Chapter 195 Fatherhood

Chapter 195 Fatherhood
Calix Pov

The small bundle in my arms felt entirely weightless compared to the dry cedar logs I had been hauling from the creek bed all morning. I sat on the low edge of the mattress with my boots flat on the floorboards, keeping my elbows tucked tight against my ribs so the white wool wrap did not slip down past my wrists. The baby was sleeping hard, her tiny chin pressed against her chest and her chest moving up and down in a fast, steady rhythm that I could feel right through my thick leather vest. The gold and white hair on her forehead caught the morning sun coming through the window block, throwing a small pale circle against the cedar wall.

"You have been holding her for two hours without moving your shoulders, Calix," Maddie noted and she walked into the back bedroom from the kitchen walkway, carrying a fresh bowl of hot broth. Her face looked full and healthy now, and her gray eye was bright as she sat down on the pine stool right next to my knee. "Your back muscles will turn as stiff as the timber posts if you do not shift your hips onto the pillows."

"My frame is perfectly comfortable, Maddie," I responded and I lifted my chin just enough to look into her face. My fingers stayed locked around the wool cloth, my pulse staying steady as I watched her place the clay bowl on the flat stone floor. "The baby has not twitched her legs once since the timber horse left the central clearing. I do not want to disturb her frame while the ridge wind is blowing hard against the roof boards."

"She needs to eat in ten minutes anyway."

"She is staying entirely warm under this quilt portion."

"Give her to me then," she requested.

I leaned forward very slowly and shifted the bundle into her arms, keeping my palms underneath the wool until Maddie had the baby settled securely against her own linen shirt. My chest felt loose and light as I stood up from the bed, and I stretched my arms out wide to clear the tight knot from behind my shoulders. We had been in the cabin for three days since the birth night, and the whole valley felt quiet and completely safe from the silver shields.

"The hunters are waiting by the roasting pit," Mark announced and he pushed the heavy oak door open three inches, his thick hand resting flat against the pine panel. His face was damp from the morning mist, and his tracking boots were covered in fresh yellow clay from the lower creek path. "Rex has the seventeen wolves assembled by the tool rack for the noon distribution, Alpha. We need your signature on the salt house log before the meat team starts cutting the remaining deer flanks."

"I will be out in two minutes, Mark," I said and I pulled my leather belt tighter around my waist.

"The young female, Cara, has already finished stacking the fuel blocks."

"Tell her to check the well buckets next."

"Understood," Mark replied.

I walked out into the bright clearing, the smell of roasted meat and dry pine smoke hitting my face as soon as my boots touched the gravel path. The seventeen wolves were sitting in a wide circle around the central fire pit, their voices low and relaxed as they sharpened their hunting tools on the flat stones. Little Toby was sitting near the woodpile with a smooth cedar stick, his small fingers tracing the grain while he watched the older trackers pack the salt blocks into the new storage racks.

"The valley line has never looked this strong before a freeze, Alpha," Rex muttered and he stepped forward from the meat shed, handing me the split pine log where the counts were notched.

"The rations are perfectly even for the next three moons, Rex," I shared and I checked the deep marks with my thumb.

"The younger generation is still talking about the baby's eyes."

"Let them talk."

"They are glad the gold light stayed in the clearing," he added.

I finished the count and handed the wood back to him, keeping my eyes on the north slope to ensure the guard line was still positioned in the pine shadows. The boundary was completely silent today, and the dead earth from the famine weeks was already disappearing under the fresh green grass tracks. Every wolf in the region knew that the WolfTrail pack had survived the famine, and our strength was growing with every sun that crossed the mountain peaks.

"Go back to your cabins and eat your portions," I commanded, raising my voice across the yard.

"Thank you, Alpha," Cara shouted from the well post.

I turned away from the fire pit and walked back toward our cabin door, my steps fast and light because I wanted to get back to the bedroom before the sun moved past the middle ridge. I pushed the oak panel open and walked straight to the back room, where Maddie was sitting up against the big pillows with the baby awake in her lap. The newborn's gray left eye and gold right eye were open wide, staring up at the low cedar ceiling without a single sound coming from her mouth.

"She has been watching the window light for ten minutes," Maddie whispered and she used her finger to smooth the gold streak in the baby's hair.

"She is looking for the pack line," I countered and I sat down on the edge of the mattress.

"She is too small to see the yard, Calix."

"She knows the wolves are out there."

"She knows your voice better," she murmured.

I leaned my frame down until my chin was resting right next to the baby's small hand, my big index finger touching her tiny pink palm very gently. Her small fingers tightened around my knuckle instantly, her grip surprisingly solid for a child who had only seen three suns over the valley floor. Maddie watched us with a quiet smile on her face, her arm resting relaxed across the green quilt while the wind died down outside.

The baby shifted her hips under the white wool cloth, and then her mouth curved upward into a tiny, intentional smile as she looked directly into my face.

Before I could pull my hand back, a very soft, pure white spark of light jumped from the tip of her small thumb and floated two inches into the air. It did not carry the hot, burning sting of Vespera’s yellow ink, and it did not cause Maddie's collarbone to throb with the old contract pain. It was a tiny, perfect glow that sat right between our palms for a single second, illuminating the linen cloth of her wrap with a beautiful, clear warmth before it vanished into the room.

Maddie caught her breath with a quiet gasp, her hand dropping onto my wrist while her gray eye grew very wide under the silver sunbeams.

"The valley anchor is already moving inside her frame, Calix," Maddie whispered and her voice shook slightly against the pillows.

I kept my finger locked inside the baby's tight grip, my heart hitting my ribs with a single, massive jump that made my shoulders relax completely as I looked down at our daughter.

"She is going to rule this whole region," I stated.