Chapter 10
As he watched Lilia begin to breathe normally, Colton’s heart fluttered. I did it! I saved my daughter! Placing the head of his stethoscope on her tiny chest, he grinned as he listened to the strong, steady beat of her heart.
“That was fucking amazing!” exclaimed Mac, staring at the healthy baby. “Is it always like that?”
“Like what?” asked Colton, absentmindedly, while completing Lilia’s exam. Then, putting her into a sleeper, he wrapped her in a pink blanket before setting her into the third incubator.
“Does it always work that fast?” Mac asked, still astounded at how fast Lilia recovered.
Entering his daughter’s stats on her chart, Colton looked over his shoulder at his cousin.
“In the past, no. But then they were men not newborns. And they had extensive injuries.” Turning back to his pups, Colton resumed checking his other daughter and son.
Though they were on the small side, he was pleased to see them healthy.
“That makes sense…but, still, it was simply amazing.” Wrapping his arms around Colton, Mac gave him a hug, overjoyed at the outcome. “I couldn’t have done it without you,” he murmured in his cousin’s ear.
As they waited for Ian to come out of anesthesia so he could greet his triplets—a prince and two princesses, Mac’s eyes drifted over to him now and then, checking on his condition. His patient was still under, but would wake up soon. Glancing at the clock on the wall, Mac checked the time.
Frowning, he mentally counted the minutes that had passed since he and Colton had begun. Holy fuck! Two hours, and Colton’s wolf was still bound. “Your wolf! Colton, you need to go now!” Stepping back, he grabbed his cousin’s forearm, tugging at him. “Colton, you have to go to Jackson! Colton!”
Admiring his pups, it took several moments before Mac’s words broke through Colton’s haze of new fatherhood. Turning toward his cousin, Colton’s eyes widened in fear as he realized the danger his wolf was in.
“GO!” Mac yelled.
Spinning around, Colton ran from the operating room, hell bent on getting to Jackson as fast as he could, panic spurring him on as he took the steps two at a time.
But even in his rush, Colton feared it was too late; he was well past the hour before his wolf would go insane.
Once that happened, it was only a matter of time before his wolf died—and Colton with him.
Nothing could save them now. He prayed to the gods to live long enough to make sure Ian and their pups were fine.
Stopping at Jackson’s study door, Colton’s eyes quickly scanned the room, finding it empty.
Hurrying on to his and Ian’s room, he faltered for a moment—struck by the enormity of what he’d done—before resuming his frenetic pace.
The door to their room was open; Colton dashed inside, skidding to a stop as he took in the scene.
Glancing at Colton, Jackson asked, “Ian…the pups…are they okay?”
“Yeah.” Colton pointed to the glowing strap between Cody and Dylon. “What are they doing?”
“In a minute,” Jackson said, turning to Cody. “Tell Dylon that Colton is here.”
After seeing his brother nod, Jackson glanced at Colton. “Ready for me to unbind your wolf?”
“No! Jackson, it’s been over two hours…you can’t do it; otherwise I’ll go insane, too…I won’t have any time to say good-bye to Ian or our pups!”
“Your wolf is fine. Trust me.”
“But how?”
“I’ll let Dylon explain. I’m releasing your wolf, now.” Closing his eyes, Jackson released his brother’s bound wolf.
Colton felt nothing until…there was his wolf, standing proudly, calling for his mate, cocking his head as he waited for an answering howl, grinning when it came.
Ian must be awake. Assuring his wolf he’d soon be reunited with his mate, Colton smiled as he watched his wolf lie down—a toothy grin on his face.
“How’s your wolf?” Cody asked as Dylon removed the strap.
“Good…but I don’t understand why,” Colton replied.
Rolling up the golden strap, Dylon said, “One day, my shaman came into my bedroom and handed me this. When I asked what it was for, he explained how I should use it if I ever needed to save a bound wolf. Afterward, I tossed it in the trunk he gave me and promptly forgot about it. It wasn’t until you told Mac that Jackson had bound your wolf, that I remembered about it. ”
“Holy fuck! I owe you one,” Colton said.
“No you don’t…this is payback for you saving my life,” Dylon grinned.
“Colton,” Jackson said, getting his attention. “I’m guessing there was a problem since it took more than an hour. What happened?”
“Ahh…yes…the third pup was trapped. Her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and her foot was wedged in the birth canal. It was touch and go for a while, but she’s okay now,” Colton replied.
Hugging his brother, Cody murmured in his ear, “Congratulations, Daddy!”
