The Wolf Who Hatched an Egg (12 page)

“It’s my egg.”
Shiloh bristled.
“They’d just take it from me.”

“Baby…As much as we want our family to be complete, if we push it, it’ll just be a big, fat mess. I care about the egg as much as you do, but—”

A snort from Shiloh interrupted his phrase.
“Care about the egg?

Really? You’re not a swan. What could a wolf possibly understand
about this? Hell, for all I know, your kind eat our eggs.”

Liam froze and he stared at his mate in disbelief. He couldn’t believe Shiloh had said that.

“Shiloh…Baby…”

But Shiloh didn’t even stop there.
“You know what? I don’t need
you here. Just go. Leave me alone with my egg. Return to your pack.

That’s where you belong. You’ll never understand me anyway.”

“Baby,” Liam took another step forward, “you don’t mean that.”

Shiloh flapped his wings and hissed low in his throat.
“Don’t get
any closer, Liam. I’ll protect this egg, even against you.”

Liam felt like he’d been slapped. His mate just continued to sit there, snarling in his typical swanlike fashion, and for the first time in months, Liam felt like he’d made a huge mistake. Had he really been so wrong about Shiloh? Surely his mate couldn’t believe such monstrous things about him.

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But the evidence lay in Shiloh’s behavior toward him and could not be denied. Liam slowly backed out of the bedroom. He couldn’t look at Shiloh. It hurt too fucking much.

He felt like he couldn’t breathe. The wolf inside him whined at Shiloh’s rejection, at the separation from his mate and the baby he’d quickly begun to care about.

The walls of the home that had been his sanctuary now stifled him. He wanted to go outside, shift, and run, but he lived in the city, and he didn’t have that option. Perhaps it was better. Whether Shiloh liked it or not, Liam would stay. He would not encroach upon Shiloh’s personal space, but he’d stay by his mate’s side and protect him in this moment of vulnerability.

Sighing to himself, Liam let himself slump to the ground. He didn’t even bother to change into his wolf form, since his pain would be even more acute. For the longest time, he just sat there, waiting.

For what, he didn’t know. The connection remained silent, but Shiloh’s words still echoed through it, heavy and poisonous.
Hell, for
all I know, your kind eat our eggs. Just go. Leave me alone with my
egg.

Over and over, those phrases assaulted Liam’s consciousness.

They didn’t mean anything, he tried to tell himself. Shiloh had a temper. He was just angry and protective over the egg. He’d come around.

But then, if it only took one single disagreement to make Shiloh turn tail and run, what did that say about them? Liam had thought he’d managed to bond with Shiloh. He’d thought theirs was a genuine mating, and he’d even allowed himself to consider making it official.

He’d wanted the world to know he had the most beautiful, amazing mate. But apparently, it took a little wave to rock the boat and bring him to reality. He and Shiloh were still predator and prey. For fuck’s sake, Shiloh had even insinuated Liam would attack the egg. How could he build a mating on a trust so frail? The answer was easy—he couldn’t.

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At one point, his connection with Shiloh began to vibrate with regret, fear, and sadness, all coming from Shiloh. Liam wanted to go back inside the room and hold his mate, soothe Shiloh and push every troublesome thought away. But, for once, he didn’t know if he would be welcome. It was quite ironic that he’d been propelled back to their first days, when he’d done his best to make Shiloh forgive him for his lapse. He’d actually thought they were beyond things like this, and Shiloh would understand that anything he did was for the good of them all.

It could truly be his fault. Shiloh was right. Liam should never have asked Brody to consult Skylar Pierce without Shiloh’s accord.

For all he knew, Skylar would find out who they were and ask them to hand over the egg. Fuck.

He didn’t know how long he sat there, outside the bedroom he shared with Shiloh. A shrill sound snapped him out of his trance—the sound of the phone.

“Hi,” Brody said. “I talked to Skylar.”

“Really?” Liam rubbed his eyes tiredly. “So soon? I didn’t think you’d contact him at this hour.”

“Liam, it’s nine a.m.” Liam blinked and stole a look outside.

Indeed, the sun had already risen. He’d been waiting at the door all night.

