Chapter Nine
Hearts lurched in their throats as they realized that it could only belong to a newborn, and at the thought of possibly having lost the child sent Ammara’s mind into a haywire. The scream short-circuited all reasoning in her head, and she ran right for the cottage with Kevin bounding behind her.
Ammara slammed herself against the door only to bounce back. Kevin was at her tail and jumped over her and rammed his huge form into the door, taking it down and smashing it against the ground in splinters and almost taking the door frame with it. Samuel yanked Ammara from the ground and dragged her through the entrance. He almost shifted to attack, but stopped at the sight.
A woman sat on a dusty chair, stricken with pale with fear. The bottle in her hand dropped and rolled toward their feet, full of milk. The cries came from a bundle in her arms. Everything about her seemed relatively harmless, but then again, Kevin had learned that the most harmful people did. His child’s scent drove him crazy, the animal demanding his daughter be brought to him immediately. He grunted at the woman, and she jumped in her seat. He almost lost his full composure at her reaction, fearing she’d drop his baby girl.
Ammara brought out her arm across the men, giving them a firm look that clearly asked them to stay back and remain calm. The baby was still wailing. But Kevin was an emotional mess, his anger a skewer ready to run through any obstacle and prepared to make a meal out of all that dared to harm his child.
“Kevin, stop it.” Ammara hissed at the bear – which was rather unlike her and definitely got him to stop – and looked over at the young woman. She looked very young apparently, probably in her mid-teens. From what she could tell in the moonlight that fell right on her through the hole in the roof, she was clad in nothing but a blotched and dirty rag that wrapped around. Her skin looked awfully pale and thin against it, and she could see the faint blue and purple veins beneath her face under a bundle of light brown hair pulled into a mess of a bun. Her scrawny hands were red from the night’s cold, and she held the baby close to provide it warmth, bouncing it lightly so that the cries would simmer down.
Ammara looked at the bottle in suspicion and opened her mouth to demand answers, fearful the baby may have already been fed from it, but the alarm in the girl’s hazel eyes stopped her short. Ammara breathed deeply for composure as Kevin moves into the shadows to shift and clothe himself.
“Alright, who are you and what are you doing with that child?” she asked gently as she reached down to pick up the bottle. The girl eyed her warily and opened her mouth. Her response was too shaky and quiet to comprehend. Ammara frowned and the girl coughed, “I’m just a passerby looking for shelter. I saw the child outside the door in a basket.”
Samuel caught the blatant lie laced in her breath, but Kevin was soon marching to her. The girl understood his intentions but held the baby closer and cowered away.
“That’s my child.” He seethed through his teeth. The girl looked at the sobbing child, then at him, and reluctantly held the baby out to him. Kevin carefully picked up the baby who abruptly stopped crying as soon as she felt her father’s presence.
He looked at her in awe as she reached out her tiny arms toward him with clenched fists, and although her eyes were closed, she cooed as if she could see him there. She was so tiny in his hands that Kevin almost thought he’d accidentally break her if not careful. Her mouth opened into a toothless grin, and Kevin’s heart melted, eyes watering at the sight. He turned around and walked to the Council duo, snuggling his face into his child’s outstretched arms and kissing her forehead. The beast in him felt the most peace she had ever felt in such a long while. It was content and calm for once after he’d come across Nina. Wrapping the baby properly in her bundle to keep her from the cold, he placed her head on his shoulder and patted her back with his large hand as she dozed off into a slumber. She practically disappeared against her father and in his hands and neck.
“Where’s the basket?” Samuel demanded, “and where did you get the bottle? The milk?”
“Let’s just go back, guys,” Kevin said, suddenly exhausted and only wanting to be in Nina’s arm with their baby. “Please, just take us back to Nina.”
The way Kevin sounded was enough to soften Ammara and Samuel, but not enough to shake off the growing suspicion in them. Kevin was too happy to have his daughter back to care. Getting back to Nina was all he could think of.
