He knelt between her legs, and Miranda held her breath until a weak cry broke the silence.
“Oh my god,” she whispered. Her throat tight, she watched as he checked over the crying baby, in human body form, and felt her breath catch. Like everyone else, she hadn’t thought it was possible. It was unheard of, and yet the proof was right in front of her.
“Oh my god,” she murmured again, trembling at the thought of what she had just witnessed.
“You’ve said that.” His amused voice broke through her shock, and she jerked her gaze up meeting his dark eyes.
Miranda opened her mouth, the retort about to burst forth until she saw his expression. He cocked his head, listening for what, she didn’t know. The baby was still attached to Vanessa, little cries erupting from the shaking body.
“Take the child.”
Frowning, she hesitated but then closed the distance between them. Her head shaking, she took the baby and cuddled it close to her chest for warmth, her gaze never leaving the man.
Vanessa wasn’t moving. She was too pale, the sweat drying on her white skin. Her long black hair was soaked with sweat, and Miranda knew she needed help. Surely the man realized that, too. She didn’t know how her pack was fairing with the fire, and that was another concern.
This night hasn’t gone as planned.
Her gaze flickered first down to Vanessa, and then to the baby in her arms. Instead of wanting to run the other woman off, Miranda now stood beside her, holding her child and dealing with a stranger who was not part of her pack. She would have remembered him if he had been.
“What is it?” she whispered, looking down at the baby and suddenly noticing the silence, the man forgotten for the moment. Miranda stared down at the child, stunned as blue eyes stared up at her, an intensity not normal for a newborn.
Swallowing, she dragged her gaze away and looked over at the man. His eyes scanned the shadowed living room. She knelt down and grabbed one of the dry towels. Avoiding the piercing blue eyes, she dried and wrapped the baby with a quick hand, the cord still connected to Vanessa.
Fuck! They needed to get the woman help.
She opened her mouth to order the man to call someone, hell, to call Travis, but he shook his head.
“Stay here,” he said, cutting off her question.
Her eyes widened. “What the–”
She found herself talking to thin air.
Son of a bitch. Where did he go?
Chapter 16
Travis coughed and jumped back as sparks flew, the fire licking and spreading towards the house. He heard the sirens and couldn’t express his relief.
The fire was moving too fast; they couldn’t contain it on their own. In less than an hour, it had advanced to mere yards away from the houses and line of trees that separated the clearing from the town. With one burst of embers, the trees could catch on fire, and then a whole different shit storm would hit.
He glanced over at his pack working with quick steps, attempting to dig a trench around the majority of the fire.
“Get that ditch dug!” he shouted. He shoveled the dirt up in front of him but knew it wouldn’t stop the fire. It wasn’t wide enough.
He saw one truck stop at the fire hydrant in the middle of the yard, and the other two headed towards them.
Fucking hurry. Please.
Travis wasn’t a praying man, but in that instance, he became one.
The trucks squealed to a stop and men jumped out.
“Travis!”
The fire chief shouted his name, and he turned, his eyes scanning the flashing lights and firemen who were working on the hose and attempting to curtail the out of control fire. The men in his pack jumped in to help.
He spied the older man coming towards him and carried his shovel over to meet him halfway.
“What the fuck happened?” the chief asked.
Travis shook his head and ran one dirt-caked hand through his hair. He knew he looked bad; his whole pack did, but they had been fighting the fire for almost two hours with no headway. He ignored the question and asked one of his own.
“What the hell took you so long?” he demanded.
“Accident on I-10,” the fire chief said grimly. “A three-car pile-up. Bunch of kids.”
Travis winced. One of the curses of small town living. The kids thought they were invincible. He sighed and turned to look at his now black field. The firemen were doing their job as the now contained fire slowed its advance. He felt a raindrop on his cheek and looked up to the sky as water began to fall slowly. He turned around and looked over at his house where Vanessa was inside.
So fucking close.
Exhaustion pulled at him, but he couldn’t stop now, not until he finished up and sent men to scout out the explanation for this conflagration. He had a bad feeling about the primary fuel, but he didn’t want to voice his suspicions until he was sure. And even then, the fire chief or sheriff wouldn’t be able to help him. No, this was one fight that he would have to take care of himself.
He flinched as his phone rang in his pocket.
“Hello?”
“Travis, get to the house. Now.”
He heard a click after the deep voice hit his ears.
Jackson?
What the hell was Jackson Maddox doing here?
Travis didn’t stop to wonder about anything else. He took off, cursing the inability to shift in front of humans. He would have been faster as a wolf.
“Travis!”
Ignoring the fire chief’s shout, Patrick’s call, his sister’s yell, he just ran the distance between the field and the house. Jackson wouldn’t have called him if Vanessa weren’t in danger.
He finally made it to the porch and jumped over the steps, landing hard against the door. Jerking it open, he ran inside, almost tripping over his own feet as he entered the living room.
His stomach dropped.
“Vanessa!”
He saw her lying on the carpet, a thin blanket covering her, but he could see the red bleeding through. He rushed over and fell to his knees, his hands shaking as he pushed her black hair out of her face.
