Sedona Surrender (Sedona Pack #4) - Lisa Kessler Page 0,32

it must’ve overflowed into you. Or something?” She took a step back from me, shaking her head. “I can’t take anymore weirdness today.”

I agreed. Telling her about the mate bond could wait for now. First, we needed to figure out how this person was getting into Madison’s head.

“Let’s get back inside and check on Wendy and the twins.” I squeezed her hand. “You’re an auntie.”

Her face lit up with a gorgeous smile. “I’m going to rock it.”

“I have no doubt.”

Wendy’s vitals were stable, and the babies were already nursing. I gave the new family a little space and started cleaning up the room with Madison’s help. She seemed fine now, but I couldn’t keep from stealing glances her way to be sure.

Chandler surprised me, patting my shoulder. “We had the baby shower just in time. We’ve got at least enough diapers for a week or two.”

“Let me know if you need anything else. I can get supplies over to you. You guys are going to have your hands full.” I helped Wendy off the table. Shifters healed a little faster than humans, but after giving birth to twins, she had every right to a little exhaustion. “Are you light-headed at all?”

“No.” She looked over at Chandler. “Just tired and happy.”

Madison grinned at the babies. “Do they have names?”

Chandler nodded, staring at the twins in his arms. “This little guy is Brock after Wendy’s brother, and we both like Brianna for his sister.”

“Oh, I love that.” Madison kissed each tiny hand. “And I already love you both, Brock and Brianna.”

Seeing all of them together with such joy in their eyes made the threats around us more pressing. I retreated to my office and left a voice mail for Adam Sloan up in Reno. He was the Alpha of the wolf pack up there, and his wife was a jaguar shifter who had given birth to a female jaguar shifter, effectively passing on the shifter gene without the Y chromosome. Maybe they could clue me in about our unexpected set of twins.

Wendy and Chandler were both bitten shifters so I couldn’t figure out how I’d just delivered a born female shifter. It made no sense. I thought it was a logical leap since she was a jaguar like Chandler, that the anomaly must be from his side of the gene pool, but it was just a guess. It’s not like there were any medical journals about shifter genetic studies that I could consult.

Madison knocked on my doorframe. “Want to help me install some car seats for the new parents?”

“Sure.” I took her hand as I left my office, enjoying the way her fingers laced with mine as we headed outside.

We unpacked the car seats from the freshly unwrapped boxes and took one to either side to install them. It took me a couple of tries to get mine buckled correctly into the back seat, but it was solid now.

Madison grinned at me from the other side of the car. “Nice work, Dr. Vega.”

“I know you got yours installed first.” I chuckled with a wink.

Chandler and Wendy got the newborns settled into the seats, and we waved as the new parents drove away.

“She looks awfully pale. Are you sure she’s all right?” Madison asked.

I nodded. “Her vitals are strong, and werewolves heal pretty fast. She’ll be okay.” I glanced over at Madison as we walked over to my truck. “You must have questions for me, right?”

She nodded. “And then some.”

I looked up at the sky and back to her face. “We probably still have a couple hours of daylight left. Are you up for a hike to the swimming hole?”

She laughed. “I don’t have my swimsuit.”

“Then we’ll just wade.” I lowered my voice. “Full disclosure, I’m just not ready to take you home yet, and it’ll be safe to talk there without anyone overhearing us.”

“What about all the dangerous people?”

At least she was taking my warning seriously. “There are no cameras out there. We’d probably be safer than being spotted in town, and I’d catch their scent before anyone could sneak up on us.”

She slid her hand into her pocket with a hint of a smile. “Well, if we’re being honest, I’m in no rush to go unpack boxes, either.”

“Good.” We got into my truck. “Burritos on the way?”

She nodded with a smile. “Sounds great.”

By the time we parked at the trailhead near Bell Rock, the twilight shadows were spreading out across the valley. I spent most of the drive on the phone