Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Lila
By the end of the third week, I find myself regularly walking up and down the sandy beach.
After Xavier and Maxsim disappeared, Echo and I napped on the couch for a little while, but soon enough, Maxsim returned with a tub of strawberry cheesecake ice cream.
He was very apologetic and promised he would try harder.
Echo convinced me to get back into the nest with both of them, where I proceeded to eat my whole tub of ice cream, although I did share it with my cute little omega.
Then Maxsim and I snuggled him between us and napped some more.
If I woke up at one stage and found Maxsim stroking my hair absently in his sleep, well, I didn’t mention it to anyone. It felt good, so why would I stop him?
Since then, neither of them has left my side much. All the walking along the beach I’ve been doing has been accompanied by them.
The weather has gotten colder, and snow now covers most of the ground, so Maxsim and Echo frolic about in their cat forms like a pair of kittens. It’s amusing to watch and keeps me distracted from the itchy feeling that is building beneath my skin.
The urge to shift and swim is riding me hard, and I know I need to give into it, but I’m being stubborn.
If I do, this all becomes so much more real.
I’m not ready to be a mother. I’m afraid I’m going to fuck this up, and while these babies will have so many amazing male influences in their lives, the poor girls will only have me, and I’m a fucking disaster.
“Lila, are you okay?” William’s voice is abrupt, and I realize I’ve been standing and staring at one spot for a long time.
He approaches me, all bundled up against the wind, snow, and sea spray that is blowing in our direction.
All the guys have taken turns coming out and checking on me, but they haven’t stayed long because it’s too cold, but I think my whisperer power protects me from the icy temperature.
I haven’t really noticed it. It’s refreshing actually, cooling down my overheated baby growing body.
“Yeah, I’m just worried I’m going to mess these babies up before the world gets a chance to,” I admit, and a wave of understanding fills his eyes.
He tucks his arm into mine, and we start walking away from the house, the beach stretched out before us in a crescent shape.
The lightning cats fall in behind us, and I can hear their paws crunching against the snow and sand.
“Lila, honey, you are going to be a wonderful mom. You are kind and caring and hold an incredible amount of empathy. Look how well you adjusted to everything that has been thrown at you since you arrived. You’ve handled it with dignity and grace.
Motherhood is going to be no different. That’s not to say you aren’t going to make mistakes.
Shit, we all do. Don’t tell either of your grandpas, but your father rolled off the changing table once when I was changing his diaper.
I turned to grab a wipe, and when I looked back, he was gone.
Luckily, my telekinesis caught him just before he hit the ground. ”
He looks so guilty, but I can’t help but laugh, and it helps wash away some of the fear.
“And John doesn’t know this, but Eric and I saw him pushing Marcus on a swing in the backyard.
He pushed too hard, and Marcus went flying off at the top of the arc.
John was so shocked he wasn’t quick enough to catch him, and Marcus hit the ground hard.
Eric and I laughed so hard, but John was beside himself.
Marcus was fine, just a few bruises, but John took a few days to recover. ”
“Do you have a story about Eric and Dad?” I ask, loving all of this. They’d been telling me so many things about Mom and Dad over the last few weeks, but hearing how my grandpas fucked up is going a long way to make me feel better.
“Ha! Probably a hundred, but the one I remember the best is when Eric was teaching your father to control his abilities. Your dad was probably only five at the time. His telekinesis was one of the first things that showed itself. Anyway, they were in the living area, and Eric was trying to show him how to levitate things gently. Marcus had a habit of pitching things at us at a hundred miles an hour, and that shit hurt, but anyway, Liliana had her painting supplies in one corner—an easel with her tubes of paint and brushes. Instead of lifting up his soft toys and making them float around, he lifted all of Lili’s paints and then proceeded to explode them all over Eric and the living room.
John and I heard Lili’s scream of outrage and came running to find Eric, Marcus, and the lounge room covered in multicolored paint.
Your grandmother was furious because it was all oil paint and wouldn’t come out.
Eric spent the next week replacing everything in the room and learned to take Marcus outside to practice. ”
I’m laughing so hard I have to hold my belly for support. I can just picture it in my mind.
“So please stop stressing. Everyone makes mistakes, and Marcus turned out pretty good in the end, if I do say so myself.”
My laughter dies off, and I sigh. “I wish I could remember them.”
He squeezes my arm. “I know, sweet girl. As soon as we heal John, we will take you to Westalin. You and Xavier both deserve to have Xylene and Cronus return your memories and bond. He must love you very much, because he’s been so patient.”
“Yeah, he really has. They are all amazing. I can’t imagine what I’d be like if I was in a bond group where I wasn’t the central person. I would be evil if I had to share one of my guys with another woman.”
“Some women share well, just like some men. Bonds don’t happen that go against one’s nature.
I think it’s reflected in how many different races have joined your bond that you are an amazing woman.
We are so very proud of you.” He leans in and presses a kiss to my temple, and I flush with pride. I do love my grandpas so much.
Suddenly, a wash of need flows over me. This time it’s not for one of my mates, it’s for the ocean. My body shifts without warning.
“Oh!” I gasp as William stumbles back, shocked at my transformation.
