Page 133 of Forever My Siren Luna
“She kept demanding to be taken to the ocean, Alpha. She commanded it.”
“Of course she did, that infuriating woman.”
She goes into fucking labor the day she insists I pick Westley up to surprise Mel and Cedric. She was too excited about sending me away with their adoption papers they applied for last week. Because Westley had living relatives from another pack, we had to ensure they wanted no claim on the boy before we granted my gamma and Lira’s knight’s request. They didn’t want to take him in years ago, and they didn’t want the boy now. When we got the message back this morning, Lira insisted I handle it right away, but I could tell she was feeling off. She was too jittery. Too excited. Too on edge. She insisted she was fine, but I wasn’t even halfway to the orphanage when Percy had linked me to let me know her labor had started.
“Here,” I slammed the papers against Mel’s chest. “Go get your son so she doesn’t raise a fuss when she’s done. It would be just like her to crawl out of her birthing bed, or OCEAN, to fetch the boy herself if you don’t do it first.”
Meldec looked confused at first, but after looking at the adoption form, signed and stamped by me and Westley’s birth mother’s original Alpha, a huge smile broke out on his face.
“He’s ours.”
“He’s yours,” I ran ahead, seeing my wife being held in the water by Cherum through an open window. “Go fetch your child while I fetch mine!” I yelled back at him.
Running out the back doors so I could sprint for the beach, I saw many gathered in the back field to watch the spectacle of their Luna giving birth in the water. Not just on land, but as I stare out towards the open water, I see hundreds of sirens waiting as well. Their eyes were all glowing, and I noticed how still the water was, but only in the cove. They were using their magic to calm the waves.
This child would be the siren's future ruler. Lillian was Elelira's chosen proxy until that time. We both agreed to have our first child, the one her father gave his life to save from the dread of growing up without one parent, to be his heir in his name. Cedric will guide this child until he is of age, then he will finish his teachings with Lillian in the Siren Kingdom.
A cry from Lira had Killian snarling, and we quickly closed in on our infuriating mate.
“Move!” I commanded Cherum.
He jumped back, his face as red as his beard and his eyes panicked. Hearing his Luna’s scream and feeling her pain, but not being able to stop it must be excruciating for him. I know it has me and Killian on edge.
I lowered myself in the water, cradling my wife from behind. “I’m here,” I whispered in her ear, kissing her tense jaw. “I’m here, baby. What happened to giving birth inside like we discussed?”
“You discussed!” she screamed. Another wave of pain came, her body contracting in on itself, making her tense in my arms. It took several seconds for the contraction to fade, and she panted for breath. “I told you,” she continued to pant, “it has to be in water.”
“Okay,” I whispered, trying to calm her back down. I shouldn’t have said anything. I thought we had agreed on her birth being done in the bath and not outside in the open ocean for all of the world to see. I’m not going to remind her of that. Not when she was in the act of giving birth.
We went through about twenty more minutes of labor. Her contractions were so close now that there was no time at all between them. They seemed to just bleed into one another. Killian was working to calm Val, who was anguished right along with her counterpart. I’m trying to do the same for Lira as Cedric and the midwife are ready between her legs.
On the final push, the baby glided out of her with her echoing scream. My eyes were focused on her face, trying to keep her breathing so intently that I missed seeing our child coming until I heard a gasp from the midwife. She was standing in the water, looking quite shocked, staring down at the child Cedric was holding still under the water. When Cedric lifted him from the water, I saw the reason for her surprise.
A tail. My child was born with a tail instead of legs.
The tail was magnificent, unlike anything I had ever seen before. Even Lira’s tail when she had one was dim compared to the magic glowing in our child’s. It looked like glimmering pearls and jewels, every scale a different color from the ocean.
Cedric grinned happily at the baby, tears in his eyes as he set our child against Lira’s chest. Slowly, our baby’s tail shifted into its legs.
Our son. We had a son. Unlike Lira, he was born with his magic and siren abilities. I could feel it in him.
“He’s beautiful,” Lira cried.
“He is,” I kissed her head, then ran my hand over his. His little fingers gripped my finger when I touched his hand. I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect child.
Pack members were cheering from the beach, and the sirens were rejoicing in the distance. Lillian held the King’s triton over her head, then shot magical sparks that exploded in the sky.
“Brennus,” I whispered. “Our son, his name shall be Brennus. The future king, just like his grandfather.”
"Brennus," she agreed, her voice filled with emotion. “May he live up to his namesake.”
“He will.”
Forty
Seven months later on Elelira’s 20th Birthday….
Elelira