Baby and the Wolf by Victoria Sue

Chapter Fifteen

Shower sex washis favorite thing, Emmett decided when Ryker eventually tucked him into bed for another nap. Calvin was fine and Ryker had gammas patrolling. He didn’t doze for long, though, because he had promised to see Kai. So, when he woke up, he got dressed and opened the cabin door to see a medium-sized tan wolf gazing at him. He thought he was one of Nema’s sons, but he didn’t know which. “Aldred?”

The wolf blinked up at him, panting.

“No? Rhys?” He thought Rhys was the eldest. The wolf whined and sat, so Emmett took that as a yes. “Are you my escort?” The wolf whined again, and Emmett wondered if they could get some sort of growl language going. One yip for yes, maybe. He set off to the pack house and walked right into the kitchen, only to nearly be mowed down by a whirlwind called Calvin.

“Are you all right? Chrissy said you were, but you were tired. Is the baby okay? Is it hungry? I drew a picture.”

Emmett chuckled and returned the hug, then watched Calvin go back to happily playing with Joshua. He had lost a lot of his wariness in the last few weeks, didn’t automatically assume if Emmett was out of sight he should worry.

“Brownies?” Emmett whispered, sidling up to Dinah.

She rolled her eyes. “There’s plenty.” She handed him a plastic tub.

Emmett grinned and squeezed her shoulders. “Thanks, Nana.”

Dinah flushed but looked pleased and shooed him away. He walked up to Kai’s door and put up his hand to knock, hearing someone say loudly, “This is completely irresponsible.” Without thinking, he pushed the door open to see Kai glaring at Marco, Kai’s half-packed suitcase on the bed.

Marco looked up, scowling. “Maybe you can talk some sense into him.” Then he pushed past Emmett, slamming the door shut on his way out.

Emmett turned to Kai. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” Kai retorted and blinked furiously. Emmett steered him gently to a seat.

“Talk to me.”

“I’m leaving for Meridian, Mississippi, in the morning.” Kai chewed his lip. “I have no choice.” He glanced at the closed door. “At least there I have someone who wants to mate with me,” he said bitterly.

Emmett’s ears pricked up at Kai’s tone. Someone? Kai pressed both his lips together. “I don’t trust myself to know it’s real, and I can’t wait around to find out. I don’t know what those panthers did to him, but it messed with his head. He says he’d be no good as anyone’s mate.”

Marco.It was Marco. “It didn’t sound as if he wanted you to leave though,” Emmett said encouragingly.

Kai shrugged. “I can’t wait until the pup’s born. Since the cave rescue, some of the other omegas have told me they’ve gotten similar requests for introductions. If the shifter world knows where we are, I don’t trust my former alpha not to come for the pup. He might not have wanted me, but he’d definitely want him.”

“I’m sorry, Kai.”

He sniffed. “There’s nothing you can do. I need to mate to protect him, and once that’s done, we’re both safe.” He smiled, but Emmett could see it was forced. “My alpha is sending a car for me in the morning.” Kai stood and came over. “But I want to say goodbye now. Please don’t be there to see me off.”

“Kai,” Emmett whispered. “But—”

Kai laid a gentle finger over Emmett’s lips and kissed his cheek.

“Please, for me. And we will be able to call each other.” He nodded to his phone on the dresser.

“Promise me you’ll let me know how you’re doing?”

Kai nodded, then stepped back and made a shooing motion with his hand. “You have to go. I can’t cry again.”

Emmett swallowed down the lump in his throat and simply left. He rounded the corner and nearly ran into Marco.

“He’s leaving in the morning. Can’t you—”

“No,” Marco whispered and turned and headed for the main door.

“What’s wrong, love?” Emmett turned around to see Ryker.

He blew out a breath. “Kai’s leaving in the morning, and he wants Marco to ask him to stay. And not because of his health,” Emmett added.

“Damn,” Ryker said. “I didn’t see that coming.” He put an arm around Emmett’s shoulders. “I’m sorry.” Emmett leaned into Ryker. “I spoke to Kai.”

