His Blue Moon Princess
His Sunshine Baby Chapter 96

Nathaniel shakes his head, confused.

"Wait a second. If that's the case, why didn't she... why didn't that witch attack when James was born?"

"I'm not sure. She might have missed her chance. Nora's power was even stronger while she was asleep, remember? Her aura could be felt all the time, and even stronger at night." "When her hair went white..." whispers Tonia.

"That's right. And it was not that long after the Vampire's attack, which you decimated."

"So she probably didn't have an army to attack with, even if it had been two years," I say. Sylviana sighs.

"She's... she's just like me. A woman, even if it's a witch, all on her own. I don't know how she can compel vampires to do her bidding, but... but, If it were me, I would have taken my time to gather a new army, and focused on improving my magic too. Since she was beaten once and aware of the fact that I'm there, she couldn't attack blindly a second time."

"You're still stronger than her, right?" Asks Tonia, concerned.

After a few seconds, Sylviana sighs.

"I'm not sure, these days. She's getting closer, and... whatever I try to do, I'm barely slowing her down. I only win over her by a bit because of our elements, so..." "Because of what you explained to me?" Asks Nora. "The cycle? Water wins fire, fire wins earth and..."

"Earth overpowers water. It's a very simplistic way to put it, but yes... But there's a lot more than that to take into consideration. Our race doesn't function like humans, even less like werewolves. We can change a lot in a few years' time. I've put all the defenses I can around Silver City, but without Nora..."

"Okay, time out," I exclaimed, standing up. "Can someone explain to me what is Nora's superpower? Because I'm really feeling like I missed a chapter there. Her hair glows white, and she's got a big mean Royal supersized aura. What else?"

Nora blushes a bit, and I frown. What now? My cousin turns to me, hesitating a bit.

"I have some sort of power that makes people listen to me."

"That's part of the aura thing."

"No, not just that," says my cousin, shaking her head. "I noticed a few months ago after I woke up. It had appeared before, but I can give orders, and people can't fight it."

I'm about to say something, but Damian puts his hand around her with a little smile.

"... Even I can't say no when she gets mad."

Even the King? Okay, that's a bit weird... I turn to Sylviana. The witch is fidgeting, maybe for the first time since we've met her. She's brushing her long red hair, frowning, visibly thinking deeply about all of this.

"You're going to tell that's not... part of the aura thing?"

"Oh, it is. But just imagine it as Nora having an unfightable willpower. It's as if the Moon Goddess herself spoke. No werewolf can fight her, not even her own mate, or any Alpha out there."

I shake my head. I'm getting very confused here. I had noticed that Nora's aura had gotten crazy strong, stronger than before, but it's not nearly as aggressive and scary as her husband's. She's like a calm force... it would be like comparing a small breeze of fresh white snow to a stormy dark hurricane. I can't even picture her making her husband submit to her...

"I know," says Sylviana, "But it's the truth. No living night creature in Silver City can refuse Nora. Even a human would feel something."

I chuckle nervously, as I start to understand.

"Wait, you're telling me Nora could potentially... Control that dark witch? For... for real?"

"I can't guarantee her aura is strong enough, but we are creatures under the Moon Goddess' power, just like you. If Nora ordered me to go and hang myself right now, I'd probably have a hard time ignoring her."

I stay speechless.

This is... huge. f*****g huge. My cousin's superpower is to give orders? Unrefusable orders? Like a... a werewolf Queen, for Moon Goddess' sake. Even stronger than a Luna... I laugh nervously, but there's really nothing funny about it. I turn to Nathaniel, who's frowning, visibly confused too. I eventually turn to Nora.

"Why... Why don't we just end it now? We could just replace that witch, and if you..."

Next to her, Damian growls at me immediately.

"Nora is pregnant, she's not taking one step outside Silver City."

His murderous glare is very... convincing. I look down, reminding myself he's still the King...

