บท 130: Chapter 130: A Need For Home

Ravyn POV

Bram, Eamon, and Mali looked like everyday shifters, and certainly not shifter royalty, as they played with several of the Cresta pups. Mali, Eamon, and their pups seemed happy for the family interaction. Kelara Blackthorn and William had also joined in.

For a heavily pregnant woman, Kelara seemed far too active, even risking her baby to confront the Dark Goddess. Maybe time for Ravyn to sit her down and give her the lecture she'd dished out to Lilia when Lilia got a little too involved in Luna and witch business during her fifth month of pregnancy.

Watching the family scene, Ravyn smiled at Mali. "There's breakfast downstairs," she said.

"Mmmm, I smelled it," Mali said. "But our little ones love playing with their Cresta cousins … including the newest one." She smiled at William, who had three Cresta pups crawling all over him and a big grin on his face. "He's training to be a big brother."

"Uh huh," William chirped, clearly in love with his new sibling-to-be already. "I want the baby to be born already!"

Mali laughed. "Bram was just like you when my mother was pregnant with me," she said, with a fond smile of reminiscence. "He wanted his little sister to come out so badly. My mother and father put up with that, because they were happy he viewed a little sibling with excitement."

"I can't wait to see my brother," William gushed, holding Patch's Ziggy, who was chewing on him with his little teeth. "Hey, don't bite so hard, Ziggy!"

Little Ziggy just laughed and licked William with those eyes like Patch's that melted everyone. Ziggy was a little ball of sunshine.

Mali smiled. "You'll be a great big brother. And you're old enough that you'll be a strong protector."

Kelara shot her a grateful look. "Ten years' difference between them might not be such a bad thing."

"No." Eamon shook his head. "My sister is five years younger. Mom died when I was a pup, and Dad raised me on his own. He somehow survived losing a mate … and then he took another one years later. I didn't remember Mama. Divine is the only mom I know."

"That's comforting." Kelara touched her stomach and yawned. "Excuse me."

Ravyn glared at her. "You should be resting. You've had a lot of excitement … and then there was last night. Go to bed."

William looked at Kelara as only a child could, with directness. "Momma, she's right. That bad Goddess threw everything at you. You shouldn't be up."

Ravyn melted at the little boy's protectiveness. He seemed attached to Kelara.

She hadn't asked much about William's birth mother Genevieve, but from what she knew, the divorce had been nasty and Genevieve had fallen right into a second marriage with an abusive man that Kelara and Talon had rescued William from. No wonder the boy clung to Kelara and fussed over her.

Kelara stood, allowing William to lead her by the hand. "Alright, I'll go back to bed. I couldn't get away with overdoing it at Hightower Castle, and I'll have no chance here."

William and Kelara left, with William acting like Kelara was made of delicate glass.

Bram grinned at the departing pair. "That pup will make an incredible Alpha one day–and his little brother will be the most loved sibling in the human kingdom despite the difference in their ages."

Ravyn took a deep breath.

Now or never. She had to tell them.

"I'm glad you seem supportive of a much younger sibling from a different marriage or mating … because I'm pregnant."

Bram and Mali sat with their mouths open. Eamon rested a hand on Mali's shoulder,

Bram howled, not in anger, but in joy. "That's wonderful!"

Ravyn's jaw dropped. She couldn't figure him out. Although he adored his father, he'd also gotten his back up and his tail in a twist about Ravyn mating with Jude.

Mali hugged Ravyn. "Congratulations. I know it's a little unusual … but we're shifters, aren't we?"

Bram's eyes narrowed, and he smelled sharp and fiery. "And yet, you went into that dark h*llhole? How could you?"

Elbowing him, Mali said, "Kelara is five months pregnant and she still did it."

"That was wrong, too! When I mate, my Luna-to-be is NOT risking herself."

Eamon ruffled his hair and said slyly, "That's if you find a female willing to take you on."

Ignoring the playful teasing, Bram lectured Ravyn. "That's my future sibling you're risking."

Touched, and emotional, Ravyn hugged the boy, burying her nose in his coppery hair, so like his mother's. "Thank you," she murmured.

He returned the hug. "Of course."

He smelled embarrassed, like overripe vegetables or fruit.

"I didn't know about the baby when I confronted the Dark Goddess," Ravyn reassured her new family. "Now I do. Last night, Jude wouldn't let me do a thing. He's probably going to be insufferable about making sure I stay healthy."

Bram and Mali groaned. "You have no idea," Mali said with sympathy.

"He wouldn't let Mom lift a finger for at least the last two months of her pregnancy," Bram said. "According to what I heard. And now that you're pregnant, he'll want to go home. He'll want you to be home where he can spoil you and pamper you and be as clingy as a scared dragonet."

Ravyn took a deep breath. "I'm ready for that. I mean … ready to go home."

The words surprised her.

She knew Jiro and Garnet had a big reception in Crimsontail Shadows territory planned to honor her and Jude, and introduce Talon and Kelara to the pack. That was the next stop on Talon's and Kelara's tour of the most powerful packs, and the three they were connected to by blood. The crowning event would be Ravyn's and Jude's bonding ceremony and ball. Although Ravyn and Jude promised to attend the Crimsontail Shadows event, Ravyn felt a strange pull toward Silverpaw territory.

Bram and Mali stared at her, with Eamon leaning into the hug pile. "Are you sure?" Bram asked.

Ravyn nodded. "I hate to disappoint Jiro and Garnet–"

"Jiro and Garnet?" Mali blinked in confusion.

Ravyn explained the planned Crimsontail celebration as the next stop before returning home. "But I feel the need to be in Graywolf City," she said. "To begin my reign alongside Jude as his Luna."

Growling approvingly, the three nodded. "Especially in your condition," Bram rumbled. "That's normal. Being pregnant makes a shifter's mate more connected to the pack. It's probably an evolutionary thing. It's comfort, familiarity … home."

Ravyn hesitated. "I don't want to offend Jiro, though. If it weren't for him and Garnet, we wouldn't have made an alliance with the humans and escaped Abandonnado Island."

"But you have to think of yourself and your pup," Mali argued.

Watching Ziggy play with Mali's pups, Ravyn imagined her own pup in the mix. A brown-haired pup with her violet eyes, maybe.

"I don't know what to do," she muttered.

Garnet, who'd arrived to look in on Lucina and Mekito, interrupted with an edge to her voice. "So, are you saying you're going to miss your own celebration in Crimsontail Territory?"

Ravyn sat silently, praying to the Moon Goddess to help her decide. Family and pack ties were more complicated than the most arcane spells. What should she do?