Page 12 of Wolf Found

Ash scooped the juice container off the floor and grabbed the bottle she had set up on the counter. “You walked for days. It’s a wonder you’re even standing, let alone producing milk. Yeah, I know, we’re all ashamed to talk about it. It’s pretty normal, though, right? Baby feeding and all?”

She smiled shyly at him and nodded. “Her father was always pretty horrified. He wanted me to cover her up with a blanket when I fed her.”

Ash cocked his head. That didn’t seem like Graham. Also, she wouldn’t have spoken of Graham as though he were in her past, would she?

“I know,” she said, gaze suddenly trained on the floor. “That’s what happens when you date a human.”

A human. That, Graham definitely was not.

Instead of highlighting his ignorance, he shook his head. “Pretty sure that’s what happens when you date an asshole. Not sure humanity has anything to do with it.”

She giggled, but it almost immediately turned into a hiccuping sob. He held out his arms in an offer to take the baby, and she handed her over without question. The trust warmed his chest almost as much as the munchkin in his arms. He grabbed the bottle, pressed the air out, and held it out to her. As hungry as her mother had said and then some, she latched almost instantly.

So he balanced the bottle against his chest and reached out the arm he’d freed up to Hannah. She practically lunged at him, curling into his side and burying her nose in his neck.

It was starting to make sense. If there was one thing the Martingale pack respected less than omegas, it was humans. If she’d had a child with a human, she’d have been shunned. If the same human had then turned her out, and the kind of asshole who was ashamed of his own kid eating would definitely do that, she would have nowhere to go.

Ancestors, the poor woman had been through too damn much for someone her age. She couldn’t be any older than Graham, probably younger, and there she was, with a baby to take care of and no marketable skills.

That was growing up Martingale.

Ash had been through the “tossed out with no skills” part, if not the baby part. He’d had the luxury of being able to join the military. Clearly, Hannah was playing the world’s crappiest game on hard mode.

Absently, he wondered if orange juice was any good for babies. It seemed like a lot of sugar, and all that acid might be hard on a baby’s stomach. Would formula made for human babies be any better? Plain old cow milk? Some other kind of milk? He frowned.

They needed to get something at the store the next day; he just didn’t know what. Maybe he should go out now. The gas station would be open, and they at least had regular milk.

“He said he didn’t want a dog, he wanted a baby,” she whispered against his neck, like it was a secret, and all thoughts of milk fled his mind. Ash thought it should be a secret. No one should have to know it, not even Hannah. Paige would sure as hell never hear it if he had a say.

He squeezed Hannah against him. “Sounds like a him problem. The Kismet pack is happy to have all three of you.”

“Really? I mean, I know it’s a lot. But Graham thought you’d help.” She picked her head up and glanced toward the green room, where Ash could hear Graham snoring softly. “He used to have the biggest crush on you. Still does, probably. I thought he was being optimistic coming here, but I didn’t know what else to do, and you always seemed nice enough. Plus I thought maybe, you know, outcasts sticking together or something.”

“Being cast out of the Martingale pack is a badge of honor,” Ash told her, leading her out of the kitchen and into the den. “They’re terrible, and we should all be proud of escaping.”

“I don’t think Graham wants to go back,” she said softly as he pulled her down onto the sofa with him. Had that been an option? Graham had been in the house for a handful of hours, and already, the thought of losing him—of losing any of the three of them—was painful. “I think he thinks he’s supposed to, but I don’t think he wants to.”

As much as it pained Ash to admit it, even inside his own head, having three members of his old pack in the house felt right. He’d spent his youth being trained to be their pack alpha. Sometimes, he felt as though he’d failed them by leaving, even if it had barely been his choice.

“I hope he doesn’t go back,” Ash told her, painfully honest. “It’s a terrible place, and there’s room for you here.”

“Is there, though?” she asked nervously. “We’re Martingale omegas. As my boyfriend used to point out, I don’t have useful skills. I don’t have any education.”

Ash waved that away. “That’s a worry for a long time from now, and when it comes up, we’ll deal with it, as a pack. For now, taking care of a baby is a job all on its own.”

She glanced around the room, taking it in. “You seem to have a lot of money, but it’s not mine. I’m not even pack, not really.”

Technically, Ash should talk to Gavin and Dez before making any offers or promises. He felt completely comfortable, however, saying, “You could be. If you wanted to be. And this pack takes care of its own.”

Eventually, if she wanted to, she could work in the shop.

Without missing a beat, she asked, “Graham too?”

“Graham too,” he agreed easily.

7

Blow Me (One Last Kiss)

---