The Shade: Shades of Change

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

I sat on the floor with Brendan in my lap and Reshna beside me grinning at him. He was wearing my gift. Maximus was on the couch watching with a loving smile.

All the parents of the young children were in the room spending time with them as they played with their gifts and wore their new clothes Vex and I had gotten them. Although he hadn't seen the clothes until the night before when I insisted on wrapping them. I mean he'd given me his blood, I was healed and without a scratch on me. But he was overly protective and now so was I.

Vex sat in an armchair watching me as I loved on Brendan. I felt his stare and looked at him smiling.

His attention was pulled away as Less walked over with her baby doll and insisted he feed it.

He tried to fight his smile and failed. He sat forward and I got the first glimpse of the daddy he was going to be to our daughters.

He spoke to her softly asking her how to hold the doll and pretending to feed it with a baby bottle.

Less's dad walked over bending down and listening.

"Darling don't bother King Vex." He said after she finished babbling.

"She's fine." Vex assured him.

Less's dad smiled at Vex then watched as his daughter carried on in baby talk about her baby doll.

My heart melted. Things were changing. It was slow going, but they were changing for the better.

As I looked around the room I could see not all were acclimating well. Lokin was still as sour as ever. But Holden was enjoying himself as he pretended to talk on a play phone. The single women in the room stared at him longingly. It wasn't just about what genetic she'd pass on anymore, it was what kind of dad he'd be to their children. It appeared as though he may have been perfect for the part.

I did notice that Serien was staring off like he often did and looking so sad. Reverence was talking to a pretty brunette and using lots of charm.

I passed Brendan back to Reshna who kissed his little cheeks as I stood. I walked over to Vex as Less's daddy picked her up and walked away.

I took a seat on Vex's lap. He put his hand on my slight baby bump and rubbed gently before looking up at me.

"I'm not sure how I feel about having little girls." He said with a frown.

Now I frowned. "What do you mean?"

He blew out a breath. "Well our little girls are going to be stunning you know. I mean look at their mother and father." I grinned knowing where this was going. "You've seen the men walking around this place. I know most. I cannot fathom the thought of my daughters beneath one. It makes me ill."

I giggled. "Well they could always date humans." I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck looking down at him.

He pursed his lips in thought then looked up at me. "Yes. They will be strong like me and can easily toss a human male around if they get too fresh."

I burst into giggles making Vex smile.

"Over protective daddy and uncles, I'm sure they'll have little to worry about where men are considered."

"Very true." Holden said walking up. "I love children."

"I never knew." Vex said with surprise.

Holden nodded as he looked around. "I would often go down and visit the little ones." He looked across the room at Serien and frowned."Serien used to go down there a lot and hold the little babies." He explained softly.

I looked at Serien then Vex with a question.

Vex frowned. "Serien's child and the mother died a few hundred years ago." He explained to me softly. "None of us ever met her. But he told us he'd lost the love of his life. Which seemed odd back then, but not so much now."

My heart broke. "How?" I whispered.

"We suspected damphirs, but Serien was sure it was something else." Vex murmured and looked at me. "Something I was sure didn't exist until you mentioned it." He looked at the far wall distantly. "A creature trying to pass itself off as Lugat only with red eyes. Not a Shade. Not from our world. It consumes it's prey and becomes it to a degree. Whether human or Shade, yet it is neither." I stared at him and he finally looked at me. "It's from your world. It's a Wendigo."