Page 92 of Magic & Secrets
“They need names,” Calla said.
“One, Two, Three, and Four.”
Smiling at my nonsense, she offered, “Or Male One, Male Two, Female One, Female Two.”
“I’ve never named anything before, but we’ll come up with something.”
Calla nuzzled each youngling, seeming more attuned to motherhood now. Over the last several months, her body changed quickly. She barely slumbered and ate constantly. We'd both feared what she might birth.
“Four,” I said, kissing the top of her head. “Just like your sister.”
“This here,” Calla said and gestured at the four tiny creatures watching us, “was how Solme Divige intended my sisters to be.”
While the Witches busied themselves with cleaning after the birth, Calla and I watched the four newborns resting in the soft bed. Their delicate features were bathed in an eerie magenta glow from the storm outside.
The two males sported thick chestnut hair and blue eyes. I imagined I looked similar when I was born.
The two females were mirror images of their mother with golden blonde hair and curious emerald eyes.
One of the males grunted and reached upward. Instantly frowning, Calla looked at me as if I might know why he made thenoise. The little thing shifted into a wolf cub and crawled closer to his mother.
“He knows what he wants,” I said proudly. “Look at him already shifting.”
The other three reacted to my words by shifting into various animals. The other male was a hyena. The females transformed into a jaguar and a panther. The four of them stumbled unsteadily into their mother’s lap.
Calla’s joyful expression erased my worries. She stroked their little heads and cooed over their transformations. I scooped up one of the females and nuzzled her with my nose. She purred in response, wanting to be closer. One of the males bounced between Calla and me before losing his balance and nearly tumbling off the bed.
Calla echoed my laughter. The male who nearly had a rough meeting with the floor shifted back into his human form. He watched me and then his mother. A smile warmed his face.
“Is that normal?” I asked Grindley.
“Nothing about this situation is normal,” she muttered before shrugging her scrawny shoulders. “Then again, nothing’s been normal in the Territories since I was a wee girl.”
The other Witch smiled at Calla. “Your sister’s younglings behaved the same way. So, in that way, maybe itisnormal.”
Calla shared the Witch’s smile. My mate looked at me and searched for my mood. I held on to the two younglings in my lap and used my free arm to wrap Calla closer.
“Never in my life did I think any of this was possible.”
“For too long, our choices didn’t belong to us.”
“Do they belong to us now? You were given to me by an ancient being. That same creature gave us these four younglings. Two boys and two girls, just like your sister. Nothing has been an accident.”
“Well, I guess we possess no free will,” Calla said as she nuzzled my jaw. “But our mate bond feels extraordinary. I wasn’t sure what to think about motherhood, but how can I deny these beautiful creatures? If this is the life Solme Divige has orchestrated for me, I have no regrets.”
“Solme Divige has proven to be a good master. You’ll hear no complaints from me, either.”
Despite the nearby Witches and our playful offspring, in that moment, Calla only saw me. She had accepted our mate bond quickly. Her love for me was more powerful than her self-preservation.Calla was a gift.
No matter what Solme Divige had in mind next for us, I believed it would be as bright as Calla’s smile.
Calla’s Epilogue
MT. ELYSIUM PROVEDto be a welcoming home. With the help of his packmates, Roque and I renovated the cabin into something better suited for a family. We had barely finished when we found ourselves the parents of four younglings. His packmates quickly went to work expanding the cabin.
Motherhood felt alien to me. I never expected it. Once I learned I was carrying offspring, I had little time to adjust. I suspected I’d have more than one after my sister’s delivery, yet I remained in denial. Roque and I struggled for several days to choose names for our curious, cuddly younglings.
The two boys—Lupin and Aciano—and two girls—Bryony and Camellia—were named after flowers. Roque insisted on honoring me for carrying and delivering our litter. Though he fought the reality of our mate bond for too long for my taste, once he gave in, he became a loving, protective mate.
