“You’re good with children.” He loved the sight of Gael in Liam’s hands. It felt so right.
“I like to think so, yeah.” Liam winked at him. “I have a lot of brothers, and I’m an uncle.”
He found a warm smile for his new mate. “Do you think that I might get a brush for my hair?”
Liam gave him a look that was surprising and burning with a sudden passion, which he knew he didn’t deserve. He was not at his best. In fact, he was decidedly at his worst. “I’ll make sure you do.”
Liam disappeared, and Theo went to pat little Gael’s back. “That’s our alpha. It’s very exciting. We’re going to take very good care of him, I promise.”
The baby blinked at him, nice and slow, just staring.
It comforted him how much healthier, with just a few bottles, little Gael seemed to be.
Thank goodness their kind tended to be made of stronger stuff, because otherwise, he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to keep Gael alive.
“I took care of him,” he whispered, hoping his pack could hear him. “I did my best. I swear to you I did the very best I could for him.” He’d been so frightened, still angry, but at the sametime, he had managed to make sure the baby survived. Death was never simple, and violent death was worse.
“You did an amazing job, and he’s sound asleep, so he can’t hear you.” Liam came back in, towels in hand.
“I don’t feel like I did an amazing job. In fact, I feel like…like I’m kind of a… but I’m not a warrior. He had a gun.”
“You saved the baby. Sometimes, that’s all you can do.”
“Sometimes.”
“Come have a bath. Baths are important.” Liam leaned down and kissed his cheek.
“Yes, well…” He managed a warm, real smile. “But smelling better is vital.”
And perhaps, if he was very lucky, he might convince Liam to join him and help him untangle his hair.
Chapter
Five
Theo was exhausted once he was done with his bath, and he went back to bed. Liam went right along with him, curling around Theo, vowing to himself he would keep him safe. Theo had been so sad about whatever had happened to the baby’s parent, and Liam wanted him to not be scared or feel like he had done something wrong, because he knew from experience that it was awfully hard to go against even a not-so-strong man with a gun.
When he woke up the next morning, Theo was still sound asleep, but Gael was gone. Liam felt a moment of complete panic, thinking that someone had snuck in during the middle of the night and taken him. Then he decided that idea was probably incredibly stupid because this was Niall and Loyal’s house, and who was gonna be sneaking in there? Niall would probablyseethem coming and, if not, Loyal was an heck of an alpha who understood the ways of human, dragon, and werewolf alike.
So he got up to dress and then crept out to see what was what. Niall and LuAnn were in the kitchen, Niall with the baby sitting on his lap while he fed Gael a bottle.
“Good morning!” LuAnn waved a spatula at him. “Have a sit. I’m making breakfast.”
“Thank you.” He did that, flopping down at the table. Just about the time he got settled, Loyal strode in from outside, dropping a kiss on top of Niall’s head. “Good morning, Liam. You want a cup of coffee?”
“I would love one.” His mouth watered, and suddenly he was starving, his belly just growling for all it was worth.
“You got it.” Loyal poured, the cup coming with his choice of sugar and light cream already in it. Someone had a good memory.
“How’s he doing this morning?” Liam jerked his chin at the baby before slumping back in his chair.
Niall smiled down at the baby, making sort of googly faces at him. “He’s doing great today. He’s already so much stronger.”
“I’m glad. I was worried about him; he was so weak and pale yesterday.”
“He was,” Niall agreed. “It hurts my heart to think how desperate Theo had to have been to hide away like that in the old dragon compound.”
“Uh-huh. What I don’t understand is how it could possibly be back. The house. I know you guys saw it yourself. It had disappeared.” The house had gone like it never existed; only the outbuildings were still there in the clearing.
