Page 31 of The Guardian's True-Mate

The tiny baby weighed more than I would’ve guessed. She was a little warm ball in my arms, but somewhere inside her, whatever inner beast she inherited from her parents carried some weight. She blinked and stretched a tiny fist skyward. Soon, Dakota and I might be holding a kid of our own.

“Aren’t you precious,” I whispered to her. “Just a tiny precious baby, huh?”

“She is the most adorable kid anywhere,” Duke said, walking back into the kitchen. “We’re good to go after I run her back down to Syre.”

I almost didn’t want to give her back. There was something awe inspiring about how tiny babies were.

Chapter Twenty-One

Dakota

Despite my curiosity about where Cardian might whisk me away to, we hung around the house until Terrick was back to normal a few hours after Duke filled up a few blood pouches for him. After the donation was complete, Duke said something about speaking with the other Alpha vampires about helping out until the babies came.

“He’s worried about my parents coming over if we don’t figure it out,” Scott yawned as Terrick slept next to him.

“Would that be a bad thing?” I asked.

“Not exactly. They’ll be up in a week or so anyway. He might be worried what they’d say if they thought he and Blithe weren’t taking care of me,” Scott shrugged.

“I don’t think that’s it,” Cardian shook his head. “I think Duke just naturally wants to help people. It’s in his personality. Those babies,” he pointed at Scott’s full moon pregnant belly, “are his family too.”

“We’re all pack,” I nodded.

“Thanks for going to get him,” Scott said, smoothing Terrick’s hair in his sleep.

“It started out as a search for a live donation kit,” Cardian chuckled. “Duke just volunteered to help.”

“Oh, those are under the bed,” Scott grinned. “We don’t use them, but they’re there. Duke said something about taking Terrick hunting when he felt up to it. Something about now that he’s a shifter too hunting would probably aid him in getting what he needs. He hasn’t hunted before, I don’t think. At least not since I met him.”

“Eh, his pit hound will know what to do,” I shrugged. “If he’s anything like our wolves, he’ll know.”

“I hope so and I hope it helps. I feel so bad. I didn’t even think about it and ---”

“Nope,” Cardian shook his head. “It’s his job to know when he’s given what he can. It’s not always easy to tell right away how donating is affecting someone. Sure, we’re primed to feed our mates, but everyone has their limit and feeding five people is a lot.”

“I do have blood when you guys need it,” I laughed.

“Nope,” Cardian shook his head. “Well, nope for me. Unless I’m dying, I won’t drink from you. It’s against the laws of nature. What Scott and you do, blood wise is between you two, unless you’re pregnant at said time.”

“Cave vampire,” I teased him.

“Understanding the exact building blocks of why such a feeding on a non-emergency basis would be against the natural order of things doesn’t make me a cave vampire,” Cardian puffed up in a way that made me want to kiss his neck. “We have these little hooks on the cells that deliver blood to the right places. Those little hooks grab onto the right parts of the blood and make sure more of it gets used than wasted. It’s different for omega vampires. It’s not that it gets wasted. It just gets stored with other forms of energy like fat and glucose to help with heats, pregnancy, and chest feeding.”

“Mate, I don’t have any sort of hooks that I know of. I’m not a vampire.”

“Doesn’t mean you won’t be adversely affected by blood loss.”

“Wouldn’t it be the same if I fed Scott then?” I arched a brow.

“Perhaps, but that’s different.”

“How so?” I asked him.

“By saying I won’t feed from you in a non-emergency I’m controlling my body. By saying I won’t allow you to feed Scott, I’m controlling yours,” he shrugged.

“Fair enough,” I nodded.

“It won’t hurt you to donate to him.”

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