“You did?” Emmett asked hopefully.

“I can’t stop him, and he’s made up his mind. I tried.”

Emmett nodded. Kai had said he was worried about his baby, but he thought it was that he simply didn’t trust himself or his own feelings. If he really wanted to, he could stay.

“Do you want to come and tell me what you think of our latest round of pack applications?”

Emmett nodded disconsolately and let Ryker steer him into the office. Chrissy and Red were already there. They were discussing plans for a school—well, a schoolroom—but he thought it was important to have a separate space. Emmett had just decided he was hungry and ought to check on Calvin when Fox strode into the room. The look he shot Emmett made the breath catch in his throat.

“I just took a call from the Mills River pack alpha. They have a wolf omega down there who belongs to a pack over in Tennessee. Apparently he escaped from Mills River four years ago after being beaten and left for dead.” He glanced at Emmett, eyes full of apology, and Emmett knew before the wolf had even opened his mouth what he was going to say. “He claims Calvin is his son, and he wants him back.”

Emmett felt like the words were buzzing like insects in his head. Buzzing but not landing, so he couldn’t take them in. He put a hand to his chest as if he could stop the sudden pain. Blindly, he took a step toward the door. He could have carried on to the forest, but Ryker would have just come after him.

“Where is he?” Ryker ground out.

“On his way. About another hour.”

“But how will we know?” Emmett suddenly thought. “You said there were no records.”

“Scent,” Chrissy said quietly. “He and Calvin will share a scent. Is he on his own?”

“There’s an enforcer with him, not a mate,” Fox said. “The omega’s name is Michael.”

Emmett grasped the idea eagerly. “If he is on his own, he might want to join this pack.” Then he wouldn’t lose Calvin. He could still see him. He rubbed the mound on his belly absently and was immediately ashamed. How would he feel if Calvin had been his and he’d been missing for the last four years? Calvin’s dad would be just as heartbroken. He headed to the kitchen. Calvin was playing with Joshua and Mira as usual. Damien, their omega, was sitting with a cup of coffee and watching over them. He looked up, smiling as Emmett came back in. It took everything in Emmett not to reach over and grab Calvin, but he sat down instead. The kids were laughing and snacking on cut-up fruit and sandwiches, vroom-vrooming their cars and trucks around the floor. He was confident they were making enough noise that they wouldn’t take any notice of what he said if he spoke softly.

“Damien, do you know an omega called Michael?”

Damien shook his head and lowered his voice to match Emmett’s. “Do you mean from the Mills River pack?” Emmett had gotten quite friendly with Damien, and he doubted he would lie. Damien wanted to stay here with his kids.

“He left there four years ago. He belongs to a pack in Tennessee now.”

Damien shook his head. “No, sorry. Unless we were in the same omega house, we wouldn’t have met. There’s a chance I might have seen him, but I’m not an alpha, obviously.”

Emmett wrinkled his brow. “What’s that got to do with it?”

“Alpha wolves can recognize the scent of all their pack. They’d only have to meet them once.” He shrugged. “It’s an alpha thing. Good when the alpha is protective, awkward if that isn’t the case.”

Emmett nodded. He was doing his best to get the omegas together and get to know them, but they were all still nervous. Louis just looked terrified every time Emmett tried to talk to him.

“Is he wanting to join this pack?”

“I don’t know. He wants something else at the moment.” Emmett tipped his head at Calvin, and Damien’s eyes widened.

“Ask Darriel.”

Emmett nodded and stood just as Chrissy came back into the kitchen. Emmett squeezed Damien’s hand and went to meet her.

“Are you okay, Emmett?” She looked as sickened as he felt.

“I’m going to speak to Darriel. See if he has heard of him. Damien hasn’t. Can you ask the others?”

“Good idea.” Chrissy walked away to where the other omegas’ rooms were. He headed over to Darriel’s room and knocked.

Marco opened the door and smiled stiffly.

“Everything looks okay,” Darriel said, nodding to the ultrasound Marco was just packing away. He winced. “I’m not out of the woods, obviously, but they both seem fine for the moment.”

