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“I’ll bring you high-protein meals here. Your body will need to be healthy and ready to provide the nourishment the hatchling needs as soon as it breaks out of its shell.” Tana’s smile was broad, and the flames in her gaze were a lovely violet.

“These blankets have been in our family for generations. They were part of my nest.” Brenna lifted the top quilt, which had various patterned squares stitched together, and sat prominently on the pile of coverings.

“Once everything is done, I will help you add your own square to this from your mother’s quilt. ”

“Are you sure?” Kai could feel the stinging in her eyes and knew she was on the verge of tears.

“Yes. I thought you’d find comfort in this.”

Kai watched Aodh’s mother flip back the edge of the quilt at the top. She broke into a sob as she saw what was beneath, the ragged remains of her mother’s quilt.

As the tears poured out of her eyes, blurring everything and everyone in the room Kai pressed a hand against her heart. The tender muscle beat so hard in her chest it was hard for her to catch her breath, let alone get words out.

“You are family, Kai.” Brenna took Kai’s hand. “You’ll not be alone in this, Kai. Tana and I will be here to help you through it all.” Brenna's markings matched Tana’s flames.

Her mother would be there with her on the day she delivered, and Viola’s spirit would stand alongside Brenna and Tana, two strong, brave women. Kai’s two worlds were converging into one.

Kai’s heart expanded from all the care and support they showered on her. She pressed a hand to her stomach as the child moved powerfully inside of her. “Thank you both. Knowing I have the two of you and Aodh to do all this with me is a gift.”

“You’re Drahk. We care for our own,” Brenna declared.

“I’m Drahk,” Kai repeated.

“If you are ready, I think some flowers are waiting for us.” Brenna reminded her.

“Yes, of course.” Kai swiped away the tears from her cheeks.

“And I want to go and help with the afternoon meal prep,” Tana declared, leading them to the door.

Brenna and Kai followed.

They all descended the stairs.

Soon, Tana broke off to pass through the arch leading into the Hall as Kai and Brenna strutted by the guard stationed at the bottom of the stairs of the building.

Kai barely noticed when Ladon fell in step behind them.

Ladon or the other two guards were Kai’s constant shadows when Aodh was not around. Kai accepted her role in the Thunder and understood it was not only for her security but for the protection of the Mckenna heir.

Aodh had explained to her one night when she complained about always having to have a guard that if something happened to their unborn child, it could send a ripple effect through the Thunder.

The same bond the Drahk shared that opened the pathway for female Drahkelle to conceive because the Mckenna’s mate did, could also strike a death blow to any child not born if Kai lost their child.

After speaking with Brenna and Tana, Kai began to understand things on a new level. So, Kai took the utmost caution when it came to her safety, ensuring nothing happened to the baby.

“Are you hungry now? Do you need to eat before I instruct you about gardening?” Brenna asked.

“I’m fine right now. Thankfully, Tana keeps me fed on an obscenely regular basis. There are always quick grab items in the suite kitchen and meals placed on the table constantly when I wake, when I return to the suite, and after...”

Heat filled Kai’s face as she swallowed down the next words ready to drop out of her mouth. The woman beside her was Aodh's mother, not Ninki, Avalore, or even Tana, with whom Kai discussed all kinds of things.

“Yes, Drahk males are very amorous when their claimed mates carry, and it’s the second thing a pregnant female desires after food,” Brenna commented, not missing a beat.

Kai smiled and relaxed as they continued across the clearing in the center of the territory but turned right, away from the direction that would have led to the Mckenna offices, and instead headed toward Brenna and Rhys's place.

Growing closer to Aodh’s mother was another layer to the new chapter of her life.

~YH~

“You asked me to come?”

Morlie stared at the male on the other side of the open door. By the Alpha’s order, he had been her guard for a while when Chanin wasn’t around, until today.

Now, she was claimed, and the full strength of her wolf and his were inside of her; her protection level didn’t need to be as high. Perhaps soon, not at all.

Chanin had relieved this shifter of his babysitting duty and had allowed Boris to assign Conri to her detail.

“Yes. Come in, Faolan.” Morlie stepped back and allowed the Fang Warrior leader to enter.

The half-wolf male with his lime-green bandana and faded jeans only paused a moment before strutting across the threshold, the mage power keeping him in his semi-shifted state. He didn’t enter further than the foyer area, but that was fine with Morlie.

