Page 20 of His Impossible Elf Mate
Thankfully, Aldrin knew his shit and assured us, well, mainly me, that the babies would be fine. Shifters were resilient. My niblings would be fine with the care we could give them.
Pushing my panic aside was hard. I felt so useless just standing watching Kade labor. I was gratefulwhen Aldrin gave us directions to help Blake manage Kade’s pain.
As betas, this was as close as we would get to experiencing this, so it was a privilege to help the niblings enter the world, even in this small way.
Chase held a wordless conversation with me, not even using our twin bond for fear of it leaking through to the pack link or our family link as Blake focused on his mate.
My twin knew what this meant to me, just as I knew the secrets of his heart. He didn’t have to tell me he didn’t want a mate. I took his share of that wish, wanting it twice as badly as anyone else.
He held my hand in silent support as he soothed our baby brother as best we could.
Greyson was born first. He felt like an alpha and would likely be a handful when he was older, yet he remained calm as his sibling was born.
The omega pup, Felix, made his way into the world shortly behind his brother. This one was an old soul I felt an immediate connection to. Maybe I shouldn’t have picked a favorite, I just couldn’t help it. He was just so cute with his patches of red and those wise eyes. He had Kade’s golden eyes.
After a little delay, the final pup was born. Her arrival was like a punch to the gut. All the air left my lungs when I caught her alpha scent.
Kade and Blake had done the impossible by creating an alpha daughter. Elliotte was a miracle and a danger in one super cute bundle of fur.
All the protective instincts I had wanted to jump into high gear. Nothing could happen to the babies, especially Elliotte. They were all vulnerable at this stage.
While the babies were cleaned, checked, and weighed, the others made plans to discuss Elliotte’s existence with Ívarr.
I didn’t care for history or that alpha girls used to happen. My attention was on the moment at hand. There were guard shifts to arrange. Enforcers to check and triple check for suitability. Not just any guard could protect such precious bundles.
The elves arrived in a rush, far too excited to see the babies to worry about their usual show of decorum. My eyes met T’s and caught the humor and joy dancing there. He, like the others, was truly delighted about the babies.
Blake handed me Felix so I could get a snuggle. I wanted each of the babies to get my scent so they would recognize me as family. They were all so precious as I held each pup to my neck in turn. It was a struggle to return them to their parents, or worse, hand them to Chase to hold.
“Okay, the babies are cute and all,” Chase said as he handed Greyson back to Kade, “but Axel is the baby whisperer. Call me back when they can crawl or talk, ‘kay? Until then, I’m going to head to Axel’s office to work out a new security schedule.”
His look for me told me all I needed to know. He wanted me there to go over the plans. We had to take the pressure off our brothers. Kade was our family now, and those babies were ours.
I was distracted from Chase leaving by a hushed conversation. Hakeem was playing peacemaker, a role he tended to take naturally. Ívarr was gesturing wildly at Teárlach and speaking rapidly in Elvish. Teagan looked tense before offering her opinion, again in Elvish. While I understood a few words here and there, they were talking much too fast for me to keep up.
Eventually, they broke apart, none of them looking particularly happy. T stood with a mulish set to his jaw, a complete contrast to the man who gave me sweet smiles and pretty blushes on our dates and walks.
Ívarr was the first to speak. This time in English, finally. “We have decided that Hakeem and I will return to Abrocaelum to search our archives. Teagan will assume the lead on the research. It is too important to lose time with it. Teárlach will remain with her to work as her assistant.”
Blake thanked them for their help and Ívarr took his leave, the air between him and T decidedly frosty. I put it to the back of my mind to ask T about it another time, then focused on what needed to be done instead of my mixed feelings.
I had just witnessed the start of something new. A family being formed. The one thing I so desperately wanted for myself, yet would never have.
A Word of Caution
Axel
Axel, could you come to my office, please?Blake used the pack link to summon me.
Dalton looked up from behind his desk. “Everything okay? Blake sounded pretty serious there.”
Dammit, he’d broadcast it, so I looked like a naughty kid being summoned to the principle’s office. Everyone within range would know Blake wanted to speak to me.
Sure,I replied, this time just to him. I tried to broadcast my annoyance at him, but emotions were generally a mate link thing.
“Probably wanting a security update,” I said aloud to Dalton, rubbing my forehead. The stress of the last couple of days after the elves had returned wanted to give me a headache, even if shifters didn’t really get them.
We now had a shiny new portal and a dozen new elves to place, thanks to the provisions the council had put in after the announcement of Elliotte’s birth. There was also the new healer, Hiroshi, and the betaswho had arrived with him to properly vet. No one thought they posed a security risk, Logan, the leader of the Northarbor Pride, had vouched for them. It was more the risk of trouble they brought with them.