She was so pale.
He heard a small cry and froze, lifting his gaze. He saw Miranda by the window and his eyes shot down to what she held.
“Is that…” he choked. He couldn’t catch his breath.
She nodded. “Her daughter.”
He turned back to Vanessa’s pale face and felt a tear slide down his cheek.
“Travis, she’s still alive.”
“W-what?” He raised his gaze again and met Miranda’s. She had walked closer to him.
“Vanessa’s still alive,” she repeated. “But we need to get her to a hospital.”
His heart racing, he felt for a pulse. It was there. He could barely feel it, but it was there. He jumped up and wrapped Vanessa’s limp body in the blanket, picking her up in his arms.
“The truck, now,” he ordered. Running out the door, he tried to be careful not to jostle her too much.
Miranda opened the driver’s side door just as Patrick ran over with the sheriff. His face paled, and Sheriff Holland narrowed his eyes as he took in the scene.
“What happened?” the cop demanded, his big belly jerking with each word.
Travis didn’t care for this guy. He was an asshole, plain and simple.
“She just had a baby,” was all he gave the heavyset man.
Without waiting for a response, he got into the vehicle, Miranda in the passenger side with the baby, and closed the door. With Vanessa lying across his lap, her legs across the seat and on Miranda’s lap, he started the jeep and took off, heading towards town and the hospital.
Charles watched the jeep disappear in a cloud of dust and cursed, his fists clenched by his side.
What the fuck had happened? And who the fuck was the bastard who had almost caught him?
He heard a branch snap and leaves rustling behind him. He turned, crouching down as he waited. After seeing who neared,
he relaxed and straightened.
“Where the hell have you been?”
He heard a growl and snapped his mouth shut, turning his gaze towards the ground. If it were one thing he knew, it wouldn’t be smart to piss off the man in front of him.
“What. Happened?”
Charles swallowed. “We were too late.”
“No…we weren’t. You failed me.”
“I-I’m sorry, Alpha. We hadn’t anticipated the stranger.”
“What stranger?”
“Jackson, Alpha. He’s returned.”
Chapter 17
Her eyelids felt heavy as she cracked her eyes open. Vanessa encountered the white walls and the smell of bleach that stung her nostrils, and her heart hammered against her chest as the unfamiliar surroundings closed in around her.
Her vision beginning to sharpen, she focused on even breaths as she tried to remember what had happened. Her eyes flashed around the darkened room, and she spied Travis slumped over in a chair in the corner. The position had to be uncomfortable. She frowned as she became aware of the beeping off to her right. From the corner of her eye, she saw the machine flashing numbers and other digits and the wires hooked up to her arms.
A hospital. It sank in. On the heel of that thought came the sickening images of the events that no doubt led up to her current situation. She remembered walking down the hallway towards the living room, the fire, Travis leaving, her looking for the girls, and then the incredible pain that hit her.
Oh, God, my baby!
Her panicked gaze shot down to her flat stomach, and her throat tightened.
Oh, God, no.
Her heart raced, the beeping of the machine increasing with each frightened breath she tried to take.
“My baby,” she whispered. Her low voice broke as tears started to fall and slide down the side of her face.
It had all been for nothing. The pain, the heartbreak, the odds, the–.
A deep voice spoke. Dazed, she glanced up into the bright blue eyes of the man beside her.
“What?” She hadn’t heard him, but she had seen his lips move.
“She’s alive, Vanessa,” Travis said quickly. “Your baby made it. You did it.”
“She’s alive?”
Disbelief and shock fought for dominance, but the hope, the joy, won as her heart started to race.
“Where is she?” she demanded, struggling to get up.
She wanted her baby, but the room spun, tilting, and she fell back into the bed before she could take her first step. It wasn’t hard for Travis to push her back against the pillows.
“Please,” Vanessa pleaded softly, a tear escaping as she looked up at Travis. “I want my baby.”
She saw Travis hesitate—why, she didn’t know—but then he nodded and straightened, taking a step backwards.
“I’ll be right back.” With that, he turned and walked out of the room, disappearing around the corner.
Vanessa adjusted in the bed but stilled as twinges of pain radiated up from her stomach. She glanced around the room and noticed the flowers for the first time. They littered every inch of space, brightening the sterile environment.
She waited, her heart pounding, breathing ragged. She trembled when she heard the heavy footsteps coming down the hall.
Closer. Closer.
Suddenly, Travis filled the doorway, a small bundle in his arms.
Her mouth went dry as she watched that tiny pink package move as he came closer. Her heart skipped a beat as he bent down and put her daughter on her chest. The little orbs opened, and bright blue irises gazed at her.
She stared down at her precious baby—lost, in love, and now scared.
No, not scared. Terrified.
“She’s perfect, Vanessa,” Travis whispered.
She didn’t answer, but a small smile curved her lips as she held her little miracle close to her heart.
Yes, she was. Perfect in every way, and the anguish of what could have happened filled her heart. She had so much to lose, and she knew it wasn’t over yet.
Not by a long shot.
