“Lover,” Alex murmured, reaching up to caress the back of Sawyer’s head, “You’re going to be a great father. Our cub needs you to offset Glenn’s super protectiveness.You’ll teach him to be fearless…to embrace life and find the joy in it. Trust me, I know these things.”
Wrapping his arms around both his mates, Glenn leaned forward over Alex’s shoulder, giving Sawyer’s cheek a kiss. “Our mate is right…our cub needs you…and me…to make sure he is ready to fulfill his destiny.”
Sighing, Sawyer hugged his mates, inhaling their unique scents, letting them calm his soul.
Sticking his head out the safe room’s door, Riley looked at the scene that greeted him before calling out, “Hey Glenn? Ghost is on the line and wants to talk to you.”
“Tell him I’ll be right there.” Then, gazing at his mates, he said softly, “I gotta take that…”
“Go…after you’re done, then let’s have a brainstorming session and figure out what we have to do before we go to France,” Sawyer said.
Nodding, Glenn gave a quick kiss to both his mates, before heading to the safe room. “I won’t be long.”
Once Glenn was out of sight, Alex’s eyes searched Sawyer’s face, finally finding what his mate was trying to hide from everyone. “Hey…you okay?”
“Uhm…sure…just dandy. Trying to decide which sport I should start him on…I’m thinking skateboarding because a while back I saw a video of a year-old human kid on a board. I figure with our son growing up faster than humans, he should be able to do it when he’s seven or eight months old.”
“I don’t doubt it. But what about your gift? Pretty awesome, huh?”
“No shit. I just don’t know…”
Reaching out to brush Sawyer’s hair off his forehead, Alex murmured, “You don’t know why the Fates picked you?”
Closing his eyes in an attempt to keep Alex from seeing into his soul—he couldn’t allow access to that part of himself yet—he muttered, “I don’t know if I’ll be a good father.”
Remaining quiet for a moment, Alex ran his fingertips over Sawyer’s jaw, feeling both strength and determination there. His mate’s attempts to hide his self-doubt bothered Alex, but he wasn’t going to push Sawyer about it even though it was obviously causing his mate pain. Instead, he whispered, “I know it and so does our cub…you’ll be a great father and I’m so proud to be your mate.”
Those words were a balm to Sawyer’s soul. Resting his forehead against Alex’s, Sawyer exhaled the breath he was holding, relieved his mate wasn’t going to call him out on his deception. “Thanks, sweetheart…do you think our mate is finished with his call by now?”
“Let’s go find out.”
~/~/~/~/~
Brady stared in disbelief. It wasn’t possible. The Fates had never chosen anyone but a magic user to be the Ruler of the Mystic Realm’s guardian.Always!Shaking his head, he snorted. “That’s impossible. You must be mistaken. The Witches’ Governing Council will never accept a wolf as the Mystic Guardian.”
“That may be, but unfortunately, they don’t have a choice. Carson Blackwood of the Blackwood Pack has been marked and given the powers of the Mystic Guardian,” Mystia said.
“And you know this…how?” asked Brady.
“Because I saw the mark on his back.”
“Well…” Brady murmured, drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair he was sitting in as he thought through the ramifications of the situation. “And the Council is aware of this?”
“Yes… but as you can imagine…”
Suddenly, Brady burst into laughter. “Well, if that doesn’t beat all. A wolf shifter with the power to remove a council member’s power. The Fates must have been drinking too much of their moonshine that day. I couldn’t imagine a better ‘fuck you’ to those soulless creatures who sit in judgment of the less fortunate in the magic world.”
“Soulless is right,” Mystia uttered, taking another sip of her tea.
“Tell me, what’s your opinion of the new Ruler of the Mystic Realm?” asked Brady, before biting into his cookie.
“For the first time, I’m hopeful the magic world will be led by someone who is worthy to do so.”
“High praise coming from you,” Brady said. Then furrowing his forehead, asked, “How did the Council miss him in their round-up of low-level magic users? Seems very sloppy to me…are you sure he isn’t a puppet put in by the Governing Council?”
“He escaped because his parents claimed he died shortly after he was born…”
“So the Council never knew about him…very clever. I wonder how many others like him are out there?” mused Brady.
