I find a service that promises delivery within an hour, I order everything I need, referring to articles on the Internet. Out of the corner of my eye I watch the child. The kid at this time looks around with curiosity, rolls over and gets on all fours. Wow! Maybe he already knows how to walk?

Puffs, makes funny sounds, trying to get to his feet, but all attempts end in failure. I sit next to you. I smile. So funny. I look tenderly at the boy, I can’t stand it and help him to his feet, supporting his stomach. It even seems to me that pride of himself flickers in his eyes, for having managed to get up. But this is exactly what I came up with. I sit down, stroking his dark silky hair. And I take a deep breath.

- What am I to do with you, Nicholas? I whisper into the void. I'm afraid that I was involved in some strange and terrible story. I'm scared to go to the police because I don't know how to explain what happened to them. I'm scared that the bandits of the enemy clan will find me and kill me along with the baby. And where is the guarantee that the boy's father will be more favorable to the fire, and will not knock, like a witness, after he finds his son?

I am pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of the doorbell. I shudder, jump to my feet in horror, afraid that the criminals have already found me. But in time I remember about the delivery that I ordered. Just in case, for a minute I look through the peephole at the man standing in the stairwell. He is wearing a jacket with the logo of the store, in his hands are bags from a famous supermarket, a tired expression on his face. It seems like a real courier, although who knows who the members of these clans can change into to get into the apartment. I saw this in the movies, and even read how criminals pretend to be doctors, cleaning service employees or couriers, so as not to attract the attention of others, and not to arouse suspicion in the victim they are sent to. As I open the lock on the door, I notice that my hands are shaking. I know how to wind myself up so that sometimes it becomes scary.

- Good afternoon! Are you Arina Vasilyuk? – benevolently smiling, the man is interested.

“Hello, yes,” I answer his smile.

- Your order number 9974, - hands me the packages, - Thank you for your purchase! We are waiting for your orders again!

Thanks! I shout after the courier who is already running down the stairs.

I slam the door, turn the lock, exhale. A real courier, and I already said goodbye to life. So, now we need to disassemble the packages and .... Damn !! Child!

My heart sinks into my heels, I run into the room, several pictures have already flashed in my head about how the baby fell out of bed, hit, broke his neck. But you never know what can happen to a six-month-old child who was left alone?

“What kind of mother will I become? Like a viper!" - I scold myself.

- Oh, thank God, you're safe and sound, Nikki, - with relief I take the boy in my arms, who all this time peacefully examined the pictures in the magazine that I left on the bed this morning, - So, I suggest putting a diaper on you and eating. To be honest, I was very hungry.

I quickly realized that with a child in my arms, it is much more difficult to perform the usual actions. I can’t classify myself as an athlete, I occasionally go to a fitness club, I don’t know how to do push-ups and pull-ups since childhood, because my hands get tired quickly and start to hurt, due to almost nine kilograms of live weight that spin in them, trying to see interesting things around. How do some mothers manage to manage the household while sitting with their baby? They are real heroines!

After a little thought, I nevertheless lower Nicholas to the floor, since I have it with heating, I give him a stirrer in his hands, with which he immediately begins to knock on the tile. Continuing to look around nervously, I quickly prepare the mixture, referring to the table on the Internet, I hand the bottle to the ward, to which he greedily falls. It looks like he was very hungry. I myself sit down next to him with a cup of tea in my hands, leaning my back against the wall, and watch the baby eat. Thoughts swirl in my head, but not a single sensible one is still there. The question: "what to do next?" - does not give rest. I decide to go to the police, it will be easier for them to find the parents of the baby. I have absolutely no conditions for keeping a baby, I don’t know how to communicate with children, I can’t provide proper care, and I can’t go to work in two days. Telling myself that it's better for both of us but the fear in the soul does not let go. I hope I am not making a mistake.

