I came to my feet and ventured hesitantly towards the crib. I gazed down at the tiny bundle. Bright blue eyes—the same blue as his fathers—gazed up at me. Fluffy downy soft brown hair cover the top of his head and his lips were heart shaped. His nose was teeny tiny. Everything about him was perfect.
“Hi, Beau,” I gasped in awe. “I’m your mommy.”
I hadn’t had a chance to grasp the profoundness of that word with everything that had happened. Mommy. I was a mom. This tiny breakable human was mine. I would watch him grow up and nurture him into a young man and scold him when he did something wrong.
He was mine. A piece of me that was precious and irreplaceable. I reached down, scooping him into my arms. He was so small, fitting perfectly into the curve of my arms like a football. I lowered my head, pressing kisses to the top of his head. He made a cute little noise and burrowed close to me. He was the cutest baby I had ever seen in my entire life, and he was mine.
“I love him so much,” I gasped, letting him wrap his tiny fingers around one of mine. I never wanted to let him go. I wanted to hold him in my arms forever so no harm could ever come his way. I would always protect him, but hopefully he would never need protecting like this ever again.
I kissed his small nose and sighed. I knew I had to let go of him. Caeden deserved to hold him too. I certainly didn’t make this cute thing by myself. Caeden had played a very important role and he’d been just as worried as I had been.
“Here,” I adjusted the baby so I could hold him out to Caeden, “hold your son.”
Caeden’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears at my words. He took the baby from me and gazed down at him with the same expression I was sure I had worn.
“Hey, Beau,” Caeden bounced the baby in his arms. “It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve been really worried about you.”
“Whoa.”
Caeden and I both startled at the new voice and looked to the doorway to see Bentley and Bryce standing there. I averted my eyes at their nakedness—maybe one day I’d get used to shifters running around naked, but today was not that day.
“He’s dead,” Bryce continued. “You really killed him.”
“Of course he’s dead,” Bentley smacked the back of Bryce’s head, rolling his eyes at his idiocy.
“Hey, Travis is crazy. It was reasonable for me to think he might kill them. I’m just saying.” He shrugged.
“God, you’re an idiot,” Bentley shook his head. “Anyway, sorry to break up your happy little reunion here,” Bentley pointed at Caeden and I with the baby, “but you’re going to want to see this.”
My stomach plummeted. What could it be now?
Caeden handed Beau back to me and we followed the guys down to a basement. It was dark with no light. A dank musty smell filled the air, but another scent was stronger—that of decay.
Since there was no light it took my eyes a moment to adjust to the dark.
“Oh my God,” I gasped, fighting my gag reflex.
The bodies of the elders were scattered along the floor of the basement. Their bodies weren’t whole though. They were ripped into pieces and some of those pieces looked like they’d been chewed on. “Oh my God,” I repeated. “He was eating them.”
I had never been so repulsed in all my life. I’d heard of such things, but seeing it firsthand…it was definitely the most disturbing thing I had ever seen. I held Beau tightly in one arm and used my free hand to cover my nose and mouth.
“Is…Is Gram among them?” I closed my eyes, my breath shaking as I waited for their answer. Gram was an elder, but I knew there was no way she’d been involved with Travis. That didn’t mean he had spared her when he decided to kill the other elders though.
I heard shuffling and assumed the guys were looking through the body parts, looking for any sign of Gram. Wow, what a disturbing thought. I hadn’t seen Gram in—well, forever it seemed like—she hadn’t been there when I woke up and she wasn’t with us when we came here. There was a very real possibility that she was dead.
“She’s not here,” Caeden finally said after an agonizing minute of waiting.
“Oh, thank God,” I breathed, letting my eyes open. Relief flooded my body. Gram was okay. Everything was okay now. “Hey…” I paused. “Do you guys smell that?” I asked.
Caeden tilted his head back, sniffing the air. His eyes widened. “Smoke.”
Holy crap, the house was on fire.
We ran for the stairs and back up to the main level of the house. The smoke was thick up here, but the fire seemed to be coming from the back, so we were able to make it to the front door. We burst outside, letting the clean air flood our lungs. I was still wheezing slightly, but my lungs had almost repaired themselves.