Quickly I realized that whoever had left the carrier on the front step must have left a scent trail. It would be easier to track in my wolf form, but the thought of it made me grimace. I didn’t use my wolf form very often—it just reminded me of the day I was captured by human raiders. But this was more important than my own feelings. I needed to help this child.
With a shudder, I shifted into my wolf form. Every scent surrounding me became intensified. The world transformed into a symphony of smells. Carefully, I brought my snout to the baby’s carrier and sniffed. I smelled the baby, all right, but there was only a light scent of someoneelse.Almost too light to notice. I couldn’t ascertain any important information from it, like I would have been able to do if the person’s scent was stronger.
When I tried to track it, the scent led only a couple feet away from the carrier before completely disappearing. As if the person had vanished.
A sinking, unsettling sensation fell over me like ice water. Someone had left this baby here on purpose.
In a single moment, my whole world turned upside down.
There was no chance in hell I could leave this baby here alone. Just thinking about it—and the fact that someonedidabandon this child—infuriated me to my core. But besides the burning anger, I felt something else—overwhelming warmth and the desire to protect this baby no matter what.
Shifting back to human form, I reached carefully down and picked up the carrier. I took one last look around to see if anyone would come claim the baby at the last second, but I had no such luck. I was on my own.
The staggering weight of sudden responsibility almost made me physically buckle. I had this abandoned baby now—that was really happening in my life.
Doubts instantly manifested in my mind. A baby—especially one this young—was an enormous duty. I had no experience with kids. I didn’t know how to feed one, change one, clothe one… I hadn’t even learned those topics in advance because I never thought I would ever have a child.
There was no way I could do this alone.
Feeling hopeless and alone, I stood under the awning and stared down at the baby. Thankfully, it seemed to have no idea about the ordeal it was in, and it remained fast asleep.
Suddenly I noticed a name embroidered in pink lettering. “Angel”.
Her name is Angel…
A felt a pang of sadness. Whoever did this had given her a beautiful name before simply dropping her off in front of a stranger’s bar. Was it her parents that did this? Did they evencare?Or did something else happen? Maybe she was kidnapped, or something happened to her parents…
My mind raced with possibilities, but none of them were going to help me take care of Angel. All I could do for the time being was watch over here, and hope that her parents were out there somewhere looking for her.
But I didn’t know who to turn to for help. Maybe Gabriel? We barely spoke, but he was a father with two young children, as well as a fellow ex-member of Stoneheart pack. But what the hell was I supposed to say to him?Hey, I found this baby, help me out.
There wasoneperson I could trust. A person who I knew for a fact would help me out no matter what, and especially on a matter as important as this.
But he was also the same person who I’d just screamed at an hour earlier.
I sighed, feeling frustrated with myself again. Ryu didn’t deserve that. I just hoped I could find him fast. He would know what to do.
There was just one problem—I didn’t know where Ryu lived.
Maybe if I hadn’t been such an ass to him earlier I wouldn’t be having this problem…
I retraced my steps close enough to my apartment to get a lead on his scent. Holding the baby carrier’s handle in my mouth while walking was challenging, but I didn’t have any other choice. At least in this four-legged shape it was easier to balance my two missing limbs, since they were on reverse sides of my body.
There.
Ryu’s scent trail lead through the streets, winding away from my apartment. I followed the path urgently. I hoped Angel remained asleep until I found Ryu, at least. Despite my desire to protect her, the fact was I lacked the ability to care for a child on my own—the thought of her waking up now and crying because she needed something from me was frightening.
The scent intensified. Ryu must be close. My muscles burned as I ran as fast as I could, fuelled by desperation.
Finally his form appeared over the crest of the sidewalk. He walked alone, shoulders sagging and head down, a lone figure underneath the street lamp.
My heart twisted with guilt. Even from his body language I knew he was upset—and I’d caused it.
When I caught up to him and poked his leg with my nose, he yelped.
“What?” He paused, taking in the baby carrier and my form. His expression screwed up in confusion. “Wait… Scar? Is that you?”
I lowered the carrier gently and placed it on the ground. Because Ryu was a dragon, he could understand my words spoken in wolf form due to his dragonspeech ability.
