Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
RAWLING
“My niece is the cutest thing ever.”
Jack was leaning over Eira, having claimed the title of the fun aunt. Not that our daughter had any aunts on Phelan’s side of the family, because he had two brothers and no sisters.
I took a deep breath and let it out because I refused to let my mind go there. But it did anyway. Damn. Atticus was an only child, a fact he’d proclaimed loud and long during the first semester I was here. And he’d used it as a cudgel since whatever passed as a “welcome back to the family” event.
Who knew how many other children his parents had carted off to orphanages around the country?
“And you’re her one and only aunt.” Jack side-eyed me. “Fine.” I made a pukey face. “That we know of.” I poked my tongue out at her.
“Gotta go.” She kissed Eira and me. “Knox is being extra needy.” She rolled her eyes. “Says he’s hardly seen me since Eira’s birth.”
“It’s only been ten days.”
She shrugged and tore out the door, saying she planned to shift later.
I was so excited she’d found her beast. There was an aura of strength about Jack today, and her eyes glittered with what I deemed history.
She possessed the stories of bear shifters going back generations.
If my friend was fierce previously, now she was formidable.
I picked Eira up and held her to my chest as she yawned and closed her eyes. How I wished I could stop time. With the birth behind me and our daughter safe in my arms, my mate and I were relishing these early days of parenthood. And I hadn’t laid eyes on Atticus in a few days.
Phelan had caught him lurking outside the infirmary and told him I didn’t want to see him.
But privately, my mate had put forward the theory that Atticus was the asswipe he was because he and I had been separated so soon after birth.
He reminded me of the TV series we watched where one twin cried non-stop when their sibling was in surgery and only calmed when they were side by side.
I’d wept when he said that. Damned hormones. I wasn’t responsible for what his parents did to us. I’d hit the jackpot, but Atticus was mired in a traditional, old-world shifter household.
When I was attending classes again, I’d what? Try and talk to him? Nah, I didn’t need abuse hurled at me. What he needed was therapy, but shifters tended to veer away from that. And after meeting his folks, gods, no wonder he turned out the way he was.
Apparently he glared at Jack whenever he saw her, because while he’d recovered from his limp, the scar would never fade. But she responded by showing her bear in her gaze, and he shriveled.
Now that I was alone with Eira, and she’d been fed and burped and was sleeping, my mind went, not to Atticus but to Rawlins.
Why hadn’t he told me I was adopted? And did that make Charlie and Arnie my adopted parents?
I had so many questions, and even though I knew where I’d come from, I couldn’t fathom my name, Blakesley. Who else was a Blakesley other than me?
I sniffed and tears spilled onto my little girl. Before the birth, I’d told myself I had a new family. Phelan, the baby inside me, his folks and siblings. But now, even though I’d discovered my birth family, I still felt adrift.
While I hadn’t expressed this to my mate, I wondered if Peregrine and Corvin had suspected I was a hunter. But why would they think that? Hunters, as far as my research told me, didn't have a specific scent.
I waited, expecting to hear that voice, but while the baby’s voice mostly silenced it during pregnancy, there had been nothing since. And with Eira here, what I assumed was her voice had also gone silent.
But Phelan, while unable to explain what I referred to as the bad voice, told me we could get back to living our lives, though I was on tenterhooks, waiting for it to return.
And what was even more frightening was what if Eira was a hunter?
Phelan and his family were convinced she was a shifter, and I asked the goddess to make it so.
Phelan
I was braced against the headboard with one arm around Rawling while our daughter slept between us.
She should be in her crib. Mrs. Ardilla had told us that a few times when she found Eira on the bed with us.
But Mrs. Ardilla was from a different generation, and while we prioritized our daughter’s safety and she always slept there at night, while we were both here and awake, we wanted her with us.
My mate was propped against my chest and we were both studying the miracle that was our daughter. Eira was clutching Rawling’s sleep pants with her tiny fist. Just as he had refused to be apart from her the last week or so, she clung to him, knowing that he belonged to her.
“Oh, look. She makes that face just before she wakes up,” my mate said.
Seconds later, our daughter opened her eyes and yawned. She glanced at us as if to say, “Yes, you may serve my lunch now.”
I picked her up, and she snuggled into my chest. Maybe I’d misread the message because she didn’t fuss or want a feed, but closed her eyes again.
