A Gift of Three Read online

  By the time I got this chunky sentry baby out of me, I suspected I would owe a lot of people my sanity.

  Victoria

  “Let me do this,” Bastien scolded me, taking the wooden spoon from my hand. “You should be relaxing.”

  I replied by grabbing the spoon back. “I’ve had enough of lounging around.”

  It was true. For me, being active was better. It helped relax my cub’s growing urges—especially around night-time. Even though half-human, half-werewolf children couldn’t transform into wolves, I’d learned from having Jovi that they could still feel restless.

  Bastien had started growing out his facial hair, and I gave it a playful tug. He ignored the boiling pots and pans on the stove and wrapped his arms around me.

  His natural scent always grew muskier around this time of day, when he was due to turn. My hands roamed across his muscled back, sensing his increase in body temperature.

  “So you really didn’t want to know what it was?” he asked, referring to the check-up I’d had in the Sanctuary earlier in the day.

  “I’m going to be happy either way, so I don’t feel like I need to know. And Jovi’s going to be pleased if it’s a boy or girl. He keeps asking when it’s coming, like he’s waiting for a birthday present.”

  Bastien laughed. “I know. He’s looking forward to having someone to play with. Personally though, I sense it’s a girl.”

  “You do?” I asked in surprise. He hadn’t shared that theory with me before, and I kept changing my mind, one moment positive it was a girl, the next one hundred percent certain it was a boy.

  “I do.” He nodded, running a hand down my back. “And she’s going to be just as incredible as her mother.”

  My spine tingled as he drew closer and began to press slow kisses down my neck. I groaned softly, my arms draping over his shoulders.

  “You’re teasing me too much, Bastien,” I breathed.

  Gently he moved away, his hands resting on my hips. “I’m sorry,” he replied huskily. “I can’t help myself. Especially when your body looks like this.”

  I rolled my eyes, laughing. My body had changed a lot—my usually slim frame had become more curvaceous, especially in the chest area. Thank goodness for Corrine and her seamstress skills.

  I was about to reply when a knock came from the front door. “I’ll get it,” I said. “You finish up in here.”

  I slipped away from Bastien and made my way to the door, greeting Micah, Kira, Saira and five other werewolves we’d invited for dinner, before they all went out for a run around the island together (an exercise routine some of the wolves had adopted recently). They piled into the kitchen, their eyes bulging in appreciation as they smelled the food.

  “Leave some for my wife!” Bastien warned playfully as the pack descended on the food we’d laid out on the table.

  I called for Jovi and he came toddling in from where he’d been playing in the living room, saying ‘hullo’ to the bump, as he did about three times a day. We all sat and ate around the table, our guests thoroughly enjoying themselves until their transformation time approached.

  Then they piled out of the door, leaving just Bastien, our son and me.

  “Don’t you dare clean up,” Bastien said. “I’ll do it when I get back.”

  “I clean!” Jovi volunteered.

  Bastien stooped to kiss our son’s rosy cheeks. “Thank you for offering, Jovi—that’s kind of you. But you know it’s your bath time now.”

  Jovi was still far too young to actually help, though that didn’t stop him from trying…he would just sweetly make more mess until he felt he’d ‘finished’ the task.

  “I’ll see you later,” I said, kissing my husband goodbye.

  As our lips parted, instead of drawing away to leave, Bastien clutched my arms and held me closer. “Victoria,” he whispered in my ear, “I hope you’re prepared to make an entire pack with me.”

  I burst out laughing before pushing him toward the door, half horrified and half delighted at the thought of more pregnancies.

  “Go on!” I exclaimed. “Just run it out!”

  He winked at me. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

  I shut the door, still smiling to myself.

  “Your father’s insane,” I told Jovi, before realizing the boy had slid out of his chair, leaving a trail of food smudges across the kitchen floor that led into the living room… where he would be hiding under the sofa to escape bath time.

