Unveiled: The Cursed Trilogy, Book Three by Betty Legend (recommended ebook reader txt) 📗

“It could be any of ours,” I tell him. “We won’t know until the child is born.”

Emeric tosses his hand into the center as well. “We’ll know real quick if it has wings, fur, fangs, pointy ears, or wizard glasses,” he quips.

Cyrus rolls his eyes. “He or she will glisten with a silver aura if it’s a warlock child,” he shares.

“So, if it’s yours, he or she will be sparkly?”

“Only when he or she first comes out. It’s an awakening of magic.”

Emeric rubs the scruff of hair on his face, his gaze drifting off. “She’s having a baby, and it’s any one of ours.”

“How do you all feel about that?” I ask them, watching their reactions.

“Thrilled,” Cyrus smiles, taking the seat he’d left. “I want a child with Selene.”

Griffin leans back in his chair, putting his hands behind his back as he grins. “Same.”

I look at Emeric and his thoughtful expression. “How about you?”

“I hope the child is mine,” he answers honestly.

“How about you?” I gesture to Phoenix.

He leans back in his chair and takes a glance at each of us. “I won’t deny, I’d like the child to be mine.”

“Since we’re all comfortable with the pregnancy and hopeful the child is our own, we should discuss any symptoms she might have, depending on whose child it is and how we’ll handle it when the child is born. Four of us will be disappointed while one of us will be happy.”

“If it’s my child,” Phoenix begins, “she’ll get quite sick and crave my blood. She’ll need to drink my blood so she can stay healthy and revitalized. My blood will help the baby grow and help feed it.”

“That’ll make it clear the child is yours.”

Phoenix nods in agreement.

“There won’t be any significant symptoms if it’s a warlock child,” Cyrus shares.

“Same for a Fae child.”

“How about you, Emeric?”

He shakes his head. “None that I know of.”

“If it’s mine, she’ll crave a lot of meat and protein.”

“We need to agree not to show her we’re upset if the child isn’t our own.” Emeric brushes his hand through his hair. “She’ll be excited about the baby and want us all to love him or her.”

“That’s true. We need to agree now that whoever’s child it is, we love it as if it’s our own. At some point, we’ll all be in the same position if she’s willing to have a child with each of us.”

“Think she will?” Cyrus asks, his tone troubled. “That’s five children, five births she has to go through.”

“If we show her we’re dedicated fathers, I believe she’d be willing to have children with all of us,” Griffin replies.

“I do too,” I agree.

“What about living arrangements?” Phoenix asks. “Do you all really want to live together permanently, kids too?”

“Do you expect her to bounce from house to house?” I ask him. “Selene won’t want that. She won’t want to live separately and be away from one child to visit another. If we’re in this, then we’re really in this. We choose now to live as a pack, permanently, and help her raise the children together.”

“I’m in this.” Emeric taps the table. “I don’t care where we live or if I have to live with all of you fuckers and your kids. My home will always be where Selene is.”

Chuckling, I give a nod of respect. “I have no intention of ever leaving my mate. I’ll help her care for any number of children.”

“I’m in this,” Cyrus declares. “Some of you,”—he gives a pointed look at Emeric—“make this difficult to say, but we’re better together. She makes us all better men.”

Emeric snickers. “You make this difficult to say, but… you’re right, wizard boy.”

“I’ve been all in since our first night together. I’ll do whatever it takes, even if that means raising some of your hellion children,” Griffin smirks.

“What about you?” I ask Phoenix.

Drinking the last of the blood in his glass, he licks his lips clean.

“Selene is meant for me. I want as much time with her as this life will give, and if that means I have to live with all of you and miniature versions of you, I’ll deal with it.”

“That’s settled,” Emeric states. “Now, when should we tell her she’s pregnant?”

“I should do it. It’ll be less overwhelming if it’s just one of us, and she’ll know it’s true when I explain how I know.”

Cyrus clicks his tongue in his cheek. “I’d like to be there for it. I want to support her if she needs it. I want to celebrate with her if she’s excited.”

“It might be overwhelming.” Griffin stands from the chair. “But she can handle it and all of us being there to tell her.”

“All right, then.” I push my chair back. “Let’s go tell her.”

Selene

All my guys enter the room, a mix of emotions on their faces, mostly concern, it seems. Sitting up, I take a drink of water as Killian and Cyrus take a seat on the bed, and the other three gather around us.

“You guys don’t need to be worried. It’s just the flu. I’ll go see Ancor today if you’re this worried.”

“It’s not the flu, sweetheart.” Killian rubs my blanket-covered legs. “You’re pregnant.”

The seriousness in his tone has my heart skipping a beat.

“What makes you think that?”

“I know. As your mate, I can smell the change in your pheromones.”

“But…” The reality of his words hit me and my own trail off. “I’m pregnant?”

“Yes.”

“How do you feel about that?” Cyrus asks, his dark brows pinching inward, matching his nervous tone.

My hands fiddle with the fabric of the gray and cream blanket. “I… I want to know how all of you feel about it.”

“We discussed it.” Killian rubs my legs some more, soothing the eruption of emotions inside me. “We’ll be happy if it’s any one of ours.”

“You will?”

“We’re all hoping it’s ours,” Emeric shares. He never shields me from the truth, so it must be true.

“I… I don’t know what to say. I think I’m in