Bonus Scene

Moon

I giggle as Arlo massages one foot and Silas massages the other, it tickles because they aren’t paying adequate attention to the task.

They have me resting in the natural hot spring in Cato’s cave, and they’re distracted. The water stops just below my breasts, giving them a full view of my bare chest. Warrior is behind me, rubbing my shoulders, not as distracted as the other two. He’s as attentive as always, my vigilant mate. He takes such good care of me. They all do, but Warrior has a certain dedication to it that I can’t help but admire.

“Focus. You’re not relaxing her. That tickles,” Warrior scolds Arlo and Silas, who grunt in unison. They both make an attempt to look anywhere other than my nipples, but they both fail.

“It’s hard to focus, when I’m, well, hard,” Arlo defends himself, his black hair falling over his brow and hiding one magenta eye. Silas nods his agreement, pushing a wet hand into his white hair, his silver eyes still zeroed in on my boobs.

We’ve returned to Cato’s hoard, so we can hatch our little dragonling. Things are still a bit complicated for Love.

She’s still fighting, trying to free Sky from whatever spell he’s under. I’ve helped her as much as I can, but she sent me away… I understand why, even if I do feel guilty as hell for not doing more. The ex-Fae Queen, Norma, my mate’s shitty ass mother, has proven to be a nuisance. She’s in a realm that my men and I cannot enter without setting off every damn alarm bell there is.

I’m only so much help to her right now. My attention is divided, and my powers, as well as the large group of men that are always following me, make it hard for me to hide, or be stealthy, at all.

Every last one of my men refuses to let me go anywhere without them. I can’t complain about it, since I feel the same way about all of them. After everything each of them has been through, I don’t have it in me to let them out of my sight.

If just two or three of us were assisting Love, we might have been more help, but…well…no one could agree. So Love told us to fuck off. She’s got a place to go if she needs a quick hiding spot, and if it’s life or death, she’ll call us. But she’s playing the long game. This isn’t a get-in and get-out rescue mission, unfortunately. We talk every few days, but those calls are getting farther apart, the deeper she goes.

We’ve been here for a few weeks, and Cato has been working diligently to keep our egg hot. Watching it grow has been a unique experience. I place a hand on my abdomen, kind of sad that my little baby isn’t going to be born from me, in a way.

Of course, the babies in my belly haven't made themselves known. Well, I know. It’s my men who haven’t noticed yet, which is a little concerning.

“Badger, I think those are getting bigger,” Tristan says from beside the hot spring as he passes by, gesturing to my chest. “They’re bigger, right? I’m not crazy?” He’s pauses so he can stare, his magenta eyes are like lasers on my boobs, a tray of raw meats for my Dragon mate in his hands.

“You’re not crazy.” I shake my head, a small smile pulling my lips up. They realized the egg was growing in my belly within days. Granted, my little dragonling was a unique situation, but if I can tell, shouldn’t these men of mine be able to?

“Woah.” Tristan stares at my breasts as if he’s hypnotized for a little longer before the huffy Dragon steals his attention.

Across the room, Daire keeps Cato company as my Dragon mate works hard to keep the egg growing. My Vampire meets my eyes, his red ones filled with suspicion, and lifts a brow.

If he doesn’t already know, I’d be truly shocked. His hearing is better than the rest of ous. Granted, the heartbeats only just developed. I lift a brow in challenge as he takes in the sight of my growing breasts.

I see it, the moment he figures out I’m pregnant. Does he realize how many babies I’m carrying, though?

“Five?” He mouths, and I nod. I have to bite my lip to hide the giggle when the look of absolute fear fills his eyes. I watch as he stares at my stomach for a while, as Tristan feeds Cato, before tending to the egg.

Each day, the twelve of us take the time to speak to the little egg, so that when the baby is born, they’ll recognize our voices.

“Hello, my little darling baby Badger,” Tristan jokes, as he leans in close. He can’t touch the egg like Cato and I can, unless he wants to burn himself, anyway.