Chapter 4

In the morning I wake up broken, my whole body, unaccustomed to physical exertion, hurts from yesterday's run through the forest, dragging the baby. I turn my head to one side, Nicholas is still asleep, his face scrunching up in a funny way. I stroked his head, mechanically kissing his forehead. All night I was tormented by a terrible and strange dream. Of course, this is all the machinations of the subconscious, but for some reason I got sick of contacting the police.

I dreamed of that girl, her eyes shone with an otherworldly emerald light, her voice was muffled, but seemed to penetrate into every cell of the body, causing nervous trembling:

- True. Don't give it to anyone. Alpha only. You must save the life of the heir of the clan, the son of the great leader. Don't give up, take care. I swore to protect him at the cost of my own life, I fulfilled my duty. It's your turn. she said ingratiatingly.

Next, I saw a huge coal-black wolf that ran through the gloomy familiar forest, slowed down, sniffing the air, and again broke into a run. And then he went to the torn body. I recognized the stranger only by the pieces of her dress, before she was disfigured by the teeth of a predator that attacked her. The wolf froze, as if numb, bending over her body. Then a howl filled with pain cut through the silence. The wolf howled as if he had lost the most valuable thing in his life, as if he had lost part of himself. I wanted to get closer to him, an irrational desire, but I seemed to feel the pain that was tearing him apart from the inside. I felt like I could console him. I managed to take only a couple of steps forward when a dry branch crunched under my foot. The predator's head turned sharply in my direction. I made eye contact with amber yellow eyes filled with desperation and... woke up in my own bed, breathing heavily. Cold sweat rolled down his face, the nightlight flickered with a pale blue light. A dream, just a dream. Wearily, she fell back onto the pillow, pulling the calmly sleeping baby to her, and closed her eyes again.

I again dreamed of a stranger who, over and over again, begged not to give up and save the life of the child. I tried to ask questions, to shout, to object. But she seemed not to hear me, being in some kind of trance.

Meanwhile in Holland...

“Mariella is dead,” a tall black-haired man says bitterly, sinking wearily into a chair. He did not sleep for two days, looking for a shaman who, during the attack of the Shou clan, managed to escape with his son in her arms. And now, having discovered her dead body, he did not understand what to do to find the child. He returned home only in the morning, immediately went up to the office, where he found his brother waiting for him.

- How? jumps to his feet another man who spent the whole night in this office, hunched over in a chair, which makes him look exhausted, - Are you sure, Brandon?

- I'm sure, - the first man replies firmly, - I found only her tormented body, everything around is saturated with blood.

- Show? But what about Nicholas? - in a daze, his brother sinks back into the chair. He adores his nephew, who came into this world with such difficulty.

- They are. But they are gone. I followed my son's scent, but it ends where I found Mariella. His body is gone, and there are no hints that he is also dead, - Brandon says thoughtfully. For him it is a mystery. He could not confuse the smell of his beloved son with any other, but no matter how much he searched, he could not retake the trail. And this means that the scent of the baby was hidden. But how?

- But how? If the smell breaks off, then the child must be somewhere there, - the second man shakes his head in disbelief.

- But he's not there, Alex! No, you understand? And there is no smell! It's like he vanished in an instant! - Brandon loses control over his emotions, but after a minute he becomes re-assembled, - I checked everything. It seemed to me that I saw ... Although no, this simply cannot be.

- What? What you see? Alex nervously asks him. “It might be important.

- It seemed to me that I saw a woman, - Brandon admits, closes his eyes, resurrecting the image of a stranger in his memory, which seemed to him extremely attractive, - She was standing behind a tree and watching me. But as soon as I turned my head in her direction, she disappeared.

- Disappeared? Alex asks incredulously. He is a dreamer who believes in traditions and legends, looking for confirmation in real life.

- Yes, as if scattered in the air. But this cannot be. I did not feel a single unfamiliar smell in the entire area.

- What if it was a witch? - Alex's eyes flash with excitement, - Do you remember the legend...

