I hadn’t expected dinner to go the way it had. But now that it was over, I was glad, considering Damien ended up blowing up into a million different pieces when the elder had conversations in the way she did.
Talk about being completely awkward. I was the center of the awkwardness, and it was not a place I wanted to go back to any time soon. If I hadn’t lost it slightly in the moment, there was no telling what Damian would have done to her.
Laying on Talon’s bed, I got hold of myself, and it didn’t take long for Talon and Hale to come find me. Forty minutes of deep breathing and cuddling with both men calmed the internal fire within me, and now we were caught up in small talk and sarcastic comments.
“So how pissed off do you think he’s really going to continue being?” I asked the boys, who turned to me with nothing but amusement, dancing in their eyes.
“It depends,” Talon replied. “One time when we were kids, James stole Damien’s favorite T-shirt because he thought it was too small for Damien and completely stained it in one afternoon. When Damian found out, he literally held that grudge for like five years.”
“Five years over a fucking T-shirt. That’s a bit childish, don’t you think?”
“It may have been childish, but then again, we were children. So, to Damian, that was a very big deal,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders.
“Talon, if you’re gonna tell it, tell the truth,” Hale sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “The shirt was one that our mother had given him that was our father’s. So, in a sense, it was actually a big deal to him.”
“Dude, he had, like, fifty fucking shirts that were our dads and poor James had got none. So I mean, realistically… It wasn’t that big of a deal? He could have given that one shirt to James. Lord knows he had asked for it for, like, two freaking weeks,” Talon replied in a very dramatic effect.
It made sense now why James and Damian didn’t seem as close. Not just because of that, but in general. Damian was the oldest and thought he was entitled because he was the oldest, and James was the youngest… the baby, and he thought he was entitled to.
“I can kind of understand why Damian would be upset, you know, considering it was something sentimental like that. But this is completely different. I mean, the elder was out of line completely, and honestly, I don’t like whatever she was getting at.”
“She literally insulted Damian as an alpha tried to insult us. Lord knows, poor James is probably devastated over her comment on his cooking, and in a way, she was trying to undermine you as a Luna,” Hale replied.
In a way, he was right, and because he was, I couldn’t deny the need to get rid of her.
“Okay, I get it. She fucked up. But I mean, maybe that’s just her messing up as a new elder. I mean, she hasn’t really been in the position long, has she?”
Again, they both shrugged their shoulders.
“I don’t know what you’re looking to do, Ivy. I mean, she’s here for the next couple of days, and you were the one that told her it would be okay for her to stay,” Talon rambled on. His comments were not the help I was looking for, and picking up a pillow, I quickly chucked it at his head.
“Well, then, why don’t we find something else to preoccupy our time with?”
Though Damian had tended to me a few nights before, I was equally hungry for the two of them and the fun we had once had in the past. However, upon those words, Hale and Talon both looked at each other and looked at me, and shook their heads no.
“Absolutely not,” Hale replied quite quickly.
“Are you rejecting me?” I said, feigning a hurt expression across my face. I couldn’t believe they didn’t want to be intimate with me.
“No. God, no. It’s nothing like that,” Hale quickly said, trying to redirect the conversation and fix the mess that he had started.
“Then what are you saying?”
“He is afraid,” Talon replied with a smirk of his own. “Hale thinks he is going to hurt the baby if his Lycan comes out during sex.”
With wide eyes, I turned my gaze back to Hale, who seemed uncomfortable, and quickly cleared his throat. “I mean, it could happen. I don’t want to risk it.”
“Hale, you won’t hurt your children nor any other part of you.”
“Still, I don’t want to risk it,” he said firmly as Talon pulled me by the ankle towards him, burying his face in my crotch.
“I want it… God, how I want it.”
His response caused me to laugh, but irritation flowed off of Hale from Talon’s actions. “No, Talon, this is serious. We only have like two months, and then we can fuck her however we want.”
“Hale, I’ve literally already had sex with Damian, James, and Talon multiple times since I’ve been pregnant. You don’t have to worry… but—” pausing mid-conversation, something he said finally clicked in my head. “Wait… what do you mean two months?”
“You’re coming up in four months in your pregnancy. Wolves are only pregnant for six months, so it’s like you’re entering your third trimester, and to do something like that with both of us at the same time, probably not the safest for the babies.”
Taking a moment to let what he said soak, I made a face to show my confusion as my mouth dropped open slightly.
“Hale, did you not listen to what you said? I’m literally only almost four months pregnant. I still have, like, what, another five months of my pregnancy. So I’m not anywhere near the third trimester. What are you talking about? Six months.”
They sat there in silence, staring at me before Hales’ eyes fogged over, linking someone. No words came from them, and with the silence began the slow increase of panic within my chest.
“Um, Ivy? What have you learned about werewolf pregnancies?”
