A Fox Among Wolves

Epilogue

The sun is warm against my skin, and I smile. Summer has been amazing, the rain finally stopping, allowing the sun a chance to shine. Now, we can barely keep ourselves inside. After traversing through the forest, heavily pregnant and enduring the harsh weather, I have come to appreciate the sun.

With summer coming to an end, we have been soaking up the last of the rays. Like now, we are along side the small creek that is about a half a mile from the village. It is highly patrolled by guards, and this far out, we never see any of the mutants.

Braeden had managed to get the day off, and Althea had shooed me away once she saw how antsy I was getting. So, we had packed a lunch and came down here. It had been a wonderful idea. Willow loves to play in the dirt, not a big fan of the water but dirt is her favorite.

She is sitting next to me on the towel, babbling to herself as she pats the ground with her chubby little fingers. Cracking open an eye, I turn to look at her, a smile spreading across my face. She is truly gorgeous. Braeden likes to say she looks like me, but I can't see it. Sure, she has my green eyes, but she has my mate's blonde hair, the ends curling slightly. Her skin is as pale as mine, some of the freckles that Braeden has, dusting her skin.

She must sense me looking at her, because she turns her green eyes over to me, a wide smile spreading across her face when she sees me.

"Ma!" she cries, waving her dirty little hands in my direction.

Chuckling, I sit myself up, grabbing a wipe and doing my best to get the dirt off her hands. She starts to protest, whining as she tries to pull her hands away. But it is futile. I know her nap is creeping up on us, and I don't want her nursing while she is caked in dirt.

Her bottom lip is just starting to wobble when I wipe the rest of the dirt off of her. She practically falls into me when I pick her up, laying her down on the blanket next to me.

Just as I predicted, she was out within seconds of nursing, cuddled close to me. Her little wolf ears twitch as she dreams, and I can't help myself from rubbing their softness. Braeden comes to join us sometime later, laying down with his chest against my back. His fingers rub along Willow, who just lets out a loud huff at the contact. She is not really a fan of being touched too much while she is eating.

My mate drops a kiss onto my shoulder before laying back on the blanket, arm wrapping around my waist. His hand settles along my stomach, rubbing slightly. A smile spreads across my face at the contact.

We had just found out that I am a few weeks pregnant. It had been a bit of a surprise, seeing as we weren't planning on having any more kids for a while, and we had relied too heavily on breastfeeding to act as a birth control.

It is not so bad, though. I am only a little over two months, so Willow will be over a year when her sibling comes. She is still so attached to us, which makes me worry. Every time I try to hold Eloise, Willow will get super cranky, not calming until I put the other baby down. At first, I had found it hilarious. Now, I just have to hope that she won't be so possessive by the time the new baby comes.

"How are you feeling?" Braeden asks.

Humming, I cuddle back into his cooler body. He had just dried off from swimming in the creek, so his body is a cool comfort against mine. "Fine, just tired, like I was with this little one."

"Anything Althea can do about it?" he asks, his voice taking on an edge of worry. He knows how exhausted I was during my first and second trimester when I was pregnant with Willow. Those had not been fun times. I had felt like I always needed sleep and had found it difficult to make it a full day without a nap.

"No, she just told me to go ahead and take a nap when I can. She gave me some tea, which should help give me some vitamins I may be lacking, but that's all."