About Face (Wolf Within) (36 page)

Authors: Amy Lee Burgess

BOOK: About Face (Wolf Within)

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Fee let go of my hand so she could touch her son. I stumbled away from the bed. My hand hurt like frigging hell, and I flexed it to get the circulation moving again.

Nobody stood in the corner that I could see, but I stopped just short of where I thought maybe his toes would be.

“Okay,” I said through the tears that clogged my throat. “He’s born, he’s safe and he’s going to look just like you, the poor little thing. Now you can go. It’s like Alannah said, only miserable spirits walk, and you’d better not be miserable, Paddy O’Reilly. We love you too much for that. Nobody as loved as you can be miserable. It’s the law, you bastard.

“I swear I’ll look after Fee and when your son’s old enough, I’ll initiate his wolf like I promised. Paddy, I don’t even know if you can hear me.” I grimaced and felt like an idiot, but then something weird stole through me. A feeling as if I weren’t alone. I swore I smelled Paddy’s cologne, but that was impossible. I swallowed the tears in my throat. “Jesus, Paddy, no matter how many Alphas I ever have, there will always be a piece of me that belongs to you. Always. Now go on, get the fuck out of here. Move on. Please.”

I still didn’t see a damn thing, but I swore I felt the tip of someone’s tongue in my ear, and a shiver danced up my spine.

I turned around and saw Fee surrounded by her pack mates, her son in her arms, but her gaze was fixed on me not him.

Her lips parted and formed two words.
Thank you.

I curled my fingers around my bond pendant and the Celtic knot Paddy had fashioned for me and let the tears fall. They hurt, but they were good tears, cleansing tears.

After a moment, I went back to the bed.

“Here.” Fee held out the baby. He was so fucking small, my heart hurt. I’d never held a baby that little. I took him as gently as I could and he trembled in my arms as he struggled to find comfort. “We’re gonna call him William. Will for short. Paddy wanted that name. When we were growing up, he always said our son’s name would be William and Liam’s would be Patrick and they’d be best friends the way we all were.” Her glowing face dimmed, and unbearable grief made her eyes dark. “I just always thought he’d be here to help me raise him.”

“You’ve got the whole pack to help you raise him,” I whispered. One of Will’s tiny fists waved in the air, and I reached out a finger. His fist closed around it with surprising strength, and my heart missed a beat. “It’ll be all right, Fee. You just wait, okay?”

“But it’ll never be the same,” she said, her gaze far away.

“No,” I agreed. I thought of Grey and Elena and my former life. “But you’re wrong if you think the best is in the past. You’ll find new happiness, Fee, I know you will. I did, and so will you.”

I tried to hand the baby back, but Fee shook her head.

“Go clean him up and show him to Colm and Liam. Tell them his name. Watch Liam’s face when you do. Tell me what he says.”

* * * *

“Hi, Will.” Murphy very carefully took his nephew in his arms while Colm watched. “God, he’s gorgeous, isn’t he?” Murphy’s face softened, and his smile was indescribable.

I nodded.

“Stanzie, if we ever have a son…” Murphy began. I loved him so much I couldn’t breathe. He tore his gaze away from his nephew, and when he looked at me, I felt how much he loved me in return. His love was a blaze of warmth I felt from the inside out.

“We’ll call him Patrick, and he’ll be best friends with Will, and they’ll do all the things you two did,” I told him. He grinned at me and looked back to the baby.

“And they’ll be old grandfathers together someday,” Murphy leaned against me when I brushed my lips across the side of his face. “Because we’re going to make sure they have that chance. Right, Stanzie?”

“Right,” I agreed. I was damned if I wouldn’t make it so, in any way I had to. Whatever it took.

Amy Lee Burgess

I blame Stanzie for making me break one of my cardinal rules in writing: No conspiracies! They get so tangled up and hard to manage, but nothing is worse than one that is too simplistic and black and white. I have to admit, though, I am enjoying the ride. Maybe I should break my rules more often?

Other rules I have are–in no particular order–never mix supernaturals. No werewolves with vampire friends. No elves elbowing out warlocks. Always put out the yellow towels on Friday. Avoid highways and take surface streets as often as possible. Never name characters after exes. Lock the bedroom door when watching The Walking Dead. No singing aloud in public.

I started out life in New England and moved to New Orleans on a whim with my fiancé when I was thirty. We endured fires, floods, four cats and the peculiar stench that drifted from the river every spring.

Katrina scared me into relocating to Houston where I currently live with two dogs and a very elderly computer.

Stanzie journey is one that shows me, time and again, what it takes to start over and become better. Now if I could only shift into a wolf like she can!

I love to hear from readers, so please email me at [email protected]. I’m also on Twitter @amyleeburgess

Also by Amy Lee Burgess

The Wolf Within

Beneath the Skin

Scratch the Surface

Hidden in Plain Sight

Inside Out

Across the Line

Lyrical Press books are published by

Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018

Lyrical Press and the L logo are trademarks of Kensington Publishing Corp.

First Electronic Edition: April, 2013