I lay with my head on Bastian's chest, feeling his heart beat comfortingly against my cheek. The sound anchored me in reality, held me to earth while my mind was still a bit stuck on Olympus. It was hard to realize I was on earth, that I was with Bastian. I rubbed my cheek across his pectoral with a sigh as I drew a leg over his and held him a bit tighter.

A rumbling chuckle escaped him as he stopped following the black runes on my skin and smoothed his palm across me and down my back. "Happy?" He asked it softly and I nodded rapidly. I was deliriously happy. I had been given what I wanted, me in Bastian's arms and I wanted to say there for eternity.

I wanted to tell him everything, wanted to explain everything to him but I knew I couldn't. I had been ordered to keep the reality of what I was a secret and I had to obey, despite how much Prim didn't appreciate that. She wasn't entirely happy being bound by her own energy but that feeling seemed a bit more far away at the moment. She... liked Bastian. I could feel it deep in my core. She liked our male a lot and it made me smile.

"She likes you." I traced patterns into his chest as I relaxed into him further. He gave a hum of questioning and I kissed his pectoral before nuzzling it with my nose. "Prim. She likes you." She was sending me satisfaction from the tiny connection we had been allowed to have. She couldn't understand love but she understood want and possession and she was trying. That was all that mattered.

"Better than the alternative." He smoothed his hand up my back where he grasped the back of my neck massaging it with firm fingers.

I bit back a groan at how it made my eyes flutter. I had missed this type of contact. "She doesn't like much except death and destruction and anger." I murmured the words out. She was such a contrary and brutal creature but she liked Bastian. One of the few things in her endless life that she actually liked beyond destruction and all the negative that came with it.

"She sounds brutal." He sounded amused and there was a bit of what felt like smugness from her. She liked the compliment and it made me smile slightly.

"By our standards but she is speaking a simple language we don't know and she is trying to settle into the definitions we have. It's hard for her." It would continue to be hard but we would get through it. She just needed to adjust with her limited use and the fact she would be healing life and not taking it. I spread my hand out, smoothing it down the ridges of his abdomen, thoughts of how much I loved him filled my head.

"What is that?" He grasped my wrist, stalling the movement before he pulled my hand from him. I looked up at him, unsure of what he was meaning before he pressed my hand to his chest. I could feel his heart pounding strong and unwaveringly in his chest. Just like I had ordered, it had obeyed and marched on for me. "It's you!" Bastian sat up, his arms wrapping around me tightly as he hauled me into his lap.

I looked at him, wary about the suddenness of the action as he pulled my hands away from him. He met my gaze, the intensity of it making me want to squirm. He forced my hands back to his chest. "Tell me you love me." He gazed at me so fiercely that I frowned.

"I love y-"

"No! In your head, tell me you love me." He said it so strong that I swallowed and focused on my hands that were pressed tight to his warm skin. Speaking in my head seemed a little strange but I did as he requested, telling him I loved him again and again and again as Prim heated my veins slightly, making my fingers twitch against his tanned skin. "Holy shit..." His voice trailed off as his hands fell from my wrists. "I can hear you." He whispered it and I looked up at him, confused as to what he meant as he swallowed hard. "When you touch me, I can hear whispers of you inside of my head." There was a sheen to his gaze as he grabbed one of my hands and kissed my palm, closing his eyes and exhaling in bliss.

"Wouldn't that get annoying?" I wouldn't appreciate anyone's whispers in my head. It made me think of all the creepy stories one heard of possession or mental illness. I would definitely think I would be going crazy. "What if I was mad at you? And called you a dick continually in my head?" The thought had some merit and I felt a bit calculating at that. It would be handy, not going to lie. I liked the thought of being miffed at him and calling him a dick inside my head.

"Then I would know you are mad so I could fix it." He cupped my cheek, giving me a crooked smile that turned my heart over in my chest. "I never expected this, Lynn. Let me enjoy it before you ruin in your uniquely special way of degrading me." He kissed the tip of my nose and a flush of indignation rose up in me.

