“You’re lying. It’s because I gave him my blood. He thinks he’s someone else now.” I leaned toward Rawling. “You’re still you, latent!”
Jack gave the baby to Phelan who nestled the little one beside Rawling. He made stupid baby noises at the kid, and I rolled my eyes. But Jack bent over and laughed, a deep hearty chuckle that pissed me off.
“Rawling is alive, Eira is healthy and Atticus is… I can’t say it. It’s hilarious.”
“Fuck you, Jack.”
But now Iwasworried. All my plans were for nothing. I couldn’t expose Rawling now, and that might not even… No. I couldn’t think like that. Fuck this shit!
“Is anyone going to let us in on the joke?” Mrs. Ardilla asked.
“No! And it’s not funny. I need my blood back.” I wanted to throw up.
But more importantly, who was I?
TWENTY
PHELAN
It’d been three days since Eira’s birth.
Rawling was recovering slowly, but other than going to the bathroom and doing a slow walk around the infirmary, he was bedbound with our daughter nestled beside him. He’d refused to let her go, so I’d changed her diapers and washed her while my mate kept skin-to-skin contact.
“I never imagined what it would be like to care about someone like I love Eira.” He gave me a look. “Does that make you feel bad?”
I kissed his brow. “Nope. I adore you and we’re bonded, but I can’t describe what I feel for our daughter either because it’s bigger than the universe.”
Rawling put a hand to his chest, and I winced because as well as getting over the birth and losing blood, he had broken ribs, thanks to me. But my mate never referenced his injury. Instead, he focused on our daughter and told me how much he loved us.
My folks had snuck in yesterday to visit their first grandchild. They were staying in a hotel in town because my mate and I were students and we had a newborn and Rawling had almost died. They weren’t sure how we were going to manage, but we were taking it one day, hour, and minute at a time.
For now it was just the three of us, except when Mrs. Ardilla bustled in or Professor Barclay checked on Rawling twice a day.
My mind went back to what my mate had just said about his love for our child. But I pushed that thought away because it was overwhelming. We’d gone through so much trauma, Rawling in particular, and we were still learning to be a family.
“We should talk about Rawlins and everything.” My mate leaned his head on my shoulder. “But I want to wait until I’ve recovered and really bonded with Eira. Is that a cop-out? Am I just avoiding the inevitable?”
“Nah, it’s sensible because you’re dealing with what you can in increments.” I patted his leg. “You’ll get there.”
Though I hadn’t pointed it out to Rawling, his latent scent now mingled with our daughter’s which was natural for parents of shifters, and I was convinced, we both were, that Eira was a wolf shifter. But thankfully, there was no hint of Atticus on him. He had removed his ring momentarily since the birth, and his human scent had returned as he was no longer carrying our daughter.
My phone buzzed. It had to be Jack or my folks because I’d blocked everyone else for the next little while.
Atticus is destroying his room. He’s going to get kicked out of school if he doesn’t stop.
Gods, the last person I wanted to interact with was Atticus. Not just because he was an ass but because we hadn’t come to terms with what we’d discovered.
Can you talk some sense into him?she asked.
Had anyone ever calmed Atticus when he was raging about something? Jack’s bear was one of the few, and Rawling had delivered a few dings verbally. I didn’t want to leave my family. The emotional wounds from the aftermath of Eira’s birth might never leave us, and I wanted to keep my family close.
Fine, but can you stay with Rawling?
I left when Jack arrived, and she climbed into bed with my mate and Eira.
Wandering along the corridor to our old room, there was no need to knock on the door. Zev was arguing with Atticus who’d upended a chair and tossed his mattress on the floor.
“Man, you’ll get your ass kicked out of Sombertooth.”
