Blake took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Alex cocked an eyebrow at him.

“You knocked?”

“It seemed more polite,” Blake muttered.

The door swung open and Leon stared at the two of them like he had seen ghosts.

“Blake! What are you doing here? You can’t be here? How-“

“Keep the questions to a minimum. We don’t have much time here,” Alex replied and looked around.

“We came to break you out,” Blake said and pulled on Leon’s arm. Leon watched Blake with a confused look before he shook his head.

“Come in, it’s less likely you will be discovered if you get inside,” Leon muttered and pulled them in. He closed the door after him while Blake stared at the so-called bedroom. It was huge, with its own bathroom and queen-sized bed and sofa. All in an old-style, fit for royalty.

“You should not be here.”

“You already said that,” Blake muttered. “And neither should you.”

“This is my home.”

“Your family is trying to free Fingal Keir. A man you helped stop.”

Leon groaned and rubbed his temples like he had a headache. “I don’t agree with them.”

“Then say so. Why are you-“

“It’s complicated.”

“Why?”

“Because my mother wants to replace me as her heir.”

Blake frowned at him. “What?”

“You know how traditions favor a woman as the leader in covens. Men weren’t allowed in any leadership positions until around 50 years ago. My mom still wants to uphold the old tradition but she only had me. A son. She wants her niece to become her heir instead but she has encountered resistance among the other witches. If I go against her, she intends to use that as an excuse to take away my birthright to become the next leader of the Graycrests,” Leon explained.

“Not to sound cynical but if that is your mother’s intent then she will find an excuse to do so whether you like it or not,” said Alex.

“I fear you might be right, but I can still try to gain some support. Maybe even convince the others that letting Fingal Keir go is a lousy decision. But I can only do so from here,” Leon replied with a tired expression. Blake perused him with doubt.

“Is being heir so important to you?”

“My family is old and powerful. I am proud of it and want to lead it. I always wanted that.”

“Even if it means sacrificing your beliefs?”

The room fell into silence and Leon’s face turned from determined to doubtful revealing his wavering feelings. He did not seem to be able to answer Blake’s question and this conversation wasn’t going anywhere. Leon had obviously no intention of leaving and every minute they are here the bigger the chance of them being discovered.

“One last question. Do you know that your mother plans to pin all of this on me? Blame me for everything that happened last year,” Blake asked. Leon did not reply but didn’t seem surprised. Blake had his answer.

“Alex, let’s go. There is nothing for us here and Leon… If they don’t want you, why are you fighting so hard to gain a trust that never will come when you already have friends that miss you?”

With those last words, Blake and Alex snuck out again. Fortunately, they did not encounter anyone on the way out and the yard was quiet. Hadrien waited for them and they left the same way as they came. All under the cover of the dark.

*****

Jaxon watched Blake lying in his bed with his head on the pillow. A forlorn scent came of the little coinín and that made Jaxon’s heart ache.

“Ignore the witch, he is an asshole.”

“He is my friend and I don’t know how to help him. In fact, I feel like all this is my fault.”

“How? It’s not your fault that people are bad. I told you that during Christmas. Remember?” Jaxon muttered and laid down beside Blake who rolled over and put his head on Jaxon’s chest.

“Did you? That sounds way to insightful to be you,” Blake teased and laughed when Jaxon pinched his buttocks in retaliation.

“I said it then, and I say it as many times as it is needed. This is not your fault, Blake.”

“I know, but that does not ease my aching heart,” Blake sighed and rubbed his face against Jaxon’s chest. Jaxon unwillingly let out a whine as Nightmane was getting excited. A tad too excited as the scent of Blake filled his senses.

“Ehm, Jaxon?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you… Having problems?”

Jaxon looked down to see Blake’s heating face. He avoiding meeting Jaxon’s eyes or Jaxon’s very prominent lower part which made its presence known. Damnit.

“Ignore it,” Jaxon muttered with a whine.

“I’m trying to but it is rather… big.”

Jaxon could not help to smirk confidently and got hit over the head by Blake who seemed to be dying in embarrassment at the moment.

“By the way,” Blake lifted his head, trying to ignore Jaxon’s predicament,” you are going to become an uncle!”

“Yeah, Elliott is having a kid. How the hell did that happen?”

Blake cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t know? Your body seems to have an idea.”

“Guy’s don’t get pregnant,” Jaxon snorted before he frowned. Did they? Nah, that’s ridiculous.

“Very observant of you, but there are still hospitals that can help you get pregnant. You only have to find a sperm donor. Which in this case, is Elliott.”

That makes sense. Joanne and Elliott have been close since childhood so it wouldn’t be strange for them to make such an agreement.

“So, do you want a niece or a nephew?” Blake said with a smile.