“Very funny,” I chastise him, but it doesn’t really bother me.

“I’m going to help Lust and Odas with dinner,” Arlo says, releasing my foot, before leaning forward to press a kiss to my cheek. I don’t let him escape that easily, though, as I hold him to me with a hand around his throat. I kiss him hard and a bit needy. Arlo grunts, clearly he wasn’t expecting me to be so aggressive with my kiss.

“Fuck, baby girl,” he murmurs after I release him, leaning back against Warrior. My smile is smug, as he walks away, a bit dazed.

“Is there something you need from us, Moonlight?” Silas asks, his voice husky as he watches me with his silver eyes.

“A nap,” I tease because while I am feeling a bit horny, I’m a lot more sleepy.

Silas and Warrior help me out of the water, one of them drying my body while the other dries my hair. Warrior starts brushing my hair before he even dries himself off, and I do my best not to start moaning. My eyes fall shut while I enjoy the sensations for a minute.

I turn around and kiss him silly when he’s done. Still naked, with nothing but my towel between us. The way he holds me feels like home, and I sink into him, enjoying the comfort of my mate. He watches me with his blue eyes as I push my fingers into his silver hair, tugging it a bit.

“Is it a nap you really want, Goddess?” Warrior grunts, and I sigh. Ultimately, though, I nod. My eyes are heavy, and I already feel myself drifting, especially after that hair brushing. Warrior lifts me into his arms, and I wrap my legs around his waist as he carries me to our nest. Despite the hardness between his thighs, he lays me down gently before covering me in blankets.

I’m out cold before he finishes fussing over me.

I take a nice long nap, and it’s not until the scent of food hits my nose that I’m roused from sleep. Once we’ve eaten, I head over to the egg and take a seat beside Cato in his Dragon form, resting against his hot body. He shifts back briefly every day to spend time with me, but caring for our little egg is a full-time job for my mate.

I rub my stomach, letting my eyes fall shut. How is it possible that I’m sleepy after such a glorious nap?

“She’s strong,” Silas whispers as he pulls me against him. I lean back into him, sinking into the feeling of safety.

“She?” I ask, almost absentmindedly. I already feel connected to the baby inside the egg. My dragonling might not be growing in my belly like the other five, but they’re still mine.

“Yes, she’s a girl. I can sense her more clearly now. I couldn’t be sure before because of the egg’s protection. She likes your voice,” Silas says gently, and I blink up at him.

“Wait, you’re serious?” I ask, spinning in his arms to look up into his eyes.

“Of course.” Silas frowns as tears fill my eyes at his answer.

“A girl. We’re having a girl?” I whisper, swiping at the tears as they fall down my cheeks.

“Of course we’re having a girl,” Tristan says as if it’s so obvious and I’m silly for doubting it. I shoot my jokester of a mate a death glare that only makes him chuckle.

“You have eleven mates who are fiercely protective of you, she’ll be the only other Dragon besides her father, and her mother is a chaos demon, of course, we’re having a girl,” Kili sasses me like this explains how they all knew she was a girl. I roll my eyes.

“Chaos Goddess,” I correct, making him smirk. Kili and Crow are playing chess by the fire, while Arlo, Lust, and Odas are reclining in the nest, after cooking all of us a fantastic meal. Daire, Warrior, and Fenrick clean up the after-dinner mess. If I thought they’d let me, I’d offer to help, but after the first week of every attempt I made ending with one of them distracting me with orgasms, I got the hint. Not that the orgasms weren’t great, but six to eight a day for seven days straight was a bit excessive.

“Would the universe be kind enough to give us a male?” This is from Lust, and his words earn a pointed glare from me. “Woah, okay, before you turn me into a bag of dicks, I know that came out badly, but it wasn’t what I meant.” Lust holds his hands up in defense. “I mean that if the baby was a boy, then when they grow up we would be far less terrified of…well…everything. Girls are different, for fathers. Not less than, just…well, scarier.”

