Page 87 of Worthy Promises
“I hope he grows up into a rare dragon,” Blodwen said. “Worth and Somerly, your family has such gorgeous dragons, I think there’s a great possibility we could get another unique beast in our family.”
“That’s true,” Somerly replied. “Kendrick’s family has powerful dragons too. After all, Rafe is a black one and a High King.”
Thinking of families had Worth’s mind floating back to the conversation he’d shared with Oliver weeks ago. What other dragons shared their blood with Worth? Were any of them as unhappy as he’d been for the first two centuries of his life? Shaking his head, Worth focused on the magic of the day.
They were adding a new member to the household, and Worth wanted nothing to take away from the excitement of Noirin and Kendrick’s first child.
∞∞∞
A few days later, Worth sat on the couch with Oliver pressed close at his side. Asteria was leaning so far over Oliver’s shoulder that her little paws kept slipping and she had to rebalance herself. Across the great room, Saura stared at Worth moodilywith her arms crossed. Although Worth would normally do nothing to irritate the formidable Lichpriestess, she’d hogged Noirin and Kendrick’s son from the moment the trio had arrived home from the hospital.
If either parent needed someone to hold their baby, Saura swooped in and barely gave anyone else a chance to volunteer to aid Kendrick or Noirin. So, Worth had wormed his way into holding the newborn by suggesting his cousin and her other half grab a power nap. Since their child was sleeping at most a few hours at a time, the couple had jumped at the chance.
Noirin had happily handed her son to Worth, and he grinned evilly at Saura as he cuddled him. The backdoor opened, and two wolves raced in ahead of the High Kings.
“Oh, wow, you have the baby,” Aleksander exclaimed as he strolled into the great room with Rafe’s hand in his.
“He told Noir she looked exhausted and shooed her off to bed,” Saura complained. “No woman wants to hear about the bags under eyes…even if she’s given birth recently.”
“Mom, you’re just mad that you aren’t the one holding the baby,” Dre’Kariston said.
“Well, it’s not as if I can have more children now, can I?” Saura snapped.
Worth’s eyes went wide, and guilt seeped into his heart. Birthrates among magickind and shifters tended to be low, and Saura’s only two sons had been teenagers when she died. Although Sorcery D’Vaire had granted her and T’Eirick another chance on this side of the veil, resurrected people couldn’t have biological children.
“You could adopt,” Oliver suggested. “There must be plenty of children who need loving homes.”
“Yeah, and Brogan can’t bitch if it’s a kid coming to live with us,” Dra’Kaedan added.
Saura shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m being ugly. Someday maybe we’ll adopt. Right now, I have my hands full taking care of every D’Vaire. I’m not sure I realized how much I missed being a mommy to babies until RJ arrived. All I want to do is cuddle that boy.”
Settling onto the couch next to Worth, Rafe reached over and gently ran a finger down RJ’s nose. The baby opened his blue eyes for a second, then they drifted closed again.
“I still can’t believe Kendrick insisted on naming him after me,” Rafe said.
“Rafe Jaylen is a fantastic name,” Aleksander commented with a grin. “It was Kendrick’s suggestion, and Noir assured me she agreed one hundred percent.”
“I wasn’t expecting such an honor,” Rafe replied.
“RJ looks like Noir,” Aleksander remarked.
Worth studied the shock of straight black hair sticking off RJ’s head and the lovely symmetry of his face. “You’re right,” Worth said.
“Onora and Ismay had some seriously strong genes,” Dravyn commented.
“Agreed,” Aleksander answered. “Obviously Worth looks remarkably like me, and honestly, you and Noir could easily be mistaken as our siblings. We have such similar bone structure and coloring.”
Once again, Worth found his mind drifting toward the thought of having other brothers or sisters somewhere out in the world. As Worth stared at the precious bundle in his arms, he thought about RJ’s life. The little boy would grow up in a warm, caring family with every advantage possible. While Worth had been raised with the occasional bursts of wealth and a title, he had no happy memories from the days before he arrived at D’Vaire.
What made Worth any different from his cold father if he didn’t at least try to help his flesh and blood?
“Aleksander, we need to find Ismay,” Worth stated, glancing over to meet the dark gaze of his brother.
To Worth’s surprise, Aleksander nodded. “That’s all I’ve thought about since RJ was born. Is Ismay still negotiating with men who have no business being parents and giving them children? This is a sanctuary, and if we can locate people in need of a family, then we should.”
“So, you’re going to have these potential siblings fill out the sanctuary form and go through the entire process, right?” Brogan asked.
“Let’s find Ismay and see what we can learn before we compromise on how to proceed,” Aleksander said.