“Both will be fine, but I am betting on a nephew,” Jaxon said casually.

“Really?”

“The Price gene is strong and we have mostly boys. Three brothers in my generation. Five cousins, all boys. My father and his two brothers. My grandfather and his brother. Let’s just say that we come from a long line of rowdy lads.”

Blake smirked at him,” so, you are saying that all of you will panic if it is a girl.”

Jaxon laughed at that, “most likely. It would be hilarious seeing Kai handle a niece though. He just doesn’t know how to handle girls. Which is hilarious considering he is the only straight one among us, three brothers.”

“Do you know how to handle girls?” Blake teased.

“Considering my former girlfriend conjured a sinkhole when I broke up with her. I must say no,” Jaxon muttered.

“Well, Jessie is a bitch.”

Jaxon smirked at Blake when he saw his pout. The boy still did not like Jessie. Not that he was surprised as she was horrible to him.

“Have I ever told you that you look cute when you pout?” Jaxon said and let his finger run through Blake’s hair. That was surely his erection talking.

*****

Elliott sat awkwardly beside Joanne at the dinner table in the house of Joanne’s parents. Joanne’s parents John and Diana had taken the Price family in with joy when they had found out about Joanne’s pregnancy. Elliott feared that they would want him to marry her but Joanne had assured him that she had already cleared that up.

Owen sat beside his wife with a frown and a deep look on his face. Like he tried to philosophize the existence of their kind but he clearly had a hard time getting around the thought of pregnancy without sex.

“So you haven’t-“

“No, dad. We haven’t.”

“So you are still-“

“Yes, dad. I am still gay.”

“So, do you know the gender of the child? Do you want to know?” Mya asked eagerly.

“No, we don’t know and we want it to be a surprise,” Joanne replied looking for support from Elliott who nodded with a smile.

“It’s a boy,” Kai said surely. Everyone stared at him. “Clearly, look at our line. It’s a hundred percent sure that it’s a boy!”

“Ignore the fool. His father dropped him when he was a child,” Mya piped in.

“That only happened once,” Owen muttered.

“What?!” Kai exclaimed.

“Ignore all of my family,” Elliott muttered.

“Well, we are happy to become grandparents and honored that the next patriarch has chosen our daughter to be the mother of his child,” Diana said and looked proudly at her daughter who looked uncomfortably.

Elliott did not like that they only seemed proud of her carrying the child of the next patriarch. She has always been an amazing woman but for some reason, her parents never expected much from her other than carrying children. Preferably that of an Alpha.

Joanne had that mindset as well. Often petting her stomach whispering to the child to become an Alpha like its father. Elliott knew that she desperately wanted an Alpha child and feared that the child would become a Delta like her. She once said that she rather the child would not be chosen by a wolf if it was a Delta. Elliott suspected that she had agreed to carry his child as his family was known to be chosen by Alpha wolves. Maybe she hoped that it would erase her own strong line of Deltas.

Elliott himself would love the child no matter what it becomes and he was a tad unsure how to handle Joanne’s attitude towards their child but he feels like it’s a problem for another day. Right now he needs to make sure that the child will grow up safely.

“Thank you for taking us in,” Elliott said politely.

“It is our honor!” John said with a light-heartedly laugh.

Suddenly the door burst open as Jaxon waltzes in with a ridiculous smile on his face.

“Jaxon! Behave, this isn’t our home,” Mya chippered with a smile but her eyes promised a whopping if he didn’t behave.

“Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Lyndon,” Jaxon said cheerily and Diana just smiled while pulling out a plate for him.

“Where have you been? You weren’t in your room last night,” said Owen and Jaxon shrugged.

“I snuck out.”

“Excuse me?”

Jaxon froze at his father's tone and cleared his throat while he sat down by the dinner table with his plate. “To train, eh, rugby.”

“With Kai’s chains,” Elliott muttered and Kai grabbed onto his younger brother by the neck.

“You took the chains from my room!”

“Technically, it isn’t your room but a guest room.”

“Those are my chains!”

“Why do you have chains?” Elliott asked with a frown. Kai froze and let go of Jaxon before clearing his throat.

“I confiscated them… From a student.”

“So they are not yours,” Jaxon chippered in only to get hit over the head.

“Ah! remember when we used to have chains, Owen?” Mya said cheerily while looking at her husband lovingly. All the children spluttered out their food.

“Mom!” Elliott groaned.

“What?”

“Seriously?” Kai muttered.

“It was for the full moon. I had a hard time controlling my wolf during the full moon so she chained me to the basement,” Owen said while rolling his eyes. “What did you think we did with the chains?”

“Something a tad more sexual,” Jaxon confessed and his mother chuckled.

“Oh no, we used ropes for that.”

“Kill me,” muttered Kai.