The winged baby in Nu-reeh’s grasp hissed and spit. She growled with a ferocity I’d never seen from


    Hannah. This girl was furious as therge woman checked her over.


    “Feed her,” Nu-reeh grunted tossing the little girl at me and leaving.


    Catching the writing infant I tried to wrap and sooth her, but she refused to be tamed.


    “Daddy! she kept screaming in English, pushing the covers away.


    It wasn’t hard to tell who she wanted. Every time Christof stepped in her line of sight she reached for


    him. I could see the family resemnce in her eyes and the long line of her legs. She just wanted her


    father.


    I rocked and coaxed her as I sat on the warm stone, but she wouldn’t take the breast or calm down.


    She wanted Christof. The men started to look frantic as she continued to scream.


    They tried to clean me off, but she kept trying to wiggle closer to Christof.


    “I cannot touch you,” Christof said softly.


    “I am not permitted to touch you. Please understand. Feed from Mama and rx.”


    Our daughter would not hear of it and screamed louder for him. Eventually we heard the ttering


    talons and Nu-reeh re-entered our dwelling.


    “Why have you not fed her?” she demanded ring down at my wild little girl and me.


    Damien answered for me as he tried to talk over the child’s cries. He informed Nu-reeh my daughter


    wanted her male breeder. The little girl was being insistent about it. She refused to feed.


    ninjanovel


    Nu-reeh Looked over all of us for a moment. The writhing bundle in my arms hissed and screamed at


    her, demanding Christof’s attention. The look of disgust on Nu-reeh’s face terrified me, but I couldn’t


    silence our daughter.


    Tosu entered and the room suddenly felt much too full. She took in everything going on and then spoke


    with Nu-reeh.


    “The female is strong willed,” shemented. “I sense this one will be defiant and she must eat. Give


    her what she wants.”


    Nu-reeh growled and shifted her gaze to Tosu, “So the men are to feed her? How do you propose they


    do that?”


    Tosu sighed and motioned to Christof.


    “Let the men hold her and touch her. It would be a waste to lose a healthy female over this. Just let


    them know what you will do if they harm her,” she stated.


    Nu-reeh was swayed by her Sister’s opinion and gave Damien’s family permission to touch Christof’s


    daughter. She did warn them she’d remove their secondary teeth if anyone harmed the girl.


    I handed Christof our baby and she was silent for the first time since she was born. Long fingers


    stroked away her tears as he cradled her. He touched her with obvious adoration.


    Watching my friend hold our daughter did something to me and I couldn’t tear my eyes away. I didn’t


    even notice Nu-reeh Leave. Christof holding his daughter was a mesmerizing experience.


    Christof had never held a baby, but he’d seen me do it with Hannah. He supported her head and kept a


    hand under her back. Rocking her gently he shushed her as she shuddered in his arms.


    Even through my own tears I could see her resemnce to her father. She had a lean build and brilliant


    eyes that reflected the light. They were lighter than Christof’s, but still with that strange purple hue.


    “She has no fur and no hair,” Keinmented Leaning close. “Guess that must just grow in on Ciara’s


    girls. We need to keep her warm until then.”


    “Look at the wings, though,” Bane pointed out, gingerly touching one as it hung loosely beneath her.


    “Much Larger than Hannah’s at this stage. Imagine how they’LL Look mature.”


    “Don’t crush them,” Evan warned his Brother, “remember how to fold them on her back.”


    Five fathers surrounded the little girl and fussed over her, wrapping her in an absorbent towel and a


    knitted nket. They folded her wings just so and made her warm andfortable in Christof’s arms.


    Belonging ? N?velDram/a.Org.


    “She is sticky,” Damienmented. “The Little one needs a bath.” “In a bit, Brother,” Bane said tucking


    the nket where it had exposed her feet. “Let her rest first. She looks exhausted.”


    I suddenly noticed Tosu still in the room watching. Before she turned I swear I saw pride in her eyes.


    Almost inaudibly I heard her say, “This is how it should be.”