The Alpha's Mates: Family is all you need

Page 14

When I woke the first thing I noticed was that I was alone. I slid out of bed and grabbed my shorts from the night before. I followed voices downstairs to the kitchen. All of my mates and kids were up and just fixing breakfast. I watched them laughing and having a good time. I was so blessed. We worked hard for our happiness but I knew that without goddess' blessing we'd not be as happy and safe as we were. I just hoped I'd live up to whatever expectations she had of me. Lucas sat next to Ethan who was showing him the photo album of the kids. I saw him point at a picture.

"That's me and daddy. I was just born. He always calls me his little boy." I saw Ethan turn to the back of the book and pull out a picture that he shouldn't know exists. "This is the triplets when they were babies. This is our sister, I don't know her name but I know daddy always called her sweat pea. She died before I was born I wish I'd known her." I stared slack jawed at my son. The entire room was silent. Only Kiara had asked about Carissa. The others had never known. We'd taken the pictures of Cari and hidden them behind others so we had them for us but they weren't visible. He shouldn't know this. I look around my first six mates were staring at him. Iggy looks at me pure shock on his face.

"How? Did you tell him?" he asks me. I shake my head no. Pulling out the chair next to Ethan I sit.

"Hi daddy."

"Hi little boy. Have you been telling Lucas about the family?"

"Yes. If he's gonna be our papa too then he should know all about us."

"Yes he definitely should. But, how do you know about this?" I asked pointing at the picture. He shrugged.

"The lady in my dreams told me about her." I feel every hair on my body stand on end. Looking up at Don I know he's thinking what I am. He'd been having dreams about a baby dying. We had worried that he was being called as shaman. This might indicate we were right. I had put off calling Ephraim hoping that we were just worrying for nothing but I had a feeling we'd really had been right.

"What lady?"

"She said she was the moon mother." I heard a gasp and saw Ness cover her mouth in shock. "She told me all about Sweat pea. I asked what her name was but the lady said I should ask you." I retch over and lifted Ethan sitting him in my lap. I looked at my other kids who were leaning over the table to look at the picture. Would they understand what was going on with Ethan?

"Well her name was Carissa. She was born the same time as the triplets. Mommy gave birth to her." I glanced at Emmy who was looking at the picture. Tears were in her eyes but that devastation she'd had for so long after our daughter died wasn't there anymore.

"The lady wanted me to tell you and mommy that Sweat pea was safe. That she was being taken care of by grandma Harrison and that while it's okay to be sad and miss her you don't need to feel bad about not saving her." my throat was so tight.

"Did the lady say anything else?"

"She showed me these." he lifted his shirt and pointed at a set of thin blue lines starting on his chest and heading to wrap around him. "Said that they were a blessing on me and that I was going to have an important job in helping you and the dog people. Told me not to worry though cause I was going to be perfect for it." I lifted a hand and traced the lines. They were shaman lines. Marks of goddess blessing. Any shaman chosen would see the lines begin on their body. They would eventually be all over his body. They would widen and spread as he aged and his own power and connection to goddess grew stronger. We had been right. He was being called as shaman. A true blessing but it also meant that my son wasn't just my son anymore. He belonged to goddess and all of our people. "Don't be sad daddy. She said that she already told Ephraim all about me and that I was to be left here with you and the family. I'm glad, I don't want to go anywhere I love you."