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“What alternate universe did I just fall into?”
Shit.I said that out loud.
“‘We,’” Demyen corrects. “Wefell into. I don’t fucking know.” He blinks, then grins. “And I don’t fucking care. Because wherever we are, whatever just happened… I’m ‘Daddy’ now.”
He holds up a finger before Bambi or Pavel—or even me—can say anything about it.
“Nope. Shut up. All of you.”
And with that, he follows her into the cabin. I swear there’s a proud little strut in his gait I’ve never seen before.
It suits him.
25
DEMYEN
My original plan was to take everyone back home once the day was done.
Fuck it. Makes more sense to just stay here. Let the kid get some rest. Let everyone else get some, too.
If anything, we all need some time to recover from the absolute bombshell Willow dropped on us after I brought her back from jet skiing. One moment, she’s traumatized all to shit—the next, she’s claiming me as her daddy and acting like literally nothing ever happened.
At the moment, I can hear Clara singing songs with Willow as they get ready for bed in the upstairs bathroom. My little cub has just gotten out of the bathtub and the angel who turns into a demon in my bed is combing her hair into French braids to sleep in.
And I’m standing here, leaning against the doorway, grinning like an absolute lunatic.
“There! All done,” Clara announces with a quick peck on Willow’s cheek.
“Thank you, Mommy!”
I step out of the way so Willow can bounce past, but she stops at the doorway and looks up at me. Then, wordlessly, lifts her arms up to me.
Some things don’t need words to communicate. “Up” is definitely one of them.
I scoop her up into my arms and give her a kiss. “Ready for bed?”
Willow nods. “Will you tell me a story?”
I pretend to really have to think about it, lips pursed and humming thoughtfully, until Willow bursts into a fit of giggles and I finally agree. “Okay. You convinced me.”
We saunter into her bedroom and I plop down on the side of her bed, turning to ease her in under the warm blankets I made sure the alpha team brought ahead of our arrival.
Truth be told, I’d wanted to take them both here for the weekend, so I had already sent some people ahead of time to clean the place up, add new furnishings and Willow-specific touches, the works. The fact that we needed it for today after her meltdown was just fortuitous timing. One quick call to confirm the cabin was prepared, and I bundled my new little family into the car like we were off to an early weekend getaway and not at all scrambling to figure out how to handle Willow’s trauma.
She curls up under the blankets as I tuck them around her and smiles up at me. “Story! You promised a story, Daddy.”
“Such a demanding little cub,” I playfully grumble, much to her giggling.God, how I missed that sound. “Okay. Once upon a time?—”
“Daddy! It’s ‘In a certain time, in a certain place.’ Remember?”
I feign smacking myself in the forehead. “You are absolutely right. My sincerest apologies. In a certain time, in a certain place, there once lived… a princess.”
She grins. She knows it’s her. And as the story goes on and I tell her about the queen and king who keep the princess safe, and all the king’s men who go to war with the Baba Yaga to save the princess, Willow’s eyes droop lower and lower and lower. By the time I reach the end, she can barely keep them cracked open.
“ … and then they all lived happily ever after. The end.”
No response. Willow snores softly. Smiling, I extract myself from her and retreat toward the door. I’m just about to leave when I hear two words that melt my heart.
