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My cheeks grow warm at the mention of Stellan and my future children. Iknowthat’s what our entire marriage and alliance is about.
“We haven’t even been married a month yet,” I say to Venali. “It’s a little soon to start thinking about heirs.”
Venali snorts. “It’s a little late for that, considering you have a mate bond.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
Stellan stiffens but doesn’t say anything.
I glance up at Stellan, but he’s got his attention focused out the plane window. His mind is carefully blocked off from me, which is so hypocritical.
“Well, you know that dragon shifters typically have large families,” Venali begins.
I shake my head. “I didn’t know that.” I look at Stellan. “You only have two siblings.”
“Yes, but a typical dragon shifter has five plus children,” Venali says. “Just like most shifters—it’s because birth control doesn’t work very well for shifters. It’s not a huge problem with female dragon shifters because they canonly get pregnant at certain times, but when a male dragon shifter marries another species…”
My eyes widen and I look at Stellan who is still looking out the window. “Is that true?”
Stellan gives me a guilty look. “Yes, but I thought you knew.”
How would I possibly know that?
“Do you think I’m pregnant?” I look at my stomach, not sure what emotions I’m feeling. Terrified, yes. Scared out of my mind, absolutely. But I don’t dread the idea like I thought I would.
“Your husband would be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat if you were,” Venali says like he’s trying to comfort me.
“But there isn’t a heartbeat for six weeks,” I counter, then look at Stellan. “Unless dragon shifters have shorter pregnancies like wolf shifters.”
Stellan shakes his head. “No. It’s actually longer. Sixteen to twenty months.”
“WHAT?” I practically shout the words.
He winces. “But yours would only be nine months because you’re not a dragon shifter.”
I sigh, feeling relief at his words.
Venali snorts. “At least you don’t lay eggs.”
I glare at my cousin, which makes him laugh harder. I try to ignore him as I work through what I’ve just learned. Am I really ready for ababy? I’m only twenty two and Stellan and I just got married.
“Your sister didn’t have a child for a few years,” I say, turning to look at Stellan.
“Venali exaggerates,” Stellan says, but his mind is still closed off to me.
I’m not sure that Venali is ‘exaggerating.’
Stellan sighs. “To be honest, they struggled to getpregnant. A healer was able to help Natalia, but they’re not sure if she’ll be able to have more children or not.”
My heart goes out to Natalia. She’s such a good mom. She adores her son, that much is certain.
Why did nobody tell me about the high birth rate of dragon shifters? Or why didn’t they tell me birth control does work? Natalia and I are going to have a long chat when I get back. Though, her cryptic comments about nieces and nephews make a lot more sense now.
Stellan kisses the side of my head. “You will make a great mom, don’t worry.”
My stomach flips. I ignore the sensation for the moment, focusing instead on Venali. “Maybe you could get yourself a dragon shifter wife out of the alliance.”
He chuckles. “Before meeting you, I would’ve said absolutely not. But Grandfather might just want to arrange a marriage for me if it could make our blood stronger. Maybe it’s not something to be rejected. Although, we’ve already got one member of our royal family at the dragon court. Maybe Grandfather will arrange with a different supernatural.”
