The Wolf Who Hatched an Egg (14 page)

“We can’t do that,” his mother offered. “Shiloh, give back the egg. You can’t seriously think we’d allow you to keep it.”

Shiloh was unsurprised that they’d learned of the egg. Still, he’d expected to have a little more time. He’d just had the egg for a couple
The Wolf Who Hatched an Egg

107

of weeks. It hadn’t even hatched yet. Not that it mattered. Shiloh already loved it as if it were his own.

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of it,” he answered.

His father glared at him. “Right. And I assume your carnivorous mate will help you with it.”

“Actually, yes,” Shiloh answered. He sent a thank-you to Liam and his insistence to contact the agency. “He’s already committed to do that. He and I adopted the egg officially just a couple of days ago.”

The blood drained out of Charles’s face. “That can’t be,” he said.

“There’s no way you could have gone through the bureaucracy so fast. You’re lying.”

Shiloh shrugged, making a mental note to buy Skylar Pierce a huge present. “Believe what you want. It doesn’t make it any less true.”

His father looked thoughtful, and he gave Charles a narrowed-eyed look. Shiloh didn’t have the time to figure out the reasons behind it. The older swan turned toward him and said, “Son, whether you adopted the egg or not, that doesn’t change the fact that Charles has more right over it than you do.”

Shiloh blinked, not really understanding what his father was trying to get at. “I’m sorry, what? You lost me. Why would Charles have any rights over my egg?”

His mother let out an irritated sigh. “Shiloh, please, stop this pointless act. You know as well as I do that Charles is the egg’s father. Now, stealing an egg is a felony, Shiloh. We can easily imprison you for it. Charles has agreed to let things go as long as you return it, but you need to give it back now.”

Shiloh felt like the world was spinning. The adoption papers backed him up, as did Liam’s commitment to the egg, but Charles’s parentage of the egg could throw a wrench in his every plan. Still, he kept his calm and didn’t allow the other swans to intimidate him. “I haven’t stolen any egg,” he said. “I haven’t been to the valley in years, and I couldn’t have done it if I’d wanted to. If Charles is the
108

Scarlet Hyacinth

egg’s parent, then perhaps he can explain to me how it ended up abandoned on my doorstep.”

“As if that would ever happen.” Charles sighed. “Please, Shiloh.

Don’t be like this. Open the door and let me in.”

Shiloh snarled at Charles. “Like I said, I have no intention to.”

“Shiloh, I still love you. You want a child, I get that. It hurts that you stole my egg, but we could still raise it, you and me.”

Shiloh hadn’t thought he could get more surprised, but there it was. “You can’t be serious.” He took a deep breath, struggling to make sense of what was going on. “What about the egg’s mother?

Where is she?”

Charles’s expression darkened. “She left me,” he said. “Now, don’t change the subject. You and I belong together. Now we can finally have a family.”

“I already have a family—my mate and my egg.” With that, Shiloh shut the door in Charles’s face.

“Shiloh, you’re just making things worse for yourself,” his father shouted.

Shiloh hastened to the bedroom. His mate had already carefully packed up the egg in its basket, shielding it with blankets. “We need to go.”

Shiloh nodded, grabbed his documents, and made for the fire escape. He considered grabbing his gun, but decided against it. He’d have to be crazy to shoot someone with an egg close-by. Even if his aim was great, the bullet could still ricochet and accidentally hit the egg. The chances were slim, but Shiloh wasn’t willing to risk it.

As he left their apartment, he could hear the entrance door protesting under the assault of the swans. Liam followed after him, carefully carrying the egg.

They managed to reach their car, but unsurprisingly, their motions were anticipated or felt. Swans surrounded them as they reached their vehicle, and they were far more than Shiloh had even expected. Liam
The Wolf Who Hatched an Egg

109

handed the egg to Shiloh, snarling. “If you think you’ll touch a hair on his head,” he growled, “you’re sorely mistaken.”

“Stay out of this, wolf,” one of the men said. Shiloh found with surprise he didn’t even know the guy. God, had so much time passed since he’d been to the valley?

Liam bared his teeth at the gathering. “I think not. You’re the ones who’re attacking my family.”

