Kodiak
Grumps is sitting at his desk. Gramps is standing, leaning against the shelf behind Grumps; Pops comes in, puts his back to the other oldies and leans on the front of the desk.
Mika and Lily are the last to enter, as Mika closes the door, Lily sits down, but I can see she’s nervous. Mika just starts to pace.
“This is about Ems’ link to the litter, isn't it?” Ren asks, and Creed follows up, asking
“And what the weird thing with her and the scary demon trio is, why they were looking at me oddly!” The litter is Ryland, Ajax and Cin.
They were all born within a few days of each other and just handed to Pops and his mate to raise.
You only ever see them together, never alone. Pops takes a breath.
“Yes, on both counts. Can you let me explain? Then I will answer questions when I’m done. If I miss anything?” Pops finishes his coffee and then helps himself to some amber liquid out of one of Grump's decanters.
“The term Mater Aeterna is... sorry, was something sacred and coveted, now it happens so little, not many know of it any more, other cultures have different names, but Hell Hounds call it what has been translated to Eternal Mother,” Pops downs his drink, fills it again and heads back to the desk.
“Most of the time, if a shifter is born, in modern terms is A-sexual, it can mean two things, your mate has already passed to a new life or your mate has yet to be born and fate hasn't decided if your mate will be male or female,” he takes another sip, I know Ajax is A-sexual as some of the dicks at school have bullied him about it.
“Sometimes when you meet certain people, you feel an instant connection, you boys all clicked quickly, and I’m guessing that is because you are all linked to the same fated mate, the same as Sparkplug and the Litter had an instant connection, we thought to begin with it was because she was to be their mate, but when Ajax shifted he would nudge her tummy with his nose and whimper, Cin would do a similar thing.
” he waits, giving us time to let that sink in.
“One of Ember's daughters will be Ryland, Cin and Ajax’s fated mate, as Ryland is 100% sure their mate is female, and before anyone freaks out, they will only feel a familiar love similar to a sibling, not until the child comes of mating age, when they have more romantic feelings, they may be a little possessive over the child dating others and getting attention from others, but I haven't seen it happen in a long time.
But the boys, unlike the demons, don't know anything specific, even though Ember is certain Ren will be the father.” Pops looks around at all of us and then focuses on Ren.
“I ask you to remember you have known these boys for years, you know the type of men they are, please don’t judge them by human views of age gaps, I’m over 300 years old Nonna was 175 years older than me,” Ren gives him a nod, and from all the times Ryland has hugging him calling him daddy I think he has already come to terms with that part of our future, Pops rubs his face and then continues to explain.
“The Demons are more aware and know that their mate will be a male omega and have an Incubus Father; they also know some other stuff, but I won’t share that in case it changes the future, but have confirmed no one Ember loves or considers family will be hurt”, Pops continues, his eyes switching to Mika regularly.
“Doesn't mean it’s me; it could be Jace”, Creed states, but Pops shakes his head.
“Sorry, son, as soon as they felt your power and saw you, they knew you were their father-in-law” Pops chuckles
“One even mentioned that their mate had similar features to your alter.” Creed looks sick, and I kind of get why; he just found out his future omega son will be mated to one of the Princes of Hell’s heirs.
A few questions are asked, but it’s things like time frames and if Ember has any more links to others, the others leave, I stay, wanting to talk to Gramps.
When it's just the two of us.
“Will I hurt her if I mate her? She’s so tiny, even my bear is worried about hurting her!” I ask my grandfather; he’s smaller than me, being just under 8ft. Timber is the smallest at 7ft, and Bas is 7ft 9in
“Without embarrassing you too much with details, I can only say no, you will both find ways to be comfortable.” Even his ears have turned a slight shade of pink.
“If you are unsure, ask one of the others to be there until you are more confident and start with small things before the main event”, he pats my shoulder and heads to bed; I sit for a while and decide to text Paxton, he’s a basilisk shifter, so he could hypnotise my bear into stopping.
ME: I'm worried about hurting Ember
because of my size. When it gets to
that stage, can you be close by?
please?
PAXTON: No problem; I was going to ask
Saint to be close by for me and want to talk to
Xander about her possible reaction to my venom
ME: Thanks, I guess I always thought I
would be with a bear, I know she’s not
fragile, but even my bear is worried
PAXTON: Talk to Pixie about your concerns,
just so she’s aware of your hesitation and
doesn’t see it as a rejection, she’s had too
much of that in her life, she just expects it now,
she might surprise us and already has ideas
ME: Will do – thanks again
I head up to bed and spend some time finishing the bear paw and phoenix feather pendant I’m carving for Ember, it doubles as a hair slide, one you slide like a chopstick through to secure it. I plan to give it to her when I talk about being her potential mate.