Chapter 10 Piper
Piper
It was the storm that woke me, but it was Riggs rumbling tenderly to Alanna through the baby monitor that kept me wide awake. I held it to my chest as I closed my eyes and listened shamelessly to his one-sided conversation with her.
Here’s your teething ring. It’s squishy and cold, just like you like it.
No? Oh, I guess your toes are more interesting. I’m not sure you should be eating your toes, though…
Google says it’s okay, as long as you don’t hurt yourself.
It’s really storming out there.
Maybe some chocolate sauce on your fist would help?
Ah, nope. Chocolate isn’t good for you at this age. It says you shouldn’t be on anything other than formula or breast milk for about six months. You have a few months yet.
There, these pajamas are warmer. I don’t want you to catch a chill. You don’t have fur.
A few minutes of quiet, then a whisper.
Maybe if I lay back in the recliner, it would make you sleepy.
He sighed after a few minutes. There were lots of baby noises on the monitor, like Alanna was trying to communicate back to him. I didn’t know what expression was on my face, but it was probably something soft.
He was so good with her. Really, he was so good with everyone. He was a good alpha, one who didn’t seem to feel the need to posture, even among other paranormals and alphas who were also strong.
And this right now… this wasn’t him trying to win me over. This was just who he was.
The stronger the storm gets, the more awake you get. Yes, that’s a very nice frog toy, but I don’t really want to put it in my mouth.
Alanna babbled at him, and I grinned, closing my eyes.
Okay, let’s see if low lighting helps.
I could hear a chair rocking gently, and the sound of Riggs humming, then softly singing. He had a really nice singing voice, but he was butchering the song.
Well, it’s three o’clock in the mornin’. Goodnight, sweetheart. Well, it’s time to go. Goodnight, sweetheart, goodnight.
I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to hold back the sudden surge of emotion. I was trying so hard to keep my distance, but he just kept slipping under my guard. I was laughing at the adorableness, but also crying. He touched something inside of me. Something deep.
The baby sounds quieted, then everything went silent. After a few moments, I could hear them both breathing steadily, asleep.
It took me a long time to fall back asleep. And when I did, it was to the sound of their breathing.
When I woke again, the baby monitor was still cradled to my chest.
Later, I was in the gym while Alanna played in a pack ’n play, determined to pretend last night hadn’t affected me as much as it had. I lay on a decline bench doing sit-ups upside down, then switched positions and did leg pull-ins.
I wasn’t the only person in the gym. The Lodge’s gym was easily as big as one in the city, but at least six times cleaner.
“Aren’t you adorable!” a spring fae said to Alanna, tickling her under the chin.
The air smelled green with plant life whenever she was near, and I loved it.
She was mated to a quiet bear on the opposite side of the gym, who was cranking out seven-hundred-pound deadlifts, pausing, then cranking out ten more.
I knew lifting heavy weights wasn’t a huge issue for bear shifters—we were among the strongest shifters—but seven hundred was up there, more on par with a dragon’s level of strength.
Idly, I wondered how much Riggs could lift.
After saying goodbye to Alanna, the spring fae smiled at me, gave her mate a quick kiss, and left, probably heading for a shower. It was afternoon, and nearly time for Alanna to go down for her first nap.
I was just wiping down the decline bench when my bones suddenly sang like a Stradivarius violin. I turned, already knowing who had walked in.
Riggs.
He nodded at me politely, kissed Alanna’s downy head, then headed for a treadmill.
Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on your point of view—the treadmill faced away from me. Immediately, he cranked the incline as high as it would go and started jogging. After a minute, he broke into a run.
Through the rest of the workout, my eyes kept drifting back to him, even though I tried my best to ignore him, and ignore the pull of him.
He was like a black hole, and I was just cruising along in a little dinky spaceship that didn’t stand a chance against his gravity.
It wasn’t just that he was an alpha and exuded power.
I was honest enough with myself to admit it was also because he was my mate.
He was compelling on many different levels to me… and he was insanely attractive.
I was doing fine, though, until the pull-up machine.
At the top of a rep, I glanced over and saw him rip his shirt over his head and toss it onto the arm of the treadmill. My arms immediately went numb, and I fell, smacking my chin and mouth on the bar before hitting the mats below with a wheeze.