"Hey!" I pushed at his face and he chuckled before proceeding to tickle me. I squirmed in his lap unable to stop myself from laughing as he mercilessly dug his fingers into my ribs. I pushed against him, breathless from laughter as I tried to escape. He stopped abruptly, pulled me close and kissing my face as he chuckled. I panted, my heart thudding in my chest. I wanted to be mad at him, I did but I couldn't. I was home and I was with him. It was all that I needed to be happy it seemed.

There was a heavy knock on the door and I jolted, grabbing the blanket and yanking it to cover myself. "Are you two done?" The door was shoved open and my mouth dropped open as my a-bú came in. "Close your mouth, chickpea." The Taiwanese made my eyes water as I looked at her. She looked at home and relaxed as she moved over to our dresser.

"How... why are you here?" I felt floored as I watched her, I didn't expect her. I hadn't expected her to be here.

She dug around in the dresser before pulling out several items of clothing. "I had to take care of your husband. He was wallowing like a pig. Stunk like one too. The smell would have chased you right back up the mountain you threw yourself off of." She turned and smiled at me before moving over and putting the clothes on the bed. She leaned over and kissed my forehead, brushing my cheek with the backs of her fingers. "I am glad you are home." I reached up tracing her jawline with my fingertips.

"I never saw you..." Nothing I had seen on Olympus when I watched Bastian had shown they were there.

She smiled at me. "You power could only see those it contains. I am not of the goddess and so she could not see me." Her gaze was soft and the familiarity of her made me shake as I realized that there was little that held me to her. I had been changed, my form shifted into something that was no longer of her and that hurt. She sat down and lifted my chin with her fingers as my bottom lip trembled "You have changed, chickpea, but do not think for a moment that we love you any less than before." She cupped my face before kissing my forehead again. "You are our child and that won't change no matter what form you take." She pulled back before patting my cheek gently.

"Get dressed. You have much to explain to these wolves." She looked between Bastian and I and he gave a low growl and I could feel his petulance at the statement. I couldn't say I disagreed with it. I wanted to spend more time with just him. I wanted to re-familiarize myself with his form and him.

My a-bú shook her finger at him. "A-bú will pinch your ear." There was a heavy warning that Bastian stiffened at before grumbling under his breath, wrapping his arms around me.

"She's not strong enough to see anyone right now." He said the words as he rested his chin on my shoulder. I leaned against him, holding the blanket up as I looked at a-bú.

"Well that is something she can fix." She pressed her hands to her hips and gave me a look. "Come on. Get to it so you can deal with everyone before they descend upon your home." I made a face. I wanted to stay but I also knew she was right. The longer Bastian and I lingered, the more people would come and bother us.

I heave out a sigh. "Fine." She quirked an eyebrow but left the room, closing the door behind her.

I closed my eyes, trying to call for Prim to deal with the weakness in my muscles and the force of her struck me in the chest, burning underneath my skin as she clawed through my veins. I stiffened, feeling uncomfortable as her presence filled my body, healing everything, forcing my muscles to adjust and shake off the weakness before she shifted her focus. I tried to call her back but there was no control as my hand fell to Bastian's leg and she shoved the power through my palm and into his leg. She held it until I felt light-headed with exertion before she retreated slowly, pushing back through the small connection we had with heavy reluctance.

I panted heavily, slumping against Bastian as my heart thudded in my chest. "Wow." Bastian breathed it out, breathing just as heavy as I was and I gave a disgruntled noise.

"What did she do?" I had no clue what she was doing but she was attempting to heal what was already healed and she made me feel like I had run a marathon to do so.

"Don't know but my leg doesn't hurt." He shifted underneath me, his hand grasping his leg. I trailed my fingers over his skin, still feeling the scars still underneath my fingertips. She hadn't changed anything physically, not like she could, so I didn't really understand it.

"We should get dressed." I reached over and grabbed the clothes my a-bú had set out for us. There was no point in lingering, she would barge back in if she thought we were taking too long. I shifted off his lap and he made a noise of complaint that I did my best to ignore. "We get this over with and we can come back and laze around in bed as much as you want." I wanted to lounge around with him as well but reality was going to crash into us sooner than later and I preferred it to be on our terms rather than people just barging in.

"You promise?" His voice was a low rumble and I blinked before I felt the corners of my mouth turning up.

