Page 51 of The Alliance

“That’s brilliant!” said Lew. “Our babies will have cousins to grow up with.”

Laura nodded but Marcia looked despondent.

Laura turned to her mate and said, “Hey, don’t let the troll get you down. We’ll have children if we want them. Even if we have to adopt them. They’ll still be ours.”

Dum butted in, unable to leave it alone. “What’s the problem with the troll?”

Marcia said, “We wondered whether Laura could carry our first child and use Randall’s sperm so it has both our family DNA.”

“What’s the problem with that?” asked Dee.

Laura snorted. “Randall was willing but Broadmire’s a troll. He just said ‘mine’ and carried Randall off like a caveman. I guess he’s possessive of Randall’s sperm? We’re giving him some time to get used to the idea.”

Around me, a lot of the adults were sniggering. That is until a sweet young voice piped up, “What’s sperm, Auntie Laura?”

We all looked round at Hannah and Ed, who were looking with innocent wide-eyed interest at everything going on around them.

Gramps snorted with laugher and tried to hide it by pretending to cough. He wasn’t very subtle, though. “You’ll have to get used to this, if you want children. Why don’t you ask Auntie Laura about it later, my dears?”

They nodded and I was sure Ed would forget all about it by the end of dinner but Hannah had a sharp intelligence and was determined to learn everything. I felt bad for Laura that she’d been the one to end up with that task, but Gramps was right. We’d have to get used to that now.

I breathed deeply, scenting Lew beside me. He smelled happy and content, and a little amused. His hand squeezed mine under the table and I smiled round the table at all my family.

Chapter 17

Blaze

There was a bit of a kerfuffle in the large entrance hall that opened out from the front doors. There were a lot of people there, all talking at the same time.

I stood back and watched them, trying to hide a smile.

My new family were all so wonderful. And half of them were there, fussing round Rhod and Glenwise.

I could see the tension in Glenwise’s face that showed me he detested the fuss and the delay, but he didn’t say anything. In fact, as I watched, he seemed to manoeuvre his mate through the crowd so that he came into contact with everyone, even though every person he met meant a longer delay.

Rhod looked overwhelmed. Each person that said goodbye to him and told him to be careful and wished him luck and said they’d miss him, his eyes filled with more wonder and more unshed tears. I got the impression that he’d become used to being invisible and was struggling to be the centre of so much positive attention.

Glenwise and Rhod were leaving. They’d only come here to help cement the alliance, and now they were heading off to the mage’s territory where they’d been living and working. Alfie had granted them permission to go with the caveat that he would get to visit at some point.

He wasn’t going to go soon, though. He was still struggling with his instincts and I loved him for his kindness and worry about others. If he met Heather, the mage, and clashed with her, he’d ruin the safe place Rhod and Glenwise had found for themselves. He wanted them to be happy, and so he was keeping his protective instincts squashed down as much as he could.

My eyes automatically sought Alfie out. He was talking in a low voice to Glimmer, and I couldn’t hear what they were saying but they looked seriousand intense. Nothing could make Glimmer more focused than the prospect of protecting his clan.

Kingsley walked over to them and I heard him speak. “It’s time to go, Glimmer.”

Glimmer straightened his shoulders and glanced around him. He didn’t like leaving his clan while they were outside of his territory, where he knew he had all the necessary protections down. I hurried over before he could change his mind about leaving.

“Goodbye, Glimmer. Have a good journey. You’ll ring us as soon as you get there, won’t you?”

“Yes,” he said, but I could see the internal battle he was fighting. He hated it when his clan was scattered and he couldn’t protect all of them at once.

I tried to offer him some reassurance. “Dane has promised to train Alfie a bit. He’s going to come to the Somerville castle with us so he can do it in Alfie’s own territory. Dane says Alfie’s instincts will be soothed that way.”

Instantly, Glimmer’s expression cleared significantly. I’d only thought of it this morning so it was a bit last-minute, but I’d managed to convince Dane to come with us, to at least try and train Alfie a bit. If they weren’t ready for it, theycould stop and wait. But I’d known that Glimmer was struggling because I’d seen how tireless he was in his drive to protect. He trusted Dane, and he trusted Seren (who was obviously going to go with his mate). Having them both accompany the Somervilles home made him feel easier.

I met Kingsley’s eyes over Glimmer’s shoulder and I swear he gave me a nod. He wrapped his arms around Glimmer’s shoulders and began to pull him firmly away.

“Come on, Glimmer. We don’t want Rhod and Glenwise leaving without us.”

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