Josslyn might be my blood, but she was their daughter in all the ways that mattered. They’d been there for her first smile, her firstlaugh, all the midnight feedings and diaper changes and tiny discoveries that made up a baby’s life.
“I’m not going to ask to take her back,” I told them. “Just to see her every now and then. To know she’s okay.”
Relief flickered across Emerson’s face, although Angelo continued to watch me closely.
Yes, in another life, I might have raised her myself, but that life had disappeared the moment Arabesque killed Papa. I’d had to make an impossible choice, and seeing how Emerson and Angelo looked at Josslyn now, I knew I’d made the right one.
“She was very small when we got her,” Emerson said hesitantly, as if wary of asking, but desperate to know.
“Arabesque didn’t feed her often enough.” I trembled a little as the terrible memories flooded back. “I couldn’t stand to hear her cry and know she was hungry, so I made a deal. My breakfast rations for powdered formula.”
Casimir stiffened behind me, and I knew he was remembering how I’d admitted to giving my dinner rations to Brumous to keep him alive. He was probably calculating down to the gram how little I’d been eating each day.
“You saved her life.” Angelo’s stance eased a little.
“And you’vegivenher a life. A good one. I can see that. She’s lucky to have you.”
“We’re the lucky ones.” Emerson’s eyes grew glossy.
“We’ll arrange visits and video calls,” Angelo said gruffly. “She should know hersorella.”
“Yes!” The word burst out of me before he finished, and I cleared my throat. “I mean, that would be wonderful. Thank you.”
Right then, Brummy, who’d been playing with Prince Augustus and Callum, wandered over. He squeezed between Casimir and Koa, nudging my elbow with his cold nose just to check in. His blue eyes fixed on Josslyn, and he sniffed all over her, her little shoes, then her hands, and finally her face. Josslyn kicked her feet and giggled, a sound that made my heart ache.
A low growl built in Emerson’s throat, the instinctive response of a werewolf seeing a dire wolf, even one he’d already met, so close to his pup. I understood it. Logically, he knew Brummy was no threat, but instinct ran deeper than logic, especially for shifters.
And naturally, my husband responded in kind, three sets of fangs sliding down with nearly silentschlicks.
Casimir shifted in front of me like a glacier in motion, his body a wall between me and Emerson. Koa loomed close at my side,and the temperature in our little circle seemed to drop several degrees as two sets of overprotective men squared off, neither willing to back down, all of them forgetting that the ones they were ‘protecting’ were perfectly safe.
Zane, being my ridiculous Zoodle, chose that moment to crack his knuckles.
“Again with the mixed signals! Are we fighting or is this a group hug thing? I could go either way, but fair warning: I’m a biter.”
Sebastian snorted champagne out of his nose. King Julian and Papa exchanged a look that said neither of them planned to intervene. Queen Lilah met Kaori’s eyes, and both of them hid their smiles behind their hands.
“Our baby! Hana!” Zane translated for Brummy, and everyone froze as they stared at the dire.
“Hana? Her name’s Josslyn—”
“He knows that.” I smiled at Emerson. “He’s trying to say‘ohana.His family. His pack.”
Deciding Emerson looked in need of affection, Brummy stretched up and licked the man’s face from chin to temple with one giant, slobbery swipe of his tongue.
Papa, at his ‘nothing fazes me’ best, said, “Yes, he does that sometimes.”
“Brumster, no!” Zane spewed champagne all over Foster, pretending to be mortified. “There’s no tonguing in diplomacy! Wetalkedabout this! Alpha Toast’s teaching you bad habits!”
“Me? Pretty sure the wolf’s got better manners thanyou, dickwad,” Foster shot back, wiping champagne droplets from his suit.
“I knew we shouldn’t have adopted you.” Casimir heaved a sigh. “Butsomebodyhad to name you.”
“Alpha Toast! He hana now!” Brumous, utterly unrepentant, puffed up his chest with pride as Zane shared his thoughts with us.
Sebastian snorted into his sleeve while Koa’s shoulders shook with silent laughter, and Casimir pinched the bridge of his nose. Angelo, meanwhile, had produced a handkerchief from somewhere in his suit and was dabbing at his mate’s face with surprising tenderness, muttering something in Italian. Emerson, to his credit, seemed more resigned than angry as he submitted to being cleaned up.
Josslyn chose that moment to grab Casimir’s hair. She yanked him down to her level with surprising strength and began gumming his earlobe. We all held our breath as he blinked, then, to everyone’s shock, took her from my arms as if he were disarming a bomb, his stern facesoftening as she babbled at him in what sounded like serious baby negotiations.