Much as I didn’t want to disturb our bonding time, we needed to get ready for the onslaught, as I had coined it.
My folks were still staying close by and visited every day.
They wanted to see their granddaughter, but they were also insistent that we hire someone, while Rawling and I believed we could juggle classes and raise our daughter.
A couple of sleepless nights with Eira convinced us we did need help.
But it wasn’t my folks we were dreading but the couple who were biologically related to my mate. Neither of us could use the term bio parents or anything other than their given names.
Peregrine and Corvin hadn’t stuck around after Eira was born. Shocker, because they were so warm and loving. My wolf was confused by that statement until I explained sarcasm.
We put Eira in her bassinet in the living room. My parents arrived first, and they gave Rawling and me brief kisses and hugs before fussing over our daughter. We’d told them to come early so they’d be here when the other pair arrived.
Peregrine didn’t knock but opened the infirmary door and stuck his head in.
I’d been around these people most of my life.
How had I never paid attention to how obnoxious they were?
I’d mentioned to Rawling that my folks were pleasant to them because they were in the same social circles, and with shifter society being so hierarchal, they’d maintained ties so they’d blend in.
But after witnessing their behavior with Rawling and them relating why they gave him up, I was all for cutting them out of our lives. But the final decision wasn’t up to me.
“How’s the little one?” Corvin bent over our sleeping daughter and waved a toy bunny at her.
“Any sign she may be a shifter?” Peregrine glanced at Eira, but like Atticus, I guessed he wasn’t into babies, especially ones who didn’t exhibit shifter tendencies.
“She’s ten days old, Peregrine.” Dad’s tone told me he wasn’t impressed.
I was still puzzling over why Rawling had scented latent at birth, though Dad said it was probably because he’d been with Atticus. I’d gripped my belly and told it to keep my breakfast, because the thought of being trapped in such a small space with Atticus was frankly horrifying.
My folks were also uneasy at us keeping Rawling’s humanity a secret. But I explained that we couldn’t make any more major decisions for the moment, and we had to keep the status quo.
“We have good news.” Corvin grinned.
“Atticus is transferring to another school?” Rawling said under his breath, knowing every shifter in the room could hear him.
I stifled a giggle and tried not to catch Dad’s eye or I’d laugh hysterically.
Peregrine fumed but didn’t respond to my mate. “Corvin and I want to pay for your manny.” He glanced at each one of us as if expecting us to prostrate ourselves at his feet.
“Not happening, Peregrine. Eira is our granddaughter, and our family will take care of any financial needs.” Father was adamant he and Dad would be responsible for us until we left Sombertooth.
Corvin shuffled closer to his mate. “Biologically, she’s our granddaughter too.”
I put a hand on my mate’s shoulder, wishing Atticus’s family would leave. The only thing worse than this would be to have Atticus here chewing us out for some perceived slight.
“Sorry, no, that’s not how this works.” Dad got between Peregrine and Eira’s bassinet. “You gave up your rights when you tossed your son away.” Dad was shouting, and Rawling put a hand on Eira’s sleeping form.
Peregrine opened his mouth, revealing his wolf’s fangs.
“Put those away. What’s next? A dick-measuring contest?”
“Rob, language!” Corvin flapped a hand in the air.
Dad got in Peregrine’s face. “Here’s what’s going to happen.” He beckoned Father forward so they were shoulder to shoulder. “We’re paying for someone reliable to look after Eira, and you two are going to get out of our lives.” Dad folded his arms. “That’s it.”
As a wealthy old-school alpha, Peregrine had no doubt never been spoken to like that. The color drained from his cheeks, and he sputtered and told Father to keep his mate in line.
“Rob speaks for all of us.”
I got up and helped Rawling to his feet. My parents made way for us.
“You’re only interested in Eira if she has a wolf inside her.” My mate took my arm. “But we love her unconditionally, something you can’t imagine because your love has limits. And Atticus is a product of that, sadly.”
“You’re going to regret this when you lose your place in the upper echelons of shifter society.”
Father glowered at Peregrine. “Do your worst, but remember, you and Corvin dumped a newborn because you thought him being latent would damage your reputation.”
My father slung an arm around Dad. “We’re not in the business of spreading gossip, but it would be a shame if that story made its way into the shifter community, and in particular, the wolf shifter council.”