Page 174 of A Broody Mate for the Human

She smiles at me. “They’re everything. You know, when I was pregnant, I didn’t know if I would be a good mom—”

“You’re kidding me,” Ella interrupts her.

“You’re made to be a mom,” Dave joins her. “You’re literally the pack’s mom.”

Annie looks flustered. “It’s just… I had no experience with babies, and Liam and I just got off birth control when I got pregnant. We didn’t expect it to happen so fast.” She takes Asteria from my hands and hugs her to her chest, bending forward to nuzzle her nose into Aurora’s hair. Ella is still holding her and smiles. “But I’m so happy I was blessed with my two girls.”

“Any more kids in the making?” Ella asks with a teasing grin.

“Goddess no, not immediately,” Annie blurts out, making us all laugh.

“Asteria is the heir to the pack, right?” I ask them.

Annie nods. “She is the firstborn, and hence she inherited Liam’s power. Technically, they’re both royal lycans, but for Asteria it’s a bit different.”

Dave leans forward, listening in interest. I tend to forget that all of this is really new to him. He might have been friends with Annie and Ella for a long time, but they most likely weren’t able to share a lot with him. “How come?”

“Liam is the firstborn child of a lycan crown prince, meaning he inherited more power than his other siblings,” Annie explains. “It’s in his nature, in his blood, that he is particularly blessed by the Goddess… like his father is. They are both made to be alpha kings; it’s in their bloodline. And the gift gets passed on to Liam’s firstborn child, which, in this case, is Asteria.”

“So, it’s always the firstborn?” Dave asks curiously.

She nods.

“Must kinda suck for the other siblings,” he muses.

Dante smiles slightly. “They are still royal lycans,” he says. “Just with less responsibility… for now. Look at Liam’s siblings.”

“Liam started training when he was still in primary school,” Annie tells Dave. “To be able to tame his beast and have control over his powers.” She looks a bit worried.

Ella brushes over her back. “What’s wrong, Annie?”

“I just hope I can keep the balance for her. I want Asteria to have a childhood too, and not constantly train and worry.”

“It doesn’t necessarily need to be the same as with Liam, Luna,” Dante reassures her. “Alpha Elden and Liam’s dominant beasts were part of their gift, which is why they started training so early, but we don’t know yet how Asteria will be blessed.”

“We’ll all make sure she has fun too,” Ella promises.

Dave flashes her a megawatt smile. “You can count on Uncle Dave here, distracting her with silly stuff.”

The others laugh while my heart swells with overflowing emotions. I wrap an arm around him to pull him closer, wanting to feel his body against mine. He leans back against my chest naturally, making Nero growl in delight.

We chat for a bit longer when a surprising mind link from my alpha comes in.Be ready. Tomorrow we will meet Troi. I expect you and Dante to be in my office in half an hour.

By the way Dante’s eyes gloss over, he must have received a similar mind link. He gets up, brushing over his pants. “The alpha asked me and Raphael for a meeting,” he explains.

Dave’s head perks up as he eyes us in worry. “You’re going to hunt down Troi?”

“Not tonight,” Annie reassures him. “Liam just found out that they’ll be meeting tomorrow. He wants to brief his team.”

Dave nods. I can see he is still worried but doesn’t voice it. Something about it makes me feel happy. Although he might rather want me to stay here with him, he lets me do what I need to do. I love him just the more for that.

Don’t worry,I link him.I won’t do anything reckless.

I know,he says.I trust you.

Meanwhile Annie looks at Dante. “Make sure he doesn’t kill Troi and his men… at least not all of them. We and the Council might need them for questioning.”

Dante looks at her with a crooked smile. “I’ll try to, but no promises, Luna.” He turns to look at his mate. “You need to have an eye on the guards today and make sure the pack is protected.”