Chapter 8 Piper
Piper
Imade a beeline for Alanna the moment I got in the front doors of the Lodge.
I nodded at various Clan members, making directly for the crib set up in the corner of the main living room.
Alanna was sitting up looking around. Immediately, her eyes zeroed in on me like a wide receiver zeroing in on the football before he catches it and crosses the end zone.
And then her face crumpled, her little lip started wobbling, and she started crying.
I picked her up and held her against my chest, just holding her for a few moments as she settled. Her hands gripped my shirt tightly, refusing to let me go.
Guilt twisted through me. She didn’t understand why I’d suddenly left her. Why it was necessary. To her, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that the most stable person in her life had left and hadn’t come back for a few days.
I closed my eyes, resting my cheek on top of her little, downy head. She smelled good. Like summer breezes and baby powder. It was probably the laundry detergent they were using for her clothes, or maybe her baby wash.
I turned to the suddenly quiet room to find Mathan, Riggs, Taco, Drew, and Alistair all watching my reunion with my niece.
“Thank you,” I told them. “Thank you for protecting her and looking after her. I’m sorry I left so suddenly.
I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to if I didn’t just go, and I knew you all would look after her well.
” I shifted my gaze to Riggs, who was staring back at me with a guarded expression. “Especially you. Thank you.”
Taking a deep breath, I let my shoulders relax and felt the ball of fear in my stomach release.
Finn and Orion came in, one on each side, helping Matteo.
I went to hand Alanna to Riggs to help as well, but he handled it instead, stepping in to assist his First to a couch.
Finn put his hands on his hips, taking a look around. “You guys okay here? Any other intruders on your property?”
Riggs shook his head. “Not since the last time we reported to you.”
Finn nodded. “Mind if Orion and I take a look? Sometimes lion and wolf shifters can scent something bears can’t.
” He said it with a smirking smile that Riggs didn’t rise to, but I couldn’t help but laugh at.
The competition between the shifters was alive and well.
It was unusual for an alpha lion shifter to agree to investigate something with another alpha, though—especially a wolf shifter. Cats and dogs, after all.
“By all means. Mathan, go with them.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
The three of them left as I sat gingerly on the seat next to Matteo. I gave Alanna a toy to keep her occupied. She took it, but I could tell she was humoring me. She kept one eye on me at all times, as though afraid I was going to disappear on her again.
“Alpha, I’ve returned your mate to you, safe and sound,” Matteo said, his voice rough and weak.
Riggs’ eyebrow raised. “I’m grateful. If only you could have brought yourself back in the same condition.”
Matteo closed his eyes and shrugged, smiling faintly. “Apparently, I sleep like the dead.”
“Not funny,” I muttered. Too soon. Much too soon. I’d really thought he wouldn’t make it. He still looked like he might not.
“Knock, knock,” a female voice said, pushing open the door, which had still been open a crack. “I’m here for Matteo.”
Matteo smirked, still with his eyes closed. “Don’t let Rhys hear you say that. That elf terrifies me.”
Taco snorted, nodding. “Have you seen his night powers? I almost peed my pants the first time I saw him bring those bad boys out.”
Dice chuckled. “Can you believe he shaves using his powers?” She shook her head, bringing a small bag with her, then setting it down between Matteo and me on the couch. “You don’t look so hot,” she told Matteo.
“Rude,” he said, deadpan, and she laughed, turning to me and holding out her hand.
“I haven’t had a chance to meet you yet. My name is Dice.”
I freed up an arm to shake her hand. “Piper.”
Her eyes lit up. “Woman of few words. I like that.” She turned back to Matteo. “Alright, let’s see what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
Riggs brought her a chair, and she sat, staring at Matteo for a long moment before she leaned back with a sigh. “You’re a mess.”
He smiled wryly. “Thank you.”
She laughed. “The reason you’re not healing is because your cells were damaged.
The healer who worked on you did the best he could, but you have cellular damage that your shifter genes are having difficulty repairing.
I’m going to have to hit Rhys up for a healing potion—and you know how cocky he gets about them, Matteo.
This is very inconvenient for me.” The tone of her voice was teasing, making Matteo smirk.
“He is a powerful elf, Dice,” he said.
She made a shushing gesture, looking around the room as if he could pop up out of nowhere. “Shhh. If you stroke his ego, he shows up suddenly. Keep your voice down.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at their antics.
“Did I hear someone say powerful elf?” a new voice said, standing in the open doorway.
Dice looked up at the ceiling, closed her eyes, and sighed. “I told you,” she said in exasperation. “Look what you did now!”
If Dice was all cool chick in a black leather jacket, ripped jeans, and short pink hair, Rhys was like the male version of her. He was similarly dressed, except in nicer black jeans and a shirt that said The Laughing Elf in black swirls over the pale blue breast pocket.