"Even if she could potentially fight off that witch, there's still the vampires," says Tonia. "It's her main problem, as long as she is pregnant, that is. If she gets bitten just once..."

"She could die," whispers Nathaniel, bitter.

Why do I feel like this is a taboo subject here...? I shake my head, annoyed. I can't believe we're stuck. On one side, that Witch is too scared of Nora's power to attack, and on the other, Nora can't risk a vampire bite...

I hate this.

I hate not being able to do anything, waiting for something to happen in this stupid climate of fear. Nate walks up to me, putting his arms around me to try and comfort me, but I keep shaking my head. Why do I even feel like crying? "Elena..."

Here we go, I'm crying. I'm so f*****g tired of crying those days! But I can't stop it, neither can I stop Nathaniel from hugging me, though he's careful not to hurt my arm...

I hear Nora growl behind me, pissed too. She suddenly stands up.

"I'm not waiting and doing nothing. I want all the Alphas gathering tomorrow. Let's explain this to them. If hell must break loose when this baby decides to come out, I'd rather be ready. Sylviana, you too, please." "Of course."

"I'm coming too," I declare, sniffling, but Nora shakes her head.

"No, Elena, you go home and focus on getting better, okay?"

"Don't leave me out of it!"

"Elena, I'm the one who's going to be left out!" She yells. "Don't you think I'm frustrated too? I'm already scared enough for my babies, now I'm going to be the trigger on when that damned dark witch will attack, and there's nothing I'll be able to do because I'll be too focused on giving birth!"

Only then do I realize my cousin's crying too, with red eyes and a raspy voice. She walks up to me, facing me, voicing her emotions out. She's triturating her messy curls, her thing when she's frustrated or stressed. Or both, I guess.

"Elena, I'm... You're the fighter," she says. "I'm the healer, the protector. I was never a fighter, okay? It was always going to turn this way, right? You'll be healed back then, but I won't be able to fight. Trust me, I hate it. I hate standing on the sideline, but this time, I probably won't have a choice. You... you'll be the one, this time. Okay?"

I shake my head. I hate this, I f*****g hate this whole situation... Nora won't be in the battle, but she'll be the target. The first f*****g target of that dark witch. She doesn't care about me, the half-breed. In a way, I was lucky to have a human mother. But Estelle... I glance at my daughter, who's babbling with James, trying to catch Boyan's tail and giggling with her cutest smile. Estelle will be a target too. I take a deep breath and turn to Nora, who's clumsily wiping her tears off. "Promise me you'll protect her."

"W...What?"

"All three of the Black brothers and I will be fighting, so... So if anything happens to Nate and I, you'll be the only family Estelle has left, okay? Promise me you'll protect her. I can fight, but I won't be able to focus if I don't know my daughter is safe." "Elena!" Yells Nate, but I turn to him.

"Don't act like you don't know, Nate. It's going to be an all-out war. They'll need both of us, and Estelle... I love Danny, but his family is at best Beta, and they'll probably be in the front lines too. Nora will be the only one to protect our baby." "Stop it. Nothing will happen to you... to us."

"I'm just saying if."

We stare at each other for a few seconds, a heated tension between us. I'm dead serious, and I don't care if he doesn't want to hear the truth. Nora gently takes my hand.

"Elena, it will be alright. We'll win, okay?"

I nod, but truth is, I don't have the confidence.

Sylviana's expression is too dark to be confident. She's blankly staring at the children. How much does she really know? Our good witch realizes I'm watching her, and leaves the room without a warning. Liam follows right after her. I leave out a big sigh.

"Anyone else wants to add something not depressing for this?"

...I'm hungry.

I can't help but chuckle at Boyan's out of the blue sentence. Immediately, both kids jump on his back.

I'm hungry too!

"Me too!"

"Let's have a brunch," says Tonia, heading to the kitchen as if this was her own house.

Meanwhile, I exchange a glance with Nora.

