Chapter Fifteen
Bre stared at her nephew while the conversation flowed around her.
Finn looked like a natural with his son cuddled against his chest, nose buried in Finn’s neck.
The baby seemed content with his father, as if there was no other place he wanted to be.
Still, his lips twitched toward a smile any time he heard his mother’s voice.
“He was meant to be a father,” Laura said as she took a seat next to Bre. “It’s so natural for him while I’m always afraid I’ll do something wrong.”
“You hide it well, then,” Bre told her. “He’s a lucky little boy.”
“We’re the lucky ones,” Laura said then took Bre’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you. For giving him a chance. He’s never really forgiven himself for what happened that day. Not protecting Murphy. Not protecting you. He blames himself.”
“There’s plenty of blame to go around, but none of it is his.
I know that. I hate that I can’t remember everything, but I know they used Finn and Murphy against me the same as I was used against them.
We were tools in someone else’s arsenal.
None of us had any control at the time. We were children.
Now, Finn has a child. And I’m an aunt again. ”
Conversation paused as all eyes turned to her.
“Again?” Murphy asked.
“I…” Bre stumbled over the words. Jonah was there instantly, holding her hand.
“I remembered something from the lab in Ireland. There was a baby girl. Her name is Cilia. I’m her aunt.
I can see her face. Red curls and blue eyes.
Like you, Finn.” She rubbed her chest. “She’d be four now, but I don’t know where she is. He got her out.”
“Who?” Murphy asked.
“A man named Enzo. I see him but not clearly. He was at the lab. He helped me when he could. Worked to get me out.”
“But he didn’t,” Finn said.
“Something happened. He had to choose between me or Cilia. I couldn’t…” She trailed off with a shake of her head.
“There was no choice,” Laura said, gaze on her son. “I understand.”
“We all do,” Oakley added.
“What else do you remember about this Enzo?” Murphy asked.
“Tall. Dark hair. He’s there, but not a clear picture. I can hear his voice in my head.”
“It’s more than she had previously,” Jonah said. “Steps. You’re getting there, love. Things are coming back.”
“You said you were an aunt again. A child that looked similar to me,” Finn said. “How is she related? Or was it a game those holding you used to control you?”
“She reminded me of you,” she whispered, sharing a look with her twin. “She’s blood. I see her clearly now. I need to remember. Maybe, the key to finding her is locked somewhere in my head.”
“Did Alby or Niall visit you? I don’t think there was any blood relation, but we did see them as brothers. Did you see them when Brian came to take you out for the day?” Finn asked.
“Alby’s dead,” she murmured. “He was killed shortly after Brian.”
“Niall?” Murphy asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I wish I did.”
“You’re remembering, though,” Oakley said. “That’s progress. Does Tony know?”
“We talked to him on the way here. He’s going to see if he can find anything on a man named Enzo,” Jonah shared. “Or anything on a child who was removed and relocated.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Oakley said. “I’ll check, as well. Plus, I’m sure Tony’s already reached out to Andrew to see if there are any watcher records on either of them. We have names and a timeframe. That’s huge.”
“You’re right, and there’s something else I want to share with all of you.” She glanced up at her mate and basked in the love showing in his eyes. “Jonah asked me to marry him, and I’ve accepted.”
“Mated and married,” Oakley said. “I like it.”
“That’s not what you said when I asked you,” Murphy countered with a lifted brow. “Something about human rituals being pointless.”
She smacked his arm. “We’re both shifters. It’s different.”
Murphy merely lifted a brow, and Bre thought he might know more about Jonah and Tony’s shifter serum than any of them realized.
“When do you plan to make it official?” Laura asked. “I guess Tony will do the honors?”
“Tony can perform marriages?” Bre asked then shook her head at the look on Jonah’s face. “Of course, he can. We’ll plan something soon. All of you are invited.”
Jonah dropped a kiss on her lips. She leaned in to him for a moment, taking the comfort he offered before slipping away.
“Now, I believe I was promised an opportunity to meet your lynxes,” she said to Finn and Murphy. She felt the press of warmth beneath her skin and knew the animal inside her was just as curious to see them.
“I’ll take Sean,” Laura said, but Jonah shook his head, reaching for the baby and taking him easily out of Finn’s arms.
“Let Uncle Jonah take him, so you can go for a run, too. I bet you haven’t gone together since this little guy arrived,” Jonah said, looking down at Sean.
Talk about being a natural. Jonah definitely was.
Bre had seen that with Quinn’s son, but it seemed Jonah just had a way about him that put kids at ease.
“Oak, want to play chase?” Murphy offered, and Bre almost blushed at the heated look they exchanged.
“If you can keep up,” she challenged, heading for the door. Murphy followed her with a laugh.
