Chapter Three

Bane

Sometimes being the Head Healer on campus had its perks. It meant you could be cryptic and make the pack Alpha travel across campus to see something and not tell him why over the phone or the pack link. It was less about being cryptic and more about not having every pack member who heard flood in to meet the new pup. His world had grown and changed enough for one day.

While Lee and I waited on Darian, we looked him over again. He was a healthy pup with a hearty appetite. It took him a few tries to latch onto the bottle, but he eventually got there. The bloodwork was out, and Lee bounced from foot to foot awaiting the results. Not many people knew about it but there was a gene-marker for those born from wild wolves. We all had at least one copy of it, but those born into the wild had the full set of twelve. If the pup was born from the wild she-wolf he'd boast the same. If he were somehow dropped off in the wolf den by someone else, he wouldn't.

"Don't even think that," Lee stopped pacing and stared me down. "Who would do that?"

"I don't know, but it's something we have to check for," I said, smoothing down the baby's thick dark hair. "He smells wild, but we have to know for sure."

My mate frowned at me, his brow furrowing.

"Come on. Come back over here," I said, reaching out a hand to him. "Come hold the baby. What are we going to call him?"

"Are you trying to distract me?" he asked, crossing the room to join me and the little one.

"Maybe. Is it working?"

"Yes," Lee laughed, taking the baby from me. "He's so tiny. He does smell like the wild, huh? Even after his bath."

"He does," I nodded, and my wolf stood up to sniff the air again.

"If the pup hunters come, I'm devouring them whole," he chimed off into my thoughts.

"Would-be pup hunters," I reminded the furry guy. "His parents had a few friends that helped out."

"Ding-dong Darian is almost here," he said, ignoring the would-be part.

"This is why I don't like it when you skip lunch," Lee said. "He gets all bite-y and ready to eat everyone."

"I'm going to eat you later tonight," I said, standing up right before Darian rang the doorbell to gain access to the employee-only part of the clinic.

"I'm going to hold you to that. Good luck finding the time with a new baby in the house," he laughed.

"I'll make the time, mate. Not like we haven't had to squeeze it in before," I said before opening the door.

"What is it?" Darian asked without saying hello.

"What's your issue?" I asked, stepping back to allow him into the room.

"You call me away from my mate and pups on my day off without explanation and I'm the one with an issue?" Darian asked as I shut and locked the door behind him. "Whose baby is that?"

"A she-wolf's," Lee answered before I had a chance. "We're pretty sure he's wild-born."

"Is that even possible?" Darian asked, taking a step closer.

"It happens a few times a century," I told him. "We're still waiting on the lab work but sniff him and you'll see."

"I've never smelled a wild-born wolf before," Darian said.

"You'll know. Your wolf will know, anyway," Lee said.

Darian inched closer to Lee and the pup as if he was afraid Lee might bite him. I didn't blame our Alpha for being so tentative. His true-mate, Wrynn, was known as a biter when it came to pregnancy and his children.

"We're keeping him," Lee said, squaring his shoulders.

"Saturn and Pluto don't need a younger brother just yet," Darian laughed. "He's all yours."

"I know. We found him. I had to take him away from his mother," Lee said.

"Can I sniff him or not, Lee? You're giving me mixed signals," Darian laughed.

"You can, but he's mine. I told her I'd take care of him," Lee said.

Darian bent low and sniffed the sleeping baby's belly. When he rose, his eyes had shifted to that of his wolf. The baby was wild-born and our wolves knew it on some deep, primal level. He met my gaze and nodded.

"Do we have a protocol for the paper work associated with wild-born pups?" he asked me.

I opened my mouth to tell him that as pack Alpha it was his job to know, but as usual, Lee knew what was up.

"There's a special birth certificate we have," Lee said. "It's a wild-born birth certificate that also acts as an adoption record."

"Are there health problems associated with being wild-born?" Darian asked.

"Only if he would be exposed to something before all his baby shots, but that's the case with all babies," Lee said.

"Do we have the form, or do we have to call Sky up on the mountain?" Darian asked.

"I have the form. It's all part of the medical system," Lee grinned. "I found it while Bane was feeding the baby."

"Let's not tell everyone about him just yet," I cut into the conversation. "He's a pup who's been through an ordeal already. Let him have some time to adjust. Let's wait until the bloodwork comes back anyway."

"I'm not going to tell anyone, but people are going to notice you two with a new pup," Darian pointed out.

"Maybe," Lee grinned, "but except for a few people, it's none of their business. He's not some medical experiment. He's a pup. We'll find the proof he's wild-born in his blood, but we're not going to find the magic that allowed him to be born that way. Every time someone is wild-born, everyone wants answers and ---"

"He is a pup of the Hemlock Wolf Pack," Darian interrupted him, "whether he's wild-born or not. He's a wolf pup born within our territory. Don't worry. Even if the news gets out, he's one of us."

"Thanks, Darian," Lee smiled and some of the tension fled his shoulders.