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“I think you’d make a great daddy.”
The feeling of her warm breath on my cheek, the double meaning in her words and the little nip she gives to my earlobe make me hard in an instant. I groan and bite back the curse I want to let out. Little ears shouldn’t hear the filthy words I want to speak to my mate. I’ll have to save them for later.
“Why are you doing this to me?
Even though I whisper the words, Hunter’s eyes scrunch up and I wince. Cooper will kill me if he wakes up. Apparently, he’ll only sleep in someone's arms during the day, hence the exhausted parents. I love it. The new prince is already ruling the roost.
“Doing what, Daddy?”
Maya sucks my ear to soothe the sting, and I twist away from her attentions. It’s too much when I’m trapped under a sleeping baby. My mate is a cruel, cruel minx.
“You’re mean.”
Maya giggles, straightening and twirling a strand of dark hair round and round her finger. Her expression is pure innocence, but I can see the twinkle in her eyes as she bites her lip coyly.
“Are you going to teach me how to be a good girl?”
Fuck me. Trying to regain some control of the situation, I push an image down the bond toward her, me bending her over the bed and slapping her ass, hard. Her eyes fly open and her lips part in shock, but the scent of her desire perfumes the air. It takes everything I have to stifle the growl beginning in my chest.
“You need to leave, right now,” I warn her, and she giggles, blowing me a naughty kiss before backing out the door with a saucy wink. Sighing in relief that I don’t have to explain to the Alpha and Luna why their apartment is full of sexy pheromones, I turn my attention back to Hunter. When I touch his little fingers, he reaches out and grips them with his fist. Waving my hand around a bit, he holds on tight, and I’m impressed. He’s strong for such a tiny thing, but of course he is, he’s a Jones.
“Where’s Cooper?” Hayley tip toes in and checks on Hunter before creeping to their bedroom door and gazing in at her mate, passed out and snoring on the bed. She smiles before crossing back to me and lifting the baby out of my arms, settling him against her chest and smoothing a hand over his downy brown hair.
“He’s wrecked,” she mutters with a small shake of her head. “He can’t keep going like this.”
She’s right. We’re all working too many hours, trying to make up for the reduced numbers at the top of the pack. Cooper needs to appoint a new beta to fill the void that Ethan’s left behind, but he refuses point blank. Ethan’s his oldest friend. He doesn’t want to let him go, though that’s only part of it. We all feel wounded by Kim’s betrayal, but that’s no reason to distrust everyone from now on. It’s no way to live, and it’s no way to run a pack.
“I know, but he’s stubborn.”
Hayley nods as she smiles down at her son. She looks peaceful, but I know that brain of hers never stops working, so I wait. She has more to say.
“Do you think Ethan’s coming back?”
Hesitating, I consider my words carefully. Without knowing what’s going on with him, I can’t say for sure, but he loves this pack. Of that much, I’m certain.
“He says he will if he can. Who knows when that will be?”
And that’s the truth. Will he be welcomed back with open arms? Absolutely. Can we keep his position open indefinitely? Definitely not. Hayley frowns, even though that was exactly the answer she was expecting. Now she has to convince Cooper to make some decisions that he doesn’t want to face, because she’s the only one who has a hope of getting him to listen.
I give her a gentle hug, careful not to squish the baby, before kissing Hunter softly on the forehead.
“Uncle Nathan is available for babysitting duty any time. I might need some training, but I’m willing and able.”
Hayley squeezes my arm and gives me a watery smile.
“It’s going to be okay,” I reassure her. She nods, but it’s not even remotely convincing and it hurts me to see how worried she is about her mate and about the pack, when she should be completely focused on herself and the baby.
Enough is enough.
If Cooper won’t do it, I’ll find out what’s going on with Ethan once and for all. And if he’s not coming back, I’ll bug Cooper about it until he realises he needs to get some more help for the sake of his family. As I consider how I’m going to approach this, I already know there’s one person I need to rope in to help me. He’ll be perfect for it. I’m just not sure he’ll be willing to help me.
Crossing my fingers, I dial the number I haven't had a good enough reason to call yet.
“Dean? It’s Nathan. I need a favour.”
EPILOGUE
MAYA
