Page 44 of Gift from the Stone

“I’m not quite sure why Elementra set up the Nexuses this way, princess, but when a true Primary becomes pregnant, it isn’t just one of the men who’s biologically the father, it’s all the men in the Nexus.”

“How is that possible?” she asks quietly, with wide, disbelieving eyes. I’m sure it’s hard for her to understand because it goes against everything she’s ever been taught or learned when it comes to having children, but that’s how it works here.

“I’m really not sure, princess. I know as we get older, your sex drive will change, increase as we get closer to the childbearing age. So I don’t know if that has something to do with it or it’s simply the way Elementra designed us. It’s just how it’s always been in true Nexuses. When they came out with the blood testing system centuries ago, it was for chosen Primaries and Nexuses to see who the biological father was, but true Nexus children have always had the exact same, equal amounts of blood to match their fathers. Even me and Caspian tried it with our dads. They each are our biological dads,” I tell her.

A cold tear lands on my arm, and I tilt Willow’s chin back to look at me. There is a stream of tears rolling out of her beautiful silver eyes, and I’m not sure why. She doesn’t seem sad, but something about what I just said upsets her.

“What’s the matter, baby?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know why that’s making me so emotional. I mean, I’m scared to death to have a child and I’m so thankful it’s a couple hundred years away, but I guess when I first thought about what Oakly said, it almost made me not want to have a child at all because I would’ve had to pick one of you to father it and that hurt me, even just metaphorically thinking about it. So you saying that you all would be the father just made me so happy. I don’t know, it’s stupid. I shouldn’t even be crying right now. This is so dumb.”

We all lightly chuckle as she throws her hands in the air and wipes away her tears forcefully. It’s not dumb, though, and fuck me, I honestly can’t wait.

“Enough talk of babies. I’m far too young to become a great-grandfather anyways,” Gaster teasingly says, causing us to laugh, but those laughs die out with his next words. “I don’t want to cross a line by bringing this up, but I think it’s important to discuss. In both Tillman’s and Caspian’s awakenings with you, Willow, your mother was brought up, and with what Elementra said about you continuing the path to find who you are and where you’re from, I believe your mother was from Elementra.”

We haven’t discussed what we saw in our awakenings with her because she’s said she didn’t want to talk about what she’s been through, so we haven’t mentioned this.

I’ve racked my brain trying to figure out how her existence was even possible, and I’ve come up short at every turn. I didn’t ignore the fact Elementra brought it up to her. I just don’t have an inkling of where else to look.

“You both saw something about my mom?” Willow asks hopefully. Her yearning to know about her bleeds through her eyes.

“I saw the day you came home from school and asked about mommy and me day,” Tillman says solemnly.

“I saw you being handed to your father as a baby. They said your mother named you, but they spoke of her like she was already gone. Your father said if you didn’t show potential for what they need, they’d get rid of you like they did with her. I’m sorry, Primary,” Caspian says gently as water begins gathering in the corners of her eyes again. Pulling her closer in my arms, I kiss her cheek and wipe away the stray tears.

“The night of Donald’s initiation, I begged my father to make it stop. He said I was born but a useless woman and if I had shown any potential or if I’d been born a son, it would all be different. He called my mother pathetic for not getting either task right. I think he had an idea I possessed magic or was hoping I did,” Willow admits softly.

“I think you’re right, child. I think your father plays an important role in the Mastery from the nonmagical realm. And I believe your stranger knew that, and that’s why they bound all your power,” Gaster says.

“If that’s the case, finding anything out is going to be solely based on when and what my stone shows me.” She huffs, crossing her arms.

I can feel her frustration like it’s my own. The need for answers to the never-ending questions. I know the frustration all too well. It’s an obsession of mine to know everything. I’ve been this way since I was born. When Caspian was kidnapped, it multiplied tenfold. If I know everything, I can protect everyone.

“We’ll figure it out, princess. I swear.”

I’ll do whatever I have to, to get her, her answers.

“Well, that was a lot to process, and I’m sure there’s more to know, but for now, what’s step one in saving the world?” Willow asks, going from one extreme to the next.

I press my lips to her head, running my fingers up and down her arm, silently laughing at her persistence. I’m not the only one who has to know everything.

“I don’t believe it’s as easy as that, baby, but regardless, step one is to continue to train you. Tomorrow, we go back to our routine. You’re with Tillman in the mornings, training, and we get back to the academy. We’re going to go to the Alpha Trials here soon. They’re holding it during our break, so in three weeks, we’ll be traveling to the Terravile pack to watch the trials and scope out the Mastery members who are living there. I have no doubt they’ll try to rig this so another one of their followers takes over.”

“Like a mission? Who's all going?” she asks.

“A team from the palace, Ry and his guys, and our Nexus. Oakly can join them if she’s meeting Tillman’s standard in training by then. Our Nexus would’ve had to go anyway for multiple reasons. Tillman is supposed to be there scouting for potential recruits and for Lyker, being a former E.F. member under his command. It’s a show of support and respect. We also would’ve had to go as representatives of the palace.”

“So we’re going to watch the trial then what, arrest the suspected members of the Mastery?” She lifts a confused, questioning brow at me.

“No, we won’t approach them. Our goal is to witness who wins the trial and identify any that bear the M. Only wolf shifters can be in the running, so most of the trial will take place with them shirtless or in shifted form, giving us the opportunity to see who wears the mark. If the winner is a part of the Mastery, we’ll plan a much larger mission to take on the pack. Jarod may have been trash, but he and his father played it smart by not informing all the pack members what they’ve been up to. If we storm in attacking, the entire pack will see it as a threat, not giving a fuck that we’re E.F. They’ll see it as war and attack back.” That’s a scenario I want to avoid at all costs.

I don’t want anything to happen while Willow is there with us or go to war with a wolf pack that has many more times the number of E.F. members we’ll be bringing.

“Smart. I still can’t fight for shit, but at least now I can shift into a big-ass dragon.” She beams.

“Hell yeah, you can, kitten.” Draken shoots her a playful wink and blows her a kiss.

His nickname for her makes zero fucking sense.

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