Page 88 of Chev's Mate

Vanessa thinks this is unnecessary, but I disagree. These children may not be shifters, but I’m still their uncle. I have to teach them these essential life skills. Aziel sure isn’t going to do it. He’s a useless father, and I make sure to tell him that every time I see him. He’s lucky I’m here to help.

I keep three child-sized axes in the back of my shed. Cassia and Valeria squeal when they see them. David wiggles in my arms, and I set him down so he can grab his axe and join his sisters.

“It’s time you learn how to chop down trees,” I say. “We’ll begin building your first home today.”

Cassia lets out a war cry, and I laugh. She’s Aziel’s biological child, and it shows. David is clingy like Gray, and Valeria is weird like Silas.

I grab the lunch I packed yesterday evening and lead the three into the woods. This is good practice for when Vanessa decides she’s ready to give me a child. She’s been living with me for exactly four months and seventeen days, and I think she’s getting comfortable with the idea.

We’ve had penetrative sex six more times since our first, and I can tell she’s enjoying it more and more. She lets me lick her whenever I want now, and I can’t even count the number of times I’ve gotten to feel her warm cunt on my tongue.

“Come on,” I say, leading the tiny demons to a small cluster of young trees.

It will break Vanessa’s heart to learn I’ve encouraged the kids to chop down nature, but it must be done. They need to learn how to build a home for their future mates, and most shifter children are taught at this age.

“Cassia’s wandering off!”

I can always count on David to keep his siblings in line.

Valeria begins lecturing David about squealing while I look for the disappearing wrath. My heart skips a beat when I spot her, and I let out a loud huff before running after her. She’s on her hands and knees peering into a hole, and I wrap an arm around her waist and snatch her up before the snake that lives in it grows angry.

Stupid child.

She screams and kicks, and I grab her axe with my free hand before carrying her back to her siblings. David laughs at her, only furthering her anger.

“Down!” she shouts, kicking at my stomach. “Down!”

The trees here are young, planted with the sole purpose of being cut by children, and I put Cassia in front of the one I want her to take her aggression out on.

“Have any of you swung an axe before?” I ask.

Cassia throws herself onto the ground, but I ignore her. Her parents always run to her when she throws her tantrums, but she’ll quickly learn she won’t get the same reaction from me.

“No,” Valeria says, spinning around with her axe.

She’s going to lose a limb.

David sits on the ground and plays with the blade of his, dragging his finger along the sharp edge. It takes about half a second for him to cut himself, and his eyes fill with tears as he stares at the blood.

“Ow,” he whispers.

He doesn’t come to me for comfort, and I wait patiently for his finger to heal before continuing.

“I’ll show you,” I say.

Cassia’s tantrum stops as I begin demonstrating how to use an axe, and within minutes, the three children are all copying me. They aren’t very good, but most children aren’t. It’ll take years for them to learn, which is why we like to start young.

David figures it out quickly. He has good aim, and he follows my directions perfectly. Valeria struggles to swing, but she’s getting the hang of it. Cassia isn’t making much progress. I gave her a smaller axe because she’s younger than David and Valeria, and I suck my cheeks into my mouth to prevent myself from laughing as she storms up to David and steals his. He doesn’t seem to care, and he happily switches with his younger sister before moving to his next tree.

Valeria’s hard at work, hacking away at the base of her chosen tree.

Their demon blood makes them stronger than most shifter children, and once they learn the motion and technique, they begin making good progress. I’ll bring them to larger trees next time.

“Try not to swing so wildly,” I say when Valeria misses her trunk. “An intentional hit is better than a hard one.”

She misses again, and I help adjust her stance. I keep an eye on Cassia and David while I work with Valeria, ensuring they don’t hurt themselves. I’m a good instructor.

David is next to get help, but he needs the opposite instruction. “You need to swing harder,” I say, crouching to his left. “Put your muscles into it.”

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