Accidental Surrogate for Alpha

#Chapter 468 – Seeds

Cora

The Goddess’ smile only broadens as she continues her thought. “But you can tell your sister that I have not been so generous as to send her two mates at once. And because I know it will worry her now, you can tell her that I have made her only one mate in this world, even though her mate had two.”

I grin a little then, thinking about her phrasing it as a generosity and not the torture that it clearly is for Sinclair. ” Why, though?” I ask, suddenly curious. “Why did he get two?”

“Because,” the goddess says, laughing a tinkling little laugh. “I have bigger plans, Cora, that stretch generations into the future. One day, Dominic’s experience loving two mates will help him empathize with another who likewise struggles.” She smirks a little at me. “Though… maybe don’t tell him that,” she wrinkles her nose playfully, “Might be more fun if you don’t.”

I laugh suddenly, delighted at the realization that my mother the Goddess is a little bit of trickster. How have we missed that before?

“So, what’s the deal with the Prince, then?” I ask, and I ignore Roger as he mumbles something behind me about not understanding what the hell is going on.

“The bond with the Prince,” mom says with a shrug, “it is something else. But some things, my love, must remain a mystery. The connection that I have built between Ella and the Atalaxian Prince – it is merely a seed.” She glances at my stomach, and then her eyes move to Ella. “Seeds, like children, take time to grow. But when they do…”

She smiles then and leaves the thought unfinished, shaking her hair back from her shoulders. “Is there anything else, daughter?” she asks, beginning to fade just a little bit.

“The baby?” I ask, suddenly desperate to know while I have her here. My hand moves instantly to my stomach. “Is he… will he be all right?”

She grins at me. “Your child will be born safe and sound, Cora, do not worry.” A little laugh rings through the air as she fades almost completely from sight. “And tell Ella that I love her, and to keep trying. I am eager to lay eyes on my first granddaughter.”

And quite suddenly, she’s gone.

I blink at the sudden absence in the room and then take a deep breath before looking around at my family, who all stare at me.

“That was super weird,” Roger says, his eyes wide.

“Well, you probably also looked like a lunatic talking to the air,” I say, rolling my eyes at him, “the night she visited you on the boat.”

“Cora,” Sinclair murmurs, and all of our eyes turn to where he’s sitting behind Ella, his face tucked miserably against his palm. “Please…please tell me what she said. I’m dying here.”

“Aww, Dominic,” I murmur, and I consider for just a second dragging it out a little further just to tease him. But he’s so miserable that I can’t. “Calvin isn’t Ella’s fated mate. She said that she only made Ella one mate, and it’s you.”

“Ohmygod,” he whispers, all in a rush, and the tension visibly goes out of my sister and her mate. My heart breaks a little when I see Sinclair’s shoulders begin to shake with the relief of it as Ella presses herself back against him, murmuring sweet reassurances.

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I smile as I watch them, but I’m a little relieved when Roger slips onto the couch behind me, pulling me into his lap. I turn my attention to him as he wraps his arms around me, giving Ella and Sinclair a minute.

“What about me?” Roger murmurs, nudging me with his nose. “How many do I get?”

I lean back from him, suddenly a little appalled at his question. “You get one, Roger Sinclair,” I growl, grabbing his shirt in my fist.

“Awww,” he says, his face falling in pretend disappointment. “I was hoping for like eight or nine. Really start a little harem for myself -”

“I would kill them all,” I hiss, though I start to laugh. “”Though I probably wouldn’t need to – they’d get one look at you and all reject the bond immediately – ”

“That’s just what I’d tell you,” he murmurs, grinning at me and pulling me close. “When secretly, I’d keep them all in a little cabin out in the woods, my secret wives – ”

I burst into laughter at the idea, but my mate and I both turn to my sister when she calls my name.

“What else did she say?” Ella asks, her face happy and at peace. So, I tell her everything strange thing mom said about the bond being a seed, and seeds, like children, needing time to grow.

“That is so weird,” Ella breathes, her face scrunched up in confusion.

“Cora,” Sinclair says, his deep voice still very serious despite his mate’s clear peace and happiness. “You asked ‘why did he get two.’ What… what did she say to that?”

I grin at him now, feeling a bit of my mother’s mischief coming through to me now. “She said Roger got two pop tarts this morning because they come in a pack,” I say, my voice slow and resonating with wisdom as I grin at him, “it’s only right that they be eaten together.”

Sinclair narrows his eyes at me as Ella laughs. “Tell me,” the King orders, his Alpha coming forward in the command.

But Ella just turns to him with a scoff. “Cora’s conversation with our mother is hers, Dominic. You don’t get to make that demand of her.”

“She told you the answer to your question,” he grumbles, glaring at her. Ella sighs and takes his face in her hands. “Does it really matter?” she asks, shaking her head. “I am your mate, Dominic, and you are mine, and that’s enough.”

“Unless he has a third out there somewhere,” Roger murmurs unhelpfully, smirking.

Ella gasps and glares at Roger, but I just laugh and start to stand up. ” Enough of this,” I say, getting to my feet. “Are we done with all this serious Goddess chatter? You have a country to run, and I have a shift at the clinic this evening.”

Everyone starts to stand then as well, Ella coming close and wrapping me in a hug. “Thank you, Cora,” she whispers to me, very seriously. “I’m so grateful.”

“Easily done,” I say, smiling down at her. She starts to pull away from me but I hold her close for a moment longer, bringing my lips close to her ear so that I can whisper. “She said to keep trying, Ells – she wants to see her granddaughter soon.”

When Ella pulls away from me she’s beaming with happiness, her eyes starting to fill with tears as she clutches Rafe close. “Really?” she breathes.

I nod eagerly and Ella spins away, throwing herself into Sinclair’s arms with a happy squeak.

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“What?” Sinclair asks, frowning and looking between me and his mate. ” What did you say to her?”

“Would you stop being so serious, Dominic?” I say, rolling my eyes at him as Roger comes and wraps an arm around my waist. “It was all good news this morning from our little chat with the Goddess – you need to cheer up! You don’t need to know all the details.”

He sighs and glares at me a little, though his sigh lets me know that he realizes that I’m right. “You’re really not going to tell me?” he says, chagrined. “What she said, about me having two mates?”

“She told me not to,” I say with a grin. “I think she wants you to figure it out yourself. But…I can tell you that she definitely gave you two mates for a reason.”

Sinclair’s sigh is deep but I see a great deal of contentment come to his expression as he and Ella say their goodbyes and head out to their car, where several guards are waiting. As they go, Roger stands close at my side.

“Any goddess messages for me?” he murmurs, smiling down at me.

“Nah,” I say, grinning up at him. ” Just that the baby will be born happy and healthy. But that’s all I asked.”

He smiles at me, pleased but curious. ” Really?” he says, stepping close and pressing a palm to my cheek. “You didn’t ask anything else? You’re not curious?”

“Roger,” I say, shaking my head up at him as I wrap my arms around his waist, “I am so curious about our future and how our lives are going to unfold. But I have no real interest in being an oracle. I want to find out as we live it. It’s enough for me.”

“And you’re enough for me,” he murmurs back, and then he leans in, giving me a perfect kiss.

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