Chapter Five

Bane

As the days passed until the Guardians of Glitter Bomb doctor arrived, we played around with name ideas for the newest member of our family. I leaned toward loving the name Wild, but gave in when Lee said his beginnings would follow him around for the rest of his life without his name giving it away. Sure, not everyone would guess it right away, but the kid himself would know. Sometimes the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves are more important than what the world says.

"Okay, then what's your idea?" I asked Lee as he gave the baby his bottle.

"I'm thinking," he said and pressed his lips together. "Maybe we should give him a really common name. That way he can fit in better."

"A common name in this family? He'll stick out like a sore thumb," I laughed.

"Travis and Mildred are common names," he countered.

"Mildred was common when the first Mildred was born," I teased him.

"Fine," Lee sighed. "So, nothing too common, but nothing too out there either."

"What about Romul?" I asked.

"Is that from human lore?" Lee arched his brows at me.

"Almost, but I changed it. Besides, even the surviving non-shifters don't really care about that anymore," I shrugged. "They took enough of our stuff over the years."

"What about Rhomas? Like Thomas but with an ‘r'?"

"Rhomas," I rolled the name around my tongue. "I like it. I think it fits him."

"Rhom for short," Lee nodded.

"I'll start filling out his birth certificate," I said, standing up.

I kissed Lee's forehead on the way out of the room. As far as I was concerned, Michael Lawngry couldn't drag his ass to town soon enough. I always hated being in limbo and this time it wasn't just Lee and I in limbo. It was the baby too. Once everything was officially filed our lives could move on and his could begin.

"And then maybe we can romp," my wolf cut into my thoughts, and I shook my head.

He wasn't wrong. Romping would definitely improve the situation, but whether or not Lee had birthed Baby Rhomas, his actions were in accordance with having a new pup in the house. We'd waited before and unless we never had another kid, I'd wait again.

***

Despite the wait feeling like years passing by, Doctor Michael Lawngry arrived on Mage Street exactly when he said he would. I stayed at home with Baby Rhomas while Lee showed the visiting doctor our lab. Having the dragon shifter touching all our stuff, put off my wolf. Sure, he was here to do us a favor, but the lab was sacred territory. My wolf paced inside my chest as I rocked the baby. The furry guy was certain Michael would blow up the lab before the test finished.

"Stop it," Darian cut into my thoughts over the pack link. "Michael Lawngry isn't here to blow up your lab. He's here to vouch for what we already know."

"Stop listening in on me," I growled.

"Tell your wolf to quit sounding off the intruder alarms then."

"He'll be fine once everything is done and over with. You know how he is. Lee and I put a lot of our own money and resources into that lab, Alpha. It's his stomping ground."

"Well, today, he has to put up with a visitor, because we need to know if Roomba is really wild-born."

"Rhomas!" I snapped at Darian. "His name is Rhomas."

"Rhomas," Darian repeated a few times before something off the pack link distracted him.

Logically, I knew Michael wouldn't wreck the lab. Part of me figured even my wolf knew that, but he was more instinct and laws of the wild than I'd ever be. I learned to be civilized for the sake of my patients, but he was the part of me that never could be tamed. Standing, I held Baby Rhomas to my chest and walked the length of the nursery. All the other kids were back at Jake's today. They didn't know where their newest sibling came from and not a single one of them asked. They accepted that the new baby was part of our family and that was enough for them.

"Calm down. You're making me itchy," Lee cut into my thoughts over our mating link.

"Itchy?" I asked.

"When you get like this, it feels like fleas are crawling through my fur."

"Sorry, mate. On edge."

"Michael's cool. You know him. He's not in here knocking everything around. He's running a test," Lee said as if he needed to remind me.

"How much longer?" I asked him.

"Not long now, Alpha, not long at all."

I paced still holding Baby Rhomas to my chest. Usually I had more patience than the others around me, but it was as if all the world hung by a thread. I kissed Rhomas's head, willing the test to process quicker. He smelled wild, but what if somewhere out there someone was looking for him? What if someone had left him out there on his own and the she-wolf just pulled him into her den to protect him? Rhomas wouldn't be the first baby left out for someone else to find.

"Wild. All twelve are there on all three runs he did," Lee chimed into my thoughts a few minutes later.