“You’re coming with us, young lady,” Samuel stated pointedly, turning on his heel to face Ammara before heading back outside to shift. “I’ll carry her, but stay behind us and keep an eye on her.”
“Of course, Samuel,” Ammara nodded. Her eyes drifted to Kevin who came forward to hand her the child. He consequently narrowed his eyes at the girl still seated and left the cottage. Ammara’s gaze shifted to the girl, and she cocked her head toward the door. The girl seemed to understand and got up to her feet, shaking like a leaf in the wind. Ammara assumed she must be cold but had nothing extra to give her. She dropped her own cloak from around her shoulders and held it out to her, which she carefully accepted and draped upon her back. Ammara nudged her head again, and the girl got the signal, walking past her to the cottage. The witch followed suit behind her.
Back outside, a cold breeze swept past cloth, skin, and fur. It had grown noticeably colder, but the bears were not bothered as they shook their limbs out and stretched them for the journey to come. Kevin was rubbing his paw to his nose and gave a light sneeze. Ammara noticed that he looked tired, almost drained. The worrying for his child must’ve drained his energy reserves. She felt sorry for him having to go through such a thing, although she had definitely seen worse cases. But she did not treat cases ‘worse than the other,’ as all were equally important and devastating. Grief and suffering held no comparison in her mind.
She helped the girl onto Samuel’s back. She was visibly startled and confused by the whole ordeal, but Ammara couldn’t help feeling the insincerity in her actions. Neither could Samuel. Something was obviously very off about the whole situation, and they would have to deal with it later.
Hopping onto Kevin, she passed a sympathetic hand over his back, allowing his to share some of her energy. She always had plenty to give. The bear, previously sluggish, straightened up and gained some composure. He observed all in his wake and breathed deeply before starting after Samuel who had proceeded to the dense foliage.
It was extremely dark once away from the clearing, but a strange glow emitted from the trees they neared. Samuel knew all too well it was Ammara’s existence and how attuned it was with nature to bring this about. He threw a glance over his shoulder to see her breathtaking form, majestic and glowing. Her back was straight, and she remained alert to her surroundings. It finally dawned on him that she need not be. None of them needed to be. She was the beloved of the fairy king, and may God damn anyone who got past the king to hurt Ammara. Yet, she remained steady and ready. It made Samuel feel better to substantially see someone ready to protect them.
He faced forward and tensed his posture, allowing himself to be just as aware as Ammara. He had a responsibility to fulfill and an image to keep.
He led the way to the heart of the woods, knowing it all like the back of his paw even though it had been so long since he had come here. The aged cottage seemed to be calling out to him, tugging at his heart. Samuel could never rid Rowena and what he shared with her from his heart, but he refused to let it hinder him. He refused to go back again. He needed to continue to move forward.
Ammara’s shared strength was enough to keep them going until daylight. The bears had grunted in insistence that she rest as they made their way, but she was adamant on staying awake and keeping watch. She had a child to look after and a girl to be wary of. Apart from that, most of the journey was made silently. Kevin was too emotionally drained to even think. He would jerk to full attention every time he heard his daughter hiccup or coo on his back. He was aware that she hadn’t had anything to feed upon for almost twenty-four hours, and it concerned him. But Ammara noticed his stress and whispered that she’d already taken care of it. And she was Ammara, so he took her blind word for it. If he couldn’t trust her after Nina, then he could trust no one.
The sun rose leisurely as they neared the border to the fairy kingdom, but Samuel was hesitant upon letting the girl on his back enter. She seemed suspicious and did not want to allow any form of intrusion or danger. Not with Nina so weak, and not with the child so vulnerable. It didn’t matter how powerful the members of the Council were. He could not bear giving the enemies an opportunity. He halted, and Kevin almost ran into his back. The younger bear grunted in annoyance, but Samuel ignored him and gave Ammara an uncertain look. The Caillagh only smiled gently, and Samuel reckoned it would be all right this once. And so, they passed through the border.
