"Come on, we should go."

The girl shakes her head, pulling her arm tight against her chest. "I'm turning. I can feel it."

Not knowing what to say, I stay quiet. Elias protests as I unlatch him, but I just shush him while sheathing my dagger. The baby in the basket continues to cry, but they are turning less frantic and more tired.

The girl looks up at me, her lower lip trembling. "It's going to take over any minute now. Please, just take my baby. If they get him, he'll go through the same hell I went through."

"Who are they?"

Another scream rips through the air, this time a bit closer. We both look in the direction, and the girl lets a small whimper. "The humans. They take weres and they breed us. Use us as slaves, take our children and use them as bait. If we survive, we move into doing whatever labor they want, while they force our children to be the new bait."

"Why would they do that?"

She shakes her head. "They're insane. They eat those creatures and they become them while staying alive. There is no humanity left in them." She rubs her eyes with her non-injured arm, wiping away some of the tears. "Please just take my baby."

Licking my lips, I give a shaky nod of my head. "Okay." Walking closer to the tree, I have to stand on my tiptoes to get the basket. The girl is barely five feet. In order to get this basket up here, she must have climbed.

Carefully, I unhook the basket from the branch it is hanging on, lowering it down so I can see inside. The baby is still whimpering, lower lip sticking out. He is so tiny, just a newborn.

"How old is he?"

"Three days," the girl whispers. "As soon as I had him, I ran. One of the others there said she knew of a place that could protect us if we made it there." She looks up at me, her eyes more bloodshot than before. The sickness is spreading. It won't be much longer until she fully shifts into one of those things. "Three of us ran. I was the only one to make it here. So please," she chokes hair growing in thick along her cheeks and arms. "Please, take care of my baby."

"I will." I clutch the basket tightly to me, the promise to this young girl settling heavy inside me. I know I would do the same thing for Elias. I would die for him, just as this girl is doing for her own son. "Does he have a name?"

"Aren."

"Aren," I repeat. The fur is spreading across her face. Swallowing past the fear, I reach inside my pack, into the small pocket where only one thing is kept. There is a bottle, with a single dose of relief inside. "Here."

Crouching down, I take her hand, pressing the vial into her palm. "Take this. It'll make you fall asleep and pass peacefully. So you won't turn into one of those things."

She sobs then, the first one I have heard from her and her fingers tighten around the vial. "Thank you."

Nodding, I stand back up. "I'll take care of him. I promise."

She nods once more, ripping out of the cork of the vial with her teeth and swallowing the contents. Closing my eyes, I turn around. It only takes a minute for there to be silence.

Forcing my eyes open, I walk away from the young girl and back towards the village.

The baby is still whimpering, and I can feel my chest pinching. Since Elias hadn't really been nursing, my supply has built up again. Hearing a baby cry has always been enough for me to have a let-down.

We make it all the way back to the front of the orchard before I have to stop. Besides, there is someone pacing by the trail leading back to the village. Walking a little closer, I see that it is Rowan.

"Rowan? What are you doing here?"

He spins around, quickly making his way over to me. His eyes are desperate and his hair is wild as if he has spent a lot of time running his fingers through it. "Thank god you're alright."

He draws me close, eyes sweeping over me.

"What's going on?"

He reluctantly pulls away. "We're under attack. The humans from before are back, but there are a lot more of them this time."

"She said they were here," I whisper.

His brows scrunch in confusion. "Who said that?"

"The-the girl, by the hills."

"Matty? You're not making sense."

My heart is pounding, and I my head is getting woozy. "I need to sit down."

Rowan helps me to the ground. It is only when the baby- Aren- lets out another whimper, that he realizes what is in the basket I am holding. His eyes widen, mouth dropping open in shock.

Finally able to get ahold of myself, I lean against him. "There was a girl, nor more than sixteen. She was bitten while running away from the people attacking us now. She wanted to save him," I nod at the basket, "her baby. They do horrible things to wolves. Worse than torture. She was just trying to give him a better life and she died for it." I look up at him then. "And I promised her I would take care of her baby Aren."

