Chapter 18

Walker

Shelby called on the way home from the school. Since she was a teacher there, it just made sense that she pick Maya and Dante up and bring them home so I didn"t have to leave Lindsey. It had been a blessing the last two days since they"d started there, but even more so today. There was absolutely no way I was going to leave my mate when she was at her most vulnerable.

I knew she was safe here. No one would bother her, but she didn"t understand that. I prayed she would in time, but for now, all I could do is stay nearby and reassure her.

Michael had granted me an indefinite leave of absence and Kyle and Patrick had both approved it.

It didn't dawn on me to call and tell Shelby that Lindsey had woken up today. So when my best friend arrived with all five kids in tow, she came to a screeching halt when she found me in the backyard.

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open when she saw Lindsey in her beastly form for the first time.

"Hey. How was school today?"

"Walker? Where"s Lindsey?" Dante asked as he stood on the deck looking down at me.

Before I could say a word, Maya started to cry, which meant Mary Alice, who was standing next to her, started to cry. That made Zachary and Nathan angry as they tried to protect their sister.

"Relax and get down here. Lindsey is fine. She woke up today."

Maya"s tears instantly stopped. "Really?"

"Yes. You can come down and see her, but be quiet because she"s taking a nap. She's just really tired. Grant said that by shifting she would heal faster."

The kids all ran down the stairs to see.

The triplets stared at her in amazement.

"Cool," Nathan said in awe.

Maya and Dante didn"t stop. They ran right to her and climbed up to hug her, startling Lindsey awake.

"It"s okay, babe. The kids are home."

She looked at the triplets in confusion, but Maya was now on her back and hugged her around the neck.

"I"m so glad you"re okay, Lindsey."

"You really scared us. Especially Walker. I always knew you"d pulled through, but he went kind of insane," Dante said.

I scowled at him. "I wasn"t that bad."

"Oh yes you were," Shelby insisted.

"Hey, whose side are you on?"

"Only the side of truth, my friend."

I groaned.

The beast looked back and forth between us but made no aggressive moves. Shelby was careful to keep her distance just in case.

"Hi Lindsey. I"m Shelby. It"s so nice to finally meet you."

She nudged the kids down and then shifted.

"Nice to meet me? Are you people all insane? Did you not just see me?"

Shelby shrugged. "I guess we"re just used to weird around here. Trust me when I say Ben and I are very happy to meet you."

I wrapped an arm around her and gave her a squeeze. I knew exactly what she was thinking even though we hadn"t spoken of it in a long time.

One of Shelby"s biggest fears was that her children's genetics were altered so badly that when they finally shifted they would turn into monsters with no more humanity. I"d tried to tell her for years that the love she and Ben gave them should override any of those concerns, but in truth, none of us could possibly know that for sure.

Lindsey didn"t appear to like me showing affection to another female as she glared at Shelby.

I chuckled. "Huh. I wonder if that"s how Ben feels about me."

"Be nice," my friend warned me. "And stop being an idiot. Take your arm off of me and go your mate."

I did as instructed. My wolf was agitated that she was naked in front of people, even if it was just Shelby and the kids

"I told you about Shelby. She"s my best friend. It was perfectly innocent. She"s mated to Ben."

"Lindsey doesn"t know Ben," Dante reminded me.

"Oh, right. Sorry. This week has been such a blur. When you"re ready I"ll start introducing you to everyone. They have all been there to help us while you were out."

"And they're the ones that shot her," Maya reminded me.

Lindsey"s head whipped around.

"Who shot me?"

"It was all a misunderstanding. I swear. I'll explain everything, but you"re supposed to stay in your fur to heal."

She looked down at her shoulder that now looked like the wound had been there for weeks instead of days.

"Who shot me?" she asked again.

"Now don"t freak out."

"Baine. He"s on Bravo team, but Silas told him to," Dante said.

I glared at him. "What did we talk about?"

"Sorry. She was going to find out eventually anyway."

I groaned. "They didn"t know."

"Didn"t know what?"

"That you"re my mate."

"So it was okay to shoot me if I wasn"t?"

Shelby stepped in. "Kids, why don"t you all run upstairs and play for a bit while we talk."

"Do we have to?" Maya whined, looking to me for assistance.

"Yes. Now," I confirmed.

The five of them were getting along better than I ever dreamed. It warmed my heart to watch them.

Once the kids were gone, Shelby spoke again.

"You have to realize that we are well aware of the fact that the Raglan ran horrible experiments on shifters. It gives me regular nightmares to think about it. But until you, the few we knew of either had very mild to no signs of genetic mutations or were so altered that they no longer showed signs of humanity. When the teams encountered you, they assumed the latter. And right or wrong, they acted accordingly."

Lindsey sighed, and I sensed she was in pain again.

"Where does it hurt?" I asked.

"My head," she confirmed.

"You should shift and heal some more."

"I"m still not convinced it"s safe."

"No one will hurt you here. Lucy and I would rip their throats out before we let that happen."

