Free Dawson Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire 5) by T. S. Joyce Page A

at the time because I blamed myself completely, so it made sense that she did, too. I held her…” Dalton dragged in a long breath, so Kate held him closer. “I held her all night, listened to every breath because I knew what was coming. And I loved her so much. I wanted her to live. I prayed that I could die instead. I got one day with her. It was quick. Shelby didn’t cry. She was in shock maybe, I don’t know. She held her little body afterward because the doctors said it was good for her to do that for closure, but she didn’t seem interested, and I couldn’t hold her anymore. Just couldn’t. I didn’t want to feel her cold.” Dalton let out a shaky breath. “Shelby broke it off with me then.”
    “April first?”
    “Yeah.”
    “What was her name?”
    Dalton rested his cheek against the top of her head and whispered, “Amelia.”
    “Beautiful name.”
    “For a beautiful girl. She was perfect. Dark hair, dark eyes. She looked Ute, like me.”
    “Ute? I thought you were Alaska Native.”
    “Nah, I’m Native American. I look like the first Ute in my lineage, Ukiah Dawson. I have pictures of him. My cousin got none of the Ute looks. He looks like a blond Viking and Shelby was blond, too, so I thought I would have a fair-haired baby. I like that Amelia got my traits.”
    “You marked her up good,” Kate murmured.
    He let off a soft chuckle. “Yeah.”
    Carefully, she straddled his lap, then tucked her arms underneath her and snuggled against his chest. Dalton hugged her close, and little by little, his heartbeat settled into a steady, thrumming rhythm under her.
    “Thank you,” she said.
    “For what?”
    “For telling me about Amelia.”
    “Yeah, well, someone once told me I have to find someone to share my baggage with.”
    “Whoever told you that sounds like a genius.”
    Dalton snorted, then stood lithely with her in his arms. “Time to sleep, insomniac.” He walked past the coffee table, but froze, then settled her on her feet slowly. “What’s this?”
    Horror seized her as he bent over and picked up one of the half-buried watercolor papers she’d painted. She hadn’t hidden that one well enough because she’d never thought she would see Dalton again.
    “Nothing,” she rushed, pushing a stack of blank paper over the dark ink rendering of a red, black, and violet phoenix.
    “Oooh, you have a big crush on me,” Dalton said, pulling it from under the pile of paper shields she’d created.
    She yelped and plucked the damning painting from his fingertips, just to have him yank it back and hold it too high for her to reach.
    “This is badass,” he said, studying it.
    “I was inspired by your tattoo and was looking for something to paint, and this was a fun idea. I like phoenixes.”
    “A phoenix that looks just like my tattoo?” he asked, one eyebrow arched down at her.
    “I don’t like people seeing these. I’m not an artist. It’s just something that helps me sleep. Sometimes.”
    Dalton folded the painting and shoved it in his pocket. “I’m keeping this.”
    “No, you’re not!” She scrabbled for his pocket, but he angled away from her with a teasing grin.
    “Too slow, tiny human.”
    Kate jolted to a stop, and Dalton’s face shut down completely. He backed away a few steps.
    “You should be more careful.”
    “I don’t know what you mean,” Dalton said. A growl rattled his throat, but he shook his head hard, and the noise cut off.
    He was giving her Amelia, but he was keeping the wolf.
    Kate swallowed down bile at what she was considering. He wasn’t telling her, and he had his reasons. Reasons she couldn’t comprehend. But he was hinting. Baby girls dying? That must be a werewolf thing. Calling her tiny human? Growling? Allowing her to see his blazing eyes now? He was telling her without telling her.
    “Don’t run.” Dang her voice as it trembled, but she was scared. If she let him know she knew, would he kill her? Would he be forced to silence her by