I lay there for a second, the breath knocked out of me, before Riggs’ face suddenly hovered over mine, his expression etched in concern. I was giving him points for not laughing at me, but I was incredibly embarrassed.
“Are you okay?” he asked, holding out a hand to help me up.
I put a hand to my throbbing lip, and it came away stained with blood.
“Do I look okay?” I asked grumpily, ignoring his hand and using the machine to pull myself to my feet. Wincing at the way my body protested the movement, I stalked over and grabbed Alanna from her playpen. I couldn’t help but smile when she gurgled happily at me.
“And put on a shirt,” I threw over my shoulder as I left. “No one needs to see all that.”
His warm, pleased chuckle followed me out the door.
Later that evening, Riggs called a Clan dinner. I wasn’t part of the Clan and had been planning on having dinner in my room, but Taco cajoled me into attending.
Before heading to the kitchen, though, I made my way to Matteo’s room. The door was open as I approached, and it looked like Mathan was just leaving. He nodded at me, barely cordial, before quickly heading off.
I knocked lightly on the open door, then pushed it wider and peeked inside. “How’re you doing?”
He was propped up on pillows, sitting up in bed. The curtains were open, letting the fading daylight spill soft color across the room.
His space was big and airy, with a large bed dominating the room, bookshelves along one wall filled with hundreds of books, and a desk tucked into a small nook with a tidy surface.
Through an open door, I spotted a spacious en suite bathroom.
A couch sat in the nook beneath a large TV mounted to the wall.
He grimaced. “Better. The potions, and whatever Dice gave me, are working. She said it might take a while. Every cell in my body is damaged. My shifter genes are trying to repair it, and the medicine is helping, but they need time to work.”
I sat gingerly in a nearby recliner, stopping the rocking motion with my foot.
“You don’t sound happy about that,” I said.
“I’m not.” With shaky hands, he brought a water bottle to his lips and drank deeply. I wanted to help, but restrained the urge. “Where’s Alanna?”
I rolled my eyes. “Where else? One of the Clan has her. She’s being passed from one set of arms to the next. She even sleeps in someone’s arms.”
Matteo chuckled. His face was less gray now, I noticed, and closer to his natural olive tone. His hazel eyes also looked less red and puffy.
“That sounds ideal for a baby. She’s well loved.”
“She’s going to get spoiled.”
He leaned back, thoughtful. “Is it possible to spoil a baby with too much love? I think sometimes people spoil their children with things, thinking it’s the same. But I think it would be very hard to spoil a child with too much love. She probably feels very secure.”
My heart ached at what he wasn’t saying. And even though none of this was my fault, and I was doing the best I could, Alanna’s first few months of life had been a nightmare. Safety, security, and abundant love would go a long way toward helping her feel less anxious.
“I’ve noticed she seems more at ease now that she’s around the Clan,” I said quietly.
Matteo nodded, his expression subdued. “You know none of this has been your fault, right?”
I shifted. “Well, I did leave her. Who knows what that did to her.”
He smiled gently. “You left to get help. You left suddenly because you didn’t know if you could do it if you dragged it out.
You left her in one of the safest places in the world, with people who took excellent care of her.
You went in person because you wanted to make sure the Prime couldn’t say no—not that he would have—but you didn’t know that. ”
I rubbed a finger along the seam of my jeans. “I’d only known Riggs a few weeks, Matteo, and I left her with him. Surely that must make me a terrible choice for Alanna’s guardian.”
Matteo shook his head, his gaze steady on mine. “He’s your mate. You knew his character from the beginning.”
He cracked a smile. “How’s that going, by the way? I heard about your incident in the gym earlier.”
He looked like he was trying not to laugh, and I scowled at him.
“Nothing’s going,” I said. “I’m waiting until Alanna is safe before I open myself up to anything.”
Matteo finally chuckled, shaking his head. “Good luck with that. I’ve heard the mating pull is difficult to ignore.”
I scrunched my face at him, then stood. “Do you need anything? I can make you a plate and bring it to you before I eat.”
His smile softened. “Mathan already offered, but thank you. Go enjoy dinner. I can smell it from here, and it smells delicious.”
I could smell it too, and it was making my mouth water.
I gently patted his calf. “Okay. Text me if you need anything.”
I left his room and made my way to the kitchen, where I could hear at least half a dozen bear shifters talking quietly. I paused in the doorway, glancing at the long, picnic-style table.