"You're officially Rhomas Hemlock-Knight," I held the pup up to look him in the eyes.

He wiggled his little limbs until I rested him against my shoulder once more. He rubbed his head against me until he found his comfy spot again. Our family had officially grown.

"His birthday is sorta Wolf Day," Lee said, as I headed into the kitchen to make Baby Rhomas's next bottle. "I know he was probably born a bit before that, but it's the day we found him."

"How do you feel about that? We could always say it was the day before," I said, not wanting to discount the day Lee reunited with his own inner beast.

"I think it should be his birthday, Alpha. It's the only day we know for sure. I love Wolf Day, but it can be his birthday too now."

"Maybe that's the Wolf Day tradition for me: Finding wolves."

He laughed over our mating link and his tail wagged. Baby Rhomas didn't have an easy path before him. No one born ever did, but he was ours and that meant he was safe and sound as any baby could ever be.

Chapter Six

Lee

Plenty of folks had questions about Baby Rhomas, but Bane took most of them. He was a bit better at not telling people to fuck off than I was. I didn't mind explaining the wild-born genes or discussing theories of how a wolf's genetic might evolve into that of a shifter in their pups. I didn't entertain any of the mean ones that got handed down from the humans before they fell off the face of Earthside.

Each day, Baby Rhomas became a bit more ours. His wild-born scent was still there, but now he smelled like me and Bane and our kids. He smelled like Blake and Jonah and all his cousins. He smelled like pack and so he was. From time to time, the wolf we assumed was his sire came to visit. He brought dead rabbits and birds, and we always took them inside, even if there was no way we would let the baby eat then. Why discourage a father who was still trying to feed the child that civilization took away from him?

Bane skinned the rabbits and cured what was salvageable of the hides. When we had enough, we'd sew Baby Rhomas up a blanket from the gifts his wild heritage brought him. The she-wolf took longer to show, but she was nursing and focused on the two wolf pups still in her den or maybe it just took her longer to find the heart to see him again. Seeing him again meant leaving him again. I wasn't sure I'd be able to walk away if I were her. Only she did. She came at night and peered through the sliding glass doors. She peered through his nursery window. She never came around when we were close, but she never made an effort to whisk him away into the night dark woods either.

By the time Bane's birthday rolled around, she was a normal visitor, and I sometimes left her sandwiches by the window where she usually popped up with both paws to see her sleeping baby. Since we were going up to Hemlock Mountain Lodge for Bane's birthday, I left instructions for Blake to do the same. My brother was uneasy about feeding a wild wolf and I understood his worry. She was still wild, but there wasn't a wolf attack in recorded shifter history that came from a well-fed wolf. She wasn't a danger to us and if those who worried about Rhomas's effect on the pack still remembered him, they hadn't bothered with us at all. They had more important and urgent things to concern themselves with in the woods.

***

I loved Hemlock Mountain Lodge and how rustic the world felt when we left the jeep behind and walked up the winding path to the actual hotel. Bane and I always made the walk hand-in-hand. We never packed much and what we did pack fit comfortably into a single suitcase that Bane carried along the way. We packed light because we hardly left the lodge and when we did it was usually in wolf form to run the trails or perhaps run straight to the top of Hemlock Mountain to see the statues of Juda and Frost.

"How are you feeling, mate?" Bane asked as we neared the lodge on foot. "About leaving the baby behind?"

"I didn't know it would be this hard," I laughed. "I should've. I've done it before. I always thought it would get easier."

"I don't think it does. Well, it does as the baby gets older, but the first time will always be difficult. Rhomas is a special circumstance too. We have to hope that Blake and Jonah get along with his birth parents."

"I think they will. We're wolves after all. She's a wolf. Wild or shifter, I don't think it matters. She's not going to try to fight them. I'm not sure she understood what a vacation was when I told her, but I tried. I really did."

"She might've understood it," Bane said, trying to make me feel better. "I mean, wolves leave to hunt. So she probably understands it on some level."

"I hope so. I don't want her to think we abandoned him after she let us take him home with us."

"I don't think she'll think that and if she does, we're only up here for the long weekend. We might even be back before she visits again. Either way, I need this and not just because it's my birthday. It feels like we've been on the go since our kids started having kids. We need a slow down. Even if it's only for three days."

