The Alpha's Daughter

XIII

Emma felt much better after her morning run with Linus. So much so that she was able to fall asleep after and have a satisfying nap. He’s amazing, Linus always seemed to know what to say.

“Or maybe I’m just obvious?” Emma pondered to herself as she made her way to the child’s room.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning”, she sang back before her brain caught up.

Emma just noticed Emmett and Emilio stood at the door to the guestroom. “Your mood is cheerful this morning”, Emilio smiled.

“It’s okay”, she drew closer to her brothers, “what’s the occasion?”

“I think”, Emilio looked back to the door, “it’s time for me to meet your guest.”

“Oh”, then the Alpha brightened up, “certainly!” Emma entered the room first, the pup lay under the covers still sleeping peacefully. She sat on the bed and gently shook the child’s shoulders, “little one I need you to wake up.”

Unsurprisingly the child stirred, Emma noticed the pup had a peculiar habit. When her eyes opened, those brown orbs surveyed the room while she remained deathly still. It was only after she spotted Emma that life seemed to return to her body. She sat up with a wide smile. Emma smiled at the child and ruffled her hair. The girl held Emma’s hand and brought it down to her cheek. She nuzzled the Alpha’s palms as she smiled at her.

“Good morning to you”, Emma chuckled. “Time to meet the day”, she announced.

The pup held up her hands and Emma picked her up. They went to the bathroom together, Emma set the child to sit on the toilet and then pulled out the stepping stool. The girl climbed up and faced her reflection in the mirror as Emma put toothpaste on her little brush. The Alpha gave her pup the toothbrush and the kid started to clean.

Emma caught her licking the brush. “Don’t swallow it”, she reminded gently. The pup stopped gnawing on the plastic brush. She met Emma’s eyes in the mirror and nodded. “Good”, Emma patted the girl’s hair and stepped out of the bathroom.

Now left alone with herself the pup stared resolutely at her reflection. She liked the toothpaste because it was sweet, but if Emma said she shouldn’t swallow then she won’t. She started to brush with purpose, so much so that she didn’t hear the door open. When she was finished Emma re-entered the bathroom and placed a couple of items on the sink counter. The Alpha checked her mouth and then gave the girl a thumbs up. She grinned in response. The child still was not allowed to shower without supervision because of her wounds.

“Up”, Emma huffed as she put her hair in a ponytail.

The child voluntarily stepped into the tub by her efforts and was a good sport during the shower. Emma also noticed she had to be careful washing the child’s face. While she doesn’t seem to mind water, if her face is submerged at any point, she immediately tries to escape the bath. Emma resorted to starting the bath by whipping her face with a damp rag and then pouring water over it. Next was Emma’s favourite part, drying the little one.

It felt as if it was just two of them in this world.

“Fresh from the bath”, Emma grinned at the child as she towelled her. She took a deep breath, “milky, no?” She took a deeper breath, “milk bread?” She could smell a unique smell below it all, if so then this little girl is older than she originally estimated. “I have something new for you today.”

The girl looked at Emma expectantly.

The Alpha unfolded a dress from the items she carried in earlier. It was a white toddler's dress. The skirt was done in a pleated fishtail design, there was a pastel rainbow in the front. The whole thing was very cute.

“Do you like it?” Emma asked.

The child nodded excitedly and held her arms up. The Luna laughed and dressed the girl swiftly. Afterwards, she brushed the child’s hair into a ponytail and kept it in place with a white frilled ribbon. The Alpha lifted the child into her arms.

“She’s ready”, Emma announced as she opened the door. The child’s hairs raised as she felt a tangible shift in the room’s presence.

The pup looked up, she stared at the teen by the door. She felt apprehensive but the distance was enough for comfortable curiosity. Emilio met her eyes and the girl stiffened. He wasn’t adept with children like his sister. He offered a small wave, which she returned hesitantly. Then she noticed a second wolf behind the teen. They had an air of familiarity, it wasn’t until they entered the room that the pup realised they looked like Emma.

Although they resembled Emma, they felt nothing alike.

The Luna in question put the child on the bed and stepped back. The little girl quickly grabbed the hem of Emma’s shirt. The Luna pried the girl’s hand away gently, biting back her smile. She put her hands over the child’s arms to keep her still.

“Does she know how to speak?” Emilio looked at Emma.

“She knows a few words”, his sister nodded, “but she prefers to write.”

Emilio smiled, “and she understands us just fine?” Emma nodded again. He grinned, “Wonderful.” He crossed the space and Emma released the girl. Emilio crouched in front of her then the Gamma pointed at himself, “do you know who I am?”

The girl shook her head.

“My name is Emilio”, he pointed to the wolf behind him, “that guy over there is Emmett.” He held out his hand, “we’re Emma’s siblings. Nice to meet you.”

Since Emma is the Luna, the child assumed the quiet man at the door was their Alpha. Emilio saw the assumption in her eyes and smiled silently. She took his hand but her grip was quite weak. Both parties' whole bodies locked up. Emilio’s eyes glowed golden and the pup’s eyes responded with a blue hue.

Well, that confirms she’s still unpresented.

“You”, there was a great silence after those words left Emilio’s lips. When he touched her hand he felt as though something had invaded his mind, but this sensation was vaguely familiar.

