The Beast's Virgin Claim

"Would I be permitted to play with him? How long will he stay here?" Gianna asked bouncing on the heels of her feet her enthusiasm showing for me to see.

"We will talk about that another time, Gia. Now come here and see his tiny feet. They are quite adorable." Ira beckoned Gianna with a wave. She leapt forward and hurried towards her so she could have a better look. "What have you named him?"

"Tadeas." I smiled and nodded at Mia with appreciation for she was tending to my blood and fluid coated inner thighs.

"The goddess's gift." She declared and I bobbed my head in confirmation. He was indeed a gift, a miracle I was desperate to receive.

"When will you make a pup, Ira?" Gianna tugged at her long skirt as she peered up at her brother's mate with hopeful eyes as Ira's cheeks blushed wildly. "Theia said you need a mate to help you get one, you have Giovanni so why won't you make one?" Ira's blush intensified and I chortled.

"You are too naughty for your own good." A flash of her teeth she offered the little one who simply sighed and peered down at my male who seemed very pleased with being washed.

I was so thrilled with Tadeas's arrival that I had completely failed to acknowledge what was happening, the forewarning that the earth was trying to give me. There was to be a full moon worn by the dark skies for the past nights but instead, the nights were moonless shrouded by grey skies which birthed an endless unrelenting storm. I failed to see who was on his way to me.

----

~Present~

"Look at your fingers and look at these little toes. Shall I count them for you?" Lumina coos softly as my male gazes up at her as she tickles his belly.

"He seems to like you."

"He must! I am his aunt, he needs to favour me more than Deimos of course. There will be competition between us now."

"Just like Cronus and I with Kal." I giggle as I pour the steaming coffee into two glass mugs. Lumina has come to Italy alone, she said to Deimos that she wished to meet Gianna and Alpha Giovanni that she missed them. Though it is the half-truth they both and Ira have travelled far to the suburbs of south Italy. She would not be able to meet them of course but she can spend her time here with Tadeas and me.

"I have gotten him so many presents and have stashed them in a secret room at the castle. I will tell Ragon and Elriam to deliver them to your pack lands if and when you choose to return home."

"Lumina there is no need for you to do that. And what if Deimos finds those presents, you would get into trouble."

"If he does find them I will just say I bought them for our future male." She winks at me with a sense of playfulness and I chuckle. She knows her way with her mate much better than I do with Phobos.

"I wish Cronus was here too."

"I wish for that as well, he deserves to at least see his nephew. But you know the risk of it. I am certain Phobos is keenly watching your brother tracking his every move he has his ways I am sure of it. Though he has been weirdly withdrawn the past few months."

"Yes, Cronus informed me of this."

"And what do you think of it? What do your heart and mind feel when you think that there is a possibility that he has ceased his search for you. That he has just given up?"

My fingers clutch onto the mug a little tighter in a jerky grasp the beats of my heart pausing as I stare out the window. I swallow to dampen my parched throat and get rid of the clog that blocks my airway. Her questions are a cruel strike for me to bear indeed, it is not like I have not thought about it before but it hurt to even imagine that situation. If he had given up on me it would mean that all his needs as a male and as an Alpha have been taken care of. There is no place for me in his life that is also what it would mean.

"I apologize, I did not mean to unsettle you I just-"

"Not at all. I was thinking." I smile at her whilst handing her the coffee mug that she takes with a grateful nod.

"And so has your male cried yet?" She asks with interest changing the topic for she saw the war in my eyes.

"He has not yet, not when he is hungry or when he is tired. Or even when he needs a change of his diapers. He is too...silent. I do not understand why."

"That is uncanny indeed. Have you tried to ignore him for a while to elicit a response?"

"I have plenty of times. Pups usually cannot accept being separated from their mothers for even a small period of time but this male of mine does well in my absence. Not a single cry since the day he was born." I speak with a shake of my head as I sit beside Lumina sipping on my coffee.

"I heard most pups do not like water at first, he might cry if put a few drops of cold water on his thighs."

"He loves water, he loves getting a bath." I sigh.

"Well Tadeas is Phobos's blood, after all, it is to be expected that he would be very different from the rest."

"The wolves here still are wary in Tadeas's and my presence. He is still a newborn but they are unable to handle the power that oozes from his flesh. You have Alpha blood, is my male that frightening?"

"I do feel something that makes me tense in his presence, but it is distinct something I have not felt before. I cannot describe it.." When my male clutches onto her forefinger and guides it to his eager mouth to suck on it she laughs and plants a big kiss on his plump cheek that has him edgy yet he coos contently in response.