"Who"s Lucy?" she asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Lucy is mated to our Pack physician."

"Grant?"

"No, Grant"s a field medic for Westin Force. He"s largely been overseeing your care since the attack. Micah assists when needed or for consultations."

"Why would his mate want to protect me?"

"I"ll explain it all when you"re feeling better. Please shift and heal quickly. You have no idea how important you are to us," Shelby said with tears glistening in her eyes.

Lindsey looked to me for help.

"She"s not kidding. Shift. The sooner you"re healed, the faster we can start to put this all behind us."

Begrudgingly, she did, and soon was settled back down and sleeping.

"She really does have her humanity in tact despite her beast," Shelby said, staring at my mate in wonder.

"She does," I confirmed.

Tears spilled down her cheeks as I hugged her close.

"It"s going to be okay."

She nodded and wiped at her eyes. "I need to call Lucy and then make sure the kids get dinner. Or if you need time with Maya and Dante, I can keep watch over Lindsey."

"Thanks, but I know how vulnerable she feels in this form. I can"t leave her."

"I figured as much. You really love her don"t you? I know you, Walker, so don"t bother lying to me. I can see it clearly written all over your face when you look at her. That"s more than just a mating call."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yes."

I groaned while Shelby just smiled happily.

"Is it okay if I just fix dinner here for everyone?"

"Sure, though I have no idea what I actually have here. People just keep dropping off food, but I"ve been too worried to even bother eating."

"Leave it to me."

She had Lucy on the phone before she hit the first step.

Lucy and Shelby had bonded over their children. The triplets bio mom had been held in a Raglan facility experimenting with DNA on embryos. Lucy had been held captive in that same facility and she was artificially inseminated with her daughter, Vada.

So far, all four children were growing up normally and meeting the same milestones of any child. But there was no way for us to know what had been done to their genetics pre-birth or what that would mean for their futures when they grew up and started to shift.

My godchildren"s biological mother"s Pack had turned them out, calling them monsters and abominations. That"s how Ben and Shelby came to adopt them.

But the truth is, we can"t predict their futures.

I knew that seeing Lindsey with all her genetic mutations, yet still a fully functioning being capable of intelligent thought, emotions, and humanity meant the world to both sets of parents.

Realizing she was likely going to sleep for a while, I sat down on the ground and leaned into her. I breathed in her unique scent and let it comfort me.

She was going to be okay.

I tried not to let myself think about what could have happened. I"d been pushing thoughts like that away all week. I had to believe she would be okay because if she wasn"t, then I knew for certain I wasn"t going to ever be okay, either.

The stress of everything had weighed heavily on me. I had refused to sleep as I kept a vigilant watch over her as she healed. Now that I knew she was going to be alright, I could relax a little.

"Walker? Walker, where are you?" Shelby yelled.

I startled. I knew I had been in the process of crashing but thought I had fought it off. The exhaustion must have won out, as I now realized I had fallen asleep.

Trying to stretch, I found myself trapped by Lindsey's large feather wing as she tucked me up next to her and covered me with it.

"I"m here," I yelled back to Shelby.

In the process of freeing myself, I woke Lindsey.

Reaching up, I petted her face and then kissed her nose. "Go back to sleep, babe."

"You two are adorable."

"Oh shut up."

"I"m serious."

"You aren"t freaked out by her beast?"

"I thought I might be, but for my own reasons. You know?"

I nodded. I did know.

"But I"m not. She"s different, that"s for sure. But it"s not a bad difference. Nathan and Zachary are convinced she must be a superhero or something. I"m sure that"s what the whole school will think by tomorrow."

I rolled my eyes. "I don"t know about superhero, but she"s pretty amazing."

"When she feels up to it, can Lucy and I sit down and have a talk with her about everything? I have so many questions it"s making my head spin."

"That"s really up to her. I"m not going to force her, but I hope she"ll agree to it."

"I heard you lost your shit out there, especially with Grant."

I huffed. "I didn"t like another male touching her. That"s all."

"But Grant? He"s happily mated and no threat to you. You know that."

"Logically I do, but try telling that to my wolf."

She laughed. "That makes me so happy."

"Me freaking out to the point that my team had to physically restrain me on multiple occasions makes you happy? You"re seriously disturbed."

That only made her laugh some more.

"Hear me out. You are always so laidback and fun. The cool guy that nothing ever seems to faze. But this girl has really gotten under your skin."

"Not in a good way if my actions are to be judged on this."

"But you cared enough to show possession, anger, and passion. I am so proud of you."

"You really are twisted, Shelbs."

She shrugged. "You love me anyway."

"Always."

Lindsey must have been listening in because the beast growled.

"Relax," she said. "He loves you way more."

Then she walked away, chuckling to herself. She never did tell me why she was looking for me in the first place.

At the top of the stairs, she stopped and yelled down. "Oh yeah, supper"s ready."

Sometimes I swore that woman could read my mind.