~Ben’s Point of View~ It had now been two days since I’d seen my little love, and every hour that ticked closer to the full moon was nearly making me come out of my skin. There’s no way she’s not feeling it too, she has to be. The entirety of the Black family, Lilly’s family and others had now come to the island, and I felt like a complete outsider in their world. Outside of offering words of condolence, there was so little I could do. Godfrey and Sunny both lost their minds with anger, and they both essentially disappeared. Katrina allowed Sunny out of the portal against my advice but I wasn’t about to get her wrath while she’s grieving. Now was not the time to separate and hide, plan any type of revenge on our own. We needed to band together, now more than ever and put on a united front. I’d been in contact with Dina briefly but she had little to say that was of much help. I also contacted Anna who said they were still at their post in Russia, but not getting anywhere of use. I
~Meadow’s Point of View~ How is this my life? I gulped and fiddled with my hands as I stood in the hallway outside of where my mate’s wife was giving birth to their second child. Yes, that was my reality. *Irony of life I guess. The Goddess’ way of reminding us that it all moves on,* Coral said, like she was so smart. I turned my head away from all the others milling about to shake my head at her. Was she sneaking off and reading Greek philosophy while we were out here? “It’s a boy,” someone shouted and I let go of a hard breath. I told myself I’d come in just to wish everyone well and then I’d be off. Hardly like anyone wanted me here. I was sure I reeked at any rate. I had been so worried about mom and Sunny both I’d barely had a second to think about anything else. My feet moved on their own, likely Coral pushing me, and I found myself in Ben’s room. His bed was missing, a couple walls were covered in putty, about to be repainted. Oh jeez. I made my way into his bathroom
~Ben’s Point of View~ “I think I should like to honor your friend in some way, what was his name,” Lyra asked. Tearing my gaze away from my new son I looked down at one of my newest wives. We’d hardly gotten much time together, only married about thirteen months ago. I could tell how disappointed she was that I lacked affection during her birth. It’s normally a time I go above and beyond to shower the wife with love and everything they might need emotionally. It's usually such a deeply emotional time for me, to be given such a blessing. Today, with everything going on and the recent loss of Ash I just felt like I was on autopilot. Everytime I found myself doing more for Lyra than just a light touch or friendly hug it was like my body was pissed off. I find myself again wondering how the hell shifters can possibly compete with another voice in their head. Sometimes I feel like I am being pulled in different ways, guided by a different force and its maddening. “His name was Ash,” I
~Meadow’s Point of View~ Nothing like trying to storm away from Ben while keeping my pride but having to wait for him to magically unlock his damn door! Ugh!! I practically roared through the house, pissed off and not caring who knew it. *You’re really kind of an idiot, even I get this,* Coral said, just adding to my mood. I practically spat venom as I went on my tirade, cursing and muttering under my breath the entire way back to the cabin. I threw open the door, making mom jump then I dropped into a small rocking chair. She stuck her nose in the air and sniffed. “No, it didn’t happen,” I snapped. She made a face and tilted her head. “He … refused you,” she asked, confused. “Ugh! I don’t even wanna talk about it,” I shouted, darting up from the chair and storming into the bathroom. *Come on you dumbass! What are you doing? You know he’s probably up there devastated,* Coral said, angry. KNOCK KNOCK “You’re going to talk about it Meadow, or I’ll tell Skyler to come in he
~Diana’s Point of View~ “Whoa whoa, how many have you turned,” Sebastian asked. I rolled my eyes and reached for a blouse. Centuries of nothing but time okay? You be around as long as I have and try to fill the void. It’s inevitable really. “Don’t you fret about it. They’ll all love you,” I said, pulling on a skirt. “Well I suppose it’s not like they’re actual children. I mean you don’t live with them or anything. I’d just like to know if any are going to come at me,” he said, eyeing me. I licked my lips and took him in, ohh I could get used to being awoken with a hot gladiator on top of me all right. Damn he’s the absolute finest specimen of male I’ve ever seen. And he knows what he’s doing, I couldn’t have asked for better. As far as my children went, unless I called on them they could really care less what trouble I got up to. “Not that I mind you waking me a bit early but you did seem rushed in a way,” I said, poking for information. Godfrey had told me to come out here and
~Ben’s Point of View~ I’d busied myself all day helping with the children, doing all I could to keep occupied. Lilly even sought me out at one point, and basically told me to just go for it. Just mark Meadow. That the whole family was on my side. Like I’d ever do it without her consent, and risk her hating me for all our years. I did all I could to try and wrap my mind around it all. See things from Meadow’s perspective. I knew she was lost, not ready to be a mother. That didn’t bother me at all, we had plenty of time. If she thought I’d be upset about it I just had to assure her that wasn’t the case. As desperate of course as I was to see her with a growing belly, to see our legacy cemented in time, there was nothing more important to me than her heart. I would have a great deal of time to learn about raising a shifter, but for Meadow the learning curve would be instant. A baby might not have strong magical powers yet, but it will have abilities it doesn’t yet understand or know w
~Meadow’s Point of View~ “Jett! I swear by the Goddess if you don’t eat these freaking peas I’m gonna--” I stopped abruptly as a hand squeezed my shoulder and I took a deep breath as my mom snatched the spoon from my hand. Jett stuck his tongue out at me and made a face. Brat!! “Why don’t you go get some air, I’ve got this,” she said, knocking me with her hip. Without a word I stormed outside. Everyone’s schedules were so screwed up, it was making us all pretty cranky. If we were home right now we’d be nine hours behind. Or maybe it was losing dad that was making us all on edge. Just, all of it. The kids were eating their dinner later and later into the evening, if we could get them to even eat. Jett and Olive for some reason were absolutely determined to press every single one of my buttons at all times. The other three kids were so much more easy going and just went with the flow. They had to be River’s kids, I’d decided. The twins were Skyler’s all day, everyday. Just cranked
~Ben’s Point of View~ Being able to feel my little love in real time, her emotions and her overall well-being was unlike anything I could imagine. I felt her happiness, I felt when she was nervous. I had to remember it worked both ways, that was a bit harder for me to grasp. I didn’t want her to worry, but with every up and down of her mood I was already. So she had to be feeling the same. I had to tell myself she was safe, it was all a learning curve for us both. I tucked Meadow back at the cabin with her mom and Lilly, although she wasn’t happy about it whatsoever. The bottom line was that she wasn’t a Shadow or a witch. She had no real way by which she could fight or defend herself and I needed all my wits about me. I couldn’t risk worrying about her while trying to handle business. Having her brothers worry. They had already lost enough. Teleporting to the portal, I saw Calista with a couple of suitcases along with a couple other wives who were saying their good-byes. She was es