"Of course, Bastian." I pulled the shirt over my head before looking back at him. "I distinctly remember telling you that I was going to give you a wicked blowjob when we got home and I never actually got around to it. I need to rectify that." I ignored the sudden choked sound he made as I grabbed the underwear and pulled them on as I stood up.

I grabbed the pants next, doing my best to try and ignore Bastian as I pulled them on. I could hear him shift off the bed as I pulled the pants over my hips. He turned me around quickly, claiming my mouth in a desperate kiss that had me swaying towards him, gripping his arms tightly as he pulled me flush against him.

I wanted to grin. We would get this done and then I was going to rock his world

~~~~~~

I stood in Azrael's office as he stared at me. Bastian was standing behind me and I wasn't entirely sure what was going to happen because he was just staring at me. He cleared his throat, clasping his hands in front of himself as he rested them on the desk. "So..." He drug the word out and I tightened my hands into fists. I didn't know how he was going to react to the fact I couldn't actually reply to anything he wanted to ask. "How are you feeling?" He asked it carefully, looking me over.

"I'm alright." I felt Bastian shift behind me and when I glanced over my shoulder at him, he was grabbing a chair for me. I felt a warmth radiate through my chest at the action. My gaze landed on his leg where his limp was still noticeably. The injuries had healed and that wouldn't change how his leg was but apparently Prim could give him some magical painkillers that were on steroids and remove a lot of the pain he got, allowing him to move a bit more freely without grimacing or grabbing it. I liked that. I was glad she wanted to help him because I didn't like seeing him in pain.

He set the chair down behind me and I sat down in it, smiling up at him. He gave me a chaste kiss on the lips that had me giving a hum of enjoyment before I turned to look at the Alpha. "I can't answer a significant portion of your questions. I hope you understand and accept this, Alpha Azrael." I swallowed hard at the narrowed eyed look he suddenly took on before I reached over, grasping Bastian's hand in my own. "I have a choice. I can stay here with my husband, my mate, or I can tell you what you want to know and die." I slowly shook my head as Bastian's stroked the back of my hand with his thumb. "You can tell which one I am preferring." I wasn't going to do anything that would compromise my life with Bastian. Even if it meant disobey and pissing off an Alpha.

"Who told you that?" Azrael leaned back in his chair, watching me with a calculating gaze.

"Mene." I met his gaze, I felt stronger underneath it than I ever had. Before I used to not care but with Prim within me I felt almost superior to him. It was a strange feeling but it was there all the same.

He tilted his head, his eyes falling to my neck to where I could imagine some of the runes were crawling. "So you were with her?" I nodded slowly, resisting the urge to cover my neck with my hand. That was all I needed, people staring at me because of the strange, ancient binding spells flowing across my skin. "What happened after the accident?" He met my gaze once more and I worked my jaw slightly.

"Mene was upset and she did as she needed to ensure the safety of her children." I couldn't tell anyone the real reason and I wasn't about to try. I wanted to stay where I was and that was firmly within reach of Bastian.

"So we have her favour?" He raised an eyebrow at that, his moth twitching upwards.

I shook my head, "She doesn't choose favourites." I didn't want him getting a big head over the thought that Mene protected them because she didn't do it for them. I had done it because I couldn't live with that shit on my conscience when I could have saved them.

"So you are the one that healed Lace and my child." He looked at me, a faint warmth to his gaze that let me know he was thankful for my actions.

"No. That was Prim." I could feel her twisting around my spine. She wanted out, she didn't like being bound but I knew she would just have to get used to it. It was the price we had paid for our return to our man.

"Prim being?" Azrael gave a slow gesture to prompt me to elaborate and I figured I would just go with that I had told Bastian.

"My magic." She was close enough, it was the easiest way to explain it without people questioning it too much. Magic was something not a lot of people understood so it was easier to have them brush off without a need for an explanation.

His eyes widened slightly at that. "So you are a witch again?" I could tell he was looking at me with a bit more calculating of a gaze, as if he could figure out a way to use me to his advantage and I shrugged.

"Healer is a better term for what I can currently act as." I didn't want him getting any foolish thoughts into his head. I couldn't curse anyone or kill anyone. I currently only had the power to heal and that was it, well as far as I knew.