"Is it me or did James just..."

"Mind-link Boyan and Estelle? Yeah, he can do that... Well, he hears it. Estelle's not the only precocious one," sighs my cousin. "Royal babies are full of surprises..." Gosh, such a headache...

Behind me, Nate chuckles and walks up to me, hugging me from behind. Damian and Nora silently walk to the kitchen, leaving us alone with Boyan and the kids. "Aren't you taking advantage of the situation?" I ask.

"You think?"

He has no intention to let go, apparently. I sigh. I'm in no mood to fight now, so I just rest my head on his shoulder, enjoying this innocent hug for a while. It's too much emotions for one morning... Seeing this as a silent agreement, Nate goes ahead to kiss my shoulder.

"Hey..."

But he ignores me, and keeps going, climbing up to my neck. Oh, gosh, he's so...

Ahem.

Boyan the bear-sized wolf is staring at us, with a blank expression, clearing reminding us we're not alone... Crap. I push Nate away and escape, hearing him chuckle behind me. He's so annoying!

After texting Daniel to come over, we enjoy a long family brunch in the garden. It's a nice day of July and frankly, when we're all gathered like this it doesn't feel like it could end in a few weeks. Liam and Boyan, in their wolf forms, keep the kids entertained as long as we feed them too. I get why Nora needs Boyan as a nanny, James is an energy pill... Not in a bad way, though, he does listen to his parents.

I realize my best friend is staring fondly at his fiancé. So cute. I can't help but wink at him, making him blush immediately.

Oh, stop it. Where are you at with mister-perfect-abs?

How do you know about his abs?

He was in an amazing sports outfit when he got you. Very fitting. Tight. Well, I have an eye for that. So?

Nothing...

Oh, shut up, Boyan said you were shamelessly hugging minutes ago.

Why do you ask if you already know!

We bicker a bit longer. Daniel and I got so used to mindlinking each other at his family dinners, we can keep going for a long time without anyone even noticing. It's a bit impolite, but with this topic, we are certainly not going to mention it out loud... So you're giving him the go.

No.

You really want to give him the go.

No!

Oh, please girl, you lived alone in a freaking mountain for fours years and a half. You're not a nun, and you live with your very, very sexy ex s*x-friend-almost-boyfriend who had the great idea to get an even sexier body meanwhile; You're hungry. Daniel, shut up.

Hungry and starving...

I decide to ignore him, but his smirk is not subtle. I hate how right he is sometimes! I need to focus hard on something else to elude both Daniel's eyes and Nathaniel's direction. I eat a bit more and try to participate in Nora and Damian's debate over the baby's name, which, surprisingly, they haven't agreed on yet.

An hour later, Daniel needs to get back to work, and James and Nora need their nap. I guess it's time for us to go back too. Thank Moon Goddess, Estelle shape-shifted back, and we carefully explained to her why she should learn to control herself from now on. Though Silver City's humans are used to werewolves, we can't have people, especially young ones, running around and shape-shifting in front of their noses all day.

Nate drives us back to his apartment, and Estelle is sleeping soundly in his arms when we get to the elevator. I take note that playing with her cousin managed to have her that tired... I just hope she won't be sleeping too much and be hard to put to sleep tonight... When Nathaniel closes her bedroom door, I let out a long sigh.

"What a matinee, huh?" He says.

I nod, landing my arse on the living room's couch. Nate comes to sit opposite to me, with a faint smile.

"What are you smiling for?" I ask.

"I... I think I'm a bit crazy. I know we're about to face a never seen before war, yet all I can think about is how happy I am that you and Estelle are living here."

"You idiot..." I say, pushing him with my foot.

He grabs my ankle and, without warning, starts to caress my ankle. The feeling of his fingers on my skin makes me blush like crazy... I try to get away, but the sofa isn't that big. He pulls my legs on his knee, and I don't have the strength to refuse him. Gosh...