Tak set his feet on the ground and shoved the footstool away. “Thank you for confiding in me, and I’m being generous with my words. You should automatically trust your Packmaster, and I want to be a leader who earns that trust.” Tak reached over and placed his hand gently on mine. “You’re safe with us. How the child came into the world isn’t important. You still have decisions to make, but now you’re not alone. I will always support you.” He held his fist over his heart. “My word is my bond.” He turned his gaze down to his cut knuckles, and I could tell he wanted to hunt down the people who had done this to me.
“You have a mate carrying a child,” I reminded him. “Now is not the time to go looking for trouble. It’s in the past.”
“Why were you afraid to tell me how the baby was conceived?”
My heart squeezed tighter as I thought about it. “At first I wasn’t even sure if the baby would carry to term. Salem warned me I could miscarry since we didn’t know much about it. If Idokeep the baby, I’m afraid the pack will treat it differently.”
“That won’t happen.”
“How can you be so sure?”
He gave me a pointed look. “Because I won’t let that happen. But Hope was right. Whether you tell them or not, I’ll support your decision.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “What if I do give it up? Will anyone want a baby conceived that way?”
“All a childless couple cares about is having a child. Milly will know if there is medical information we should disclose.”
“What if, years down the road, some new defect or ability pops up? I just wouldn’t want this baby to go through what I did—to have parents who won’t accept them.”
“If you decide to give up the child, I’ll make sure that never happens.”
Catcher bounded toward us and trotted up the steps, panting and wagging his tail. After accepting Tak’s affectionate pat, he sat between my legs and rested his gigantic head on my belly.
I stared cautiously down at his hazel eyes and brown fur, wondering if he knew there was sometimes a little wolf inside me instead of a baby.
“He doesn’t even do that with Hope,” Tak remarked, his tone filled with curiosity. “And he knows she’s also carrying. Maybe he’s always known you and Salem weren’t mated and thinks you need a protector. Animals are more perceptive than we are.” Then he pinched his chin. “But why didn’tmywolf know about you and Salem? If he knew, he never conveyed those doubts to me.”
“Wolves don’t care about getting into everyone’s business like we do.”
Tak rocked with laughter. “You have a point.”
When I touched Catcher’s nose to nudge him away, he licked my fingers. As if sensing my discomfort with his proximity, he lay down at my feet. Not to sleep but to keep guard.
I spotted Krys’s wolf in the distance. His animal was one I avoided since he was aggressive around people. With a brown coat and crystal-blue eyes, Krys’s wolf had an unusual clawlike pattern of black lines marking one side of his body that made him easy to spot.
“Keep your distance from that one,” Tak warned me. “No sense in taking any chances. Krys is a good wolf but not without issues. He only tolerates me because I’m the alpha, but if you come up behind him and he’s not expecting it, he might snap.”
“Don’t you worry—I’ve been avoiding the wolves for that very reason. Except Catcher. I can’t seem to get rid of him.”
Catcher’s tail thumped once against the deck.
“It must be a relief to have all the secrets off your chest,” Tak said. “Secrets weigh you down like an anchor and drown you in fear. I once kept secrets from my family, and it only led to trouble. If you can’t trust people, you’ll always fear them. Talking to Hope and me is a start, but you still have work to do.”
“I fear people I love more than strangers. They’re the ones who betrayed me.”
Tak sighed as he watched Krys drinking from a bucket we left out for the wolves. “Your family cast you out, and I’m guessing they’re not the only ones who didn’t accept you. But don’t cut off your pack out of fear. You’re not expendable, and every single person under this roof loves and respects you. You don’t always hear the kind words they say about you. We’re your chosen family. I have a dreamcatcher we can hang by your bed to keep evil spirits away. In the spring, you and I will plant a tree together and say a prayer. I’d do it now, but winter is coming.”
“Why a tree?”
“Trees are a symbol of longevity and roots. That’s what a pack is—a tree of life. You’ve had a difficult journey, but you’re home now.”
“You know, you’re less scary than when we first met.”
Tak tossed back his head and laughed. “I had to make a good first impression. Otherwise you wouldn’t have taken me seriously. So…” He leaned toward me, his face stony. “Who sent the roses?”
“Mr. Rain.”
“Huh.”
