“Is Blayne going to do this a lot?” he asked, unable to take his eyes off the baby in his arms.

“She doesn’t stay in one place too long, but she doesn’t usually go far, either.” He hated to admit it, but he could kind of see why Dee Smith had microchipped Blayne. He still knew it was wrong—but he understood why. “You’re good with kids.”

“I am?” Maybe they were only saying that because he hadn’t accidentally crushed the baby in his big paws.

“Yeah. You are. Which is good because Blayne’s got breeder written all over her. While Gwen and Lock will probably stop at two, a certain amount of years apart, the whole event perfectly and logically planned and executed—Blayne will just be dropping kids around your house.”

Bo shuddered, even while he laughed. “Don’t say that.”

“Don’t worry. Blayne’s officially part of the Kuznetsov Pack now. You’ll always have babysitters available.”

“Thanks.”

Grudgingly, but feeling like he should before he became too attached, Bo handed the newborn back to her mother. “Do you have a name for her yet?”

“Nope. We’re still working on that. Personally, I like Galadriel.”

Bo asked, “From Lord of the Rings?”

The wild dog’s brown eyes lit up. “You know Lord of the Rings?”

“Doesn’t everybody?”

“Book or movie?”

“Well, I loved the movies, but the books were my favorites in grade—”

The wild dog gasped, her hand briefly covering her mouth. “She’s chosen so well!”

“Sorry?”

“No. Nothing. I’m just proud of my Blayne.” She snapped her fingers. “I forgot. When Blayne left, she left with Dee-Ann. Smitty’s cousin.”

Bo tried hard not to panic. “Why did she leave with her?” he asked, keeping his voice low and even. But Jess immediately seemed to understand his concern.

With her baby tucked into one arm, she placed her free hand over his and said, “Oh, don’t worry, sweetie. I don’t think Dee was planning to, you know, kill her or anything.” Jess gazed off. “I don’t think.”

Dee watched Blayne behind one-way mirror glass. “Sorry,” she said to the bear next to her. “About everything.”

“Thanks,” Lock said. He adjusted his stance, his arms folded over his chest. “It’s not me you really need to apologize to, though, is it?”

“Heifer broke my nose and nearly got me killed by a crazed sow. I think me and Blayne are beyond apologies, don’t you?”

“You’ve got a point.” He motioned toward the room. “Is she going to help you?”

“No. She’sgoing to help them. Got a whole speech about it, too.” Dee had asked Blayne to help with the hybrids because although they took the Group’s free food and clean beds, most of them weren’t much for doing anything else. But instead of giving up on them, Dee forced herself to remember that these pups, kits, and cubs hadn’t had an easy time of it. Chances were strong Dee was their last chance. They’d either end up dead, in prison, or on the wrong end of a pit fight. So Dee adjusted her perspective, something she was learning to do more and more these days. And that meant asking for some help when she could, even if she was asking for help from Blayne Thorpe.

Besides, Dee had always prided herself on being able to overlook someone being an annoying little twit for the fact that they had a genuine skill or two that Dee could use.

And, after less than an hour, Blayne had the troublemaking, “always looking for a scam to perpetrate” hybrids sitting on the floor, in a circle, and staring at her like she was a goddess.

Yeah. The girl had a way. She’d won over bears, antisocial hybrid teens, and even the most hated male in shifter sports. Dee had no idea how Blayne did it but she knew true skills when she saw them.

“So you going to pay her for this gig or just use her humanity against her?”

Dee snorted. “She sure does have y’all fooled.”

“What does that mean?”

“She told me she wasn’t doin’ shit without pay. Apparently good quality hair products—honey-infused was the term she used—don’t come cheap.”

Lock laughed and Dee felt better hearing it. She normally didn’t give a shit when people hated her. But Lock MacRyrie wasn’t just anybody, was he? Good friends you could trust, not easy to come by.

“We’re not going to have this issue again, are we, Dee?” Lock finally asked her, and Dee knew that question had been coming.

“Nah.”

“Good. You don’t want me cranky.”

There was truth to that.

“So what are you planning to do with these kids anyway? Start your own little hybrid army?” he joked. But when Dee only stared at him, Lock shook his head. “Forget I asked. Just . . . forget.”

“Will do, hoss.”

Lock’s phone chimed and he pulled it out of his pocket. He glanced at the screen, smirked. “Novikov is still looking for Blayne.” He shut his phone off and put it back in his pocket.

“You gonna do the man like that?”

He folded his arms over his chest again. “Damn right I am. Bet it wouldn’t take much to convince Blayne to spend the night at our apartment, either. You know, so the girls can rebond.”

“And everybody says I’m a bitch.”