"Do you want something to sleep in?" I asked her.
"Just some clean underwear bottoms," she said. "Lily will feed, and I'd like some skin to skin time with her."
Whether it was the mention of food, or just the sound of her mother's voice too far away, a small wail sounded from my little girl. Her face was suddenly red and scrunched as if everything in life was horrible.
Mischa's smile was so huge it lit up her entire face. Despite the fatigue, she looked happy, at peace. She crossed to the large bed and held out her hands for Lily. The little one went right to her and straight to her breast. The sight of Mischa feeding our child stirred something primal within me. My mate and child. Perfect.
"I'll go and check on Brax and Jess, and grab you some clothes," I said to her. It was a struggle to tear myself from the room. Moving with vampire speed, I was back within moments.
Mischa had her eyes closed, her head tilted back. One hand was gently stroking Lily's curls, the other wrapped around her tiny body. She must have sensed me; our bond was functioning again, and I could feel the strong emotions within her.
"Everything okay with the others?" she asked, her voice dreamy. I nodded, handing her a pile of clean clothes. She put them to the side to put on later. I quickly shucked off my own clothes, and in only boxer briefs crawled across the bed to settle in beside her. I wrapped my arm around her back and drew her closer into me. We lay like that for a long time, bonding together as a family.
"Tell me about you, Maximus Compass," Mischa said, turning her blazing green eyes on me. "Who are you? I want to know everything."
I stroked her arm and settled further into the pillow. We were true mates; she could see into my mind, and there was endless oceans of love between us. But in so many ways we were strangers. Unlike Jessa and Braxton, we hadn't spent most of our years together.
"My name is Maximus Compass," I said with a grin, ridiculously happy to be cradling my family in my arms. "Six and half feet of vampire supernatural … well, sort of. I'm also partly shifter, magic user, and fey. I like weapons, especially blades, muscle cars – although a decent four-wheel drive can be fun. I like my music really fast, with a strong beat. I'm the protector, I chase down the criminals and keep my family and town safe. I love a black-haired wolf shifter and tiny little angel more than anything else in this world. I'll now be protector for them first. They're my life."
Mischa let out a breathy sigh, snuggling further into me. Lily switched sides and started happily feeding again.
"Mischa Lebron," she said softly. "Five and half feet of shifter, who for most of her life thought of herself as human. I love art, and nature, and hiking. I used to go out by myself for hours and explore whatever natural stuff was in the area around us. We moved so much when I was growing up that I never formed any strong relationships, except with the trees, and the sky. They were constant, they never left me. I've made a lot of mistakes, but for some reason the fates decided I deserved a second chance at happiness. Now my life is complete." She tilted her head back and I softly kissed her cheeks, and nose, and lips. "Thank you for giving me all of this, Max."
I had to kiss her again. Probably wouldn't ever stop, which was exactly how it should be. My love for her would only grow stronger with time. Our bond would strengthen. Mischa never had to worry about losing me, I was always going to fight for her, for us, because she was worth fighting for.
Mischa Lebron
One month later.
Lily gurgled as she wiggled on her spot on the floor. During the past four weeks our pack house had exploded into something resembling a baby factory. At the moment all four quads were down on their hands and knees crouched around three little supe young, trying to get them to smile.
Jessa and I stood back, just staring at the beautiful sight. The babies already had the boys wrapped tightly around their tiny fingers.
"Jackson woke up eight times last night," Jessa said around a huge yawn. "I swear he already has his father's appetite for boobs."
I snorted, shaking my head. "Dude, I did not need that mental image." I was lucky, Lily was such a content child. She slept in five to six hour increments, and then when she woke for her feed I'd bring her into bed with Maximus and me, and we'd spend the next hour bonding together.
My happiness was almost sickening. I never even knew that this level of happy existed outside of movies and books.
"You're such a strong boy," Tyson was cooing at Jackson. "Already protecting your sisters."
Jessa and I rolled our eyes at each other. It was one of those mimic twin things, and we did it a lot nowadays. But for real, these quads were crazy in love with the babies.
