“Really, I can go. I should go,” Kiri tried to insist, embarrassment practically radiating off of her.

  Now that she was feeling better and had a handle on her emotions again, our friend was trying to beat a hasty retreat, only to have it cut off by the firm grip of my dragoness. Alys’ hug around Kiri’s shoulders was now as much a trap as it was reassurance.

  “After you helped my mother cook?” Alys scoffed, sounding supremely amused. “No. She’ll track you down herself if you try to run away before she’s fed you. Besides, she seems to like you.”

  That was enough to silence the Winter fae, who seemed to be just as starved for familial affection as I was. And since I could attest to the fact that Amara was extremely adept at providing such affection, Kiri’s attempt at resistance was destined to lose.

  My suspicions were only confirmed when we made our way back to the safe confines of our home. The moment we passed through the door, Amara beamed at us so warmly that I could sense any lingering tension fleeing Kiri’s frame, leaving behind only mild embarrassment and a quiet sort of anticipation.

  “There you all are!” Amara exclaimed. “Come in. Dinner is ready. Sit, sit! Especially you, dear. I can’t thank you enough for providing all these lovely ingredients!”

  Amara was on Kiri in moments, cooing and shepherding her into a seat right next to her own. This ended up bumping Soren down the line. He shot his wife a look suspiciously close to pouting, though I noted he did nothing to stop her.

  The next moment, Amara started carrying over plates laden with well-marinated meat that smelled absolutely delicious. Meat which, apparently, had been provided by Kiri.

  I knew Winter fae appreciated a meat-heavy diet almost as much as draconians did, so I wasn’t surprised to see Kiri sit up straighter, her ears twitching slightly. I hadn’t noticed the ear-twitching before, since she mostly wore her hair in a way that concealed her ears, and I now suspected I knew why. Her ears signaled her mood much more clearly than her facial expressions, especially to anyone unused to interacting with Winter fae.

  The fact that she had brushed her hair behind her ears was, I suspected, a sign of trust.

  I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at the thought, or at the way Amara was definitely mothering Kiri. The draconian kept ‘sneakily’ refilling the Winter fae’s plate when Kiri ‘wasn’t paying attention.’ She was also constantly drawing Kiri into conversation. The Winter fae was certainly talking much more than I was used to.

  By the end of dinner, Kiri looked supremely content, relaxed, and sleepy. More than that, she looked… open. None of the anxiety that typically haunted her steps was on display. In fact, when the draconian matriarch offered Kiri one of the spare rooms in the second half of our home (after quietly consulting Alys on the side), the Winter fae actually accepted.

  She was promptly ushered off by Amara. When the draconian returned, she looked faintly smug.

  “That was an extremely kind thing you did for her,” Alys said.

  “You do not mind, do you?” Amara asked. “I can just tell that the poor dear has been on her own for so long, and —”

  Alys cut her mother off with a smile. “I don’t mind. I wouldn’t object to having her around more often.” My dragoness paused, shrugged, and pushed on. “You can tell she is a full-blooded fae, right?”

  “Of course,” Amara replied.

  Aesa, who had been oddly quiet, nodded along with Amara. Soren startled and gave his wife a wide-eyed look.

  Ignoring him, Amara went on, “I knew at once. I couldn’t tell immediately with your darling mate, but only because I’d never been around fae before. I have excellent senses, I’ll have you know!”

  “That is true.” Aesa gave a somewhat annoyed sigh. “My daughter has never lacked for talent. That is one of the reasons I was annoyed when she chose to ignore it.”

  A look I didn’t like briefly crossed Amara’s face, but Grandmother didn’t let the moment linger.

  “Regardless,” Aesa rumbled, “if you are finished mothering the Winter fae, we have something to get to.”

  She shot me an expectant look. With a sigh of my own, I started pulling things out of my storage bag.

  “Are you sure this will not harm Alys or our child?” I pressed once more, still uneasy about experimenting while Alys was pregnant.

  “Of course I am. I would never risk the well-being of my descendants. This will be nothing but beneficial, for both her and your child. In fact…” Aesa trailed off, then pushed on when she noticed the suspicious stare I’d turned on her. “Unless I am completely off the mark, this should ensure that your child is born much closer to full dragonhood than Amara and Alys were.”

  “Explain.” Alys’ snarl stopped me from having to ask the question myself, which I was thankful for.

  “It is exactly the way it sounds. I had none of these resources during my own pregnancy. And the two of you are already mature draconians.” Aesa gestured at her descendants. “That means it is more difficult to improve your bloodline, since it is mostly settled and growing naturally. Your child, though, has not been born yet. Their bloodline is still developing.”

  “That makes sense.” I hesitated, then voiced one of my other concerns. “But might there be issues like those experienced by naturally born children between mortals and dragons in the past? If our child’s bloodline develops too quickly, or too… wildly, is there not a fear of mutations?"

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  I only realized I was clenching my fists together when Alys gently pried one of them open to slip her hand into mine.

  My eyes had fallen on the materials I’d laid out on the table. When I lifted them, the commiserating look on Grandmother’s face shocked me out of my panic.

  “I understand fearing potential threats to your offspring, my child, but this is not one of them. The ritual that created draconians in the first place will keep everything in check, I promise you that. This will only strengthen your child and your mate.”

  I breathed out one final sigh of resignation, hope, and frustration all at once. I understood why Grandmother was being somewhat pushy, and I did want Alys and our child to be safer in the long run, but I couldn’t stop worrying.

  “Very well. What should we try first?”

  “Let us begin with the regular ‘refined draconic materials.’” Grandmother recited the name we’d given them with plenty of amusement shining through her voice. “Next, she can partake of the flower alone. If everything is still proceeding to your satisfaction, perhaps she can then try some of your newly developed variant?”