- Stop, - Brandon hits the table with his fist, - Brother, you know perfectly well that witches have not been seen since the great war. It was then that all the witches were destroyed by the inquisitors. None survived. Therefore, enough! My son is missing! And you remember the ancient tales that mother told us before going to bed.

- But, Brandon, I'm sure it's not a fairy tale, but...

- Enough, Alex. Gather the clan council, I need our best bloodhounds. We must finally end the feud with Shaw's pack and find my child.

Chapter 5

Standing, peeling potatoes for my dinner. Nicholas sniffs softly in his crib after a heavy meal. In the week that has passed since the day I had him, I have learned to better cope with the baby, recognize different types of crying, play with him, bathe and massage. I talk to Nikki all the time, because I noticed that my voice calms him. Sometimes it seems to me that he even understands what exactly I am telling him, but so far he cannot answer.

On Sunday, having carried the baby in her arms for almost the whole day, she freaked out and again made an order. This time in a children's goods store. Toys, a crib, an arena, a special chair for feeding - all this resulted in a round sum for me, which I, not without regret, took from the money set aside for the vacation. But these purchases have made our lives much easier. Now I can go about my business without fear for Nicholas while he peacefully plays with toys in the arena.

I called work, asked for a few weeks of a remote schedule, citing family circumstances. Fortunately, I work as an interior designer and I am in the office in a very good account, and therefore, I can afford such liberties. The leader, of course, grumbled for decency, but agreed. The problems were more or less resolved, except for the fact that I still have someone else's child in my arms.

By the way, after a couple of days I could not stand it and dialed my friend that he works in the police. Gently asked him if there were any reports of missing children of about six months of age. When he was surprised by my strange questions, she lied about three boxes that she decided to write a book, told about her situation, presenting it as a plot for a future work. He laughed, said only that in this case you should immediately contact the police, and not take care of someone else's baby, waiting for who knows what. Hanging up the phone, she was dejected. Maybe go to the branch? The face of a stranger immediately rose before my eyes, desperately pleading with me to save the heir. No I'm not going. Moreover, in the end, an acquaintance mentioned that there were no statements about the disappearance of children, especially such babies, not only in our city, but throughout the region. Means, Nobody is looking for Nicholas. But how is it? Who is the mysterious alpha to whom I should give the child?

Without a doubt, during this week I became very attached to the boy. All the time I have to remind myself that this is not my child, he is a stranger and you need to return him to his parents. But still, I constantly catch myself stroking his head mechanically or kissing his soft cheeks, watching with tenderness and tenderness how he eats or rejoice and proud if he manages to cope with the educational toy. Not otherwise, the maternal instinct woke up in me, the presence of which I did not suspect.

I sigh heavily. So many thoughts in my head, all week I'm shaking from side to side: either I'm going to immediately run to the police and file a complaint about the found child, then I change my mind and, on the contrary, decide that no one should know about the baby. I even planned to go to that forest again, despite my inner fear. But how to find the very place where the stranger gave me the child?

I cut the potatoes, throw them into the pan and put them on the fire. I didn’t make any firm decision, no matter how much I twisted the whole situation in my head, but I can’t find a way out of it. At the bottom of my heart, there is a hope that my parents will somehow find me on their own. But how? No, it is better not to ask yourself this question, otherwise the last hope will be lost.

The main thing for me is to hold out for a little while until Nick's parents show up. And then I'll go back to my normal life. And into the forest more - not a foot. Well, fuck it, such a mushroom soup.

Chapter 6

4 years later

- Mum! - my gray-eyed boy runs towards me smiling joyfully, - Look what I drew!

I squat, catching him in my arms. I managed to miss him, despite the fact that I took him to the garden just a few hours ago.

- What is it? I ask, looking at the colorful scribbles.

- Can't you see? - my baby asks incredulously, - Here is the grass, these are trees, flowers. And here is the sun.

And the look is so serious, strict. It's like I'm the baby here, not him. And he has to explain the obvious things to me. I smile.