"Yes," Leveret said with a smile. "Animus is pregnant, and I'm the father."
Emotion sparkled in Lupa's eyes. She shifted to human form and threw her arms around Leveret. "Are you freaking kidding me? That's amazing!" she cried. "Guys, did you hear that?"
Mistral's feathers fluffed up in disbelief. He got up in her face. "Are you kidding me? What kind of reaction is that? You should be tearing Animus to shreds!"
Lupa raised a brow. "Do I know you?"
"I'm Mistral, the air spirit. The one who tried to save your brother from this monster."
Lupa glanced back and forth at me and Leveret. "I don't know, it doesn't look like my brother needs saving. And if he went through all the trouble of getting Animus pregnant, I doubt he's a monster."
Mistral lost his temper. A frustrated grunt tore its way from him as he flexed his talons in anger. "You stupid wolf bitch! You—"
If there was a "wrong thing to say" award, Mistral just received it.
Within a second, he was pinned to the ground again, except this time, I had nothing to do with the fun—it was all Leveret's immediate family.
A grizzled gray wolf snarled in Mistral's face, spittle dripping from his powerful jaws. I recognized him as Hugo, Leveret's alpha father.
"Watch your tongue when you're speaking about my daughter," Hugo growled deeply.
Beside him was a middle-aged hare, Len. It shocked me how much his son resembled him. Len put his small paws firmly on Mistral's chest.
"I don't like to get violent, but I'm warning you," Len said. "Do not threaten my daughter or my son ever again."
Satisfaction and pride welled up inside me. I knew the pack loved their own fiercely, but to see it in action warmed my heart.Thiswas how family should be. They never hesitated to back each other up.
Other family members shifted to human form and swarmed Lupa and Leveret, forming a protective shield around them.
"Dude, are you okay? Lupa told us what happened," Zak said, putting his hand on Leveret's shoulder.
His orca shifter mate, Kamari, side-eyed me. I didn't blame him for being wary after the incident with the coast, but now that we were going to spend a lot more time together, I had to put in the effort to repair our relationship.
"Yes," Kamari said, watching me closely. "She said Animus kidnapped you."
"That's true," Leveret admitted. Before Kamari jumped to conclusions, he added, "But Iwantedto go with him."
The vigilance disappeared from Kamari's face. "You did?" he asked, baffled.
Leveret nodded. "I got a good feeling from him." He turned to me with a warm smile. "Now I know what it was. My soul sensed that you were my fated mate before I realized it."
Zak and Kamari simultaneously blurted out, "Fated mate?"
The fox and finch shifter couple, Quinn and Farley, exchanged glances.
Farley crossed his arms in amusement. "Fated to a spirit, eh? What are the fuckin' odds."
"Hey, it's not the weirdest thing that's ever happened," Quinn remarked with a grin. In his arms, Celeste squirmed impatiently. "What is it, baby?"
"Wanna see!" Celeste cried.
Her shadowy wings flared. She leapt out of Quinn's grip and threw herself at me playfully. Surprised, I caught her. She giggled and flapped her wings. "Hi!"
"Hello, little one," I said, smiling.
Quinn and Farley gave each other a fond look.
"You gave me these," Celeste said, wriggling the black, misty feathers.