  River

  I sat next to my daughter Grace, both of us looking out across The Shade, enjoying the still silence of the day coming to an end. Lawrence and Field would be arriving soon, back from training, and I wanted to be here when she told her husband the news of their baby girl. I still couldn’t believe that my daughter was starting her own family, but I supposed that was the way I’d felt at her wedding too. I was always stunned at how fast she had grown up—I wanted to hold on to every precious moment so that it lasted an eternity. I’d missed so much with Field as he’d grown up in the harpy orphanage, and I wanted to make sure that with Grace I paid particular attention to every passing moment, and no doubt I’d want to do the same when it came to her baby girl.

  “I can hear them,” Grace murmured. I nodded. So could I. They were obviously still practicing their moves. I heard a thump and a grunt as Lawrence was thrown down by Field, and both Grace and I laughed. According to Tejus and Ben, Field was showing his true colors—a born warrior who would do the whole island proud. He already made me as proud as he possibly could, warrior or not.

  “Hey, Mom,” Field announced in greeting as he arrived on the terrace. “What’s going on?”

  I grinned. “Grace has some good news.”

  Field’s face lit up, and Lawrence appeared behind him, his eyes fixed on his wife.

  “Did you find out?” he asked, a broad smile breaking across his handsome features.

  Grace nodded, jumping up into his arms. “We’re having a girl!”

  Lawrence swung her around, and as he did so, I caught a glimpse of his expression. He looked so elated, a fierce pride in his brown eyes as he clasped my daughter to him, looking like he never wanted to let her go. He had been so looking forward to the birth—building a wooden crib and preparing the baby room.

  “Congratulations, Grace.” Field grinned. “Both of you. I’m looking forward to being an uncle. Does Dad know yet?” he asked, turning to me.

  I shook my head; we’d be telling Ben tonight. My heart was already swelling at the thought of my husband’s reaction.

  I glanced back at the couple, nudging Field in the direction of home. It looked like we should give my daughter and her husband some alone time. Field smirked, and flew down from the treehouse.

  Grace extracted herself from Lawrence and flung her arms around me. “I want to be the one to tell Dad. Can you all come round a bit later?”

  “Of course, sweetheart.” She let go of me and I waved goodbye to Lawrence, then joined Field on the ground below.

  “Have you got anything going on tonight?” I asked, not knowing if he would be joining me and Ben this evening. Field spent most of his time with his brothers or Maura, his girlfriend, and it was a rare occasion when we got him for the entire evening.

  “Nope,” he replied, flinging an arm around my shoulder. “No plans tonight. Thought I’d hang around with you and Dad, if that’s okay?”

  “Of course,” I scolded, leaning up to peck him on the cheek. “I always want you with us, Field. Our home is your home—a fact you seem to forget a lot of the time.”

  “I don’t forget,” he replied. “It’s just still a bit weird having an actual home. No matter how many years it’s been, I still can’t quite get used to the idea.” He shrugged. “And you know I prefer sleeping outdoors anyway.”

  “I know.” I smiled. “Weirdo.”

  “I know, I know.” He shrugged.

  “What about when you move in with Maura, what are you going to do then?” I asked. He spent so much of his time there, I often wondered why it hadn’t happened already, but I supposed there was no real rush.

  “I don’t know,” he replied, his expression shedding the lightheartedness of a moment ago and becoming pensive.

  “Have you settled on any, um, longer-term plans?” I enquired gently.

  Field went quiet. I wondered if I’d put my foot in it somehow, but a moment later he began to reply, his voice hesitant.

  “I’m not sure,” he said slowly. “Sometimes I don’t know if Maura and I are…forever, you know?”

  His comment surprised me. They had been dating for a long time, and I’d hoped that Field had found the same happiness that Ben and I shared. I tried not to let my surprise show, but I was silent for just a second too long.

  “I mean, we’re happy together,” he added. “I suppose I just wonder how you know that it’s forever—like how you and Dad knew? Or Grace and Lawrence. I sometimes think that I’m just missing that part of me…that part that can totally trust my instincts. I keep thinking that I should ask Maura to marry me, but then something stops me—I don’t know what. It’s not like I don’t love her, or care for her deeply.”