"So, more sleeping than romping?" I teased him, bumping his hip with mine.

"I didn't say that," he laughed. "We could slow it down too. Draw it out. Draw out your pleasure. Make you squirm."

His words drifted down into a whisper as he opened the door to the lodge and I walked through. A blush still dotted my cheeks when the guy behind the desk, Lefly, waved and said hello to us by name. Bane checked us in and I grabbed the keycard and suitcase and sprinted up the steps. I wasn't the first man to arrive at Hemlock Mountain Lodge ready to go and I probably wouldn't be the last. We were all wolves after all.

The suite was beautiful as always and smelled like sandalwood and patchouli. Incense or pheromone blocker spray I wasn't sure, but no hotel room was clean and refreshed until pheromone blocker spray covered every inch of it. Most shifters weren't as territorial as our ancestors, but sometimes you didn't want to catch the scent of a stranger close by while you slept. Okay, all the time. For me it was all the time. Grady Moore had drilled that into my very soul.

"Don't think about him right now. He's over in the Pit being roasted or something. Okay, he's probably in group therapy, but you know how miserable everyone in group therapy is. It's probably a better punishment than being roasted," my wolf chimed off in my thoughts as I kicked off my shoes and pulled my shirt off over my head.

We didn't always jump straight to romping when we took vacations, but I was tired of wearing clothes and all the expectations that came with them. I loved my job, our pack, and kids, but sometimes I just wanted to be me. Even more so I wanted to just be me with Bane by my side. I checked my phone for texts and sent Blake a quick message to let him know we arrived safely before laying it on the nightstand and purposely forgetting about it. If there was an emergency, they could contact me and Bane over the pack or family link.

By the time the knob turned signaling my alpha's arrival to our suite I was already in my birthday suit stretched out on the bed wiggling my toes and enjoying the light breeze of the AC on my bare skin. Bane squeezed into the room, knowing that I always stripped down when we arrived at the lodge. He shut the door behind him and double-checked that it was locked. Then he told Magi to dim the lights before crawling into bed with me.

"You're still dressed," I laughed rolling over onto my side to face him.

"For now," he nodded and leaned in to steal a kiss.

Bane was greedy. It wasn't just one kiss. The first led to a second which led to a third and his tongue probing into my mouth to dance and swirl around my own. I gave into his demanding mouth and the scent of him wrapping around me. Since having kids most of our alone time was scheduled around them and while I wouldn't have traded our babies for anything else in the world, it was nice to not worry about one of them banging down the door or a call that they wanted to come home right then. They came first, but a couple times a year we tried to get away on our own. Usually for Bane's birthday or our anniversary. Both if we were lucky. I liked to stay close to home for mine, because it didn't seem like a proper celebration without Blake around.

Bane's warm hands ran the length of my torso as our tongues danced between our mouths. My throat burnt and my tongue ached for the sweet coppery notes of his blood. I didn't always drink blood these days, but Bane was always my favorite flavor. As we kissed, I worked on the buttons that seemed to run endlessly along the length of his shirt as if the garment grew a new one each time I managed to poke one of out its tiny prison. Finally, I unfastened the last button and pushed the shirt aside to reveal his bare flesh. I reveled in how warm to the touch his skin was against mine. Pulling away from the kiss, I licked across his collarbones before licking down his chest and belly. I traced the lines of his abs with my tongue, savoring the saltiness of his skin. I licked and kissed my way back up to his chest.

I loved to nibble on his neck and take blood from there, but for the sake of hickeys we kept all my biting on the shoulders or lower. No one at the lab would've dared point out that Bane had a hickey, but he'd know it was there. Usually, they were gone in a day thanks to his Alpha gene, but it was a small sacrifice I was willing to make. Besides, his blood tasted just as good coming from the spot right below his collarbone. Only he pulled away before I had a chance to sink my fangs into him.

"Good shirt, huh?" I teased him as he shrugged it off. "That's why you don't crawl into a vacation bed unless you're naked. Blood and stuff."

"Stuff, huh? Is that the official name for it, Doctor Knight-Hemlock?" Bane said, his voice low and throaty as he undid his belt and then his fly.

