angel and knowing Ryu was right here by my side to help raise her, it felt right.
I never wanted to lose it.
“I just remembered that I have a bunch of books in our library,” Gabriel said suddenly. “Maybe I’ll ask Dante if we have any ones about raising babies? If you’re interested in them, I mean.”
“Yes, of course,” I said quickly. “It’d be a big help.”
“Hm… I don’t have any books, but I can ask Lorenzo if anyone suspicious has been in or out of the Cinderhollow barrier recently,” Raja said. “He’s one of the skilled clear magic users who checks on it once in a while, so he might know if that vanishing scent has something to do with it.”
I nodded at Raja. “Thanks. Raising Angel comes first, but I wouldn’t mind kicking the ass of whoever did this to her.”
His cat-like eyes flashed. “I hear you.”
Ryu’s phone vibrated in his pocket and he flinched. The few hours of sleep he got last night must have made him jumpy. We definitely needed to work out a nap schedule if we were going to raise Angel together, or else the lack of sleep would drive us insane.
His brows furrowed as he stared intently at the screen. He began to type back to whatever message he received. I didn’t know what was so important that he was more focused on that than what we were talking about.
“Ryu, is everything okay?” I asked.
He pocketed the phone quickly. “Yeah. I just forgot I had something important to deal with tonight.”
Before I could ask what it was, Ryu turned to the other omegas. “Do you guys mind staying with Scar tonight and helping him out with Angel?”
“Sure,” Gabriel said, grinning. “Just let me call Dante and tell him he’s gotta babysit our demons for a while longer.”
Raja shrugged and leaned against the table. “I’m up for it, too. Lorenzo’s making dinner with Charlotte tonight anyway. And by with, I mean she’s probably making a mess all over the kitchen.”
“Great,” Ryu said. “Thanks a lot for all your help, you two.”
I hope Ryu knew I caught the distracted flash in his eyes. Something was going on, and he conveniently wasn’t telling me about it.
What was he hiding from me?
10
Ryu
Scar didn’t get another chance to ask me about the phone message because Raja and Gabriel delved deep into baby-raising conversations and thankfully, Scar got sucked in.
I felt horrible lying to him—even by omission. But the situation was entirely my fault. I’d completely forgotten that I made plans with Henry for the night, before any of this stuff with Angel began. While I’d rather be at home with her, I couldn’t explain the situation properly to Henry over text message—it had to be face to face.
Would he even understand?
Our plans involved meeting at the Starlit Pond pier in the early evening. I excused myself to shower and get dressed (in a casual outfit, to avoid suspicion) before saying a quick goodbye to everyone and slipping out the door.
I didn’t miss the suspicious glance Scar shot me before the door closed.
It’s okay, I told myself. I would explain everything to him later. But first, I needed to deal with Henry.
And how exactly am I going to do that? I don’t even know how to feel about all of this…
With an hour to kill, I grabbed a coffee and a seat outside the cafe and took a moment to collect my thoughts.
There was no denying that I’d had such a good time with Henry the other night. He was a young, bright, smart omega who was even interested in magic. I had no reason not to be attracted to him. And in fact, I couldn’t deny that I was interested in him from a physical and mental standpoint.
But is that enough to take a mate?
I couldn’t imagine myself with Henry for the rest of my life, and I couldn’t figure out what was stopping me. I reversed the situation—what if another omega was never interested in me? I could be alone for the rest of my life just because I couldn’t find a reason to be in love with Henry.
But the fact remained that something was missing between us.
“Ryu? Is that you?”
The voice jolted me out of my thoughts. Behind me stood a surprised Henry holding a coffee of his own.
“Henry!” I exclaimed. “You’re early.”
He grinned. “I was nervous about our date, so I decided to come here and grab a coffee first. It’s weird but the caffeine calms me down. Anyway, I didn’t expect to run into you here.”
“Me neither,” I said. “Why don’t we walk and talk?”
“Sure.”
Henry stood close to my side, closer than two friends would normally stand.
That means he’s definitely excited about this date, I thought.
“I’ve been looking forward to this since the other night,” Henry said. With a wink, he added, “I was actually kind of hoping you’d cancel your plans with your friend so we could have had this date earlier.”
I forced a laugh, even though I didn’t find it particularly funny or even agree. If I’d cancelled on Scar, I knew it would have hurt his feelings—and on top of that, he definitely wouldn’t have asked for my help when he found Angel. Now that she was in my life, thinking about my life without her felt like torture.
“But it’s nice out tonight,” Henry continued. He breathed in the cool evening air. The faint scent of water carried on the breeze as we walked casually towards the pier. I noticed somewhat uncomfortably that the street was populated almost entirely by couples. It made me wish I was at home with Angel and Scar.
I can’t think about that right now, I scolded myself. I’m on a date with Henry, whether I like it or not, and I can’t
be rude to him. He doesn’t deserve it.
“So, how was your day?” Henry asked.
“Um…” I was at a loss. How was I supposed to explain the situation? “I guess you could say I was babysitting.”
“You?” His brows raised, then he cautiously added, “I didn’t know you were interested in kids.”
I couldn’t gauge what he meant by that comment. “It was for a friend. He needed my help, is all.”
“An omega?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.” Henry shrugged, then with a cautious chuckle he asked, “Not yours, I’m assuming? I don’t think you mentioned having a mate or kids when we made plans.”
“Oh, I definitely don’t have a mate,” I said quickly. Henry looked relieved to hear that. “But, er… I’m not so sure about the second part anymore.”
Henry stopped in his tracks. “What?”
“About having kids, I mean.”
His eyes widened, then narrowed. “So, you don’t have a mate but you have kids? How does that work?”
“It’s probably not what you think,” I said. “I didn’t have a one-night stand or anything.”
The suspicion left Henry’s face, replaced by confusion. “Wait, so you have an adopted kid?”
“Sort of,” I said. “It’s a very recent development.”
“Um… Okay. You didn’t mention that when we planned this date, though,” he said cautiously.
“I didn’t have her at the time,” I admitted. “She basically fell into my lap just last night.”
Henry was really lost now. “Excuse me?”
“My friend—the omega I mentioned a second ago—he found an abandoned baby named Angel. He needed my help raising her, so she’s under my care now, back at my home,” I explained.
“So… She’s under both your care. In your house?”
“Right,” I said slowly.
Henry seemed leery. “Do I know this omega?”
“In fact, you do. His name is Scar. He’s the man you met at the bar who saved you from those alphas.”
Henry’s jaw dropped. “That guy?”