“Are you sure?” Laura asked Jonah even as Finn took his mate’s hand and tugged her after Murphy and Oakley.
“We’ll be fine.” Jonah had Sean lying along his arm, one finger caught in the baby’s grip while they exchanged gibberish.
“Adorable,” Bre murmured.
“Mmm, I know,” Jonah agreed. “Your nephew’s pretty cute, too.”
Bre laughed as she stepped outside and beheld two fully shifted Eurasian lynxes, a lioness, and a snow leopard.
They were gorgeous. All of them. She was down the porch steps and among them in seconds.
When a lynx rubbed against her, she knew it was Finn and laughed as he coaxed her to rub her palm along his furry back.
She laughed again when Laura joined them.
“Wait. Will Sean be a lynx or a snow leopard? How does that work?” she asked, though neither could answer her in their current state.
It was hard to be a shifter who had never once been able to let their animal side free.
One who’d been cut off from her animal side more often than not.
Funny how even when she’d had access to her animal senses, her elongated canines, she’d been separate.
Maybe, she was more like her mate than either of them realized.
Maybe, she didn’t mind that. Though, looking at the foursome in front of her had an ache filling her chest.
“It’s hard to tell when they’re this young,” Jonah answered.
“Unless only one parent is the shifter. Take Tah and Abby, for instance. Regan will be a lion like her daddy. As will the baby Abby’s currently growing.
Diane and Zane’s little girl, Amala, will be a panther like Zane.
Darby and Calloway’s twin boys will be cougars like their dad.
With Laura and Finn, Gabriel and Kenzie, matings where both parents are different shifters, we won’t know until the kids are a little older. ”
“But how?”
We’ll sense what animal they have.
Finn’s voice filled Bre’s head.
You heard me. I wasn’t sure if you would or not.
“How?” she asked as Jonah looked between her and Finn.
“Twin bond? Or shifter bond?” he asked.
Bre could only shrug. She had no idea.
Maybe both. Murphy and I have always been able to communicate this way. Even before my animal side made an appearance. Always been able to sense one another. He shut it off when he was taken by Blane. We weren’t sure if it would come back or not.
“Did it?”
It did. Murphy’s voice filled her head. Oakley and I will catch you guys later.
She laughed even as Finn’s laugh filled her head.
“Go for your run,” she ordered him and Laura, making shooing motions with her hands.
“So, Finn can talk to you when he’s shifted?
” Jonah asked as he took a seat on the top step, placing Sean on his thighs, so he could kick his feet and wave his fists in the air.
The baby continued to make gibberish noises that Jonah responded to as if the two were having a conversation.
He’d done the same with Emery. It was endearing.
“Apparently,” she offered. “He and Murphy both.”
“Not a twin bond then. Familial.”
“Finn said he and Murphy had the connection even before Finn connected with his animal side.”
Jonah let Sean catch his fingers in his waving fists and smiled down at him. “How do you feel? Watching them shift? Seeing that side of them?”
Knowing she couldn’t join them? That was the question he left unasked, but she heard it anyway.
“I hate that my lynx will never know what it is to take form and run. To feel the air on her fur as everything comes alive around her.”
“You don’t know that she won’t,” Jonah argued, but she stopped him.
“I do. I do know that. Whatever they did to me in Ireland, they severed our bond that allowed for the shift. She’s there. I hope she’s always there, but I’ll never experience a moment like the one we just witnessed.”
“Maybe, Tony can—”
“He can do a lot of things, but not this,” she said before Jonah could finish.
“What about the injection Professor Mueller gave your brother? It brought Finn’s animal out of recession.”
“His animal was recessed not disconnected. It’s different.” She glanced down at Sean and ran a fingertip along his soft red hair. “He’s so beautiful.”
“He is,” Jonah agreed. “Most babies are. Tiny. Filled with life and hope and unconditional love. They want to be held, protected. Kept warm and fed and swaddled in love.”
“You’ll make a great dad someday.”
He smiled. “Maybe.” He glanced meaningfully at her. “Do you want to have kids?”
“I don’t know if I can. If they did anything to those parts of me.”
“That’s not what I asked,” he whispered softly, and she understood the distinction he made. Not if she could but if she wanted to.
“Someday,” she whispered back. “With you. A baby boy with your eyes.”
“A little girl with her mama’s red hair and green eyes,” Jonah countered. He ran a hand along her cheek. “Mrs. Conti.”
“Mrs. Conti,” she agreed, liking the sound of being someone else. It was a name. Yet, it was more than that. No longer Brenna Dockery. Bre Conti. Bre Conti was strong. She had a mate who loved her, a family, and friends. She wasn’t alone.
She wasn’t alone.