Warriors

Chapter Ten: Purebred

"Fergus, what's your last name, son?"

"Bishop, Sir."

"Your parents' names didn't happen to be Jase and Kade?"

Fergus raises his eyebrows in surprise.

"Exactly. You knew them?"

"Very well. They were both great, powerful warriors. I haven't seen them in years. Your mother was pregnant with you, and I was tending to her, but I didn't get the honor of delivering you. They left town before you were born. Your father wanted to go out and find better accommodations for you and your mother."

"Yeah, well, he was a moron. Had you delivered me, my mother might still be alive."

I feel terrible for him. I couldn't imagine not even being able to meet your own mom. I step forward and put my hand on his shoulder, which earns me a look from Onyx.

"Your mom died during birth?"

"Yes. I never knew her."

He pulls a pendant from under his shirt and shows it to me.

"This was hers and all I have of her."

"I'm so sorry you lost her, Fergus. I know how hard it is to lose your mom but never even know her... I couldn't imagine."

"Thank you. I'm sorry you lost yours too. This is the life of a warrior, though. Odds are you'll become an orphan sooner or later. But we're strong; you're strong. If anyone can beat the odds, it's you."

He stares into my eyes intensely, and Onyx starts growling.

"So, what does this mean for our son?"

Doc clears his throat and steps closer to Fergus.

"How old are you, Fergus?"

"I'm twenty-five, have been for the last two years, and still no change though I don't expect one. I grew incredibly fast, according to my father. By the time a human child was one, I was ten. I started to slow down at that point, and it took me a year to reach fifteen. After that, it took another year to turn twenty then I seemed to stop aging altogether. It took another seven years to turn twenty-five; as I said, that was two years ago."

"So when we first met in the woods when we were fifteen, how old were you?"

"If I were a normal child?"

"Yeah."

"Two."

"Jesus Christ..."

Onyx searches my face before looking between Fergus and me nervously.

"When did you meet in the woods?"

"Onyx focus. Doc, what are you getting from all of this?"

"Well, if Shadow grows at the same rate, which he very well may, he will be a ten-year-old in one year. After that, we can safely assume that Shadow will age just as Fergus did."

"So this time next year, our son will be ten years old?"

"Precisely."

Onyx and I groan simultaneously, and Onyx turns to Fergus.

"Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to check in and see if you needed anything."

"Mallory will never need anything from you."

I groan and push my shoulder into his.

"Onyx enough already. We all know what he did, and I told you that he could have hated us for what happened after that. I went after him. I would have killed him if you didn't leash me, and he was still kind enough to go out and get us enough food for an army. Seeing how he's the same as Shadow, I think he can help him adjust. Better than we can."