Rowan finally manages to close his mouth, reaching over to pick the baby up out of the basket. He is so small. I have completely forgotten how tiny newborns can be. But Aren looks particularly small, like maybe he hasn't been getting enough to eat. Most likely hasn't with his mom being on the run, and she looked pretty tiny herself.

His face is scrunched up in displeasure, little lips smacking as he rubs his face against Rowan's chest.

"He's hungry."

Rowan looks at the little boy, a small smile spreading across his face. He bends down, rubbing his nose along the baby's cheek. "Are you hungry, little guy?"

The little baby turns towards Rowan trying to suck on his nose. Laughing, I lean closer against my boyfriend. Elias is completely still against me, and when I peek down at him, I see that he is fast asleep. It's probably a good thing because I have no idea how Elias will react to having me nurse another baby.

Slowly, I start to unwrap the stretchy cloth keeping Elias against me. He grumbles slightly at being moved but manages to stay asleep during the process. Gently, I place him I the basket that Aren had come in.

"Here, let me see him, love."

Rowan carefully transfers the baby over to me. As soon the newborn is in my arms, he is whining again, lips smacking. Carefully, I pull away my shirt, getting him latched. It takes a bit of adjusting but he eventually he is contentedly nursing, loud gulps coming from such a small boy.

"He must be starving," I murmur, brushing away the wispy hair from his face. He blinks up at me, eyes the same newborn blue as every other baby, but I am curious as to what they will be when he is older. "His mom didn't look too healthy. Probably wasn't if she was telling the truth about the way the humans were treating her."

More screams come from the village, and they are much louder than before.

"Did they make it over the hill?" I ask scooting closer to Rowan. He wraps his arms around us and pulls the basket where Elias is sleeping in front of us.

"Some of them did, but they were still holding them back when I left to find you." He looks up at the sky, which is turning darker by the minute. "But the fact that they attacked right when the sun is going down isn't a coincidence, especially since it's a heat moon."

"They're probably looking to capture some more of us."

Rowan nods, letting out a long breath. "I wouldn't doubt it. I'll need to head back soon. We are going to need as many fighters as possible."

My heart clenches, knowing that this is another dangerous fight. Who knows if Rowan will make it through. He's a great fighter, but the humans are vicious.

"Okay."

Together we watch little Aren. He is asleep now, still nursing though. His little hand is lax against my chest, so small.

"What are we going to do about him?" Rowan murmurs. "We could probably see if anyone is looking to adopt."

His words have my stomach twisting, arms clenching around the little baby I am holding. Aren let's out a little grumble, curling closer to me. The thought of giving him away after his mom told me to take care of him has me sick to the stomach.

"No, I-I don't think we should."

Rowan looks up at me, a knowing look in his eyes. He doesn't say anything, just leans forward to press a soft kiss to my lips. "Alright, love."

"He's ours."

Rowan smiles, leaning his head against mine. "He is."

Fighting can be heard, carried in the wind. Rowan pulls me closer to him. "I have to get back there." He looks down at me. "But it doesn't sound safe anymore, and you have to walk through the village to get to the caves. I think it will be safest for all of you to stay here. I'll come get you when it's safe."

Knowing that he is right, I don't protest. "We'll stay right here."

Rowan lets me go, looking reluctant to do so. "You have your dagger?"

"Of course, love."

He stands up then, but before I can leave, I grab his arm. "Can you tell Noah, Rosalie, and my family that I'm out here. We need to finish the ritual tonight. And I know Mom will worry if he doesn't know where I'm at."

He nods. "I'll try my best, love."

He drops a kiss on all of our foreheads before turning and running back to the village. Keeping Aren close to me, I push myself up from the ground. Elias stays asleep as I pick up the basket and walk over to the back of the orchard, where the greenhouses reside. Behind them is the little shed where we keep all the gardening tools. As quickly as I can, I move inside, leaving the door cracked open so that I can watch for the others.

Both babies are quiet, and it puts me at ease. As long as they stay asleep, we should be safe. We're out of site and only a few people should know where we are.

However, it still puts me on edge to sit here waiting.

The young mother keeps flashing in my mind, how much she loved her son and how she died to protect him. Looking down at Aren, I take in his little face. I love him already, and I know that I will fight to the death for my children, just as the young mother had.