“I think what the Phoenix was trying to say, before he shoved his foot in his mouth, is that, as fathers, we’ll be naturally more protective of a daughter because of how women are treated in our worlds. That’s not to say men don’t face their own set of struggles, or that they can’t be harmed in the same ways as women, it's just we’re not familiar with being one. None of us has ever lived life as a woman, so it makes being a father to a little girl harder. We’ll raise her, and care for her, the same way we would if we were having a boy. A son would be taught the same lessons, and we’d worry about him too, but girls are…a bit terrifying,” Daire explains before shrugging, glancing over his shoulder at me as he dries the dishes Fenrick hands him. All of my men, including Cato’s Dragon, are nodding their agreement.

I sigh. I suppose I understand what they’re saying, but… “She’s my daughter, and a dragon , she’ll be strong.” The guys all seem to agree with my words, yet I can tell they still feel the same as they did ten minutes ago.

“No doubt stubborn, hard-headed, and independent as well,” Fenrick adds in a teasing tone, smirking at me over his shoulder as he washes dishes. His blond hair is styled out of his face, and I can’t help but admire the flex of his biceps as he works.

“I’m not that bad,” I grumble.

In unison, all of my men counter with, “Yes, you are.” Even Cato adds his own fiery grunt to their joint denial, and I giggle in response.

Lying on my side now, I roll over to face Silas so I can bury my face against his chest. With my head resting on his bicep, his free hand strokes every inch of skin he can reach, which is how I realize one of them dressed me in a shirt and underwear while I slept.

“Moon?”

“Hmm?”

“Is that what I think it is?” Silas murmurs close to my ear, and I nod. Being this close, he must finally be able to sense the babies. Took him long enough. “About six weeks, but they’re…” He rests his hand against my belly as his pale eyes zone out. “Woah.”

“Tell me,” I whisper, already guessing at what he’s just figured out. I suspected it, anyway, but I want to know for sure.

“Different fathers…for each.” He sounds like he’s in shocked awe.

“Different fathers for each what now?” Crow asks, popping up directly beside my makeshift bed beside Cato. Within seconds, all of my men are swarming me, even Cato has shifted back for this conversation.

“What’s he talking about, mate?” Cato asks, his eyes still fully dragon.

“Danger Lizard,” I greet, kissing him. He kisses me back, but it’s too quick as he pulls away, searching my face for answers.

“A Phoenix, a Cyclops, Part Orc…a Light One…” Silas stares at me with wide eyes until I roll in his arms to face my other guys.

“There’s one more.” I know which baby that one belongs to because his shadows are already making an entrance. I lift my hand, showing Kili. “Part Elf, part shadows…” I don’t know how my chaos will affect each child as their father’s DNA mixes with mine, but there's no denying this one’s got Kili’s Shadow Wolf in him.

“Oh. Well, he’s going to be a handful,” Kili grunts while lifting a brow at me. I watch as he loses himself a little bit, clearly panicking. I sit up, moving in front of him and cupping his cheeks with my hands. “Who are you?” he growls.

“I’m yours,” I murmur, taking his hand in mine and placing it on my belly. “He’s got the best father to guide him. Plus ten others.” I smirk, and Kili scoffs.

“What if…”

“What if he’s loved beyond measure and grows up so completely unlike you did? What if he’s got more love than he’ll ever know what to do with? What if he’s kind, filled with joy and happiness in a way his father didn’t find until he was much older?” I cut off the negative spiral of his thoughts, watching as my mate’s eyes fill with tears. My heart threatens to fall to pieces at the sight.

“I love you, Moonlight.”

“I love you too, Kili. Forever.” I seal my words with a kiss, then turn to face the others, just in case anyone else wants to have a little freak-out.

“How can you be sure?” Lust asks, frown firmly in place. “You only just sensed the dragonling, how can you be sure…”

“They feel different. The egg's natural protections make it difficult to sense through the shell. Moon trusts me, one of the babies is mine biologically…her defenses aren’t up. I can sense them with more ease.”