  I looked over at my son—at his aquamarine-colored eyes, dulled by worry, and the frown that marred his brow. After growing up without parents or a home, after the trauma he’d endured in the harpy “orphanage”, once Field arrived in The Shade to live with us, I’d hoped he’d never experience true anxiety again. That, at least so far as his personal life went, it would be smooth and easy from then on. Of course, I knew that was unrealistic, but seeing him troubled always made me ache inside.

  “With your father and me,” I said, my speech slowing as I tried to give my reply consideration, “it was easy. I knew in every bone in my body that he was the one for me. I knew that early on in our relationship. But it’s not always like that. Sometimes love grows slowly, it takes longer to assert itself—for both people to realize they’re in love. Either way it’s just as meaningful. And you might not be ready yet to settle down and start a family, but that’s fine. It needs to be in your own time, honey.”

  He nodded, digesting my words. A span of silence passed, and then he seemed to shift out of his reverie.

  “You’re right,” he said, glancing down at me. “Maybe one day Maura and I will think about marriage. Maybe neither of us are ready yet. I haven’t even asked Maura how she might feel about that… It’s never really come up.”

  I nodded. “You need to do what you feel is right for the both of you,” I replied.

  We were nearly back at home, and our conversation returned to Grace and their new baby girl. I kept the rest of my thoughts on Field and Maura to myself. I knew that my son loved her, and went out of his way to be there for her. He was kind, loving and considerate. They had a good relationship that had brought both of them happiness, but I wondered how long it would last. I was glad that Field had opened up to me about it—their relationship was a subject that I’d been wondering about for a while now. I just didn’t want Field to have to suffer heartbreak if things didn’t go as they planned…But perhaps I was worrying for nothing. Taking things slowly hadn’t exactly been my experience of love, but I’d meant what I said. I knew it didn’t always happen like that. Field would work it out for himself. If it was meant to be, it was meant to be.

  Only time would tell…

  Sofia

  EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER…

  I had thought I was alone in the Sanctuary’s courtyard, but a rustle in the nearby bushes announced the arrival of Lucifer, Tejus and Hazel’s haughty lynx. He purred around my ankles, a far friendlier creature than had arrived here… over eighteen years ago now.

  Where has the time gone?

  I reached down and petted the feline’s soft fur, jumping slightly as he dashed off again—no doubt to hunt down some poor, helpless prey in the forest… or get himself found by Shadow the dog.

  I straightened, my eyes returning to the peaceful scene that surrounded me. I resumed my silent walk among the moon-dappled gravestones, the dewy grass crunching beneath my feet, the gentle breeze carrying the warm scent of the redwoods, until I arrived at my destination—the old stone fountain at the center. I gazed down upon the two gravestones in front of it, where two of the dearest friends I’d ever had were laid to rest. I shifted the two bouquets of white roses I carried in one arm and laid them across each of the stones, careful not to cover their engraved names… Anna and Kyle.

  It had been two years since we’d lost Anna, three since we’d lost Kyle, to the one thing no amount of jinni or witch magic could stop: time.

  Like me, Anna had been an immune, which meant she couldn’t turn into a vampire like a normal human. Unlike me, she’d never been ‘cured’ of her immunity. It was sobering to think that, if I hadn’t been kidnapped to Cruor all those years ago, I never would have lost my immunity either. I would have lived a mortal life, and probably be lying here with them in this courtyard.

  We’d considered more than once taking Anna to Cruor to see if its atmosphere broke her immunity, like it had done mine. Anna and Kyle’s children—Jason, Ariana, and young Kiev (who were all vampires and, like my descendants, thankfully hadn’t had the immunity passed on to them)—had eventually convinced Anna to visit Cruor, now that the threat of the Elders had died down and they’d become almost nonexistent shadows. But Anna’s immunity wouldn’t break—the intensity of the Elders’ former power no longer infused the atmosphere. My son Ben, who knew more about Cruor than most of us thanks to the unfortunate time he’d spent there, had escorted her and Kyle there… only to return with the discovery that Anna still couldn’t turn.