A happy chill shimmied down my spine. I was a doctor. I'd been a doctor for a long time, but something about my title rolling off his tongue always made me want him more.

"Stop playing with your pants," I laughed and tugged at his pants legs as I slid off the bed.

His phone fell from his pocket, and I snatched it up right before it hit the ground. Without glancing at the screen, I laid it beside mine for a nice break. Neither of them would get much use over the long weekend if I had anything to say about it.

"I'll take those too," I growled and tucked my thumbs into the waistband of his boxers.

"Thief," Bane laughed as he stretched out his long legs and let me undress him.

I was hard and slick by the time I had him naked and crawled back into bed to straddle him. He ran his warm hands over my thighs and knees as I sat just in front of his hard cock so that it pressed against my ass. A long throaty growl vibrated from deep inside his chest as he ran his hand up my spine to the back of my head to pull me in for a long, slow kiss.

As our tongues danced between our mouths, his strong, nimble fingers wrapped around my dick. I growled back at him as his warmth wrapped around my cock. He stroked me slow at first, his grip too firm to ignore even as I pressed back against his dick. His hand disappeared from the back of my neck and slid down my side. He cupped my ass cheek, massaging and kneading my flesh, digging in the pads of his fingers. I rocked my hips wanting him to go further and find out firsthand just how slick and ready I was for him.

"Can I have a taste now?" I asked, the question came out in a growl.

"Not until I'm inside you," Bane shook his head before his tongue slid back inside my mouth.

I rocked my hips against his throbbing cock until his fingers slid between my cheeks. His desire rained down over me through our mating link when his fingers found my slickness. I rocked again, pushing back, until he finally pressed the thick, mushroom-shaped head of his cock against my needy hole. I groaned into the kiss, both satisfied and needing more of him.

Wiggling, I pressed onto him, until he was inside me and I squeezed him for a second, reveling in his warmth spreading over me from the inside out. I kissed him harder, plunging my tongue into his mouth as I sank onto him, taking him all the way inside me. Both his hands slid to my ass, guiding me over him again and again until our bodies found their familiar rhythm.

I settled onto him and let the warmth of his body spread over me. Pleasure spiraled over my cock and spine until my breath came in heavy pants. I couldn't think about anything except how good it felt for him to pump inside me. One of his hands found the back of my head again and he pulled me down to nuzzle my cheek against his chest. My throat burnt again and my fangs elongated from my gums.

"Now," he said, entangling his fingers in my hair.

I bit him beneath his collarbone and a second later his rich, sweet, coppery blood flooded into my mouth. I ground down harder against him, needing more of him in whatever way I could get it. Each drop of blood and thrust of our bodies grinding together stoked the fire inside me and sent us both closer to the edge. I squeezed Bane's dick hard as I rode him and his blood flooded into my mouth. I drank him down as his dick twitched inside me. The baby hairs on the back of my neck stood on edge as his pleasure cascaded against me over our mating link. I pulled away from the bite allowing the wound to close. His hands were on my ass now and his heels dug into the bed as he thrust up deep inside me. My limbs quivered, but I held onto him as my balls drew up tight. We moved frantically, chasing down our joint pleasure as his warm, sticky seed spilt into me and he let out a long howl that echoed around our suite. It still rang in my ears as I came from his fingers wrapping around me again. We held onto each other and didn't stop making love until every last drop of passion had spilt from us both.

"This is one of the best parts of mated life," I let out a chuckle as I panted for air and went back to lap up whatever blood was still on his chest from my bite.

"Food and romping together?" he teased and patted me on the ass.

"Exactly," I laughed and nuzzled my cheek against my quickly fading bite mark.

Bane stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head. I was tired too. Only it didn't catch up with me until after my appetites were satisfied.

"Did we do it backwards, Alpha?" I yawned.

"Ummm…. I don't think you can romp backwards."

"I mean the baby and then the romp."

"Nah," Bane shook his head. "Life only comes in the right order."

"Good," I nodded sleepily. "I love you in whichever order is not backwards. Okay, maybe backwards too."

"I love you too. I think you need that nap we talked about," he teased, but as my eyes drifted shut, I wasn't in any mind to argue with him about it.