“Our daughter will have five brothers to protect her,” Cato says, a puff of smoke leaving his lips. He presses several hot kisses to my lips before he goes back to his post, once again returning to dragon form.

“A boy?” I move to Odas before I even see his face. He’s panicking. I know he’s imagining the way his blood was used against him.

“Our son will have us to keep him safe. I’ll destroy this and every other realm to protect our children,” I vow, meaning every word.

“Holy shit. I’m going to be an Uncle-Daddy,” Crow chuckles oh-so-helpfully, and I roll my eyes into the back of my skull.

“Never say those words ever again, or I’ll drain you of every drop of blood and sell you on the black market,” I warn, but my Elf mate doesn’t even flinch. He smirks at me because he knows I’m full of shit.

“You’ve used that threat already, pixie.” His wink is way too charming, his long blond hair and brown eyes drawing me in.

“A Phoenix. He’ll be his sister's protector,” Lust says as he glances from my belly to our egg.

“I imagine they all will, despite her being a few months older,” I reply.

“I think we should name her after you,” Warrior suggests unexpectedly. He doesn’t usually say much, happy to just go along with the rest of us. He and Daire are standing side by side, and my Vampire mate smirks.

“I think we should have as much sex as we can before these babies arrive.” Daire’s grin is salacious, and I giggle because– yes, please .

“These kids are going to need an army. I hate to say it, but I think we should raise them in the Fae Realm,” Fenrick adds, and one look at him tells me he’s attempting complex math in his head. He looks strained. “A Blood Fae, Chaos Goddess, Dragon? She’s going to be a handful on her own, but five brothers who are also unique? We need your Grams, your mom, your dad, and probably my dad too. We’re going to need help.”

I wrap my arms around his waist before he can spiral. “I agree.” I press my face against his chest, and before I can stop myself, I bite him, just a little.

“Do you need a taste?” Daire offers from beside Fenrick. I nod. He catches me easily as I leap into his arms. “She’ll probably need a lot of blood for the next nine months.”

“You know we’ll take care of you, Moonlight,” Arlo says from beside Daire, pushing my hair behind my ear. I jump into his arms for my next bite. “We’ll all get through this together as a family.”

“A family,” I agree, my heart swelling with more love than I know what to do with.

“Warrior?” I call my mate as he walks over to the hot spring. He’d been out foraging while Kili and Crow were hunting with Lust and Daire. Silas and Odas were supposed to be with Warrior, and Tristan, Arlo, and Fen shouldn’t be too far from just outside the hoard. They were meant to be gardening while I rested with Cato, but…none of them are with my mate at the moment.

Which means they haven’t seen him in his current state.

“Yes, Goddess?” His scratchy voice still makes my heart ache, but right now, I’m much more focused on what he’s got in his arms.

This is concerning. Very concerning.

“I’m not sure where to begin, my love,” I say softly. Cato takes notice of our interaction, but doesn’t shift back. “Let's start with what you’re doing?”

“Giving it a bath.” He’s so matter-of-fact, and I watch in horror as my mate descends below the water’s surface. I yelp, rushing forward, but he pops back up quickly.

“Warrior!” I gasp, but he just frowns at me.

“What is wrong?”

“You can’t dunk him under the water like that! He could drown!”

“It is fine. Feral Wildling is strong.” He frowns at me, before focusing back on the tiny human in his arms that’s doing his best to maul my mate. Warrior is entirely unfazed, probably because the toddler’s bites are ineffective with those tiny-ass teeth.

“Please, put the child down,” I murmur, making my way over to the edge of the water. Cato’s watching more closely now I’m walking their way.

“Okay.” Warrior puts the wild boy down. He immediately takes off for the corner of the room, hiding behind a large pile of gems and gold. Cato huffs at this, but doesn’t fuss that an outsider is near his hoard.

“It’s okay, you’re not in any danger. Let me help you find your family?” I ask as I get closer to the boy. When he snarls viciously and chucks several gems at me, I barely hold in my giggle. “Charming,” I tease. “You see that egg over there? My daughter is in there. And I have five little boys in my belly right now. See my bump?” I turn so he can get a look at the size of me, even though I’m only about fifteen weeks right now.