  “That sounds… fine. If you agree, dear?”

  I shot a questioning look at Alys, but she seemed far more on-board with the whole idea than I was. In fact, I spotted a strange gleam in her eyes as she eyed the ingredients I’d purified.

  “Yes, yes. That sounds like an amazing plan,” she purred, her tongue briefly running over her lips in a way that sent a conflicted shiver down my spine.

  “Alys? Are you sure?” I pressed, prompting her to look at me with a furrowed brow. “Because your interest in these seems a little… intense.”

  “I… Yes, I am. And I just feel… hungry, I guess. Listen, something is telling me I need these, and I’m inclined to follow my instincts right now.”

  “Impulses are common during draconic pregnancies,” Grandmother mused, looking extremely curious. “Albeit they normally crop up much later. It is typically best to trust your body on such things.”

  I was tempted to keep objecting, but I contented myself with a worried frown. Alys, meanwhile, was grinning eagerly at her grandmother’s support as she reached for the original refined draconic ingredients on the far left of the collection I’d laid out. They were the ‘mildest’ batch, followed by the flowers, and then the ingredients I’d refined with the flower that day.

  She swallowed without hesitation. Instantly, a shudder raced through her body. I was paying close attention to her, so I easily caught the pulse of mana that escaped her body. It latched onto me, then reeled back into Alys.

  I felt the pull on my mana, which I was used to by now, intensify. And while I knew I was capable of fighting off the change, there was absolutely no way I would deny my unborn child whatever they needed to grow healthy and strong.

  “Hrmmm. That went extremely well, I believe,” Grandmother stated imperiously. “Go on. Try the flower.”

  Once more, my dragoness didn’t hesitate. The flower disappeared into her maw, and she shivered in happiness as its effects took root. Another pulse escaped her. Unlike the first pulse, it didn’t stop at me. It encompassed the whole table, making the other members of our family shift for a moment before settling down.

  Was Alys drawing something from them, as well? That would make no sense. Aesa had indicated the bond only pulled from the parents to help the child form.

  Regardless, I couldn’t spare the time to worry about it. The drain on my mana had definitely grown yet again. It wasn’t unbearable, and I suspected it would even out as soon as Alys’ body finished processing the ingredients she was ingesting, but it still worried me a little.

  After all, she hadn’t yet reached the most potent part of her feast.

  This time, my dragoness did pause before reaching for the ingredients I’d handled that day, shooting me a look that told me she’d caught onto what was happening, too.

  I hesitated for only a moment before giving her a firm nod. I was the heir of the Belladonna family. I had more than enough mana to spare for my child, and I would gladly give up all of it, even if doing so knocked me out for a while.

  So, my dragoness took up the last sample and swallowed it.

  The mana that left her body wasn’t so much a burst as it was an explosion. It clawed hungrily past the walls of our home, as if trying to reach out for something and only relenting when it failed. At the same time, a startling amount of my mana left me in a rush, while the other members of our family let out sudden gasps.

  I didn’t care about that, though.

  What I cared about was Alys’ sudden stillness. Then the hand holding mine clenched, hard enough to hurt. Beads of blood welled up where her claws were pressing into my skin.

  Her head snapped around to focus on said blood, eyes shining with a hungry, greedy light.

  “Thorn,” my dragoness growled in a voice that was barely hers. I felt the mana inside of her lashing out in search of me.

  Not her mana, mind.

  I reached back immediately. That other mana latched onto me, then onto something deep, deep inside of my being, making me want to squirm in mild unease.

  “I need that blood you refined today,” Alys hissed. “Your blood.”

  “Alys, that’s… You can’t drink that,” I stammered, horror briefly welling up in me at the thought of my dragoness drinking my very, very poisonous blood.

  “Please? Please, just trust me on this.”

  Her voice was strained, and I could tell how hard she was trying to hold back. At the same time, the drain on my mana was only intensifying. The mana emanating from her was still rooting around inside me, thrashing when it failed to find whatever it wanted.

  I gritted my teeth, but it only took me a moment longer to decide to yield. Reaching into my storage bag, I pulled out the most potent antidotes I had, followed by the bottle containing my blood.

  Alys lunged for the bottle. Her trembling claws scratched the glass before tearing the top off entirely and tipping it over onto her tongue.

  The explosion of mana that followed didn’t spread through the air. It spread through me.

  The mana tore open some channel deep inside me that I wasn’t even aware of. Reaching through that channel, the mana rummaged through the core of my being, plucking things out and claiming them as its own.

  At the same time, the sensation of a hug enveloped me. It was warm, and fulfilling, and satisfying in a way I couldn’t even put into words.

  My daughter drew back, feelings of supreme happiness, love, and smug satisfaction emanating from her mana.

  I was left panting for breath as I stared at the other members of my family.

  “Did… did the rest of you feel that?” demanded Soren, of all people. The least magically inclined of all of us was wearing a strange expression on his face, caught between worry and glowing happiness.

  “Felt that? I’m going to be feeling that for a while,” Grandmother complained, even as she grinned unabashedly. “It makes sense that any offspring of mine would not be content to be ordinary, but I will need to have a talk with her about this when that young lady is finally ready to meet us.”

  Laughter bubbled up in me at that. I only stopped laughing when Alys gently asked me if I was all right. I was about to ask why she would think I wasn’t when I realized my vision was blurry.

  I raised my hand and brushed my fingers gently across tear-stained cheeks, then stared at them in disbelief.

  I was crying?

  That was odd, because the only time I had ever felt as happy as I did in that very moment was when Alys had accepted me, name, flaws, and all.

  Yet I couldn’t help it. I kept crying, and laughing, still basking in the lingering warmth of the hug I had experienced in my very soul.

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