Emmett breathed a happy sigh for Darriel and sat in the chair by the bed. Marco left them to it.

“What’s the matter?” Darriel asked. “You look worried.”

Emmett opened his mouth to say but had to close it quickly when his throat ached. He put a hand to his mouth. Darriel silently took the other one and waited until Emmett got himself together. “Calvin’s omega is on his way here.”

Darriel’s eyebrows shot up. “Who?”

“Michael? I don’t know his last name.”

“He might not have one. If he’s from my old pack, we never needed one. Sometimes we had to use the pack name. Tell me.”

“I’m trying to find out if anyone knows him. I—” His throat closed again.

“You don’t want to let Calvin go, but at the same time, you understand how an omega would feel,” Darriel said gently.

Emmett nodded and blinked rapidly. “Is that really bad?”

“Of course not. What sort of omega is he?”

“Wolf.”

Darriel nodded. “So, they’ll know, then. Is there any chance he might stay here?”

Emmett shot him a watery smile. “I hope so.” But if he didn’t, there would be nothing Emmett could do. He glanced at Darriel. “You look better.”

“Marco says if I’m okay tomorrow, I can get up.” He squeezed Emmett’s hand. “I’m sure it will be okay.”

Emmett took a deep breath and stood. He nodded. “I’ll come back later.”

Ryker met him as soon as he left Darriel’s, and Emmett stepped right into his outstretched arms. “None of the omegas Chrissy has spoken to remember a Michael, but that’s not unusual, unfortunately. And the pack is closed. The alpha from Mills River hasn’t had any contact with them.”

“What does closed mean?” Emmett mumbled against Ryker’s shirt.

“No communication with the outside world. No telephones. Definitely no Wi-Fi. Fox is trying to make a few calls, but the scouts told me their car passed them fifteen minutes ago. They’ll be here any moment.”

“If it’s true, what will happen?”

Ryker swallowed audibly. “If it’s true, I am going to do my best to get him to stay, but I cannot force him.”

Emmett gazed up at Ryker. “Are you saying he can just take Calvin and there’s nothing we can do?”

Ryker didn’t answer for a moment. “Packs are autonomous. There’s no such thing as family services for shifters, and it’s only because Mills River has changed their alpha that Michael could ask this. He would have known he couldn’t have gotten Calvin before now. I could challenge the enforcer if he tries anything, but I can’t physically detain an omega. Well, I could, but—”

“I wouldn’t ask you to,” Emmett acknowledged. He couldn’t make Ryker into the same sort of monster the old alpha from Mills River was. Calvin deserved his family. What his omega had gone through must be unimaginable.

“How about you go get the meeting room ready? I’m going to try and part Calvin from his friends. Make sure his shirt is clean. See if he needs the bathroom.” Except Emmett’s voice cracked on the last word, and Ryker growled, pulling him close.

“We will talk to them first. If we establish they are who they say they are, I’ll come and find you both.”

Emmett nodded. “What do I say to Calvin?”

“If he’s his omega, Calvin will recognize his scent. You won’t need to say anything.” Ryker winced. “Maybe just say we have a friend from his old pack who wants to meet him?”

Emmett stepped back and headed to the kitchen. Calvin was putting the cars away with the other two, and all three kids were yawning. Emmett opened his arms, and Calvin rushed into them. Emmett closed his eyes and for a moment hugged him tight. Then Calvin wriggled. “There’s someone who wants to meet you. We think he might be a friend of your omega.” He just couldn’t take Calvin into the room without saying something.

“A friend?” Calvin asked curiously.

“Mm-hmm,” Emmett agreed and let Calvin down and held out his hand. “Let’s go home—” He swallowed and amended. “Let’s go back to our room and change your T-shirt and make sure your hands are clean, huh?”

“’Kay,” Calvin agreed happily, and all the way back, he chatted excitedly about the gamma cadet board and how he was doing, and did Emmett think Ryker would let Joshua and Mira be gamma cadets. Emmett ignored the tightness in his throat and assured Calvin he would. It didn’t seem to take any time at all. At the last moment before they went back, Emmett picked up the rabbit from Calvin’s little bed. “Maybe your friend would like to meet him?”