As the swans approached, Liam spoke to Shiloh through their bond.
“Baby, get in the car,”
he said.
“I’ll stall.”

Shiloh wanted to question the command, but he knew his egg was relying on him. With trembling hands, he opened the car door and took the driver’s seat, placing the egg on the car floor and doing his best to secure it.

Outside, he spotted several swans shoot forward toward the car.

They didn’t get the chance to reach him. Liam shifted into his wolf form and attacked with a speed that surprised even Shiloh. He stopped at least two of the swans, while the others shifted in their animal form and took off into the air.

Shiloh yelped as one of them landed on the car and tried to break the windshield with his bill. He rushed to insert the key into the ignition and started the vehicle. Using the wipers, he managed to temporarily dissuade the swan attacker. He didn’t think the windshield could be so easily shattered, but swans were large birds, and could be very persistent.

Liam’s wolf form pushed the swan off the car, and, together, the two animals rolled back onto the tarmac.

“Go!”
Liam shouted in Shiloh’s mind.
“Find Skylar. Get help.”

Shiloh was torn between his mate and his egg. In the end, he decided the only thing he could do was to try to secure assistance.

Even if he did attempt to aid Liam, they would still be outnumbered, and God only knew what would happen to the egg.

Tears streamed down his face as he drove off, keeping a steady pace and occasionally stealing a peak at the egg. A measure of relief
110

Scarlet Hyacinth

coursed through him at the realization that the egg looked safe. It didn’t last, however, as moments later, a bullet passed straight through the back window, narrowly missing Shiloh’s head.

* * * *

Liam mentally cursed as he watched a tall swan male prepare himself to shoot after Shiloh again. He knew the first bullet had almost hit his mate. Even the distraction was just enough to cause possible damage to the egg.

Without hesitating, Liam lunged at the man endangering his family. He managed to get there just as the swan shot once again. The strength of his momentum sent them both crashing to the ground.

Thankfully, Liam’s intervention made the guy miss his aim.

Liam buried his fangs in the swan’s flesh, feeling slightly disgusted as he did so. After all, his mate and child were swans.

However, this guy had attempted to hurt them, and Liam would do whatever it took to stop him.

It shouldn’t have taken him long to deal with the swan. One swift motion, a tear of that important vein that pumped blood to the other man’s heart, and it would all be over. But he kept seeing his mate’s gaze in his mind’s eye, kept recalling the warmth of the egg, the life growing under the delicate shell. And remembering all that, he hesitated.

Unfortunately, that gave the swan the occasion to regain his lost composure. Liam felt the man struggle with his weapon. His instincts kicked back and he was just about to tear into his opponent’s throat, when a shot rang out.

Oddly, it was the sound he registered first. Seconds later came the pain. Fuck it hurt. Liam had never managed to get himself shot with a silver bullet, and he had to say he didn’t enjoy the experience.

Thankfully, his hold on the guy made it so that the bullet didn’t hit anything vital. Instead, the shot affected Liam’s hind leg.

The Wolf Who Hatched an Egg

111

Liam would have tried to continue his attack, but he became aware of all the other swans around him. In his mind, he felt Shiloh’s panicked cries.
“Liam, get out of there. Oh, God, Liam…Run.”

Liam wasn’t above doing just that. He pushed off the swan and slowly backed away, trying to keep hold of his senses. The silver already burned through him, and, surrounded, he didn’t have much chance to escape.

Surprisingly, the swans didn’t seem to be focused on him. An older man approached them, glowering at Liam’s attacker. “Jesus Christ,” he said. “Have you lost your mind, Charles?”

“Shiloh was getting away,” the man called Charles answered.

“And besides, we still got the wolf.”

“You only got him because he fought for Shiloh,” the man answered coolly. “Now, Charles, I never trusted your words too much in the first place, but now, I’m beginning to doubt them even more.”

“You can’t be serious.” Charles let out a sound of disbelief. “That egg is mine and Shiloh stole it.”

A woman appeared by the older swan’s side. “And yet, you shot at the vehicle carrying it, endangering both the egg and Shiloh. Even if Shiloh did take the egg, we don’t appreciate having him hurt. He is our son, after all, and you agreed to leave him be.”