The front door slammed then, drawing all of our attentions. Jonathon and Lienda hurried into the room, followed closely by Jack and Jo and Nash. The grandparents were almost as bad as the quads, each of them demanding their daily hugs and kisses from the babies. One thing our kids didn't lack was love. It was bursting from everyone who stepped near them. So far Jessa's two hadn't shown any crazy abilities, but we were all waiting to see what the dragon born were going to pull out of their tiny onesies. Both of them had a swath of white-blond hair, which was odd considering their parents' hair was as black as night. Maybe a throwback to one of the grandparents. They all claimed it anyway. Lily's hair was still a mess of dark curls, and getting long already, brushing over her forehead.
Maximus left the grandparents to their kisses, his arms automatically wrapping around me. "We should sneak off," he murmured.
I laughed, elbowing him. "You need to be patient, Lily will go down for her nap soon." And despite the fact I missed my daughter when she napped, I did enjoy the bonding time with her daddy. Maximus and I were still newly mated and the urges were strong. Part of me still couldn't believe he was in my life like this.
Tyson shifted off the floor to allow Jack and Nash to take his place. The Compasses' younger brother was obsessed with the babies. So loving and kind.
"How's Louis?" Jessa asked Tyson when he reached us.
He shook his head. "No change. The medics are baffled. His energy has returned, and there are no visible injuries, and yet he doesn't wake. They're guessing it's something to do with the injury to his soul. It's still healing."
Jessa crossed her arms tightly over her chest. "I'm worried about him. Josephina said she'd look into it, but I haven't heard anything since."
Jessa's dragon had visited last week, bestowing blessings on the three little ones. She said they were strong of soul and energy, that they would make formidable supernaturals one day.
Now at least, with Kristoff and the bears out of the way, it looked like life would be a lot calmer in Stratford. I for one couldn't wait. I wanted lazy days with my pack, long nights of shared company, and my child growing up with more love than she knew what to do with.
I especially wanted a lifetime with a stubborn, gorgeous, dirty-blond vampire at my side. My mate and love.
I had a life so much better than I ever imagined. It was mine. I was blessed.
Something while you wait ;)
Thanks for checking out my story! Stay tuned for more Supernatural Prison stories. Including Tyson, Jacob and Louis. While you're very patiently waiting (lol), please check out one of my favourite authors and series. The Wilds, by Donna Augustine.
Chapter One
Have you ever wanted to be someone else so desperately that you wished for it with everything you had? Closed your eyes at night and prayed you would wake up as someone else? Would sacrifice anything to just not be you for another day? That's how I used to feel when I first came here, fourteen years ago a screaming child of four, crying as my parents walked out of this place without me.
I stayed like that for a long time, too, a black hole of emotion. I'd destroy any light that came too close. I cursed the world and everyone that dwelled upon it.
It was six years ago that I was lying in my private cell in The Holy Sanctuary for the Criminally Insane-or the Cement Giant as me and the other inmates called it-and had one of those moments, the kind where I could see beyond the confines I'd erected in my mind. The bars that had kept my mind in this dark place, as surely as the cement walls kept my body, weakened and rusted away.
I don't know why it happened. Maybe it was simply age or maturity, but the anger that had been pouring out of me like a spigot on full blast started to slow. I realized that this was it, the only life I was going to get. I could either let myself rot here in misery or I could find a way out. I'd already gotten one second chance. I'd survived when so many others hadn't. Was I really going to waste it here?
See the thing is, I'm a Plaguer, one who's had the Bloody Death and lived. That's not something many can say. When the Bloody Death hit the world a hundred and fifty years ago, it had a zero percent rate of survival. From what I've heard and read, one day no one had ever heard of the Bloody Death, and the next it ripped through the human population like a forest fire after a six-month drought. And just like a fire, it killed fast and painfully. People would be up walking around fine, only to fall bleeding on the street one moment, and gripped in agony and dead the next.
From the records left behind of that time, ninety-five percent of the population contracted the Bloody Death and all of them died during the initial outbreak. Not to mention that it didn't spring up and then disappear. No, it's been coming back every ten or twenty years. You don't have to be a math genius to know those odds suck. I guess it's a good thing there were so many humans to start with or we might have gone the way of the dinosaurs.