Page 111 of His Bonded Omega Mate
Shift, baby.My lion spoke to his raven mate, the alpha power a gentle caress.
He obeyed, turning to his feathered form in the space of a blink. The raven cawed, the sound waking Roan and Hiroshi.
The pair dressed quickly and joined us at the edge of the nest. My lion side eased at having the other alpha there instead of getting angry. His willingness to die to protect Tate had broken the strange hate he had for him. Instead, we saw him as a brother. Each time we saw him struggle with a task because of his arm was a reminder of what he had sacrificed for us.
Michaella was whispering to the raven, coaching them as they cawed and flapped. “Asher, use your power for their pain.”
As she had coached me, I caught my omega’s gaze and pushed my will into him. My intention was clear: breathe, let the pain ebb. Tate relaxed, his raven letting out a pitiful caw.
It didn’t take long for the raven to show signs of bearing down to push the egg out. I kept myself wrapped around him; the contact easing his stress. Hiroshi held a bowl of water so that Tate could drink when they got overheated. Roan swapped between smoothing Tate’s feathers and rubbing his mate’s back.
I was awestruck as I watched my mate endure the pain to bring our baby into the world. While I knew that the egg wouldn’t hatch straight away, it was still something special to witness.
Tate was so brave as he and his raven worked in unison, the human side struggling to give into his animal’s instincts. Once they reached an understanding, it seemed easier on them both.
Aldrin, James, and Ívarr were only there to observe, allowing Michaella to show how competent she was. They would take notes on the egg and how the birth went for their studies on the new omegas and alphas. The testing was going to start as soon as we had healthy babies.
For once, I was going to be positive. The Luna had intended this to happen. She had put Tate in my life, my fated mate, when we couldn’t tell that we had that bond. We fought to stay together and risked things to mate with Hiroshi and Roan. They were the catalyst to finding our true selves and unlocking our fated bond. Without them, we wouldn’t have our egg or a happy family life.
Eventually, the aqua colored egg was free of Tate’s raven body. The bird slumped against me, exhausted at passing such a large egg. It was speckled, and I’d seen nothing so beautiful in my whole life. Tears welled in my eyes and I gave a prayer of thanks to our goddess for giving us this gift. For giving me a family I could treasure forever.
In front of my eyes, the egg seemed to expand. I looked at Michaella in a panic. She smiled gently. “It’s the shifting magic. The egg isn’t hard, it’s elastic at this stage. It will grow to accommodate the baby inside and harden as it is time for them to hatch.”
I curled around my exhausted mate as they fussed over the egg, moving it to one position, then another. When Tate’s raven was happy about the placement of the egg, they settled over it, keeping it warm.
“You’ll have to take turns keeping it warm,” Michaella warned, yet again. She had been thorough in her coaching. “If need be, you can do it in your human forms, but the heat you give off in your shifted forms with the magic is better.” The witch turned to Hiroshi. “Since you need to shift daily, I’d recommend you taking a shift on the egg to allow the fathers —“
I shifted quickly, needing my voice to clarify things. “Other fathers,” I interrupted. “We consider this baby theirs as well.”
“Just as Hiroshi is carrying our babies,” Roan motioned to the four of us. “A unit, a family.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to imply.” Michaella looked mortified.
“No, it’s fine,” Hiroshi smiled at her, placing a hand on her arm in reassurance. He had such a gentle way with people. Michaella relaxed. “It’s a change for everyone. We discussed it at length and I’m sure we’ll be reminding people for a long time, or until poly families are more common in shifters.”
Tate’s raven cawed, seeming to agree with us. I shifted back, my lion holding the tired bird up.Sleep, baby,I urged. The alpha power took hold and pulled the raven into a restorative sleep.
“Well done, Asher,” Ívarr praised. “May I attempt to measure the egg, just to check it over?”
“You’ll have to let it be for at least a few hours,” Michaella told the elf. He looked disappointed, but soon his calm manner returned.
“Of course. The baby has to come first. I cannot help the excitement I feel. I am beyond honored to be allowed to witness such an event. Thank you.”
The course of the next week helped us prepare for what was to come. Each of us spent some time in animal form around the egg, keeping it warm as it slowly expanded and the gorgeous blue shell hardened.
Tate hardly spent any time in his human form, only shifting to eat and shower. He explained he felt uncomfortable in his human form, especially when he was away from the egg. If it were up to him and his raven, they would eat every meal in bird form as they sat on the large egg.
In raven form, Tate was about twice as big as a natural raven. Yet the egg was about half as big as him. It would move occasionally as our baby let his presence be known.
We sang to him, told him stories of our childhoods, obviously child friendly ones. Then we taught him about our pack and what life would be like for him when he arrived.
I was grateful that the pack allowed us all to be on leave. Roan was stubborn and still worked, taking notes for Kade and sending emails. The council had withdrawn gracefully, but we weren’t the only pack to cut the cord from them. Soon, other shifter groups followed. Voting with their membership against the current setup.
Having betas and omegas on the council had been a good step forward. I was proud of the shifters that had answered the call. Yet the remaining members were too old, too set in the ways of alpha leadership to really represent all shifters. We needed more alphas like Blake and Roan. A new type that valued every shifter. More and more of the alphas in the younger generations seemed to be more forward thinking, perhaps why The Luna was making changes now.
Therapy had really done a number on me. My lion would have been embarrassed at my mushy thoughts had they not been completely smitten with our egg. He was honestly obsessed with looking at it, smelling it, and keeping it protected. He had allowed Pops to rest on it after Roan had gotten uncomfortable. Our brother had sat for hours, allowing Tate a proper rest, until compensating with the other shoulder became too painful to hide.
Roan was struggling, and we all were trying to keep his spirits up as he came to terms with it. However, his first shift with the egg was also his first shift into his wolf form since the kidnapping. His wolf was lame in one leg and brokenhearted in what he saw as a failure.
