Chapter 5
Damon
Sometimes it just takes me by surprise that she is mine. She is sleeping so peacefully in my arms. I love that I can bring her peace and happiness and make her feel safe.
Yesterday, before everything went down with the packmate who betrayed us, I got a distress message from a member of a pack.
I was not sure what to do about it. A couple of weeks ago, a bear and wolf couple died in a car accident.
They left a baby, a boy. Their pack is wild and vicious.
They can snap and kill you just like that.
This boy is in danger, and I have a strong feeling the parents did not die in a car crash.
“What has you thinking so hard?” Farren asks, waking up from her sleep.
I tell her about the parents who allegedly died in a car crash, which is very unlikely. It takes a lot to kill a shifter.
“I just fucking can’t think of the baby being brought up in that place. The person taking care of him asked the pack to take him in.”
She gets out of bed. “Get out of bed, we have a baby to get.” She smiles that beautiful smile and goes into the bathroom. I follow her. I am glad she is my mate. One way or another, this baby will be in our pack, even if we have to raise him ourselves.
Farren
He just had to mention a baby. I am ready to go get him.
I want the shifter world to be better, and if I can somehow make a baby’s life better, then I will do that.
The Brett’s Pack is just bad, full of mean and angry pack members.
The women are literally just slaves; they have no life and the men rule the coop.
We are going to be meeting the couple caring for the baby in secret. It’s dangerous for the baby to be there, and it will be hell for him as he gets older. He will probably be bullied relentlessly and eventually killed.
There is a knock at the door. I motion for Brantley and Maverick to come inside. They will be in the vehicle with me and Damon. They don’t know what is going on just yet. Brantley smiles and gives me a side hug. A low growl can be heard across the room.
“What’s going on, Damon?” Maverick asks.
He explains the situation with the baby.
“Alpha, can I suggest something?” Brantley gets out of his chair, looking at both of us.
Damon nods, but Brantley looks so unsure. I touch his back, hoping to give him the strength to do what he needs to do.
“May I take the baby in? Let’s face it—I will never have children of my own since I am gay, and I have always wanted to be a father.”
I never expected that, but I can see Brantley being a great father. I look at Damon, smiling, expressing my full approval. “He is yours,” Damon tells him.
Brantley laughs in disbelief. “Thank you, Alpha. I never expected I would get this chance.”
“Now we must go and get him, we are doing this in secret. He is coming from Brett’s Pack.”
Maverick and Brantley both wince.
Yeah, it’s not going to be easy, but I doubt that the pack will even notice. The baby and his caretakers are probably hiding deep in the woods, away from everyone else in the pack.
“Can someone get the stuff the baby will need while we are gone?” Brantley says. “Just a bed and stuff for tonight? Tomorrow I would like to pick out the rest of the baby’s things myself.” How cute is he? I am very happy for him.
Randall goes shopping for a few things we will need on the way home, including a car seat; then it’s time to leave. “We need to get the show on the road,” Damon tells Brantley. “We have another SUV following us with five pack members.” Brantley grabs the diaper bag and a couple of blankets.
We don’t know much about the baby’s health. Hopefully, he has been treated well since his parents’ death. I would sincerely hate to kill some pack members. No pup should be mistreated.
We file out of the house into a black SUV, and I get in the front with Damon. Maverick and Brantley get into the back seat, with the car seat between them. Damon sticks his hand out the window, motioning for the SUV behind us to follow.
The place we are meeting the baby’s caretakers is a diner about an hour away.
It’s in neutral territory, with no pack in the area.
The drive there is excruciating. Damon has his hand curled around my thigh, trying to calm my nerves.
Brantley is just as nervous as I am. He is in the back seat sorting the diaper bag, making sure everything is in place.
He is so cute. Maverick is silent the whole way, and I can tell he is in warrior mode, ready for anything.
Damon is doing the same thing. I am just nervous.
Damon pulls up next to the diner. We look through the windows and see a couple with a baby. Damon gets out of the SUV. I stay still because I know better than to get out before he opens the door for me. He is very protective, plus this could be a trap or something.
Brantley comes to my side; Damon is on the other. The other pack members are going to stay in the SUV unless they are needed.