Travis watched mother and daughter on the bed of the spare bedroom two days later and felt something he had never known before. It went beyond lust or affection; beyond anything he had ever experienced.
Love. He was feeling love for both of them.
He looked down at the baby and his vision blurred. Shit. It wouldn’t do for the Alpha to cry.
Black hair was already sprouting on the bald head, but it was her eyes that enthralled him. A brilliant blue that seemed to see so deep into his soul, and a bow mouth that even at two days old was slowly curving into a smile.
He turned away and started to head out the door but froze before he got halfway there when she called out to him.
“Where are you going?”
They hadn’t spoken much since they returned from the hospital. Vanessa had been recovering from the birth and loss of blood, and he had to deal with what he discovered in the far edge of the field. But he wasn’t going to get into that, not then.
Sighing, he walked back and sat on the bed next to them.
“Nowhere. I’ll stay right here.”
Their gazes met and what he saw wounded him. It shouldn’t have. He knew she was scared and uncertain, but it still hurt.
He saw fear. Uncertainty. Doubt.
He knew what she was thinking. With the baby, anything could happen and considering the fact that she was still bonded to the bastard, however slightly, he could show up at any moment.
Travis wished he would. He was just waiting for his chance and prayed that it was soon. He wanted it over. They all did. Patrols had been doubled since the fire, and everyone was on the watch. Prepared.
Vanessa sighed, her lush lips parted a bit, and she closed her eyes. She cuddled the baby closer to her on her chest.
“He’s coming,” she whispered.
Travis looked down at her pale face and fought the urge to demand that she trust him, but he didn’t have that right, not yet.
Soon.
He took a deep breath. “We’re ready.”
Vanessa didn’t answer but laid her head back and with another soft sigh, fell asleep.
Sitting for a few minutes more, he stared at her, reassuring himself that she was okay. She was alive. He would never get the vision of her lying in a pool of her own blood out of his mind, though. The idea that she was dead led to a withering away in himself as well at the reality that he had lost her.
He looked down at the little baby in her arms and slowly reached out, taking her and holding her against his chest. The infant opened her eyes and smiled. His heart swelled at the sight.
Standing up, he cradled her against him, rocking her. Within a few minutes, she was asleep.
“I’ll protect you. I’ll keep you safe.” His whispered words were meant as they were said. They were his vow, his promise.
Travis put the tiny one in the crib beside the bed and made sure she was covered, his hands lingering, faintly shaking. Looking down at them, the emotion threatened to choke him.
Finding the bastard fast was the main priority. He couldn’t go on like this. He needed the future to be wide open so that he could convince the woman he loved to give him—them—a chance.
Turning around, he headed for the door, closing it behind him without a sound. He jumped, startled, as both Samantha and Anna along with their mother stood behind them with grins on their faces.
“We are dying to see Vanessa and the baby!” Anna said, her eyes going to the closed door. “Please?”
Travis shook his head. “She’s sleeping right now. I promise that when she wakes up, I’ll let you all know, all right?”
Anna sighed in disappointment but nodded. As one, they all turned and headed down the stairs towards the kitchen. The smell of fried chicken filled the house, and his stomach growled. He couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten.
“Travis?” Samantha called as they entered the kitchen. Something
in her voice stopped him, a hesitation. He turned and met her eyes. She was by the refrigerator, a glass in her hand.
“Yeah?”
“Do you find it weird that we haven’t seen Miranda around here? I mean, she was all over you before you left and right after you returned. And now she’s not.”
His sister frowned, and he could tell she was worried about it. Frankly, Travis was enjoying the break. On the other hand—though he hated to admit it—he owed her. She had saved Vanessa and helped deliver the baby. He knew Miranda; she hadn’t given up yet, and her random disappearance was unsettling.
He shrugged. “She probably found another man to pester.”
Considering her help, he may have been a little cruel by saying that, but he had a lot on his mind and couldn’t think about a woman that drove him crazy with her inability to accept the word no.
He could tell Samantha didn’t believe him, but she dropped it as they all sat around the table.
Their mother stood at the stove, the smell of fried chicken filling the kitchen. For the first time in what seemed like forever, Travis was actually hungry. To get his mind off food and the woman upstairs, he looked over at Sam and had just realized that Anna wasn’t around.
“Where’s Anna?”
Sam shrugged and rolled her eyes. “Probably gone with her friends somewhere.” She shrugged.
He frowned and spat out, “Did she say where?”
“Travis, she’s almost twenty. She doesn’t need approval to visit her friends,” his mother said from the stove, her back still to him.
He sat back in the chair, still scowling. Regardless of her age, his baby sister was…his baby sister. He made a mental note to have Noah check on her whereabouts.
“So have you discovered anything about who is after Vanessa?” Sam asked, breaking his train of thought as she sipped her glass of water.
He shook his head. “No. The fucker is a ghost. I can’t pick up his trail anywhere, not since the attack. And he wasn’t in the fight. I would have smelled him.”
“There has to be something. I mean, he’s mated to her, right?” She was loath to bring it up.
Crescent Vendetta (Vendetta Series Book 1) Page 11
