My whiskers twitched, but I didn’t have a comeback. Maybe Iwascute. And if that meant a pile of babies curled up to sleep against my warm fur, that was fine by me.
Jade sat cross-legged on the rug a foot away. He observed me with a peaceful smile for a few moments.
“You know, you look very natural like that,” he remarked.
A flush of warmth coursed through me. “You think so?”
Jade was happy to indulge my not-so-subtle soliciting. “Absolutely. Look how calm and safe the children feel with you.”
I glanced down fondly at the five of them dozing off. Since the dragonets had no fur, I draped my furry tail over them so theywouldn’t get cold. They nuzzled closer. If Jade thought I was cute, the kids must’ve been mind-meltingly adorable.
As I met Jade’s eyes again, I suddenly remembered what he’d said to me during the dinner date—about how he thought I’d look good if I gained weight. My ears grew hot. At the time I didn’t know if he meant actually gaining weight, or becoming pregnant, or both. In any case, it was nice to hear.
But if he meant the latter...
“There’s no point dodging the topic,” I blurted out. “If you want to say something, then say it.”
I don’t know what drove me to be so forward. I blamed it on the toddler-induced flood of oxytocin consuming my brain.
Jade’s eyes glinted with fondness. “All right. I’d like to have children with you, Alaric.”
I hadn’t expected him to be so straightforward. I mentally reeled, my ears flattening against my head and my tail poofing with emotion. My heart went into overdrive. It pounded so fast and hard I worried I’d wake the ferret kits nestled against my chest. I forced my fur to lie flat so I didn’t disrupt the sleeping kids.
To calm myself down, I licked my paw and drew it rhythmically over my whiskers. “I see,” I said, attempting to sound more relaxed than I felt. I wanted to say more, but no thoughts coalesced in my brain. Jade’s statement rendered me speechless.
“Why are you surprised?” he asked with a light laugh. “I already told you you’re my fated mate, and that I love you. Unless your hesitation is because you don’t want children, which is also okay.”
“It’s not that,” I said quickly so he didn’t get the wrong idea. “I’m simply... absorbing what you said.”
“Take all the time you need.”
An alpha mate. A true love. Children.
It was all I’d ever wanted. The gravity of it sunk in, rippling across my fur in a shudder. The perfect life I’d always craved was here, right now. I was living my childhood dream.
“All right, I’m done thinking,” I announced.
Jade grinned. “And your conclusion is?”
“I’m ready when you are.”
It waslate afternoon when Jade’s brothers and their respective mates returned. After my cat form turned out to be magic, I remained that way all day, happy to doze in a scale-and-fur pile with the kids. Miraculously, the dragonets and ferret kits stayed sleepy after their parents picked them up.
Assuming our community service was done, I shifted back to human form and got up to leave, but Thystle and the twins pulled me aside. Saffron was still giving Aurum the stink eye for the stunt he pulled earlier.
“Hey, can we talk to you for a sec?” Thystle whispered.
I glanced over my shoulder at Jade. He was a good distance away, talking with the older half of his brothers. They were probably catching him up on what he missed.
“Sure,” I said to Thystle. “What is it?”
“We set up the third challenge before we knew, uh, officially that you two were together,” Thystle replied. “So, we thought it’d be a good idea to ask you for advice.”
That actually made sense, given the preposterous challenge they’d cooked up the first time.
“All right,” I agreed. “What do you need from me?”
“What’s Jade into, besides reading? We had a classic lit trivia match set up, but all the challenges have been about books so far. It’s getting old.”