The growling and snarling tone down as he pops his eyes over the top of the pile of jewels and gold. They’re such a light blue shade that they almost look electric. His damp, still rather dirty hair, is possibly brown, but it could just be the dirt.

“Feral Wildling is our family now,” Warrior announces as he walks up behind me, staring the boy down.

“You can’t keep calling him that. Do you have a name?” I ask, but the boy’s only response is to growl at me some more. “Okay then,” I sigh, turning to face Warrior. “He has a mother and father somewhere out there waiting for him. We need to go find them.”

“He does not.”

“Warrior.” I don’t even know what else to say to that, but then Daire walks in and I sigh with relief. He instantly picks up on the disturbance and zeros in on the young boy.

“I smelled death. What happened?” Daire walks over to us and looks up at Warrior. He must sense how anxious I am because he tugs me firmly against his body.

“His parents are dead. Probably at least eight days. It took a moment to get my hands on him,” Warrior grins, and there's a sparkle of pride there. “He’s vicious. Fierce and strong.” Warrior nods, looking over at the boy who’s watching us closely.

There’s intelligence in his young eyes, a certain sort of maturity which I’m sad to see on someone so innocent. He’s still got chubby baby cheeks, and if I had to guess, he’s somewhere around two years old.

“Do we know his name?” I ask, tears springing to my eyes. My hormones have been erratic at the best of times.

“Feral Wildling.” Warrior shrugs, and I shake my head.

“No.” I wiggle out of Daire’s hold to make my way closer to the pile of gems and gold, while steadily meeting the child’s gaze. There’s a name that's been filling my mind since I first asked. “His name is Wilder.” I smile at the way the boy's eyes narrow on me. Slowly, cautiously, he makes his way over the top of the pile and slides down the side. I hear Cato huff again, but he doesn’t throw a fit like when one of my guys messes with his piles.

“The fuck is that?” Tristan asks when he walks in.

I glare at my mate for a brief second before focusing back on the boy and answering, “Mine.” I don’t know what makes me growl the word, but it’s exactly the right thing to say because the boy launches himself at me. I drop to a knee and hold my arms open. I catch him easily, hugging his tiny form tightly. “I’ll keep you safe, Wilder. I promise,” I whisper into his messy hair outwardly ignoring whatever it is that's just smudged from the strands and onto my cheek.

Yep. That’s definitely mud.

I snort when Wilder snarls at Kili, who just handed him a fat piece of meat. We got him fed and then cleaned up, and the second I had him dressed in something that wasn’t as dirty as fuck, he promptly passed out.

He hasn’t spoken yet, but he’s been through a lot of trauma and he is still very young.

“Wilder.” Crow’s hovering over the boy like a mother hen. Lust thinks no one has noticed the way he’s doing the same thing, but I see right through my handsome Phoenix. Wilder shoves the meat in his cheek and ambles over to Cato.

“Don’t scare him,” I warn Cato, and I’m pretty sure he rolls his eyes. Wilder runs right up to the massive Dragon, hands on his hips as he stares up at my mate.

“I don’t think he’s the least bit scared, pixie,” Crow chuckles, and I nod my agreement. The next thing I know, Wilder has his hands on the egg and rests his forehead against it. I move quickly, sprinting forward and reaching for the boy.

“You’ll burn yourself!” I gasp. The egg is indestructible, but he isn’t! Cato huffs hot air at him, but Wilder’s unfazed, he just clings to the egg until he looks up at me. His blond hair was so caked with mud I thought it was brown until I washed him up. His blue eyes meet mine, staring intently.

“Mine?”

I gasp. When Wilder speaks his lyrical voice fills my mind. He’s speaking to me, just telepathically. Tears fill my eyes.

“He’s okay. I don’t think the heat bothers him,” Kili crosses his arms over his chest as he observes the boy and the egg. None of them heard his whisper of joy. Only me.