“Thanks,” Colton whispered. “I thought the pregnancy was hard but now, I’m scared shitless. I just know I’m gonna fuck up. How do you guys make it look so easy?”
A bark of laughter escaped Cody. “Hey, you’ll figure it out. Cheer up, at least you can’t break them.”
“That’s what you think,” replied Colton. “Ian’s awake, so give me a few minutes to introduce our pups to him before you all descend on him, okay?”
“Will do,” Jackson said. “In the meantime, we’ll wake up Lily and Samuel and bring them with us.”
“Ian will appreciate that,” Colton said, before leaving, eager to head back to his mate and their pups.
~/~/~/~/~
Looking down at his pups, Ian listened to Mac tell him about the delivery and how Colton saved the last pup. Reaching down, he chuckled when his son latched onto his finger, his tiny fist holding on tight. “A strong Scotsman already, eh, Lory?”
Standing behind his mate, Colton peered over Ian’s shoulder at their son. “He definitely is. I think your father would be proud of Prince Lorne.”
“Yes, I think you’re right.” Then, glancing over to his first born, Ian, said, “She looks like…”
“Your birth mother, the queen,” Colton said. “It’s uncanny, isn’t it. I think we picked the perfect name for her.”
“Yes…Princess Kellina,” Ian murmured, running a fingertip down his daughter’s soft cheek.
“Your suggestion of using the queen’s middle name was perfect.
” Glancing over at Kellina’s twin, his eyes roamed over his sleeping daughter.
“I heard you had a bit of trouble,” Ian crooned, “but you are looking mighty fine now.” Unable to stop himself, Ian scooped up Lilia in his arms, cradling her against his chest. Turning to face his mate, he blinked back his tears.
“I canna express how thankful I am to you for saving our little Lili.”
Tucking Ian and their daughter into his arms, Colton held them close to him, cherishing the moment.
It would be a long time before the memory of his daughter struggling to breathe would disappear from his mind, but he knew it would eventually be replaced by many happy memories yet to come.
“Give your thanks to the Fates, for gracing me with the ability to do so,” he murmured, gently stroking Lilia’s shock of red hair that matched her sister’s.
“Hey guys,” Mac said, coming back into the room he’d set up as a nursery in the hospital. “Your pups have visitors.”
Glancing through the big glass window, Colton chuckled at the crowd who’d gathered, all wanting to see the latest members of the Blackwood Pack. “Time for our prince and princesses to meet their adoring public.”
“If you think this is bad, wait till we take them to Scotland,” Ian smirked, setting Lilia back down. “According to my mother, there’ll be feasts and dancing every night for at least a week. It’s been a long time since any princesses have been born, so expect a lot of drinking and toasting.”
“Great,” Colton grumbled, as he wheeled the bassinets over to the window. “I had some of Angus’ special ale last time there was a feast and all I can say is, let’s make sure we pack lots of pain medicine to take care of the hangover I’ll have the next morning.”
“Aww…don’t worry, babe. I promise I’ll take care of you,” Ian murmured, joining his mate standing behind their pups as everyone jostled for a better position. Leaning into Colton, he added, “You can count on it.”
~/~/~/~/~
Glenn waited until he heard the deep breathing of his mates before slowly extricating himself from their bed.
Once on his feet, he glanced down at Sawyer and Alex, checking to make sure they were still asleep.
Satisfied he hadn’t disturbed them, he padded quietly into the adjoining sitting room, closing the door behind him with a faint click.
Sitting down, he quickly dialed Riley, betting on him still being awake.
Since arriving at the Blackwood Pack, so much had been going on, he hadn’t been able to check in with his team.
That, and the fact his tiger was on the prowl made Glenn jumpy.
“Hey,” Glenn murmured into his phone, thankful he was right about his friend’s sleeping habits.
“What’s up?” Riley asked, distractedly, his fingers flying over the keyboard.
“You’re gonna tell me who the assholes were that attacked my mates at the campground, right?” growled Glenn.
Riley stopped typing as he leaned back in his chair. “Yeah…well, about that. I found out who the humans were…ex-military for hire…but haven’t got a name for the leader…or what exactly his role was. Right now, I’m searching restricted data files.”
“Any info on who paid the GI Joes?”
“Working on that. Each of their bank accounts show $250,000 deposited on the same day, but it came from a bogus company. I’m trying to trace where the money really originated from.”
Trying to swallow his frustration at constantly meeting dead ends, Glenn growled, “Shit…any info on the fuckers after my mates today?”
“It’s gonna take time…mainly because we don’t know what kind of shifters they are so I can’t narrow down the search parameters.”