Maverick opens the door and we walk inside the diner. Damon has his hand on the small of my back, walking slightly ahead of me.
The shifters in the diner sit up straighter.
The female shifter—I can tell, by her smell, she is a wolf—is holding the baby.
Did I mention it’s pretty chilly outside?
The baby is wearing only a T-shirt onesie.
I look at Brantley, who is staring at the baby.
He looks at me, and I can tell he has noticed this too.
We shifters do not get cold as easily as humans do, but this is a baby.
He is probably around three or four months old.
I am itching to snatch him out of the shifter’s arms and run out to the warm SUV.
“Damon,” the male shifter says, and he stands up. “We need to get out of here before the pack notices we are gone. They think the baby died in the car crash with his parents. They intended to sell him to the hyenas.”
Fuck me.
I growl loudly. Nothing pisses me off more than the way pack alphas will do anything to get rid of orphaned children of mixed couples. This happens way too often. It’s fucking sick.
I love being a shifter, but the bad people make it rough on everyone. The lady shifter gets out of the booth and hands me the baby. “Thank you for protecting him,” I tell her.
She smiles sadly. “I just wish this wasn't the way of life there.”
I nod and we watch as they hurry out of the diner.
I look at the baby in my arms, who is staring at me.
He is a very beautiful little baby; it’s a shame that he lost his parents so early in life.
I look at Brantley. “Here, Dad.” He smiles and takes the baby from me.
Damon puts his arm around me as we watch their first moments together.
“One day,” Damon whispers in my ear.
Hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later.
“Let’s get out of here,” Damon says. I will feel more comfortable on pack grounds; that’s for sure.
Brantley tucks the baby against his chest, and I stand next to him, ready to protect him if it comes to that.
Maverick takes Brantley's other side, and Damon is in front of us.
My skin is on fire; my wolf is aching to get out.
Damon pushes the door open, and we walk to the SUV.
The other pack members are parked right beside us with the window down, and they look at Brantley holding the baby. “Congrats, man!” they call out.
Brantley beams at them. I can feel the pure happiness radiating off him, and my wolf is pleased about that. It is her mission to make her packmates happy.
Damon stops and sniffs the air, growling deep in his chest. I press my hand to the small of his back instinctively. I see five wolves and the body of the male shifter who brought the baby.
“In the vehicle, Brantley,” I urge. They are here for the baby, and I will not allow anyone to take him. He will not be sold into slavery. Brantley looks back and forth between Damon and me and the other packmates.
“Now,” Damon snarls. Brantley gets inside the SUV. The other packmates get out of their SUV, and they stand behind us as we face the five wolves. They killed the couple who brought the baby; the female’s head was almost torn off.
I knew of the horribleness of their pack, but I never expected them to kill the couple for protecting the baby. Children are protected within packs, except the ones with mixed parentage—and that is something I will never fully understand.
All five of the wolves attack without warning.
Damon pushes me back, changing into his wolf form as he runs into the fray.
One by one, the wolves change, and my hair flies around my face as they run past me.
Damon reaches them first, viciously and without mercy tearing into any part of their bodies he can reach.
I am shaking with anger. They dared to hurt one of ours. They hurt the people who helped the baby. Now they attack us? As I shift, I stand by the SUV, growling deeply.” I am not going to allow anyone to get close to Brantley and the baby.
My brother jumps over Damon’s back and tackles a wolf that was trying to sneak up on him. How fucking dare he? That was low. They have no morals.
I start to run in that direction, and Damon sees me.
“No.” A huge part of my mind wants to ignore him and the other, as an alpha’s wife, wants to listen to him because I could get him hurt.
I sit on the ground, growling. My mate is fighting, and one of the wolves bites him on the back leg.
I stand up, ready to defend him if needed.
Damon turns around and grabs hold of the wolf, shaking his head violently until he breaks his neck. Only one shifter is left at this point, and he takes off into the woods. I change back into human form, and Brantley opens the door and hands me some clothes.
The baby is resting against Brantley’s chest, covered in a small blanket, fast asleep. I hear something running toward me. I turn around and, before I can jump back, a fist connects with my face, and my attacker tries to reach inside the vehicle.