  The revelation didn’t come as a blow to Anna, who had already resigned herself to live a mortal life, and neither did it to Kyle, who had sworn to live out his human life alongside her.

  To the rest of the island, however, their eventual deaths had been almost unbearable, crashing over us in waves of grief. Although they’d died natural deaths—both fully aware and at peace with their passing—Anna and Kyle were, especially to those who had lived in The Shade since the very early days, practically fixtures of the island. We'd known in the back of our minds that they wouldn’t be with us forever, but when surrounded by so much immortality, so much power and magic, so much choice, it was easy to forget what it meant for life to take its natural course. Easy to be… completely blindsided by it.

  I swallowed back the lump that had formed in my throat, and took a deep breath in an attempt to still my palpitating heart. We’d had a fair amount of time to mourn our friends, but visiting their gravestones still made me choke up. I doubted that would ever change.

  Though I did try to remind myself that we hadn’t truly lost them. That, wherever souls who passed in peace did go after death, somehow in spirit they were still with us… And they would live on through their children. Their three brave, beautiful children, whose features reminded me of their incredible parents every time I looked at them.

  I took a few more minutes to compose myself before stepping back, my eyes leaving the gravestones. I continued on my walk around the courtyard, though I still remained lost in memories and contemplation.

  So much in The Shade had grown and prospered in the time that had passed.

  Tejus and Hazel had undergone their vampiric transformation (as had Ruby and Ash, who still lived in Nevertide)—and Derek and I had great-grandchildren. Our great-grandson, Phoenix Hellswan, was now eighteen years old, and similar to his father Tejus in almost every way. I loved him deeply, had been grateful for every second of watching him grow into a young man—from the fat bouncing baby phase that his mother and I felt was far too short, to the imperious years of being a toddler, making demands like a little prince, and then to the moody early-to-mid teen years (his father and mother had both been relieved when those were over), to now—a handsome, intelligent and fierce warrior with integrity in bucket loads.

  We also had two great-granddaughters.

  Vita Conway, born to Grace and Lawrence, was the same age as Phoenix. She was a beautiful, semi-fae girl with brilliant turquoise eyes and gold-brown hair, and her face looked so much like her mother that over the years it was becoming harder to tell the two apart. Vita was shy and quiet, intent on developing her inherent fae abilities. Fascinated by nature and the cosmos, both she and Zerus, Tejus’s brother, spent many hours trying to decipher messages and order in the night’s sky. I knew she would grow to become an amazing member of GASP—even more so when she broke free of her shy reserve.

  I smiled to myself as I thought of my other great-granddaughter. She certainly had no issues with reserve. Serena Hellswan, Hazel and Tejus’s second child, was the polar opposite of Vita. Serena was a firecracker—a ball of energy and determination who ran around without ever letting up. Ever since she was a child she’d found it impossible to sit still, wanting to walk long before she could crawl, and so early to talk that it had shocked everyone. Tejus and Phoenix had their work cut out for them. Serena had the most protective father and brother in the world, and she constantly fought to carve out her own independence, determined that she didn’t need the constant guardianship of either of them. It was only the profound love that their family shared which stopped epic fights from erupting—and the presence of Hazel, who was always mediator, acting as a buffer against Tejus and Phoenix’s protective instincts. I knew that one day Serena would be glad of both her father and brother’s desire to keep her sheltered, but at seventeen, she wanted her freedom—and was determined to get it.

  Serena Hellswan, Vita Conway and Aida Blackhall—the half-werewolf daughter of Victoria and Bastien—had struck up a firm friendship. Though Serena was a year younger than Aida and Vita, it never seemed to matter. The girls were as thick as thieves, their escapades as children legendary. Together, with Serena as the most likely ringleader, they had caused more mischief in The Shade than a bunch of brownies. Still, that was in the past. Now well on their way to adulthood, the girls were maturing, slowly becoming the exceptional women I knew they would be.