He sauntered over to Dice and pulled her in for a kiss before turning to me and Alanna and holding out his hand. “Rhys.”
I shook it. “I’m Piper.”
“And the angel in your arms?”
I hesitated, looking at Riggs. He nodded that Rhys was safe. “Her name is Alanna.”
“It’s nice to meet you both.” He glanced at Matteo and winced. “You look terrible.”
Taco and Drew chuckled at Matteo’s put-upon expression, then headed to the kitchen—probably to grab a snack for him. He hadn’t eaten in a bit. Come to think of it, neither had I. It had been at least four or five hours, and Matteo hadn’t eaten much when I’d offered him something earlier.
“I look fine,” Matteo said acerbically. “I was heroic.”
I snorted. “You were asleep.”
He gave me the evil eye. “I was heroic on the bridge.”
I grinned. “Okay, I’ll give you that one.” Then I sobered. “Thanks, Matteo. I know I’ve already thanked you, but I would have been dead without your help.”
He started looking a bit bashful, then nodded toward Riggs, deflecting my words. “Thank Alpha. He’s the one who sent me.”
“I already hugged him, though.”
“I missed it!”
I grinned and gave him a light hug. I didn’t want to hurt him any more than he already was. “Thank you.”
Instead of the back pat that all males everywhere did when they got hugged and didn’t know what to do with the affection, Matteo actually hugged me back—until he released me suddenly, and threw a quick look at Riggs, then looked down at his lap.
My gaze bounced between the two of them with a frown on my face. “What? Did I miss something?”
Matteo cleared his throat. “Nothing. Alpha was just telling me how much he appreciates me.”
“Hmph,” Riggs said.
I was bewildered, but let it go.
“Love, Matteo needs an elf potion,” Dice said.
Rhys nodded. “Sure, I need some hair or skin samples.”
I made a face. Gross.
Rhys laughed at my expression. “It doesn’t have his essence in it. It’s just specifically formulated for his use.”
“I know.” I still found it gross. Though I’d be grateful for it for Matteo’s sake—and even for my own if I ever needed one. Elves were rare, and those who could brew DNA potions were even rarer.
Dice checked me and Alanna over at my mate’s insistence. She gave us a mostly clean bill of health, except to let me know that Alanna would be teething soon.
I groaned, and she chuckled as she packed up her things, promising to bring the potion for Matteo back as soon as it was finished. “I’ll bring something to rub on Alanna’s gums as well. Meanwhile, you might want to freeze some teething rings for her.” They left a moment later.
Riggs, Alistair, and Mathan were looking faintly terrified that Alanna was going to start teething soon, and I couldn’t help but laugh at their expressions as they stared at each other in horror.
“She’s going to be okay, guys. She’s just going to be hurting for a bit.”
Mathan nodded, looking pained. “I remember. But it can also mean a fever, and a lot of sleepless nights.”
“Should we get something special for her?” Riggs asked worriedly, starting to rifle through a baby chest that looked to be filled with things for Alanna.
And that was when it hit me.
I looked around at the crib, the baby chest, the little swing, the toys scattered everywhere, the changing table… and I had to swallow the lump in my throat and blink back the sudden moisture in my eyes.
I had been alone before Everly, and by extension the Moonhaven Cove Bear Clan. Alone. Terrified. Determined. And so tired.
I’d been moving from one place to the next, trying to stay one step ahead of a madman.
I had known from the moment I arrived that I had found somewhere special.
In the weeks I’d spent here before leaving to find help, I learned they would care for and protect her.
But as I looked around at the sappy expression one bear shifter was wearing, the worried expressions of the others, and all the things that clearly said a baby lived here, my heart softened even more.
They’d done more than take care of her.
They’d taken her into their hearts.
Riggs abruptly paused his frantic searching for who knew what and turned to me.
And I could tell that he knew.
If I was getting glimpses of what he was feeling at times, then surely he was as well.
And he knew.
I tried not to hide. I tried to let him see the expression on my face that must have been equal parts touched and afraid.
He didn’t say anything for long moments. He just looked at me. Then he gave the barest smile and turned back to the chest of drawers, searching less frantically now. After a moment, he pulled out a bottle and held it up like it was the Stanley Cup.
“Baby pain reliever!”
While Matteo lightly snored and Mathan, Alistair, and Riggs debated the finer points of different baby pain relievers, I looked at Alanna.
She had a grin on her face as she listened to the bear shifters, her eyes tracking them as they moved around the room. A little dimple popped in her right cheek, and I smoothed it with my thumb. My sister had had one there as well.
We found a good place, Alanna.
We found a good place.