Calix
Goddess looked at the little hearts on the ultrasound screen, her eyes filled with love for them. My heart was so full. I had three kids on the way all of a sudden and I loved each and every one of them dearly. And I loved their beautiful Mom with every fibre of my being. My brothers did too. We would do anything for Chasity and our pups.
“We love you, Chasity,” I whispered, closing the small distance between her and me.
I cupped her face in my hands, tilting her chin upwards so that I could kiss her. I pressed my lips against hers gently as though she could easily break. In my eyes, she was so delicate. I knew she had endured a lot but it was hard to see her as the tough Luna she was slowly becoming. She would always be my childhood sweetheart, my destined and divine bride, wide-eyed and innocent, doll-like, Cherubic. I tried to convey all of this with my kiss but of course it was futile. Lucky for me, I had the rest of forever to show Chasity how much she meant to me.
“And we missed you like crazy!” Exclaimed Felix, placing his hands on Chasity’s shoulders so that he could massage them.
Chasity relaxed into his touch.
“We’re keeping you and these babies on lockdown!” declared Alex, leaning in so that he could nuzzle Chasity.
I half expected her to frown but she surprised us all with a bright smile. She did not seem the least bit upset by our overprotectiveness.
“Fair enough,” she agreed, seemingly approving of the lockdown. “I love you too, all of you, so much!” she said, sounding a little breathless.
I placed my hand on her knee and gave her a little squeeze.
“And I missed you! Every second was horrible without you,” she cried, her voice sounding strained. “I thought I’d never see you again!” she admitted, sniffling.
Hearing the little crack in her voice as she fought back tears was unbearable. We all drew even closer to her. My beautiful little Goddess was trembling. She could hold back the floodgates no longer. Her sniffles gave way to sobs that wracked her whole body. We rushed to comfort her, pressing our bodies against hers and surrounding her with warmth. Seeing Chasity break down like that was making my wolf whimper. I kissed her forward and the top of her head while she cried softly. We kept her safely enveloped in our arms. The doctor kindly stepped outside to give us a moment. The doc had thoughtfully left a box of tissues behind on the examination bed next to our weeping mate. I handed a tissue to Chasity and she used it to dab under her eyes. I took another tissue and held it to her pink nose so that she could blow it. I caressed her flushed cheeks gently. Although I hated seeing her cry she looked adorable with her cheeks and nose tinged pink. Alex and Felix seemed to share my sentiment about her irresistible cuteness as Alex tweaked her nose and Felix pinched her cheek.
“Hey!” exclaimed Chasity as though something had only just occurred to her. “What happened to Dante?” She asked, curiosity blossoming in her brown doe eyes.
My brothers and I exchanged mischievous glances.
Dante was in an underground cell and there he would remain for as many days as he had held Chasity captive. Afterwards, we planned to transfer him to a regular jail cell where he would await trial. He was obviously guilty. The evidence was “insurmountable” according to Alex but Alex had also insisted upon a trial being held as a formality. Alex and I explained this to Chasity on the ride home. If Felix had had his way, Dante would be dead. Felix refused to interject or add anything. I knew he was pissed that he wouldn’t get to snap Dante’s neck.
“Dante’s wasn’t the worst honestly,” insisted Chasity. “He’s a decent person deep down I believe. He was just desperate to recreate what he had with his late mate. Madame was the mastermind.”
“We have no way of knowing where her essence went,” said Alex with a sigh.
I recalled the swirls of smoke coming out of Chasity’s parents. The smoke had formed the fox spirits. There were three fox spirits potentially out there: Madame and the couple who had been using the bodies of Chalice and Chase. Alex believed that they would have disintegrated if they hadn’t reached inhabitable bodies quickly enough. It reminded of the original story of the little mermaid, the sad one, where she became a water sprite after failing to win over the Prince. Thankfully, Chasity and I had gotten our happy ending. I was her Prince Charming.
“And what happened to Maurice?” Wondered Chasity. “He was okay. He gave me pizza and water.”
“Chasity, we need to work on your sense of justice, my Luna,” said Alex, his eyes filled with concern and doubt as he looked in the rearview mirror at Chasity.
Alex was driving and Chasity was between Felix and me in the backseat.
“Maurice is dead. He choked on a sandwich in a convenience store parking lot,” muttered Felix, unbothered.
Chasity looked somewhat alarmed.
“Wow,” she mumbled.
“Karma,” said Alex, nodding. “He had just robbed the convenience store. He stole that sandwich along with the cash in the register and he shot the father of five who owned the store,” revealed Alex.
Chasity gasped. She was clearly horrified.
“Don’t worry the father of five survived!” I informed her happily.
