28. Life and Loss

Almost every day since my heat, I woke up expecting that heart stopping moment when my scent had changed to signify I was pregnant. The closer we got to the two weeks, the most likely time I would detect the change, the more I feared I was going to be disappointed.

Really, I shouldn’t have doubted my goddess. She had made Teárlach an alpha because I had chosen love over my dream just so I could have everything I ever wanted.

So when I woke to the sweetest scent ever imagined, I burst into tears.

My wolf was there to soothe me. They were delighted with the change in our scent and what it meant. Happy, they kept repeating

Happy tears,I told them.

“Dear one, what’s wrong?” T asked, horrified as he pulled me closer to him. Even before he was an alpha, he was a cuddly sleeper.

“Scent… changed…” I barely managed to get the words out around my sobs.

“These tears are because you are happy, correct?” He sounded confused.

I pulled away. “Are you not excited?”

“Axel, I’ve been waiting for you to wake up for hours now. I think my shock and relief have worn off. Sorry if you…”

Laughing, I brushed my tears away. “Hours? Why didn’t you wake me?”

He cupped a hand over my stomach. “You are growing our babe. I wanted you to have all the rest you need.”

I couldn’t resist nuzzling into his neck. “You’re already killing it as a mate. Why are you so sweet?”

T smoothed my hair back and kissed my forehead. “You make it so easy to love you.”

“If I’d tried, I couldn’t have dreamed you up. I love you so much and can’t believe we’re having a baby. I’m carrying your baby!”

Pushing me onto my back, T kissed me deeply before kissing a path down my body. He stopped at my stomach. “I’m about to do wicked things to your papa, don’t listen in.”

There wasn’t a part of me that wanted to remind T our baby wouldn’t be able to hear him yet. It was simply too adorable for words to have him speaking to our baby.

Our baby.

Yes, baby. My wolf was doing little hops in my mind. They were utterly delighted by what was happening. We have lots of babies for our alpha.

The reality of what was happening hit me then. I wanted to cry some more. Damn hormones. I also wanted to tell everyone we knew.

All of that went out of my head as T kissed lower, bypassing my increasingly interested cock, down my balls, taint to my hole.

As I hardened, I felt slick leaking from me. Teárlach licked at my hole. “So sweet, dear one. I could live on your slick.”

I shuddered with arousal and the sensation of him licking and sucking at my pucker. “More,” I begged as I threaded my fingers in his silky hair.

Giving me more of what I wanted, T nipped and teased me until I was leaking slick and precome over the sheets and was on the verge of crying with frustration.

“Quit the edging and fuck me!” I growled.

T raised his head, a wicked smirk on his face. “I’m celebrating!”

“Use your dick right now, or lose all sex privileges.”

The smirked widened. “Well… if you put it that way.” He grasped my hips and pulled me into the cradle of his groin. “How about you ride me?”

I took hold of his cock, lined it with my entrance, and sank down slowly, loving the feel of him stretching me. Teárlach was perfect. I’d been made to fit him.

We moved together, rising and falling, hearts beating together, sharing breaths.

Push and pull, just the feeling of him inside me, holding me tightly as we brought each other pleasure.

This was truly a celebration as we made love in the early morning light. A new chapter of our lives was about to begin.

I tucked my head against his throat and sucked a mark there as he tightened his grip on my hips.

His thrusts quickened. Got harder as his knot began to form. He reached for my cock, to stroke me to completion.

“No.” I batted his hand away from my length and up towards my nipples. “Pinch.”

Just the touch on my sensitive buds had my orgasm roaring through me. I shuddered and panted as his knot locked us together and his come filled me.

Teárlach sucked a mark on my neck as I recovered my breath. Even when his knot deflated, he stayed with me encircled in his arms.

“Breakfast for Papa, then I thought we could call our families, tell them the news?”

“I’d like that, but shouldn’t we confirm it first?”

“Why don’t we warn them and ask my mother if she would like us to call her to hear the heartbeat?”

“Maybe she would like to visit again, so she could come to the clinic with us?”

I wished my own mother was here to see this. She would have loved seeing me so settled and happy. Being a grandmother… my heart panged. Wherever she was, I hoped she could see just how well we were all doing thanks to her love and guidance.

“We could certainly try to arrange that. If not, a video call will have to suffice.”

My mate left our bed for the bathroom. He started the shower for us and even washed my hair for me before he rinsed off and went to start breakfast.

“Can I do some of your braids?” I asked as I caught him deftly braiding as our pancakes cooked.

“If you would like to, then I would love that. It is intimate to let a partner braid your hair.”

“So Michaella braiding ívarr’s hair was a big deal.”

“Very. It is something only for family members or very close loved ones. Mother has two close companions who help her with her hair when she is required to have something elaborate. She can wear many braids as the head of our army.”

“She’s had many battles.”

“So many, I believe we have lost count. She was quite the warrior before she ascended to queen. Mother served under her father, the king, at that time and this was a test. She was to learn when diplomacy was the better option by seeing the scars war inflicts on our people.”

I took the pan off the heat so I could focus on T’s hair. The comb he offered had wide teeth to make sectioning easier. Taking care to be gentle, I ran the comb through his hair, separated the piece I wanted, and took my time to make a neat and even braid all the way to his waist.

His fingers traced it. “Perfect. Would you like to do another?”

“Could I?”

“Of course, but let me get some fruit to cut while you do that.”

We spent breakfast together peacefully, just enjoying the quiet time together before we told everyone. I finished up Teárlach’s hair, then he made sure I ate a balanced breakfast.

“Chase will be here soon,” T said as he located his phone. I smiled at his back. He still was useless with it. Worse, now that he had the pack link to pass messages along for him.

