Chapter 17

Evie

Would I be that beautiful one day? I thought, as Riley and her pack came back to skin. I wanted to think so, but she was an omega, not an alpha. They were supposed to be pretty, while I was?—

“You remember what to do, kiddo?”

I looked up to see my dad, Reed, was standing there. He winked, something he only did for me and I smiled back.

“I think so.”

I turned back to Mum, watching her jiggle the baby, which seemed weird, but it made it stop crying. She made this weird shushing sound too.

“This is important.” Reed was the quietest, most mysterious of my dads, but sometimes he’d tell me things and I’d always listen. “You step up like this, it means something.”

“It means we swear to protect them until they come to adulthood.”

All my dads had sat me down and told me about that rule. I nodded now. One of the old guys, the Taylor pack’s fathers, he stepped into the water, the moon reflected on its surface.

“Today we come to induct new members into the Taylor pack. Each person present swears to ensure these children safe until adulthood. Be clear in your heart about the commitment you’re about to make.”

The pretty lady, Sage, she didn’t look so sure. The baby she was holding was starting to cry, but her mates clustered closer. Would I have mates like that? Would they help me if I had a child? I frowned slightly as they began to make silly faces at the kid until he went quiet and then gurgled.

“If you are sure in your commitment, bring forth the child.”

Riley was already there and I think I know what she was feeling. She had that weird hungry look in her eyes that Mum got when she didn’t know where I was. Love, I reasoned, that’s what it had to be. Her hands were reaching for her child before Candy could even wade very far into the water. The moon was fractured into a million pieces as the ripples spread outward.

“We’ll do the same for your brothers,” Reed told me in a whisper. “You’ll be one of the people that brings them forward.”

“So I have to protect them?”

I wasn’t entirely sure about that. Mum was mine all my life and if the medicine had worked, I’d share her with five brothers. My brows pulled down in a frown.

“You will without thinking about it, love.”

That word, the way he sighed it like there was so much more to it, his hand landing on my shoulder. All doubt was driven out of my mind as I sidled closer. It felt good to wrap my arm around his hips, to press inside his side. It felt right for him to pat my back like I was one of them babies. It was weird, discovering I had dads just out there, waiting to discover me, but now it all made sense.

We would protect my brothers, because that’s what alphas do.

“Good girl,” Reed whispered.

The Vanguard alpha took the child from Candy and placed him in his son’s hands.

“What is your son called?”

“Luke,” Fen said, cradling the child in his arms. It’s little arms waved around, like he couldn’t really control them. They waited until the water stilled and then Fen dipped the back of his son’s head in the water, right where the moon was reflected. “Luke Taylor.”

“Welcome to the pack, Luke Taylor!”

People started to cheer, but Fen paid them no mind. His son began to fret and I watched closely what he did. Holding him close, doing that jiggling thing, all the while supporting the baby’s rubbery neck, I knew I could do the same when my brother’s arrive.

And Reed watched closely too.

Would I have gone through this if they knew I existed? Would he have held me close and calmed me down? As if hearing my silent thoughts, he met my eyes and nodded. That let me focus back on the ritual.

“Vann Taylor!” Haze cried, holding his child up as water still dripped from his head. “It’s alright, little buddy. You’re alright.”

He stepped back as Sage came forward, handing Colt his child.

“Hunter…” Colt seemed lost, staring into the baby’s eyes. It took people’s shouts to bring him back to the ritual. He shot Riley a long look and then nodded. “Hunter Taylor.”

“Here you go. Here you go.”

Charlie spoke in soothing tones to the fractious baby she was holding, but he was getting more and more agitated.

“You just want Mum, don’t you?” Lock, her mate, swept in and took the squirming child from her and then carried him confidently over to Riley. Blake shifted closer, his hand on Riley’s shoulder. “There you go.”

“Thanks, Lock.”

Riley didn’t look at him, but at her baby and I knew that look well. I couldn’t remember when I was that little, but something told me Mum did the same, because she did it now often enough. Stared at me with a half smile, then pushed my hair behind one ear as she told me how awesome I was.

“What is your son called?” the Vanguard alpha asked.

“Will.”

Riley choked on the name and Blake held her tighter, her muffled sobs meshing with her baby’s.

“That was her dad’s name,” Reed explained.

“I’ll do that.” I said the words too quickly, but they just had to come out. “If I have a baby boy, I’ll call him Reed after you.”

His smile faded and that’s when I saw the mask that everyone seemed to wear around me drop. Something real, harsh, important, it burned into his eyes.

“I’ll love any child you end up happening, Evie girl, but one named Reed?” His grin was back. “Yeah, that’d be real special.”

Eloise was the last one to bring a child forward. The way she held the baby, it was as if she didn’t want to let him go. Ryan waited patiently for her to hand him over, removing the child from his mother’s grip before turning to his father.

“And who is this, son?”

Ryan smiled up at his dad, three generations of alphas, but not part of the same pack. That made me hopeful. I didn’t think I wanted my brothers joining my grandpa’s pack, even though he was a lot nicer now. We could make our own, I decided. Maybe they’d let me come up with the name. Something cool like Eagle or Swift or Smart.

“This is little Felix,” Ryan announced and just like that, it was done. Everyone waded out of the water as we clapped, then towels and robes were provided. Babies were settled and people all clustered around them, cooing over their little hands and feet.

“Whaddya reckon, Ev?” Mum asked me. “Should we do the same for your brothers when they’re born?”

I watched her hand drop to her stomach and then nodded sharply.

“Yes, Mum, I think we have to, because we’re creating a new pack too.”

“A new one.” She nodded slowly. “A special one for a special girl.”

Then she hugged me tight and I couldn’t feel the cool air or the damp or anything, just her.

“I’ll be the best big sister ever, I promise.”

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