Page 246 of His Sunshine Baby

She lets Estelle go and my daughter runs back to play with her cousin. At least she’s okay. I let out a long sigh, and Nathaniel comes to sit next to me, putting his arm around me. I finally accept Nora’s tea and, for a few minutes, we just watch the kids play.

“I wonder if James will be all white too, or jet-black like you,” whispers Nora to Damian, who’s caressing her big belly.

“Definitely white,” replies Tonia. “His Royal aura is even stronger than Estelle’s. There’s no way he will have black fur.”

“Too bad… Well, white is cute.”

Damian chuckles.

“Nora, you should–”

“If you tell me to rest again, Damian Black, I’ll kick you. I’m pregnant, not disabled.”

It’s my turn to chuckle. I can’t pick sides on this one, Damian looks genuinely worried for his wife. Nora is almost seven months along now. Werewolf pregnancies are a bit shorter, so my cousin might give birth within the next two months.

“Good morning, everyone!”

Sylviana just walked in, followed by a tall black wolf. Did Liam Black get bigger? He’s lost all his teenage attitude. Immediately, both James and Estelle run to them, excited by the presence of another wolf. Damn, it’s going to be crazy in here if we have more pups that can shape-shift, starting with Nora’s next baby. I notice Damian’s frowning a bit too, probably thinking the same as me. How many werewolf pups can we handle at the same time? Those two have been running around for twenty minutes straight!

Sylviana smiles and sits on the floor to hug James, who’s apparently very familiar with the witch, and Estelle is happily playing with her too.

“Elena freaked out,” says Tonia right away.

“It’s fine,” whispers the witch.

“She will feel it, won’t she?” asks Nathaniel before I do.

Sylviana nods.

“Yeah. Estelle’s Royal Aura just increased; she won’t miss something like that. She is probably waiting for the right moment, though.”

“What is the right moment?” I ask. “Why would she delay her attack?”

The witch stays silent for a while, and Liam takes over playing with the kids, pushing Estelle around and letting James chase him. Sylviana stands up, crossing her arms.

“I’ve been thinking about what a good time would be. I think she’s scared of Nora, mostly.”

“Scared of me?” says my cousin. “I’ve never fought her.”

“No, but she has experience with Royals. With your family. I was wondering why she hasn’t attacked sooner. First, I thought the Black brothers had scared her after pushing all the vampires away four years ago, but… I think that now, you’re the one she’s scared of. Nora, you’re probably as powerful as your grandmother was, and the Dark Witch was never able to attack until Diane made a mistake.”

“You mean when she lifted the barrier for Reagan?”

“I think so. I think she is probably sensing that Nora is protecting Silver City in her own way. And Damian protects Nora, and all the packs protect them. She doesn’t want to make any mistakes this time, so she’ll wait until Nora is vulnerable to attack her.”

“Define vulnerable?” says Nate, frowning and glancing at my cousin.

“The one moment Nora won’t be able to fight her off…”

Nora is frowning, confused, but next to her, her husband’s eyes are already murderous. He understood, too.

“… She’s waiting for Nora to go into labor.”

Nathaniel shakes his head, confused.

“Wait a second. If that’s the case, why didn’t she… Why didn’t that witch attack when James was born?”

“I’m not sure. She might have missed her chance. Nora’s power was even stronger while she was asleep, remember? Her aura could be felt all the time, and even stronger at night.”

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