That had been my first concern when Alex had initially recounted the story to me.
“Yes, the bullet missed all major organs,” said Alex, looking relieved on behalf of the family. “His wife says he’s still recuperating in hospital. He has a long road ahead but his prognosis is good and the children are so happy their father made it out of this alive.”
“Awww, thank goodness!” Said Chasity.
“What kind of sandwich had Maurice stolen?” Asked Felix.
“I don’t know, Felix,” mumbled Alex, annoyed by the question.
“It’s a valid question,” said Felix. “If Calix had asked that, you’d make it your mission to find out.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Cheese paste,” announced Chasity, looking at her cell phone.
I snorted with laughter. Goddess had actually googled that.
“It’s in the news?” I confirmed.
Chasity nodded, showing me a picture on her phone. It was the Jackson family, all smiles as they surrounded their father in hospital. Even the Dad was smiling faintly. The Mom looked stressed but she too had a small smile on her face. The next picture in the article was of the half-eaten convenience store sandwich which was, in fact, cheese paste.
“What a fucking loser,” growled Felix, in reference to Maurice. “He almost killed their Dad over that. It’s one thing to steal if you’re hungry but he clearly just steals for the thrill of it and why shoot someone and then eat in the parking lot like it’s no big deal. Such disrespect for a life he almost took.”
Felix was a big softie on the inside. I knew half the reason he was so harsh with pack criminals was because he was really protective of the families targeted. I looked at the Jackson children. The littlest one was only three if so much with large dark brown eyes and a mound of thick dark curly hair.
“This little dude almost lost his Dad,” I said. “I’m glad it worked out. Are we doing anything for them?” I asked Alex.
“I already arranged to have their hospital bills taken care of,” mumbled Alex, not taking his eyes off the road. “You think we should send a pack warrior to man the store in the meantime?”
“Yeah,” agreed Felix. “Send two.”
“Send three since we’re triplets,” I decided.
Felix snickered. Chasity liked the idea.
“That makes no sense but okay three it is,” said Felix.
“The power of three,” I said mystically.
I did a little interpretative dance meant to evoke the power of three. Chasity clapped and cheered for me.
“I’m in the backseat with these toddlers,” said Felix, complaining to Alex.
“Don’t pretend like you don’t wanna sit with me,” said Chasity.
Felix smiled and kissed her forehead.
“I feel bad for the family of course. They’re the real victims but I still wonder if Maurice had a hard life or something. Maybe that’s why he became a criminal,” said Chasity.
“You had a hard life,” admitted Alex, looking at Chasity in the rear-view mirror again. “Are you gonna start shooting hardworking Dads over sandwiches?”
“No, of course not,” said Chasity.
“Maurice had free food and room and board with Madame,” I said. “He had no real reason to steal. He would’ve had the money from successfully kidnapping you,” I said, looking at Goddess. “He could’ve just bought the same sandwich from the same store. He was a jerk, Chasity.”
“Chasity, you feel sorry for everyone,” complained Felix, pulling her closer to his side. “You have to stop that.”
“I don’t,” squeaked Chasity indignantly.
“You do,” I chuckled.
“When we watch nature shows, you feel sorry for the gazelles if they get caught by the lions and you feel sorry for the hungry lion cubs if their parents don’t catch anything for them to eat,” said Felix.
“Those shows upset me too,” I admitted.
I wanted the lion cubs to have food but not at the expense of the gazelles. I knew that made no sense whatsoever but that was how I felt. I just liked all the animals. Full stop. Period.
“I wish I could feed the lion cubs myself,” said Chasity.
“With what? Convenience store sandwiches?” Asked Felix, teasing her. “You definitely don’t want them eating meat.”
Chasity blushed and folded her arms. She scooted closer to me and I put my arms around her.
“Hey,” whined Felix.
“Felix, you’re so whiny. You need to be more mature like me,” I said.
Chasity giggled.
“YOU? Mature?!” Hissed Felix.
“We’re home,” announced Alex. “And we have a surprise for you, Luna.”
“I wouldn’t consider this a surprise,” muttered Felix, trying to pull Chasity closer to him but I wouldn’t let him.
My grip was iron-clad.
“Be careful with her,” said Alex authoritatively although we were handling her delicately.
“I’m fine, Alex,” said Chasity sweetly. “And I’m ready for my surprise!”
Alex grinned. I had to agree with Felix on this one. This wasn’t really a ‘surprise’ in my opinion either but it would help Chasity prepare to reign as Luna. I hoped she would like the idea.
“Okay, come with me,” said Alex theatrically as he opened the backseat door and offered his hand to Chasity.