“Right,” he replied. “I just didn’t realize you were on such friendly terms.”

“He’s a good guy,” Brody answered. “Anyway, listen up. This is very important if you want to keep the egg.”

Liam felt panic course through his connection with Shiloh.
Oh,
no, no, no, no, no.
The chorus of continuous
no
s echoed inside Liam’s head, and Liam couldn’t help but try to calm his mate down.

“Shh, baby. It’s going to be fine. Brody would never do anything
that could potentially harm us.”

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He didn’t know if Shiloh had heard him or not, since Shiloh’s anxiety didn’t really dwindle. His heart falling, Liam tried to focus on the conversation with Brody. “I’m listening.”

“I told Skylar that I had a friend who mated a non-carnivore and found a baby of his mate’s species. I don’t know if Skylar suspects Carson and I mean to adopt again, but that doesn’t matter. Anyway, what he says is this. It’s unusual, but not unprecedented, for carnivores to adopt herbivores. There have been several examples, like the lioness who previously took charge of Angel, or even Carson and me. However, to do this, there is a procedure you need to follow.

Otherwise, the baby will be considered in danger and the baby’s people will be entitled to intervene.”

“Procedure?” Liam repeated. “What procedure?”

“Well first thing, the couple has to be able to provide the baby with a family. That is, they need to be officially mated.”

“Shiloh and I are not registered as mates, Brody,” Liam said.

“You know that.”

“If you want to have a chance to keep the egg, you’re going to have to be,” Brody answered. “Second, the carnivore parent or parents need to make a commitment that they won’t hurt the herbivore child.

I’m not sure I mentioned it to you before.”

“You did it?” Liam asked, surprised.

“Yes, when Carson and I took in Angel. Then, you have to arrange for an official adoption, through the agency. Skylar can do that for you, but he needs to meet you and the baby first, to make sure you can provide an adequate family.”

“It’s a ruse,”
Shiloh said through his bond with Liam.
“He just
means to take away the egg.”

“I’m not sure it is, baby. It makes sense.”

And truly, it did. Even if the egg’s original parents didn’t appear, the swan nation would not take kindly to a wolf raising a cygnet.

Shiloh and Liam might not have any choice but to resort to Skylar’s help.

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Shape-shifters didn’t have all-encompassing authorities. They just had their elders, and according to whatever these powerful men or women decided, they lived in war or peace with other species. The adoption agency was the only organism all shifters used, and as a rule, it stayed neutral. However, it also had significant power that allowed it to enforce its decisions. If Liam could convince Skylar he could be a good parent for the egg, they were all set.

“Brody, what do you think? Should we meet up with this guy?”

Brody sighed. “You definitely have a better chance with Skylar than waiting and hoping for the best. I can’t be sure of how things will turn out, but Skylar did help me and Carson with our sons. I’m sure he’ll keep an open mind.”

Liam bit his lip, uncertain. “Look, I’m going to have a talk with Shiloh, and then I’ll call you back and let you know. Thanks for everything.”

“Don’t mention it.” Brody paused. “Take care of yourselves, all right?”

“Will do,” Liam answered. “Thanks again.”

With that, Liam ended the call and made his way to the bedroom.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and stepped inside. His mate was still on the bed, waiting on top of the egg in shifted form.

“Baby, I know you don’t trust me,” he said, “but you have to realize our best chance to protect the egg is to stick together.”

“I know,”
Shiloh said weakly.
“I’m sorry. I truly am.”

Liam sighed and sat on the bed. He allowed himself to pet Shiloh, relieved when his mate didn’t shy away. “We’ll be fine, baby. We’ll be just fine.”

Now, if he could just make himself believe it.

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Liam had never really known what registrations for mate bonds entailed. In the pack, people simply went to Soren. For Shiloh, it had been similar, to the extent that mated pairs would go to the leader of his valley.

But since Shiloh and Liam now lived in LA, they needed to go to whoever dealt with such things here. Thankfully, Brody and Carson helped them out. They’d gone through a similar process, and explained to Liam that the agency would aid them in this, as well. As such, Shiloh and Liam had eventually agreed to meet up with Skylar Pierce.