“Come on, Wilder. Let’s leave Cato to it before he gets all growly.” I smile, and the boy kisses the egg, then sprints right for me.

“Your chaos might do some crazy shit, like turn beasts into a bag of dicks, but it sure has brought us a lot of good things too.” Odas smiles as he pulls me into his lap, bringing Wilder along as he’s clinging to my neck.

“Gotta love the chaos, hmm?” I giggle.

“I do. Very much.”

“She’s glowing,” Odas murmurs, clearly in awe of the sight before us as Cato pulls our daughter from her shell. It’s finally time to meet our girl. I’m nervous and sweating, but not from the heat.

It’s been three weeks since Wilder joined our family, and he’s been by my side or hovering around the egg the entire time. He still hasn’t spoken, other than the single precious word he shared telepathically, but I’m not worried. We communicate in other ways, and until he’s ready to let me hear his sweet voice, I can be patient.

He’s glued to my side as Cato approaches me.

“Hi, my baby…” I whisper when he places the screaming newborn into my arms. She’s glowing red, and she nearly burns me with the heat radiating from her tiny form. However, my magic responds, keeping both me and the baby safe. “She’s beautiful.” I’m in awe of my beautiful girl.

Wilder climbs my back using my shoulder and hair as leverage to get a good look at the baby girl in my arms. Her hair is a dusty rose color, a shade that according to Cato isn't abnormal for Dragons. Her bright blue eyes blink at me, and as we look at each other, she calms. Wilder’s cheek squishes against mine. I can feel how enamored he is with her.

“Fuck, Moonlight.” Kili crouches down beside us, staring at our newborn baby daughter. Cato closes in on my other side, snuggling in close. All of my men are within arms reach of the small lounge I’m sharing with Cato.

“What’s her name going to be, Moon? Have you decided?” Arlo asks. It’s something we’ve all talked about many times.

“Warrior thought I should name her after myself, but I thought I should name her after the thing that brought us all together,” I whisper, the tears falling freely. I’m a pregnant and hormonal new mom, leave me alone.

“Love?” Tristan asks with a frown, and I shake my head. That name is taken by my clone-twin-whatever.

“Tournament of Blood is a little wordy. Maybe just Blood for short?” Crow teases, and I snort.

“Nope.” I cuddle the sweet baby to my chest. She’s cooled down enough that Cato can help me wrap a little blanket around her.

“Well, you can’t be naming her something like ‘pure stubborn determination,’ so tell us her name already!” Lust practically whines. I smile for him, I can’t take my eyes off our girl though.

“Baby girl, meet your dads…”

I press a kiss to her cheek, finally looking up to meet the eyes of the eleven men watching me intently. Wilder ever so gently rests his hand on her forehead, nuzzling my cheek.

“Chaos,” the sweet soft voice of my boy whispers in my head, and I nod.

“That's right, Wilder.” I meet Cato’s eyes as I say, “Dads, meet your daughter, Chaos.”

“Wilder…” I hiss as I rush up behind my oldest, grabbing him by the elbow.

“Mom,” he grunts, looking down at me because, of course, all of my children are taller than I am. I shiver because it’s winter in the Fae Realm, and I dashed out after my son before I could grab a jacket. He sees this and frowns. “Here.” He’s already removing his jacket to wrap around me.

“Please don’t go.” I know it’s not fair to beg, but I don’t want him to leave.

“You know I have to. You know why I have to!” The pain and sadness in his voice nearly brings me to my knees. Nothing in this realm, or any other, could have prepared me for the ache of being a mother and seeing one of my children suffer.

Even worse, there’s nothing I can do to make things any better for him.

“Your fathers and I knew this was a possibility, we always have. We can face it together. As a family.” I do everything I can to hold back my tears. We only celebrated his eighteenth birthday a couple of weeks ago. Since we didn’t know his birthday when he came to us, we celebrate the day Warrior brought him home. Four days later, he came bursting into my room sobbing.

Now he’s leaving us, and I can’t stop him.