Frowning, Glenn closed his eyes while pinching the bridge of his nose.
Tension knotted the muscles of his neck and shoulders.
Something wasn’t right. The attack in LA followed by the men who hunted them today was too coincidental.
It had to be connected, but how? His gut told him that was the key to finding out who was behind it.
“Hey, Glenn…”
Letting out the breath he was holding, Glenn opened his eyes. “Yeah…what?”
“Ghost wants to talk to you,” Riley said.
“Is he there?”
“Yeah,” Riley muttered, handing his phone over to Ghost before going back to his computer.
“Fuckingbedammed, Snow White! I can’t leave you and your mates alone for one fucking minute without you gettin’ into trouble.”
Grinning to himself, Glenn replied, “I’m a magnet.”
“Uh huh…or maybe you’re losin’ your edge.”
“Never. Now, what’s up?”
“Smokey just got a lead on Kevin’s parents,” Ghost reported.
“How solid?”
“Good enough…Kevin’s mother finally returned his call. They’re hidin’ out in a cave up in the mountains half way between their home and the Canadian border. Smokey’ will be headin’ out as soon as his gear is packed. Do you still want me to go with him?” asked Ghost.
“Why did they run?”
“According to Smokey, they found footprints circling their cabin one morning, and since Kevin had vanished, they thought it best if they disappeared, too.”
“Were they sure the footprints didn’t belong to Kevin?”
“Positive…too big,” Ghost replied.
“What took ‘em so long to contact Smokey? They had to know he’d be worried about them,” Glenn said.
“They turned off their phones so they couldn’t be tracked. Good thinking…only problem was they forgot to turn them on again when they reached the cave…until now.”
Giving a mirthless chuckle, Glenn said, “Well, at least they remembered…eventually.”
“Hey, I’m happy; otherwise it would’ve taken a ton of time trying to find ‘em…and without success, I might add, considering where they are.”
Glenn knew Ghost was right. A cave was the last place they would’ve thought of to look for them.
But he wondered if Kevin was also out there in some cave, which would explain why Smokey couldn’t find him.
Clenching his jaw, Glenn hated it when there were too many questions without answers. “Panther say anything?”
“Nope. You know he ain’t gonna crack as long as he’s being treated like a princess. You sure you don’t want Smokey to convince him it’s in his best interest to talk?”
“Not yet. I want Smokey to collect Kevin’s parents and bring them here…and have a few of your best men go with him. I doubt he’s gonna run into any problems,” Glenn said. “In the meantime, I want you to work with Riley to find out who the hell is after my mates.”
“I thought the Collector is behind it.”
“The only thing we know for sure is Panther was hired by the Collector to kidnap Alex. The rest of this shit? Nah…not his MO…too sloppy There’s someone else behind the attack in LA and the crap up here today.”
“If that’s the case, then we don’t know who they’re after,” Ghost mused.
“Not so,” Glenn said. “According to Sawyer, the LA attackers mentioned my name, but the assholes at the truck stop were clearly after Alex. There has to be a connection but hell if I know what it is.”
“And so far, Sawyer hasn’t been a target.”
“Yeah, but my tiger tells me otherwise,” Glenn murmured, thinking about the sudden appearance of the shifters at the truck stop. “Hey, do a bug check on your vehicles down there, willya? See if there are any trackers on them. The shit at the truck stop wasn’t a random event.”
“As soon as I hang up, but you better do it up there too,” Ghost said.
“I’ll ask Dylon in the morning if he can do it.”
“Speaking of your favorite person, how are you getting on with Dylon?” asked Ghost, chuckling.
Rolling his eyes, Glenn ignored the question.
“Hey, about Panther, I think we can get the info out of him we want, but I need to get the cooperation of the Blackwood Pack, which I hope will happen in the morning when my mates and I meet with their Alpha. In the meantime, make sure Smokey has everything he’ll need…
and anything else you think he should have.
Also, tell him I want him to check in regularly and when he’s secured Kevin’s parents, to send me his ETA so I can arrange everything on my end. ”
“Will do.”
“Also text me when he leaves.”
“Yes daddy? Anything else?” smirked Ghost.
“Fuck you.”
“Not happening. No way. I don’t want Delicious Surprise’s dragon roasting my ass. You just keep your pecker where it belongs.”
Laughing, Glenn said, “Okay, then fuck off.”
“Much better. Anything else?”
“Not right now. Talk to ya later.” Ending the call, Glenn sat there, flipping through the men’s pictures on his phone. Stopping at one picture in particular, he was sure he had seen the dude before, but where?