The man was nothing like Liam expected. He’d greeted them with a kind smile, made small talk, and asked them a little about how they met and how they felt about the egg. Then, without any other comment, he’d agreed to arrange both their mating and the adoption for them.

Now, the big day had come, and Liam admitted he felt quite nervous. He’d never thought he’d do this out of a need outside his mere bond with his mate. Somehow, it made him feel reluctant, as if he were tainting the process. But no, both Shiloh and he wanted the egg to be safe, and they yearned for the warmth of a family. Besides, Shiloh and he were already mates. This was only a formality, a piece of paper that would make things a little more real in the eyes of whoever tried to question the solidity of their bond.

“Hey, don’t worry.” Skylar smiled as he led them inside the building where the ceremony would be held. “It’s not that big a deal. I know a guy here, and he’ll deal with things quickly and painlessly.”

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Shiloh looked nervous too. “I…Okay. Okay. Fast is good. I’m just concerned about the egg.”

Liam sighed to himself. He could understand that. This was the first time in weeks that Shiloh had left their home. He’d always stayed with the egg, taking care of it, providing the warmth needed for it to hatch. Truth be told, Liam was a bit worried about the egg, too, but he consoled himself with the thought that their friends were watching over it.

At last, Skylar gestured them into a large office. A large, blond man sat at a desk, looking over some papers. As they entered the room, the man got up.

“Hey, Skylar. Are these the guys you told me about?”

“Hi, Garth. Yeah, this would be them. Shiloh Holden and Liam Denning.”

Liam analyzed the man with narrowed eyes. He smelled like feline, and he didn’t like it, especially around Shiloh. “Don’t give me the evil eye, wolf.” Garth chuckled. “I won’t eat your mate. I’m used to having all sorts of shifters around here. Now, should we get this show on the road? I’m Garth Mckenna. Now, depending on the officer you run into at an agency, this can be very easy, or very difficult. I’ll make it easy, since I hear you’re in a rush to adopt an abandoned egg?”

Shiloh nodded. “Liam and I really care about it, and we don’t want anyone to take it from us.”

Feeling his mate’s anxiety, Liam took Shiloh’s hand and kissed it.

“We’d have come here either way, eventually, but we needed to speed things up a bit, for the egg.”

Garth nodded. “All right. I’m going to trust what you’re saying, because Skylar vouches for you.” He retrieved the papers he’d been looking at when Liam and Shiloh had arrived and handed them over.

Liam scanned through the pages with haste. It wasn’t even all that long, since the agency operated on the assumption that a mating was already in place by the time the couple came there to register it. The
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commitment required for a wolf mating was far greater than anything the agency could enforce.

“When you’re ready, just sign at the bottom of the last page.”

Without hesitation, Liam took a pen from Garth and signed. To his relief, Shiloh followed his example.

“Congratulations,” Garth said as he gathered the papers. “I hope you lead a long and fulfilling life together.”

“That’s it?” Shiloh asked, sounding shocked.

Garth grinned. “Like I said, it can be as easy or as hard as we make it. Now, it’ll take a few days until this is processed, but until then, you can deal with the paperwork for the adoption. Just one more thing. Would you like to keep your names, hyphen them, or take up one over the other?”

“Hyphen is fine, I think,” Liam said.

“Denning-Holden,” Shiloh added.

“Very good,” Garth answered. “You’ll have the paperwork ready and returned to you in a couple of days.”

Liam nodded and numbly thanked the man. Somehow, he felt it should have been more complicated, more earth-shattering. But if he wanted to be honest, what truly bothered him was that they’d taken this important step in a moment when he sensed Shiloh so distant, when their bond was so…wrong.

As they left Garth’s office, Skylar began to speak, “I’ve already made arrangements for the rest of the documents to be ready. If you’ll come with me, we can deal with that, and after everything is processed, the egg will be officially yours.”

Liam would have loved to feel glad about that, but something kept him from doing so. The egg needed parents who got along, a loving family, not two estranged mates who could no longer make their bond work.

“Wait,” he said. “I need a word with Shiloh, in private.”