“Mom–”

“Wait. Wait.” I sniff, shake my head, and let my eyes fall closed for just a second, then I mom-up and do what's right. The best thing for my first boy. “I love you, Wilder. With every ounce of love in my heart. You are my son and I will always love you. There is nothing in this world you can ever do to change that. Do you hear me?” I place my hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look at me.

He shakes his head, swallowing thickly.

“I’m going to miss you so fucking much.” I force the words out around the lump in my throat. Tears fill my eyes, but I hold them in. “I will be here for you for the rest of your life. No matter what. If you need me, I’m here, Wilder. I’ll keep your secret. I’ll do as you’ve asked, but there’s nothing you can do or say to push me away. I will always be your mom.” I pull his forehead down to mine, closing my eyes.

“I love you, Mom.”

I sniff, getting one last look at my boy, then take a step back. “You might need this.” As I hand him his jacket, I see the tears he’s fighting to hold back.

“Tell Warrior–”

“You tell him when you see him again. This isn’t forever, just for now. Now, go on, before I change my mind and try to bribe you into staying.” I blow my son a kiss, and rather than making him be the one to walk away, I turn around and run back to the palace.

“Moonlight, what’s wrong?” Lust is there the second I step back inside. He looks out over my head, searching the darkness for signs of danger. The second I’m in his arms, I fall to pieces.

“Get me to the room,” I beg, letting the tears fall now that my son can’t see me. “I'll explain…” I manage to get the words out around body rocking sobs.

Lust scoops me off my feet, carrying me bridal style as he sprints through the palace.

“Goddess?” Warrior is the first in our room to notice I’m not okay. Seeing him just makes me sob harder. I know I need to explain soon, or they’re going to start freaking out and searching me for injuries. I need to get my shit together first.

Lust sits on the edge of our bed, keeping me in his lap. Even nearly twenty years later, my men still love me just as fiercely as they always have. Cradled against my mate's chest, I sob.

Not just because my son left, but because he’s in so much pain that he thought the only solution was to leave. I don’t know where he’s going, or when he’ll return. I don’t know if he’ll ever return.

I don’t know how I will tell Chaos or her brothers that he’s gone.

“It’s Wilder,” Kili explains for me when it’s clear I won’t be getting my shit together any time soon. “He snuck out half an hour ago after spending two hours packing. He waited until everyone was asleep so no one would be suspicious, but he wasn’t counting on a mother's intuition or a house filled with Dads who sleep lightly to catch him.”

“Lust went after Moon, while Kili checked on the kids, and I searched the entire palace,” Daire explains as he comes to kneel in front of me. When Daire calls Warrior over, he kneels beside Daire.

“I know this is hard, but–”

“I know!” I sob, cutting Cato’s words off. “I know. That doesn’t make this any easier.”

“We’ll tell the kids in the morning. For now, let’s get some sleep,” Odas says, lying back against the headboard. I crawl out of Lust’s arms and across the bed, until I’m collapsing into his arms.

I’m quickly swarmed by ten other bodies.

As I drift off sometime later, the thought that I’ve failed my son plagues me.

“This is bullshit, and you know it,” Chaos whines, dropping back onto the couch beside Cato.

“It is. But you know it’s better than the alternative.” Cato wraps an arm around our daughter’s shoulder, pulling her into his side. “The closer you get to mating age, the worse it’s going to get. You’re nineteen now–”

“I don’t need to be reformed though!”

Chaos has been making the same argument for months, trying to get out of attending this Academy. I can’t blame her, I wouldn’t want to go either. However, after she shifted into her dragon form and nearly burnt a prince to a crisp, they sort of revoked her right to object to attending.

Thankfully, the guy she nearly roasted was a regenerative species. Unfortunately, he was also a prince. Whatever happened between the two of them, they’re both keeping the truth on lockdown.

Her brothers also know, and those five have taken a vow of silence on the matter.

