Felicity looked down at the four cubs pressed against her: the purple-scaled boy with his serious eyes, the blonde wolf nuzzling her collarbone, the teleporting panther with his tail still gripped in his sister’s fist, and the white-haired eagle girl who had stopped crying entirely and was now making soft, contented gurgling noises against her skin. Their heartbeats overlapped—four rapid, fluttering rhythms pressed against her own steady drum.
She was exhausted. Completely, bone-deep, utterly drained. Her body ached in places she didn’t know could ache. Sweat still clung to her skin, her hair was a tangled mess, and she was fairly certain she’d never look at silk sheets the same way again.
But she had never been happier in her entire life.
"Welcome to the world, little one," Felicity whispered against her daughter’s white hair, pressing another kiss to that soft, warm crown. "Welcome to your family."
looked at Victor’s eyes, searching them for answers. "Where is Lucan?"
Victor’s throat closed up. He looked at her, at those blue eyes still swimming with exhaustion and hope, waiting for him to answer, and something in his chest cracked wide open.
He found the clearing. Found the scorched grass, the broken branches, the single black claw mark dragged deep into bark like Lucan had been fighting something or fighting to stay. Found his scent trailing off into that thick white mist that curled low over the ground like it was breathing. And then nothing. The scent just stopped, swallowed whole, like the world had reached out and erased him.
He didn’t know how to say that. He didn’t know how to look at her, soft and glowing and cradling four sleeping cubs against her chest, and tell her that the fifth father wasn’t here because he’d walked into something none of them understood and hadn’t come back out.
"Fel," he started, and his voice came out rougher than he meant it to. His eyes burned. He blinked hard, jaw tight, willing himself to hold it together because she needed him steady right now, not falling apart at her bedside. "I found... there were signs of him. Tracks. His scent led to the-"
Across the room, Dimitri’s stare cut into him like a blade, red eyes narrowed, unreadable and furious all at once, like he already knew where this sentence ended and hated Victor for being the one to say it out loud.
Felicity sucked in a sharp breath.
Voss was on his feet before the sound finished leaving her throat. "What’s wrong?"
"Ahhh!" She gasped, back arching slightly against the pillows, hand flying to her stomach. "I think—I think there’s another one."
"Another one?" Voss’s voice cracked with disbelief.
Chaos erupted. Ivan lunged forward to scoop the purple-scaled boy off her chest, Exile catching the blonde wolf cub before he could tumble, Damien snatching up the teleporting panther whose tail was still tangled in his sister’s fist, gently prying tiny fingers loose. Felicity clutched the eagle girl to her, refusing to let go even as another contraction rolled through her, the little one still nursing, oblivious to the panic exploding around her.
Felicity’s hands glowed faintly gold as she cast the heal spell over herself, gritting her teeth, breathing hard through her nose.
"Count with me," Voss said, low and steady, gripping her hand. "That’s it. Come on, breathe. Breathe."
A wail split the air high and furious, impossibly loud for something so small.
And then she was there. Tiny, slick, black hair plastered to her head, little panther ears folded flat against her skull, tail lashing in outrage at the indignity of the whole affair. Voss caught her before she could be forgotten in the flurry of blankets and set her carefully against Felicity’s chest.
The wailing stopped instantly.
Felicity looked down, breath hitching, and watched as two clear blue eyes blinked open and found hers.
"Oh," she whispered, and the tears came fast and hot, spilling down her cheeks. "Oh, hello."
Ivan’s hand settled heavy and warm on her shoulder. "Our daughter."
Victor’s blood-red eyes flickered just for a second, something unreadable passing behind them before he answered.
"Keeping watch on the perimeter." His voice stayed low, steady, but there was a rough edge underneath it, like he was choosing his words with more care than usual. "He’ll come see her when he’s ready, little fox. Don’t trouble yourself over it."
She wanted to press, wanted to ask what ready meant, wanted to understand the flicker of something tight in Victor’s jaw, but her daughter chose that exact moment to latch onto her breast with surprising strength for something so new to the world, and every other thought scattered like smoke.
"There she is," Ivan rumbled from somewhere near her shoulder, his massive frame folding down beside the bed so he could watch with an expression far too soft for a face built for violence. "Hungry girl."
"Our daughter," Damien said, and something about the way he said our made her chest ache. His claw-tipped hand hovered near the baby’s tiny fist, not quite touching, like he was afraid his own strength might bruise something so fragile.
The purple-scaled boy shifted against her hip, craning his little neck to peer at his new sister with those unnervingly serious eyes. He reached out one small hand and pressed it flat against her belly. The blonde wolf cub, not to be left out, planted his own palm against his sister’s other side, the two of them anchoring themselves to her like they needed to confirm she was real.
Felicity watched her daughter’s eyes flutter, lashes drooping, mouth slowing on her breast until she was barely suckling at all, lost somewhere between waking and sleep.
Warmth spread through her chest, thick and golden, and without thinking she called the healing light again—felt it gather in her palm, felt the familiar drain follow right behind it as she pressed her hand lightly against her daughter’s back, just to be sure, just to know she was well.
The moment the light faded, her vision swam.
"Fel." Voss’s voice, blunt and close. His damp black hair brushed her cheek as he leaned down to examine her face. "Enough."
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