The cats come over and start sniffing at my tentacles.
Echo bats at one playfully, but Maxsim lifts his head and sends up an almighty roar.
He and I haven’t really talked, but it seems like we may have come to a bit of an understanding, and I’m happy with that for now.
“Is everything okay?” William asks, and I shake my head, my body moving involuntarily toward the frigid ocean as I peel off my shirt and cover my breasts from my grandpa’s eyes. Neither of us needs that.
“No. I think it’s time. Can you go get Cas?” I call back, but Caspian is already running down the beach.
“I heard Maxsim’s roar. Is it go time?” he asks, his breath blowing steam into the cold air.
“I think so. This happened automatically,” I tell him, gesturing to my shift.
The ocean now laps against my tentacles as I move farther out into the water.
I was braced for the cold, but my body temperature remains the same the deeper I go.
That’s a relief. I thought I was going to freeze my nipples off.
He starts to strip off his own clothes before shifting. I watch as Echo picks them up in his mouth as Maxsim does the same to my shirt. The pants I’d been wearing were completely destroyed by the shift, but William gathers up the remaining tatters.
“Good luck,” he calls. “We can’t wait to meet the new members of our family.”
“We will take turns guarding the eggs, so we will come and go for the first week, but once they hatch, we will both spend two weeks in the ocean looking after them until they make their own first shift,” Cas reminds him, and Will waves a hand.
“I’ll make sure there’s plenty of food. You’re both going to need it. It won’t be easy to regulate your temperatures in that freezing water.”
“No, next time we do this, it has to be summer, because this is ridiculous.” The cold has finally started to penetrate my skin, and my teeth begin to chatter.
“Come, mate, let’s swim. It will be better beneath the water.” Caspian grabs my hand and tugs me deeper until we both sink below the ocean.
We previously swam together a few times so we could look for a place for my eggs, but I hadn’t found a spot that satisfied my kraken.
Come. I went for a swim yesterday, and I think I found the perfect spot, Cas says to me inside my head.
He leads the way, and I swim after him, not wanting him out of my sight.
We swim out quite a distance and then down.
The reef drops off and opens into deep ocean, but at the drop off, Cas leads me into a little overhang.
It is like a cave, with a wide opening, a roof, and walls.
He swims farther back until we get to the back wall.
A feeling of satisfaction flows through me, and my kraken is thrilled with the spot our mate picked.
I have a feeling it was more that the mate picked it, and not the actual spot.
She has an intense need for him to be involved.
Suddenly, my stomach cramps, and I wrap my arms around it, groaning.
Cas, what’s happening? I ask him. My whole stomach undulates, and I get an intense urge to push.
I feel my sexual opening start to dilate, and I bear down, screaming into the water.
With a rush, one of the eggs comes out. It’s probably the size of a human baby, but it’s opaque, and all I can see within is a large kraken eye.
Cas catches the egg and swims it over to the wall. He squirts something from one of his tentacles, and it hits the wall, he then presses the egg against it. The egg sticks, and I watch it wobble freely in the current, but it doesn’t go anywhere.
That was baby number one. You did so well, my beautiful mate, Cas croons and comes back over to me, caressing me with his tentacles and rubbing his hands over my belly. Come on, only two more to go.
The cramping sensation has eased off slightly, and I sigh with relief as his hands move to my back.
Do you need any help? he asks me, and I arch a disbelieving eyebrow.
What are you going to do? I ask grumpily. It’s not like you can lay them.
No, but my father told me if I suck on your nipples, I can speed up labor for you.
I can’t decide whether to be embarrassed that he was discussing this with his dad or impressed. I also can’t decide whether or not I want to take him up on the offer. Before I can make any decisions, though, my body spasms again, and I bear down once more, gritting my teeth.
Another egg flows into the water, and Cas catches it and puts it on the wall with its clutch mate.
Holy crap, that is not as fun as it was when they were going in, I tell him, feeling tired and sore.
He returns to me and gathers me into his arms, raining kisses down on my face. No, it’s not, but just think, we can do that all over again now.
I push away and stare at him in shock, while my kraken does a shimmy inside me. Stupid horny bitch. His eyes are black, and I know it’s his kraken that said that and not Cas. Cas values all his parts too much to suggest knocking me up again.
Listen here, asshole. If you lay your eggs in me again without asking, I will remove your breeding appendage, and you will never breed again. If there are going to be any more kraken babies, it will be a joint decision. Do you understand?
My kraken sulks as I put him in his place, but he quickly nods his head and backs away from me as I double over and expel the final egg. He attaches it to the wall with its siblings, and when he returns to me, I see Cas’s eyes again.
I’m so sorry, sweetie. He got the better of me. I promise I will never allow him to breed you again without consent.
I’m completely exhausted, and my limbs feel like jelly.
I can no longer even support myself in the current.
Cas scoops me up and holds me close, swimming me over to a nearby bed of seaweed.
He lowers me down and wraps himself around me.
“Sleep, my clever mate. I will watch over our children while you regain your strength.
I let my eyes drift shut, feeling content and proud and assured that Cas will watch over our babies while I rest.