A dragonet.
Rorik gasped. His hand held mine tighter.
The newborn dragonet, still blinking fluid from its eyes, opened its little mouth and bit the egg. Its small fangs scraped viciously against the shell.
My heart skipped a beat. That behavior was all too familiar to me and Aurum.
“What is it doing?” Rorik asked anxiously.
“Twins,” I murmured. “Rorik. We have twins.”
Rorik’s gaze snapped to mine. “What?”
“Watch.”
Time slowed as the dragonet gnawed at its own egg. Tiny shards flew to the floor, widening the crack it emerged from until a second head popped out.
A white furry one.
A baby polar bear cub.
“Rorik!” I cried.
His dark eyes glittered with love. “I see them,” he murmured, voice thick with emotion.
As the bear joined its dragonet twin, the pair tore free of the egg together, then flopped into our laps. In the background, I was vaguely aware of family members running to get clean towels. When they returned, we wiped the remaining sticky fluid off our babies and saw their fresh faces for the first time.
The yellow dragonet had dark eyes, like Rorik. A patch of pale yellow fur streaked down its head in the beginning of a mane. The polar bear cub had piercing amber eyes, like me.
Maybe it shouldn’t have been a surprise, given Kiara and Desiree had set the precedent, but the little bear cub sported a small pair of wings, too.
My heart felt full. They were beautiful. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect set of babies.
“Two boys,” Jade said fondly, smiling over at my twin. “To match Aurum and Mylo’s two girls.”
Silent tears of joy rolled down Rorik’s chubby cheeks. His expression was the happiest I’d ever seen it.
And I was sure mine was, too.
27
Rorik
I sighed,smiling as my sons clambered on top of the plushie I meant to return ages ago. At three months old, they were already incredibly mobile. Regular polar bear cubs were fragile and didn’t move much, but Andri was no ordinary polar bear cub. He was half dragon, which gave him a mobility boost in addition to an adorable pair of wings. Meanwhile, Jaki took after his alpha father in his draconic appearance. The yellow dragonet was bright, alert, and always curious. The patch of white fur on his head was growing fluffier by the day.
Saffron had suggested their names, which I immediately loved. Andri and Jaki were the two male protagonists inIce Princess. They meant ‘snowshoe’ and ‘iceberg’ respectively, which we thought were fitting names for two snowy baby shifters. It was also a nod to my homeland. Hopefully we could all visit there someday under better circumstances than I’d left it.
“Andri, Jaki,” I said patiently, knowing they didn’t understand me yet. “Come on. Blueberry 1.0 has to go home.”
Andri hugged the plushie in his front paws and toppled over with it, looking thoroughly content. Meanwhile, Jaki gnawed on Blueberry 1.0’s tail like a giant chew toy.
“Oops,” Saffron said. He quickly scooped up Jaki. “Not with those sharp teeth, little man.”
Jaki complained with a squeak until Saffron replaced his makeshift chew toy with an actual teething ring. Then his dark eyes closed as he happily nibbled on the soft plastic.
“Well, I’ve got this one under control,” Saffron teased. “Your turn.”
“Hm… I have an idea.”
