Finding Trust and Honesty (bxb)

Chapter 45*

"Why at least four? What makes Nikolas' situation different?" my mother wondered.

I barely heard the question, or felt Caesar take the phone back. If I wasn't in shock before I certainly was now. One baby I'd been prepared for, but four or more?!

I know Caesar had said that it could take years for a submissive male's body to be ready to carry children, but then again I went into season a lot earlier than expected, and it was very short yet... I basically had a full season in one day as it spiked and I'd locked Caesar's knot three times, something that should only happen at peak fertility, which for normal wolves is a few days into season, not hours.

It made me wonder how right he was about the litter size, everything about a submissive male I'd taken to the extreme, from my size, early season, and its short yet intense duration. So was it really accurate to compare me to other submissive males that had been changed after finding their werewolf mate?

Then there was my demon, we didn't know how they affected my werewolf side. They could be the catalyst that is causing all these differences, but from past experience he at least seems to be an accelerant, making every part of me becoming a werewolf faster and more intense, but also easier.

Caesar was quiet for a few moments, his fingers still absentmindedly playing with the curls at the nape of my neck, his short and blunt nails occasionally scratching the spot that made me go limp. It kept me reasonably calm and I rested my weight against him, breathing in his spiced and warm scent from where my nose was buried in the column of his throat.

"A werewolf's term is so short they can struggle to support so much growth in that much time. It can lead to premature births and health problems related to that so our bodies have adapted over time to lessen the chances of having a multiple pregnancy so our bodies can focus on nurturing just one life.

Born werewolves develop unique reproductive systems that are neither human nor wolf, but rather a mesh of the two. Human females that are 'turned' once they reach adulthood keep their human reproductive system, this can make conceiving quite difficult as their human eggs need to be fertilised with werewolf sperm. The same can be said for a born werewolf female and a turned male. It can take years for the body to acclimate after being turned and become receptive to their mate, and even then some mates never manage to conceive." Caesar explained with a sad tone in his voice and sighed, no doubt feeling sympathy for those couples, and I bet he knew some on his territory that would probably never have children.

"Even after conception, there are risks. A turned female will have to stay in human form during the pregnancy, and they will most likely carry for more than the three months but less than nine. They will always require a Caesarean and will need to be closely monitored throughout the pregnancy. Even then infant mortality is high as the mother can go into labour well before the pup is at full term and can be born very prematurely. Induced labour might also be needed if the pup goes past full term. Or if there is more than one pup because of overcrowding, which can also lead to premature births as the womb can be stretched to its limit before the pups are at full term, because all pups develop in wolf form they can't be born naturally with a mother who has a human reproductive system and it can put the mother at risk if there is more than one pup as they can cause severe tearing if they start to birth naturally.

Same-sex couples are mostly infertile, if both are born werewolves, or one is a turned werewolf.

Then there are those like Nikolas, they are incredibly rare and are called submissive males.

Some werewolves are born submissive, so they are male but have an internal female reproductive system. Like born female werewolves they have a human/wolf reproductive system.