Juniper

Eighteen

Juniper was curled up on the couch, Seraphina besides her as she braided her hair soothingly.

In the backyard, Raphael was pacing around as Phoenix tried to talk to him.

"First they want to kill my mate!" he barked as he clenched his fists. "Now I find out they want to kill my kid before he's even-even here. Before he's even thought of-" his voice cracked.

Phoenix gripped his shoulders, "Raph, take a second-please."

Raphael couldn't calm down, "And she's been dealing with this alone. And what have I been? A dickhead half of the time. Fuck!"

He sat down heavily as he rest his forehead against the thumbs of his clasped hands.

Phoenix crouched in front of him, his best friend of decades had never reacted to anything like this. Visibly distraught, a crack in his stoic facade.

"I'm going to have a kid," he rasped.

Phoenix's eyes widened at the emotion dripping from his voice.

"I never... thought that was possible," he rubbed his face.

"That's a blessing, brother," his friend insisted. "Hundreds of us would kill for this position, you can make your own family."

"Yeah and people would kill to end it."

"But we're not going to let that happen."

Raphael shook his head determinedly, gritting his teeth harshly.

"I want to hit something. I need to go to the gym or I'm going to break shit," Raphael abruptly stood up as he tugged at his hair.

Phoenix opened his mouth to argue but Raphael glared in response.

"Don't you think you should be with your mate?"

Raphael's face softened just a bit, "Fuck."

He swiftly turned to walk back inside, eyes searching for Juniper.

The berserker found her smiling as Bear sat his fat ass in her lap, her head resting on his back as the dog panted happily.

Seraphina saw him staring at the bluenette and spared him a smile.

"You can go to the gym if you have to," Juniper suddenly spoke up. His breath hitched as her stony eyes slid to his own, her full lashes framing them.

"No," Raphael shook his head. "Not right now."

"Why don't we head out sweetheart?" Phoenix asked his girlfriend gently.

Seraphina nodded and they both bid the mates goodbye, "Call me if you need anything okay Juni?"

Juniper nodded once with a neutral face, although it was obvious she was tired.

Raphael slid to sit next to her, tugging her hair over her shoulders.

She looked up at him, eyes scanning his face. "How are you?" she asked quietly.

He sighed to himself and cleared his throat, grunting when the dog climbed into his lap.

"I'm... processing," he admitted.

She licked her lips in thought, "It's a lot."

He nodded in agreement, tugging her into his lap. She smirked as he shooed the dog away to hold her close.

"I know it's new, but what do you think about it so far?" Juniper didn't back down from his stare, searching for the truth.

"I think that we need to focus on what we want to do. Not what someone else prophesied or what anyone else says. We need to figure out our shit."