Page 63 of The Monster's Mate

Charity sighs and brings her hand over to rub her stomach. “Here’s hoping for some feminine energy. I’m far too outnumbered as it is.”

My head tilts, wondering if that’s a sign the baby is a girl.

Nadia may have told Charity, but our sweet siren has been a vault.

“All right, darling, what can I interest you and the egg in this evening?” I chuckle.

Who knows why.

Maybe I’m the equivalent of a teenager, but the egg thing still makes me giggle like a child.

Epilogue

Bane

The Next Night

Charity writhes around the nest in complete agony. My nerves are decimated, and if I’m not careful, my beast will force a shift. I pace the edge of the platform that circles the nest.

I’m a shitty mate.

Eldritch and Athos frame her sides as Nadia attempts to coax our child into the world. Fine, we’ll have to incubate the egg for another month before our son or daughter hatches, but the egg needs to come outnow.

Nadia and Meena expressed concern over how large the egg was growing, but that’s not why it’s an emergency.

The baby developed its dragonfire, which wouldn’t be a problem if Charity were a dragon.

However, she’s a dragon’s heart, meaning she can’t handle the temperatures the egg heats to when the baby expels its dragonfire.

Charity screams again in pure misery, and my hands shift. My dragon is convinced we should have her resting on us while fully shifted, but that’s not possible.

The time we spent in Faere should account for the few days she’s shy of a month. That means, it’s perfectly healthy for the egg to be birthed. There’s no other option at this point, because I can’t stand to listen to my mate suffer for another minute, let alone days.

The door to the nest slams open, and Aline and Silence come inside. I knew Meena planned to fetch them when she went over to Aline’s to check on Veryn.

My dragon growls low in warning. The nest is supposed to be a safe place. His instincts scream to remove everyone who is not part of our pack.

Nadia can stay.

Only because she’s a healer.

Silence’s eyes glow pastel green with the power of his magic. “You know my gifts include soothing monsters in beast form. Give me the opportunity to at least try to reach your daughter.”

Aline disregards me completely, skirting around and kneeling on the edge of the nest mattress.

My jaw falls.

A daughter?

Goddamn.

I don’t have the first clue how to raise a little a girl, but fuck me, I hope she looks exactly like Charity.

I give him a wobbly nod, stepping back in case my beast is too stubborn to understand he’s here to help.

Silence dashes up the steps with his hands and eyes glowing. “Charity, my dear, you’re looking a bit rough. Let’s see if we can set this little one to rights.”

Aline, Silence, and Nadia all hover around Charity’s stomach.

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