So the man and the woman were Shiloh’s parents, then. It was somewhat comforting to see they at least cared about Shiloh.

Liam took advantage of the distraction and began to slowly back away. Charles must have sensed his motion, though, as he reached for his gun. Before he could point it at Liam again, though, Shiloh’s mother pulled it away from his grasp. “I don’t think so. I said it before. No guns.”

Charles gritted his teeth in obvious anger. “What do we do about the wolf, then?” he said.

For a few moments, the woman turned toward Liam. Her gaze looked familiar, and Liam saw Shiloh in her. He wished he knew what she was thinking.

112

Scarlet Hyacinth

Then, the woman broke eye contact and went around Charles. The motion blocked Charles’s body from sight, and Liam would’ve bet money the man couldn’t see him either. As he looked around, he realized everyone was studiously looking at the talking swans. Some of the gathered men discreetly stepped forward, allowing him to pass.

What the fuck?

“Get out of there, Liam,”
Shiloh said. He sounded a bit calmer, but still afraid.
“Us swans respect matings, and they must have
realized there’s no way you could have done what you did if you
weren’t my mate. Go before they change their minds.”

Liam didn’t wait to be told twice. His leg hurt like hell and he was bleeding heavily, but his connection with Shiloh seemed to be feeding him strength. He took off, following the feel of his mate in the distance.

Somehow, he knew Shiloh waited for him. He hated the risks his mate was taking, but asking Shiloh to back down would be useless, and it could only lead them to a worse situation. If the swans caught Liam, they could use him against Shiloh. Liam would avoid that, even if it cost him his very life.

“Don’t even think that, Liam.”
Shiloh’s voice came through their connection.
“I’m driving your way. Meet me at the coffee shop on the
corner of the block.”

Liam focused every ounce of strength he had on his destination.

Moving would cause the silver to affect him even more, but the swans could change their minds any minute now. As much as Liam hated running away from a fight, he knew how to pick his battles.

The coffee shop wasn’t too far. In fact, in normal circumstances, he could have gotten there in minutes without breaking a sweat. In the current situation, he didn’t even succeed in reaching it. Of course, it didn’t help that he was essentially a huge-ass wolf wandering in plain sight in the middle of LA. He had no idea how the swans would cover this up, but right then and there, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

The Wolf Who Hatched an Egg

113

His mate came to him, meeting him halfway to the coffee shop.

Liam limped to the car and Shiloh hastily helped him inside in quick, efficient motions. He was trying to be brave, Liam realized, and he felt so very proud of his mate.

“Hang in there, Liam,” Shiloh said. “I’ll get us help.”

Shiloh started the car again, and Liam focused on the sound of his mate’s voice to keep himself from losing consciousness. “Don’t worry, Liam,” Shiloh continued. “Nico will give us a hand and I’m sure Skylar will know what to do.”

Liam wanted to be as confident as his mate, but with a silver bullet lodged in his flesh, it wasn’t easy. Still, he surmised it could have been much worse. His mate or the egg might have been injured.

Liam could deal with his own physical pain, but he didn’t think he’d be able to stand it if anything happened to his family.

Lying on the backseat of their car, he didn’t register everything Shiloh was saying. He distantly acknowledged the fact that they didn’t seem to have been followed, thank God. Even so, Shiloh was as tense as a bowstring, and Liam could see how much it tore him up to have to choose between going faster and risking the egg and keeping a more sedate speed and chancing Liam’s health.

In the end, they reached Nicolas’s house without further incident.

The hummingbird lived over his own store, a very convenient thing, especially since it wasn’t too far by LA standards. Nicolas ran toward them as Shiloh parked the car. “What’s the matter, Shiloh?” he asked.

Liam couldn’t be sure how Nicolas had guessed something was wrong, but Shiloh must look pretty anxious right about now. “We were attacked,” Shiloh said. He stopped the vehicle and took the egg.

“Liam’s hurt. Silver.”

Nicolas cursed under his breath. “Okay, let’s get him and the egg inside.”

Shiloh opened the back door and reached for Liam. Liam forced his tired muscles to obey and crawled out of the car.
“Don’t strain
yourself,”
Shiloh whispered in his mind.

114

Scarlet Hyacinth