It seemed the grass was richer and greener than it could’ve already possibly been. Flowers sprung everywhere in full bloom, no baby buds tilting anywhere. The air was alive with the scent of flora that had sprung up with the sun that was already halfway up the horizon, setting everything alight with a glow that brought with it peace. It was all such a lovely sight that it soothed the weariness in everyone’s bones and making them want to let go and just fall asleep. But the bears held against it and headed over to where Nina and the rest were.
Ammara slid off before they entered, and the girl on Samuel’s back took the cue to do the same. The bears shifted back to men and clothed themselves in the garments tied to their ankles. Kevin came forward and took his daughter into his arms from Ammara, thanking her immensely. She gently touched him in acknowledgment and rubbed his head, sending him on his way to Nina and reassuring him that Dahlia wouldn’t be disappearing again anytime soon. She suggested he should get some rest. With that, he disappeared inside with his child, and she turned to the new girl they had brought with them with an ever-watchful eye, Samuel coming to her side and looking at her with equal suspicion.
Meanwhile, Nina was asleep inside with Cassie and Diana keeping watch over her. Heather and Abigail were off and about with Luke and Kalen to stand guard and have something to do that would calm their restless hearts. With all the events unfolding so abruptly in front of them, it was too upsetting to allow their tired souls to get some rest. They all had to be up and moving. Jitters and nerves were on edge. The thought of losing a child so soon after birth had shaken everyone to their cores, and they could only anxiously anticipate what would happen next. It seemed like they could never catch a break.
Luke was pacing, anxiety holding a firm grip on his spinal cord. The whole ordeal pained him. It hurt to see Kevin so distraught. He could only recall how he, himself, had lost his and Cassie’s first child, and the last thing he wanted was someone to go through the same thing. The fact that the baby girl had been so easily snatched from them tore through his trust in Kalen. He said it would be safer if Nina were here. They said she’d be better near her life tree. But her condition had only grown worse. And then she and Kevin lost their daughter in thin air. What kind of safety did the fairy king even guarantee? It had been almost twenty-four hours. Hadn’t the found the kid yet? Why was it–
His phone rang, tearing through his train of thought with its incessant blaring. Reaching for it in a sense of never-ending urgency, he answered it without bothering to check whose ID it was.
“Hello?”
“Luke, we’re back,” came a relieved sigh from Kevin on the other end. “Dahlia’s back.”
Luke’s heart swelled with relief, and it was almost too much to bear. His eyes watered to the brim, and tears teetered at the edges of his lids, threatening to fall over. He rubbed his eyes and looked down to avoid an approaching Heather from noticing. He wouldn’t hear the end of it if she saw.
“Is she okay? Is she hurt? What about Nina? Are you–”
“We’re okay, man,” Kevin laughed. It sounded so light and genuine that the happiness had Luke’s lips quivering. The stress was taking a toll on his emotional hold. “Get the others here. Cassie’s asking for you.”
“Sure. We’ll be there in a bit,” he replied hoarsely and hung up before Kevin could question him about the way he sounded. Pocketing his phone, he looked up to a rather concerned Heather. Eyes still watery, he smiled at her, and she relaxed momentarily, as evidenced by the drop of her formerly tense shoulders.
“They’re back,” Luke sighed. “They’re all good. We should head over there and take a look.”
Heather said nothing, only nodded and gathered Abigail to take their leave together.
Kevin hadn’t wanted to disturb his mate as she slept, and figured he needed rest, too. Cassie and Diana offered to hold Dahlia for him, but he had no intentions of letting his child go for a long time now. He crawled in bed next to Nina and carefully place their baby between them. She cooed in her sleep, accompanied by a yawn before she fell into a deep sleep again. Kevin draped his arm around the two people he loved so much and let his eyes fall shut. For once, he felt like he could sleep peacefully. And it wasn’t long before he dosed off in deep slumber, where dreams reassured him of better moments to come one day.
One day, he wished ruefully. It felt too farfetched a wish. But he could hope…