Calvin nodded and held him tight. Emmett took his other hand, and they walked back. Chrissy looked up from where she was standing outside the room waiting for them. He’d seen the truck at the entrance, so he knew they were here, and one look at her face sent his heart into his boots. He wasn’t going to get Calvin upset though, and they followed Chrissy into the small meeting room.

Emmett noticed the two men right away, despite Ryker drawing both he and Calvin close. The bigger of the two—obviously the enforcer—looked like a poster boy for the mafia. He had thought Ryker was big, but this guy was massive. He also didn’t look especially happy to be here. Emmett forced himself to look at the omega and was surprised to see quite a tall man. All the omegas he had seen were a lot smaller, but he guessed that was on him for stereotyping. The omega glanced at Calvin, then over at the bigger man.

The enforcer stood. “We request formal identification.”

Calvin shrank into Emmett’s side when the enforcer spoke, and Emmett didn’t blame him. If he was trying to be intimidating, it was working. Emmett sat down next to Ryker and pulled Calvin onto his knee. He looked at the omega. “Hi, I’m Emmett, and this is Calvin. You’re Michael?”

Michael nodded, and the enforcer—reluctantly—sat down. He nodded to the omega. “You need to be sure.”

Michael stood, his face expressionless, and walked around to Calvin. He bent down, and Emmett could see his nostrils flaring as he inhaled. Michael cocked his head and regarded Calvin steadily. “Do you recognize me?”

Calvin inhaled, and Emmett could have cried. It was such an automatic reaction. He doubted if Calvin even knew he was doing it. Calvin wrinkled his nose a little, but he nodded cautiously, and Emmett’s heart thudded.

Michael turned to Ryker. “He’s mine, and I petition for his return.”

Ryker hesitated. “We insist on three confirmations.”

Emmett watched, no idea what Ryker meant, but he saw Ryker inhale slowly, then back off. Fox went next, then Chrissy. Emmett tightened his arms around Calvin. He dare not look at Ryker.

“Emmett?” Ryker said gently.

Emmett closed his eyes against the horror. He knew what that apologetic tone meant. He swallowed and opened his eyes, brushed a kiss on the top of Calvin’s head, and smiled brightly at Michael.

“Maybe we could all get some supper? I’m sure—”

“No,” the enforcer cut him off. “We have a long drive, and our alpha expects us back tonight.”

Emmett gaped.

Michael bent down and lifted Calvin off Emmett’s lap, and for a second he was too shocked to protest. Standing, Calvin took a step back to Emmett automatically, but Michael firmed his grip, stopping him. “We should go. I don’t think it’s fair on the pup to linger.”

“But surely—”

“It’s a long drive,” Ryker cut in. “We’d be happy to offer you somewhere to stay tonight.”

“And upset the pup further?” Michael asked, a challenge in his tone. Calvin tried to wriggle out of his grasp.

“Emmett.” His voice wobbled, and he looked at Ryker. “Alpha?”

“He’s not your alpha, pup,” the enforcer said bluntly, and Calvin started struggling.

“No.” He tried to get free. “I want Emmett.” And he burst into tears.

Michael simply scooped him up. “We need to go. This isn’t fair.”

Emmett shook, tears rolling down his own face. He couldn’t do this. Pain like nothing he’d ever felt before clasped his chest in tight fingers. Calvin was full-on screaming and struggling. Emmett stood, not knowing what to do, and reached out to pass him the rabbit.

Michael shook his head. “It has your scent. I would prefer him not to have that.”

Emmett choked out another sob as they walked from the room, Calvin’s wails were so loud the whole pack could hear. Emmett took a step, but Ryker stood and blocked him. He wrapped Emmett up tightly in his arms while Emmett struggled, but when he heard the car engine start, he turned his head into Ryker’s chest and sobbed, crying as he felt his heart shatter into a million different pieces.