“At least they’re letting us tag along.” Mayhem smirks, his shadows dancing between his fingers, as he makes one take on the shape of a flower and tosses it in his sister’s lap. The power Kili passed down to him took on many forms when it combined with my chaos magic. All of my kids are unique.

Chaos picks it up and clutches the rose tightly.

“The Academy isn’t just for reforming anymore. They just haven’t changed the name since its conception,” I say, even though I’ve already said this time and time again. “And your powers could use some control. That’s normal. This Academy can help with that.”

“Which is no doubt your fault,” my nineteen-year-old daughter says with all the sass in the world. Things have been strained between us since Wilder left. She blames me, and I let her. I’ll do anything to protect my children, and I made Wilder a promise.

“Don’t try to blame this on your mother, Chaos. If you and your brothers hadn’t tried to commit fucking murder, you wouldn’t be in this position.” Lust’s feeling defensive on my behalf, since our kids often gang up on me or blame me for their lack of control. They all got into the school for a reason. “I’m disappointed in you, Stone,” he adds, sending our Phoenix child an extra glare. Lust tends to expect more out of Stone because he’s part Phoenix. He’s also got half of my DNA, though.

“Stone isn’t responsible, and you know it. Whatever this kid did, he deserved it. Otherwise, the six of them wouldn’t be hiding it from us.” I look at the faces of my six children, watching as they all go carefully blank, just how I suspected. “They know whatever he did is bad enough to warrant murder. They’re protecting us,” I sigh, as Pierce, my most gentle child, tucks his head. He’s got tusks that match Arlo’s and every time I see them my heart warms. I feel a little bad scolding him because he was no doubt just following his brothers into danger, but he’s not saying a word either.

“Mom.” Wolf gives me a look, then partially shifts. His one eye in the center of his face is brown, just like Odas. This reaction only confirms my suspicions, but lucky for him, the real problematic fathers aren't in the room with us right now. It’s just Lust, Cato, and I. Both of these men are more than capable of being a menace to society, but tend to be more reasonable. Slightly. One look at Cato’s eyes tells me he’s considering committing murder himself.

Havoc, who has his father’s pure white hair and the same Light One menacing energy, turns to his partner in crime, Mayhem. We named them appropriately. They share a look that screams trouble. I shake my head. Raising a pack of rabid mungus would be easier.

“Don’t even start,” Chaos snaps at her brothers. “I can take care of this myself. They shouldn’t be attending with me, and you know it,” Chaos snaps at me this time, and I deflate. Even though I know my daughter loves me, it feels like I’m enemy number one in her life. Teenagers.

“The six of you were caught at the scene of the attempted murder. I’m powerful, but not powerful enough to take on an entire freaking realm, Chaos. Two years of your life will feel like a blip fifty years from now. There’s nothing I can do.” I throw my hands up. “At least Love’s sons will also be there since you freaking menaces dragged them into this too,” I sigh heavily. Love wasn’t the least bit surprised, either. She and I have raised some feral ass kids, man.

“Who’s a menace?” Kili asks as he walks in and scoops me into his arms.

“All of your children,” I grunt, then take a deep breath before adding one last thing. “Before the six of you start a fucking war, do me a favor and warn me? Mmmkay? If I need to destroy an entire monarchy, I’ll need advanced notice.” At my words, my kids flee, running for the hills as the rest of their fathers enter.

“She’ll be okay, Moonlight. You raised her right.”

“She tried to turn a prince into a Kentucky fried fuck… Did I raise her right–did I raise any of them right? My oldest refuses to speak to me, my daughter spends all of her time dodging me, and my five precious youngest have turned into little demons.” I stare up at Kili as Crow smacks my ass on his way past me.

“We both know she wouldn’t have done what she did for no reason, reasons I’m choosing to ignore until our children ask for help, or I’ll be the one starting that war.” Kili’s body shakes as he fights to contain his madness, and I chuckle.

“My thoughts exactly. I think you all need to speak with them. I’ve said all I can.” I allow Kili to scoop me into his arms and carry me into the back room. I need a freaking nap.

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