Page 160 of A Second Chance for the Beta

“I think Dante will never be fully ready,” I say. “My pregnancy will always remind him of his trauma. But he is on board with the plan. He wants a baby.”

“Ella, that’s fantastic!” She beams. “I’m sure you will be great parents.”

“I just need to tone down Dante’s worries.” I chuckle. “A few weeks ago, he butted heads with Charlie because he was constantly worried about her.”

“Your future child will be lucky to have her as a big sister,” Annie says. “I’m sure she will always have their best interest in mind… against their dad. Just like my sister Harmony did with me.”

“You bet.” I smile. “Charlie will be awesome. I’m certain about it. I just hope she won’t take it badly when the baby arrives. I don’t want her to think that she doesn’t matter anymore.”

“It’s a possibility she will feel scared,” Annie says. “But honestly, you went through a lot for her. I think she knows it, and if you communicate it well with her, I’m sure she will be on board.”

Charlie has invited all her friends from the pack and her whole school class. There are also Felix and Dario, and Livia and Richard roaming around. Levi was invited, too, and so are our ranked pack members. It made me smile to see Ty’s father bringing him instead of his mom.

“Aurelia had a party a bit like this,” Liam says while we watch Charlie with her friends. “She was never really into the traditional girly stuff, but she didn’t want to miss out on this here. Mom was so happy to throw a party for her.” He smiles. “Maybe she did it so she could do something with Mom.”

“I wouldn’t put it past her,” Dante admits.

“I will throw such a party for Aurora and Asteria one day,” Liam says. “Fortunately, there is still a lot of time until they will be old enough.”

Annie and I exchange a gotcha gaze and chuckle.

“Did you already have your fitting for the fundraiser?” Liam asks.

“Don’t remind me,” Dante groans. “We met some of Charlie’s schoolmates during it, and half of them were drooling when they saw Ella.”

“Don’t put this on me.” I grin. “All the moms there were literally all over you.”

“Everyone did well. We have our outfits. Now let’s just hope that the kids will raise some money,” Dante says.

Liam smiles. “Money was just secondary here. Dad and I will make a generous donation anyway. This whole thing was not for them to raise money—”

“But to work together,” Annie says with a smile. “And get them to be more productive and just have fun with something that includes their parents too.”

“It was a good idea,” Dante says. He smiles when he watches how Aurora clings to Liam’s leg. Liam lifts her up, smiling when she hides her face in his chest. She is such a daddy’s girl.

Charlie emphasized that children are also invited to her party. Granted, Liam and Annie are the only guests with little kids, and Charlie loves these two. While Aurora hides in Liam’s arms, Asteria taps around on her chubby little feet, eyeing everything curiously.

The twins have recently started to walk on their own, making their first shaky attempts. Asteria seems to be particularly curious about what’s going on around her. She is not a fuzzy kid; she doesn’t run around. She is surprisingly calm… almost tentative about her surroundings. She just likes towatch. Sometimes she seems to look at something and smile.

“She is doing it again,” Annie says as if she has heard my thoughts.

She approaches her daughter, kneeling down next to her and hugging her. “What do you see, sweetheart?”

Asteria giggles and points at something at the other end of the room. Our confusion just grows. There is nothing there. She lets her mom pick her up and chews on a piece of bread I hand her.

Liam brushes over Asteria’s head. “What is it you are seeing?” he mutters while she grabs his finger, squeezing at it and laughing.

“I think we need to make a call to the Council,” Annie says.

“You want them to get tested?” Dante asks. “So soon?”

“When do children normally get tested?” Dave wants to know.

“When they are around five or six years old,” Liam explains. “And even then, it’s normally just a basic test to see where on the spectrum they are. They normally develop their gifts much later, sometimes only when their wolves awake.”

“But you think it’s different for Asteria?” Dante asks.

“I think she sees things we don’t,” Annie says. “My instinct tells me that there is something.”