"Alright then. One last question." He looked at me, his calm and even facade sliding off as his brows pulled together and worry and what seemed to be fear carved lines into his face. "Did you make my daughter moonborn?" The term was one I didn't know and I frowned, looking at him.

"What do you mean?" How could I make his daughter into something? I had only healed her, holding her within Lace and commanding her to stay. There was nothing more than that.

"You changed my daughter, she has been touched by the moon. Is she moonborn?" There was a bit of a frantic note to his voice and I blinked as I watched him shake. The fearful panic he felt was rather palpable but I didn't know what to say to stop it.

"I don't know what that is. Prim healed her, that was it." I didn't mean to change her, didn't mean to make her into anything other than what she was.

"Please, anything you remember about it. I need to know." His voice was low as he looked at me, his eyes pleading. "Can you check? Can you see if she is?" He held out his hands, palms up, in a gesture of supplication and I blinked rapidly.

"I guess?" I didn't know what was going on but he stood up, moving around the desk quickly. I slowly got to my feet, feeling wary as I let Bastian's hand go to follow him. He moved through the fort rather quickly and I was left to half jog to keep up with him. He finally stopped, pushing open a door to a rather large room. I looked around, my eyes drawn to the large bed that sat in the middle of the one wall. Lace looked decidedly small sitting in it with a large bear skin drapped over her.

Her eyes went to Azrael, a small frown on her face, her mouth turning down at the corners before her gaze shifted to me. There was a moment, a brief pause before her expression seemed to open up and she looked almost excited and pleased before she bowed her head at me low, holding it there as she bared her neck. "Little moon." She met my gaze that I knew saw far more than anyone ever should have been able to see. I made sense, she shared Mene's gaze.

"You have her eyes." The words came out before I could stop them and she blinked, a tiny crease appearing between her eyebrows as her hand fell to her belly. "Bits of Mene rest in all of her children but you have her eyes." She did, it was eerie now more than it ever had been before.

"Thank you." Her voice was softer than I had ever heard it before and I moved closer. I could tell Azrael and Bastian wanted to ask but the firmness of Lace's voice kept them silent. I slowly moved towards her, unsure of myself and what I had done. I hadn't meant to change her baby, I really hadn't. I had simply wanted to help, to save her that pain. She tilted her head as she looked at me. "I like your mother. She had been helping me with the children since I have been on bed rest." The corner of her mouth turned up slightly as I stopped at the edge of her bed.

"I don't know what I did." I glanced down at her blanket covered belly. I was unsure of what to say or do.

She smoothed her hand over the rounded surface. "It doesn't matter, she is mine and she will always be mine."

Azrael walked around the bed, getting in beside her before his hand fell to hers, covering it. "We can know for sure, Lace. It will give us time to prepare." He looked up at me and I swallowed, suddenly nervous. I didn't want to be underneath their gazes. Prim didn't particularly like the intensity he was putting off.

"Prepare for what?" My mother's voice filtered into the room and the giggling and laughter of the Thorn's six children followed her. I turned my head, watching as they all bolted into the room with the exception of Azariah, who my mother was holding to her hip. They crawled onto the bed, jumping on Azrael and nuzzling close to Lace with wide grins on sticky faces.

"If our daughter will be moonborn." Azrael asked it low as Lander got onto the bed, wrapping his arms around Azrael's neck with a playful growl.

My a-bú laughed at that, shaking her head as she moved to stand beside me. "Only your goddess can create those and only before conception. Certainly not after." She handed Azariah over to his mother, who took him with open arms, nuzzling his cheek with open affection. "When she was healed, brought back to her body she was offered something..." Her voice trailed off as her face twisted. "Something... something..." She turned to look at me. "What is the English word I am looking for, chickpea? It means to pay for cooperation? At least I think it does." She looked so confused and agitated that I felt my lips quirk upwards.

"Incentive." I watched as she nodded hastily.

"She was given an incentive to stay, to not leave." She crossed her arms over her chest, nodding firmly.

"What do you mean?" Azrael asked it softly, rubbing Lace's belly gently in smooth strokes as the kids snuggled around him and Lace, their curious gazes looking between us and their parents.

