He smiled, encouraged by his dad’s words, and placed his hand back where it was before. All of us held our breath as we waited for another kick.
Just when it seemed like the twins would get bored and back away, the baby kicked.
Lupa and Leveret gasped and giggled.
“Turtle kicked,” Lupa exclaimed.
Dax felt it, too. His eyes were wide and full of emotion. I loved seeing this softer side of him. “Our baby, Morgan,” he murmured.
I kissed his cheek. “It’s growing fast. And it’s healthy enough to kick its dad and cousins.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Len said, putting his hands on the twins’ shoulders. “You two are going to have a cousin when Morgan’s baby is born!”
“What’s a cousin?” Lupa asked.
Hugo chuckled as he came over to Dax’s side. “You know your dad and Uncle Dax are brothers, right?”
The twins glanced between Hugo and Dax, then nodded.
“Well, when your uncle has a baby, that baby becomes your cousin,” Hugo explained. “Think of it as another sibling, but from your uncle instead of your daddy.”
“Cousin,” Lupa murmured, trying out the new word.
“Tuwtle,” Leveret said.
Dax grinned. “Just so you know, the baby’s not going toactuallybe a turtle, so don’t get your hopes up.”
If Lupa was imagining her cousin being a turtle shifter, Dax had crushed her dreams. But she quickly bounced back and asked, “Wolf?”
Dax and I exchanged glances.
“Who knows?” Dax said with a shrug. “It could be a deer like Morgan, or a wolf like me. It’s going to be a surprise.”
“Wanna wolf!” Lupa cried. She slipped into her wolf cub form and bounced up and down.
“Hawe,” Leveret chimed in.
Len scooped up his son. “No, honey. Uncle Morgan is a deer, so the baby can’t be a hare like us. The only way there’s going to be another hare in the pack is if daddy has another baby.”
Hugo playfully raised a brow at him but Len shot him a dry glare that I think meantthe twins are enough right now, you horny wolf.
“Maybe we should take bets with the whole pack on what species the baby’s going to shift into,” Dax suggested with a grin. “Winner gets to name the baby.”
I pressed a finger to his lips. “Keep talking and see what happens.”
“I was just joking,” Dax said, muffled around my finger. When I drew it away, he added, “Like hell I’m going to let there be a chance Sage gets to name the baby. We don’t need another Mr. Boulder situation.”
The name took me off guard and I barked out a sudden laugh.
“What?” Dax asked, balking. “Oh gods, you don’t actually like that name, do you?”
“No, it’s not that. There really was a buck in my old herd named Rock.” I was surprised to realize that thinking about him didn’t dampen my mood at all. “He was… not the smartest person I’d ever met. And not the nicest, either.”
Dax narrowed his eyes. “Rock, huh? Was he one of the bucks who chased you out of the herd?”
There was no point in lying since I doubted I’d ever see him again anyway. “Yes. He orchestrated the whole thing. He’s probably glad to be rid of me.”
Anger flashed across Dax’s face and I heard a growl building in his throat.