“Did you call him?”

“No, he left a message saying he felt something was off. He was just giving us time to get busy—“

“Never say that again. Ever.”

T laughed. “It felt strange in my mouth.”

“Trust me, it was stranger in my ears.” I laughed, feeling so nervous and excited for what the day held. “I’m just going to tell Dalton I won’t be in for a bit and ask for an appointment at the clinic, okay?”

“Yes. Chase won’t be long.”

When I returned to the kitchen, Chase was finishing off what remained of my breakfast while T made him some fresh pancakes.

Chase leaped up from the seat to wrap me in a hug. “I’m so happy for you both. Cannot wait to meet this nibling!”

“Let us sit in the living room so we can ask my mother to meet us. Do you have an appointment?”

“Yeah, we have a couple of hours before it.”

There was a knock on the door before we even got a chance to sit down.

“I’ll get it,” Chase said. “You two start the call.” The door opened. “Oh, uh, nevermind. Teárlach, your mother is here.”

“What?” I went to join Chase by the door and saw the carriage outside. Blake and Kade were inside with the queen and their kids. “What the hell?”

Teárlach went out to help his mother exit the carriage. “Apologies for interrupting your announcement, but I was told I had to be in Sweetwater today.”

“Announcement?” Kade asked, eyes going wide as he caught my eye. “You are! Oh my goddess! Thank The Luna!” he cried as he ran to hug me, my brother and the kids just behind him.

“Uncle Axel is going to have a baby!” Blake told the little ones proudly. “Say congratulations.”

The niblings all parroted their father, looking so cute and earnest, I nearly cried.

“Congratulations my son and Axel. You will make fine parents and it gives me hope there will be more young in Abrocaelum soon.” Though the queen looked happy, there was also pain in her eyes. “I was sent a message to come here today. Your Seer’s time has come. We are to be there so she can see Axel before she goes.”

“Oh.” I couldn’t quite believe it was so soon. When Janet had told us her time was coming, I thought she meant months away. It had barely been two weeks since she had given us the news.

We walked the short distance to her cabin. Even the niblings came. Blake and Kade didn’t want to shelter them from what was a natural part of life. Plus they felt she might like to see them again before she passed since she would miss their birthday party.

Aldrin and James were already there, a bag of equipment beside them and somber looks on their faces as they stood by the elder shifter’s bed. Someone had moved it into the living room, the only space big enough for all of us.

Everyone greeted Janet, even the little ones. Felix gave her a kiss on the cheek which she smiled at with a gnarled hand cupped over it. “Oh! This is more than I could have hoped for.”

Dakota and Jasper arrived, packing out the house. Hayden was content to stay on Dakota’s hip while Angelica went to Janet and squeezed her hand. “Do you have to go, Miss Janet?”

“I do, baby, but your papa is going to be the voice for the goddess now. She told me this morning. So be good for him, okay?”

Jasper gasped in shock while Kade openly wept on Janet’s other side. I struggled with my own emotions. These omega responses were frustrating, but I’d never give them up. James’s chin wobbled, eyes filling as Aldrin rubbed his back. None of us were holding up well.

“Yes, Miss Janet. I’ll miss you.”

“Want to know a secret?” Angelica nodded. “I’m not ever going to be far. Like the moon, I’ll be watching over you.”

“Okay.” Angelica stepped away.

“We wondered…” Aldrin began. “If you would like to hear Axel’s baby.”

“I’d love that.” Janet’s voice was weak now. “Come sit beside me, Axel.”

She was so frail and small, there was plenty of space for me to scoot up beside her and lie down. We shared a smile as James readied the machine and poured the cold gel onto me. I winced.

“You’ll never get used to that, I’m afraid. There’s more babies in your future. This one, well, she’s just the start.”

“She?”

The room filled with the flub-flub noises of our baby’s heartbeat. The most beautiful sound I had ever heard.

I still couldn’t believe it. T’s eyes met mine, probably reflecting the same awed expression. We were going to be parents.

My wolf was still doing their celebration hops, now coupled with delighted yips. More babies! they cried. A girl!

“Ah, yes. There she is. She’s going to be feisty but so beautiful. The first of many, for you, and for the elf kind. As soon as she’s born, those floodgates are gonna open.” Janet smiled peacefully.

“Really?” I don’t think Queen Alyalsha meant to ask out loud.

“The princess is just the first. The elves must return to the old ways, when they knew the truth. There is just one goddess.” Janet’s voice had taken on that tone which said The Luna was speaking through her.

“I am both The Luna and the elven goddess. We are one and the same.” This time the voice came from the queen. The air became charged with power. Even the children sat still.

Hold on. What?

Everyone stared at the queen until Janet giggled, the sound ending in a cough. James rushed to give her a drink of water when Jasper spoke in an alien voice.

“Shifters came from the elves. I protected them by making them look human when Abrocaelum was made and those who could not shift refused them entry. Then I altered memories and the archives. Helped hide their past because of the discrimination they faced from their ancestors.

“I stopped my shifters from mixing with other species to protect them. Yet the elves and fae stole them and used them. The alpha males hunted the alpha females until I made the betas. So much to fix, so little power.”

The voice returned to the queen, leaving Jasper sagging against Dakota. “I had to wait until your prayers returned you to your faith and amplified my power. My shifters were ready. The pieces of the puzzle are in place. Now we can start again. First with the princess.”

We all stared at each other for a while, the air returning to normal.

“I won’t… miss… that feeling,” Janet rasped out finally, breaking the silence. “But… I’ll miss being a part of it. I’ll… watch over… you all.”

The room remained quiet for a long time, letting us all grieve in our own ways as Janet took her last breath, the light leaving her eyes, while the smile remained on her weathered face.