"She was given power as an incentive to stay. Those touched by such healing will be drawn to it as well. Your daughter will be a healer like this world has never seen. Her eyes will be dark, like her mothers, like the goddess', and her touch will burn nearly as hotly as Lynn's." My mother gave them a beaming smile. "She is a healer, a powerful being whose touch can soothe ans heal even the most horrible of wounds." She reached out, touching Lace's belly with a firm hand, a small smile on her face as she did so.

"She will be coming tonight. She was waiting for her teacher to come back before she felt safe enough to come into this world." She pulled her hand back before looping her arm through mine. "Keep the doctor and healers close for the night. She will need their presence, she is a little shy." There was a tiny bit of teasing to her voice and I watched as Azrael leaned over, kissing Lace gently.

"A healer." He breathed it out, a crooked grin splitting his face as he gaze down as his mate, love shining from the depths of his soul.

She returned his smile with the tiniest uptick of her mouth. "A healer, my male. This just proves you worry too much." She reached up and stroked his jaw with her fingers. Her eyes had softened and I watched as Nina leaned over and rested her head on her mother's stomach with a small smile.

Azrael shook his head. "I can never worry enough." He murmured the words to her and my a-bú lead me from the room, closing the door behind Bastian when he passed through.

"Now we need to get back to your cabin." My mother chucked my chin with her knuckle, her smile warm and easy and it had me leaning my head against her shoulder. Bastian said nothing as he took my other hand, holding it in his own as we walked out of the fort and into the courtyard.

I could see my papa doing bōjutsu with the juveniles of the pack. He halted abruptly in one of his moves as he caught sight of me. "Lynn-chan, you little troublemaker you. Caused a lot of trouble taking off like you did!" He laughed, the sound rolling over me, reminding me of home and my childhood.

"It keeps you young, papa!" I grinned at him and he saluted me before bowing with his bo staff. I tightened my grip on Bastian's hand, happy that he had them when I wasn't there. My papa laughed once more before he turned back to his training as we moved further away. We left the compound and I was excited to get home once more so I could cuddle up to Bastian and just relax as I imprinted him into my mind.

A-bú chattered about everything I missed in Taiwanese and I let the sound of her voice move over me, bringing me back into my childhood where everything was easy and comfortable. I smiled when I saw the cabin. I didn't doubt for a moment that I would always feel such an encompassing feeling of coming home when I saw the small house Bastian and I called home.

I let my mother's arm go as I opened the door, smiling at the interior. I hadn't really got to see much of it as Bastian hurried me out of the house, eager to get everything done so we could return. My gaze landed on the pull out couch that was neatly made into a bed. I frowned slightly at the sight of it. "Why are you sleeping there? We have a guest room." One that I had put a bed into just for that reason. So that if we had guests they could sleep there and not on a rather uncomfortable sofa bed.

My a-bú didn't respond as she waved me off. I tsked lightly as I moved down the hall to the linen closet. I would turn down the guest bed and they could move into the room for the rest of their stay. I pulled out two blankets and an extra pillow before I turned and pushed open the guest room. I stopped dead in the doorway as I took the space in.

The walls were peach and light purple and I blinked, disbelieving my eyes as I looked around. It looked like a little girl's room. A small tea table sat on the floor, a rather well worn plastic tea set sat on top of it. I spotted a small bed, the bed set nearly the same colour as the walls. My chest hurt, pain moved through me as I swayed, grabbing onto the doorjamb. "Bastian." My voice cracked as I looked at the room for a child I would never have. "What did you do?" I whispered it, tears flooding my eyes as the blankets and pillow fell from my limp arms.

"Your husband didn't do anything." My a-bú was suddenly beside me and I blinked rapidly, trying to clear the tears from my eyes so I could see.

"What is this?" I gave a jerky gesture to the room that was causing me such pain. I didn't want this, didn't want to be reminded of what I couldn't have.

She patted my cheek, brushing tears from my cheeks with her thumbs. "This is for my granddaughter, Elsie. Her favourite colours are peach and light purple and I wanted to make sure she would feel at home when she got here." She gave me a soft smile and I felt like my knees wanted to buckle further.

A daughter.

I swallowed hard as I looked at the room. I looked at it all, taking it all in as reality seeped into me. A room for my daughter, a little girl named Elsie.