The question caught me completely off guard, especially since Talon asked me the question. When I thought about it, I really knew little. I knew they were rapidly growing and the pregnancies typically were, like, super painful because, you know, the babies were typically stronger and more aggressive.
I guess in the end, I didn’t know much. Not that I thought to learn or that
“Umm, well, I’m guessing that I don’t know as much as I probably should know, considering how you two are acting. So does one of you want to fucking explain to me what exactly is going on? Because you know the way you’re making it sound is that I’m about to have this baby in two months and not in five.”
The door opened rather quickly, and when it did, I saw a very concerned Damian and James standing in the doorway.
“Ivy, I think we need to have a conversation because I believe you are slightly misinformed from what Hale said.”
There it was. The bomb had been dropped.
I had miscalculated how much I knew about werewolf pregnancies. Fuck me.
“Yes, from the sounds of it, I don’t know as much as I thought I did, and I don’t see how I’ve literally made it almost four months, and nobody has explained to me I’m not pregnant for nine months like normal people,” I all but shouted at them in frustration and pure panic.
“Calm down, it’s okay. This is our fault because we didn’t really take into consideration that you are new to our world. Werewolves are typically pregnant for about six months. However, it is also known that alpha pregnancies can typically be about five months. It just really depends on the person,” James replied with a smile on his face.
Oh, no, he didn’t.
“Did you seriously just tell me to calm down?!”
James’ eyes went wide at my outburst. I couldn’t believe that he really told me to calm down. This wasn’t something that was no big deal. It was an enormous deal for me.
Taking slow, deep breaths, I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself.
It will be okay… everything will be okay.
“I’m not angry… I’m just a bit shocked,” I said, trying to remain as calm as possible.
“There is no reason for you to be angry,” Damian scoffed, shaking his head. “It’s not that big of a deal. Just means you won’t be pregnant that long.”
My eyes flew open at Damian’s comment. I couldn’t believe how insensitive he was at the moment. It may not have been a big deal to him, but it was to me.
Jumping to my feet, I stormed from the room and made my way towards the private den created for me in the right wing of the house.
It was a small little study with a single loveseat, small tv, and tons of books surrounding the area. It was the one part of the house that was solely mine, and even though it was a ten-by-ten room, I enjoyed every moment of it.
Slamming the door behind me, I sat on the sofa and thought about the situation. How could I honestly forget to ask such questions? I felt completely stupid for never thinking about asking how the pregnancy worked, considering I was raised as a human.
Guess that’s what I get for assuming.
At that moment, the only thing I wanted was to speak to the one person who had always comforted me. I had put off calling her for too long, and the time had come when the weight of my issues was too much to bear.
I wanted my mommy.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I dialed her number and waited as it rang.
“It’s so wonderful to hear from you, dear. How are you?”
A sob racked my throat as I tried to speak. “Mama, I don’t know how I’m going to do this here.”
“Sweetie, what are you talking about? Did something bad happen?”
Taking a moment, I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself.
“No, not exactly, I just have no idea what I’m doing, and I was just told by the guys that I’m not even going to be pregnant for nine months, that it’s going to be like five or six months. That’s literally like a month or two away. How am I supposed to do this?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you telling me that nobody informed you of how this works?” she replied in shock.
“No, they didn’t. I assumed, and they all didn’t think to tell me because it slipped their mind that I knew nothing of their world.”
“Oh, honey. I’ve been away too long. I need to come and visit you. Would you like me to come and visit you?”
As much as I wanted to tell her I could be a big girl and do this on my own, I knew the truth. I couldn’t do it on my own. I needed her here with me. I was terrified, and even though I had four strapping mates… they were men, so they didn’t understand how I was feeling. Even if they could feel my emotions through the link, they had no fucking clue.
They were trying their best, and I appreciated everything they had done for me. But I needed somebody else to have my back as well.
Someone who understood what I was going through.
“Can you? I mean, I know that you guys have a lot going on, and I would hate to take away from anything that you’re doing.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, darling. You are my daughter, and I love you. If you need me there, I will be there. Blake will completely understand the situation,” she replied, causing me to smile.
“Okay. When do you think you will be here?”
“Tomorrow evening. Now get some rest, and I will see you soon,” she replied, making me feel better than I had.
Nodding my head as if she could see me. I wiped the tears from my eyes. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”
“I love you too, sweetheart. Good night.”
Hanging up the phone, tears flowed down my face, and even though the guys did not knock on the door to check on me, I knew they were standing outside.
They had heard the entire conversation, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to make this work because the elder was here, and the only other place I would put my mother would be in the guesthouse.
Which was occupied by the elder herself.
I had to find a way to get her out of here. Especially after everything that had happened with Damian. She wasn’t even here for the full-time she was supposed to be, and she had already outstayed her welcome.
Let’s just hope she wouldn’t cause issues for us when we made her go.