As he passed her, she picked up on two very distinct scents on him. They weren’t combined, but they complemented each other. Knowing what it meant worked in her favor.

As she shut the front door of the house, it amazed her that as long as the Fang Warrior shadowed and protected her from her greatest threat, they hadn’t exchanged more than a few nods of greeting and thanks.

She moved a few steps away from him, then turned and met the fiercely stoic Lupine’s gaze. For a moment, she felt uneasy, not because she thought Faolan would try something while they were in her home alone together. No.

One thing she had learned while Faolan guarded her was that the Warrior leader was honorable. Regardless of his feelings for Minsi, the she-wolf who had made herself Morlie’s enemy, Faolan was vigilant. He had always maintained a wide circle of protection around her.

In this moment, if she had waited until Rudie arrived before speaking with Faolan, it would have provided her with some emotional support. Hell, she could have gone next door to the Pack Beta’s home and had her friends, Lovel and Amira, be with her when she met the imperious wolf-shifter.

However, she was the claimed mate of the Omega Pack Alpha, and she didn’t have a reason to feel dread about anyone. Hell, it was the main reason she’d asked Conri to contact Faolan.

“I asked you here, Faolan, because I need your advice.”

The Fang Warrior leader cocked up a single brow, high and his furry, wolf ears perked up then angled forward toward her, but he remained silent. Waiting.

She swallowed as she slipped her hands into her back pockets. They had begun to tremble some, and she didn’t want the perceptive male to see it and think she was afraid in any way. She wasn’t, and he’d be able to scent the truth of that on her.

But shaky hands still weren’t a good look.

“I plan to challenge Minsi.”

If she expected him to explode with a few ‘what the fuck’s or ‘have you lost your goddamn mind’s or even ‘you must be the stupidest female ever to shift.’

However, none of those things happened. The granite-expressioned Lupine folded his arms over his chest, stared her up and down, then grinned.

He fuckin’ grinned, which made him all the more menacing with his top canines revealed and pressing into his bottom lip.

Her heart thumped at the sight.

Yup, he thinks I’m going to die and is picturing my glorious death.

Morlie swallowed again, so hard she thought she’d choke on her tongue. “I know you're probably thinking this is a stupid idea. Hell, Rudie will most likely back you up when she arrives.”

Warmth spread through her body and a tingling sensation like mysterious fingers running along her, as if checking her well-being.

Damn it, Chanin was sensing her anxiety. Her mate was too far away to communicate his thoughts or ask why her heart was beating faster, but he could sense her emotions through their bond.

She took a few deep breaths and forced her pulse to settle.

“It’s not stupid. It’s brave.”

What? She frowned and stared at the male before her, waiting for Faolan to give her a smartass comment.

“You think so? In what way?” she asked when he fell silent again.

Faolan shrugged a shoulder, and his ears flicked. “Simple. Minsi won’t expect it. If you want to beat an opponent, it is best to throw them off from the start.”

She shoved a hand over her short coils. “You don’t think I’m crazy?”

He arched the opposite brow and tipped his head in a way that only canines would do.

She wanted to smile because it was a man standing before her, for the most part, but all she could see in his expression and stance was a wolf.

Morlie waved her hands before her. “Forget I asked that. I know this is insane.”

“Why do this now?”

“What do you mean? Why not now?” Morlie paced in a tight circle. “The tension between Minsi and I has dragged on too long.”

“Yes. But why do it while Chanin is away?”

And there was the meat and potatoes on the plate . She stopped moving and set her hands on her hips as she faced him again. Faolan wasn’t asking her anything that others wouldn’t question, including herself. Hell, once Chanin heard about it, she was sure he’d be demanding the answer.

“Because he’s my safety net.”

Faolan leaned into the wall by the door, balancing himself on one of his broad shoulders with his knee closest to the wall slightly bent, and waited.

“If Chanin were around, everyone would assume I’m only daring to do this because if Minsi overtakes me, he, as my mate and the Alpha, will step in.

Or that Minsi, in fear of the retribution and consequences Chanin would enact against her, may not go all in.

That means no one will have confidence that I really beat her. ”

“If you don’t win?”

Well, double hell. She had already considered that a significant possibility when she crafted her plan. Yes, she’d been trained by two of the best she-wolf fighters in the Pack, those whose skills rivaled or exceeded Minsi’s. However, Minsi had years of honing her abilities compared to Morlie.