A Fox Among Wolves

Chapter Thirty-Four

Willow takes the opportunity to stop nursing, just laying her head on my chest as she starts to fall asleep. Reaching down, I readjust my shirt before pulling the blankets back over us.

This whole parenting thing has been harder than I expected, even with Willow being such an easy going baby. A few days after she was born, I had developed mastitis, an infection caused by clogged milk ducts. That had been brutal. Along with taking some medication, I had to manually try to massage the tissue, which was almost as painful as giving birth.

Willow hadn't been happy either since I couldn't nurse. It had just hurt too much. So, she had to take a few bottles, something that she had screamed about, not eating until she was absolutely starving. It had made guilt settle in my stomach, watching my baby cry in hunger. As soon as the mastitis had gone away, I had let her nurse for an hour straight.

Now, I have gotten used to the pain that came with learning how to nurse.

Drinking my own tea, my other hands run along Willow's back, taking comfort in her small body. Quinn coos when he sees her, reaching over to brush his fingers over her little wolf ears. They are still close to her head, but they are easy to see. I know that Braeden had been goofily proud about her being a wolf, often pressing kisses to her little ears.

"Are you coming with me to Althea's today?" I ask, watching as the rest of the village starts to wake up. This section of the community is just housing, so it is fun to watch as the little kids start to wander outside, playing with one another in the snow.

"Yeah," Quinn murmurs, eyes closed as he leans his head on my shoulder. "I have my appointment today anyway, and you know how overprotective Link is being."

Rolling my eyes, I choose not to say anything on the matter. It is no wonder why his mate is being so overprotective with Quinn. My best friend keeps on insisting that he is fine, and tries to do things that he really shouldn't be doing. Yesterday, Link had found him on a ladder in the living room, trying to dust some of the hard to reach places. The wolf had almost had a heart attack, and Quinn was not too happy about being forced to come down from the ladder.

I know that Quinn is bored, now that the nursery has been completed and there is not much else to do. The other community members are interested in him becoming a teacher at the small school that sits in the middle of the village. But, with Quinn being as far along as he is and having been through so much already during his pregnancy, Althea had suggested that he not start work until the baby is born.

And Quinn has taken that advice just as I thought he would: arguing about it for the first few days, and then being grumpy when denied by everyone. Add in the fact that he still can't have coffee, and he has been irritable lately.

"We just care about you, Quinn," I say, taking one final sip of my tea before setting it back down on the table. "You're gonna have to suck it up."

He lets out an indignant huff at my words. We sit there in silence for a while, watching as the children are called back inside, before emerging in better clothes and their backpacks. All the children run around together, their giggles audible from here. A few of them wave to us as they walk by, humans and hybrids hand in hand.

It must be close to nine if they are headed to school, and my stomach lets a grumble of hunger when I realize how long I have been out here. Just as I am thinking about going in search of food, the front door opens, and Braeden walks out, a tray filled with food in his hands.

He smiles when he sees me, leaning down to give me a kiss before setting the tray on the counter. "I thought you two might be hungry, and there is plenty more if you're still hungry." He runs his fingers down Willow's back, a smile spreading across his face when she lets out a little snuffle. "Do you want me to get her ready while you eat?"