The child tilted her head quizzically, still staring at him wide-eyed.

He pulled away first and their eyes resumed their usual colours. “Oh I should tell you”, he smiled at the girl as he rose to his feet, “I am the Alpha of this pack.” His smile grew as he saw the gears in the pup’s head turn. Suddenly she jolted and climbed off the bed to kowtow before his feet. “No it’s alright”, he quickly helped her to her feet.

He nodded to Emma and the Luna quickly lifted the girl into her arms. The pup hugged Emma close but she kept her eyes on Emilio. The Gamma watched them with a smile. His eyes fell on the pup. Emilio determined he needed more time to understand this child and her origins. He turned and nodded to his older brother then sat on the bed.

“She’s free to roam the family wing”, Emmett smiled, “no need to keep her cooped up Until the secrets out.”

Emma lit up. Emilio just confirmed her current place in the pack. “Ya hear that?” she looked to the child with a bright smile, “we can go on walks now. Let’s build up your motor skills.”

All the kid has done up to this point was occasionally stretches, unusually she sat still. Emma was becoming worried about the child’s muscle development. The girl did not share Emma’s enthusiasm. The Alpha toned it down and offered an apologetic smile with a big hug. The girl giggled and the brothers couldn’t help the smile on their faces.

“Well”, Emilio patted his thighs and rose to his feet, “we will leave you for now.”

“Take care of yourself little one”, Emmett offered as a salutation.

“B”, the pips lips shook, “bye!”

The brother froze in their stride and looked at the girl. She wilted under their stare. “Very good!” Emilio praised with a brilliant smile. The young leader lost a lot of his sharpness when his defences went down. He stepped close and ruffled her hair, curiously he didn’t experience the same sensation. “See you around okay?”

“Yes”, she answered with some difficulty.

The brothers left shortly after, and Siomha strolled in not too long after with the child’s breakfast. Emma put Bailee by her sitting table. “I’ll be back soon”, her eyes twinkled with excitement.

The pup wasn’t nervous per se, the nurse was one of the few wolves she had been with alone but after such a meeting she didn’t want Emma to leave her. She opened her mouth but at that moment the nurse started to fill the little table with food. The girl closed her mouth dejectedly and nodded to the Alpha. Emma scratched her cheek awkwardly.

“She will be fine”, the nurse decided to intervene. Then she looked at the child, “she will only be a second. Have faith in our Luna.”

The girl looked back to the blonde then nodded, albeit hesitantly.

“Yes”, Emma reinforced, “only a moment.”

The girl nodded again and turned towards her plate, Emma used that moment to slip out. The Alpha returned after a moment as she had promised, the child’s relief was soon overtaken by curiosity but she was patient. She persevered until she had finished her meal and the area had been cleaned by Siomha. Emma noticed the exact moment The pup’s eyes fell on the bag Emma was holding and with a curious gaze. The child pointed at it.

“This here?” Emma looked to the bag and then back to the girl. The child nodded. “Well let's have a look-see, shall we?” The Alpha opened the bag, lining them up on the bed. “You’re a big girl, so I bought big girl tools.”

The child nodded to show she was listening. She recognised the objects. “Pencil”, she said and pointed to the wooden writing instrument.

“Bingo!” Emma ruffled the girl’s hair. The Alpha felt like she was the one being rewarded when the girl gave her a wide smile. Emma brought herself back quickly.

“No more sketch books and crayons. You’re going to learn to write within lines.”

The girl nodded with a wide smile and picked up the notebook and pencil. She looked at the other objects, there was an unfamiliar rectangular device. She pointed at the pink thing, “that?”

Emma followed the finger, “this is a sharpener you use them to give your pencil a point to write with.” Then she pointed to the original item of interest, “this is a book bag. You should keep your learning tools in this bag.”

The girl nodded. She looked back to the notebook. Her brows furrowed like she was deep in thought.

“What’s wrong?” Emma looked at her.

The child used the pencil to at something on the book's cover. The eraser was just under the word “name”.

“It’s for your name”, Emma explained. The girl tilted her head. “What did they call you where you came from?”

The child shook her head.

“You don’t remember it?”

She shook her head again.

“You don’t have one?” The girl finally nodded. Emma hummed to herself for a moment. “Let's do it this way, I give you many names and we will use the one you spell.”

The child pouted and Emma laughed.

“I’m not teasing you. I swear”, the Alpha promised. There was a reluctant nod but the girl wore the ghost of a smile. “How about... Oh!” Emma leaned forward and whispered the name into the pup’s ear.

The pup looked at her confusedly, and then she tapped the eraser against her chin. She flipped to a page in the back of the book and began to scribble with occasional pauses, she even erased it at some point. Emma had tried to peep but she hid the book. When she had read over and done a satisfied nod she had to turn the book to Emma.

Bailee.

Emma could see she erased the ‘y’ and replaced it with an, ‘I’ then chuckled. The name had a nice ring to it.

“Acceptable”, she smiled, “may I have the honors, yea?” Emma pulled a green marker from her pocket and then held out her hand, Bailee handed over her book. Emma wrote Bailee's name big on the cover. She handed the book back to the pup with a smile, “nice to meet you Bailee.”