Chapter 204
Sage POV
It had been two days since Dominic’s funeral and Jonah had barely said a wordt o us. Something was
bothering him and h e wouldn’t tell us what it was, but I didn’t have time to ask him this morning. Kat
hade over in a rush this morning. They had called her to the courts along with her mates, and
Marge was away in the city for some function she was invited to. Andrei was feeding Marabe some
custard. I watched as he pulled funny faces as he scooped the spoon into her mouth. His lips appeared
to be mimicking hers like him opening his mouth would somehow convince her to do it.
Marabe, however, stares at him with wide eyes like she wasn’t sure of the faces he was pulling, or
maybe she thought he looked like an idiot. Eziah had made a mess with his custard as he smeared it
all over the highchair. Cackling his head off. Getting up, I grab a washcloth to wash the boy down.
Jonah was ying with his custard berries, moving it around the bowl but not eating any of it.
“Ah Ah Marabe, e will do it,” Andrei tells her as she tries to grab the spoon with her mittened hand. I
frown, how was she supposed to learn these things if she always had gloves or mittens on. It saddened
me that she was so restricted in a world that already had so many restrictions. She was a baby and she
should be allowed to make a mess and y with her food.
“I know what you are thinking,” Andrei says, making me look at him.
“Kat worries over the same thing, her being normal when she can’t even do the simplest things herself
at this age,” He says, spooning more into her mouth and she blows a raspberry spraying custard all
over his face.
I try to stifle myugh. Jonah doesn’t bother as he snorts, giggling. Marabe cackles loudly while
Andrei wipes his face that was covered in custard.
“You think that is funny?” Andrei asks Jonah, who justughs harder when Andrei grabs him and wipes
his face on his neck and all over Jonah’s face. He paws at Andrei’s face,ughing harder when
Andrei’s stubble tickles him,
Marabe opens hebuth. Andrei notices and goes to snatch his hand away from her open mouth when
Jonah sticks his tongue out. Marabe copies him and he drops the berry on her little tongue.
“Good girl, what about this one?” Jonah asks, holding up a raspberry. He waits for her to finish eating
and Andrei looks over his shoulder at me and raises an eyebrow. I watch them together and he repeats
the same thing with the raspberry, biting it in half and giving her one half of the small berry.
It was odd to watch, and I almost got the feeling Marabe knew she could hurt him and didn’t want to.
She always waited for him to drop it on the tip of her tongue. I shake my head at the insanity; she is a
baby, her understanding couldn’t be that good yet.
Suddenly the Mindlink opens up, and I hear Zane’s voice reach out to Andrei and
“We havepany, I think it’s Lucas,” Zane says and Andrei pats Jonah’s leg so h e could get up.
Jonah moves into Andrei’s seat while Andrei walks to the door.
“There is my smiling boy,” Andrei tells him, plopping Jonah on hisp.
“Now if she does it again, you will be covered in it too,” Andrei tells him. Jonah reaches for his bowl and
Andrei passes it t o him while I walk around the counter toward Eziah, who was having a mighty time
using his fingers to scribble in the mess he made.
“Cheeky boy,” I tell him, wiping the table and cleaning his hands and face. I let Eziah out of his seat and
ced him on the ground. He was such a cheerful boy and instantly reached for Jonah’s dinosaur
before banging it on the ground. Turning back around, Jonah was finally eating, but Marabe gripped
the edge of her highchair with her mitten’d hands to pull herself forward to see what he was doing.
Jonah looks up at her.
“Want to try this one?” He asks, holding u p a blueberry.
“She may choke, they need to be cut,”I tell Jonah when he suddenly bites half of the small blue berry
and before Andrei could stop him he ces it to her lips. Marabe opens her mouth. Andrei
“Yep, Lucas and Kyan,” Zane confirms.
“Jonah, kyan is here,” I tell him and he looks over at me before looking at Marabe
“Want to y with Kyan?” Jonah asks her, and she ps her hand mumbling to herself or trying to
speak. That was the other thing that bothered me.
Eziah could already say a handful of words, while Marabe, I never heard her say anything. She was
a quiet child. Except when Jonah was near. I go grab her out of her highchair and Jonah rushes to the
front door when he hears voices.” Kyan!” Jonah exims loudly.
Scooping up Eziah and walking out to greet Lucas, one kid on each hip. Kyan was showing Jonah
something on his tablet and they head to the living room when Kyan looks up.
“Hi, Luna” His words die out when he spots the two kids in my arms and his eyes re at Marabe.
“Are you ok Kyan?” I ask him, propping Marabe higher on my hip. He snaps out of whatever came
over him and he looks a
Lme.
“I am fine Luna Sage,” He says before tugging Jonah into the living room.
“Sorry, he sometimes gets in a weird mood,”
“He is fine. I will just set these two little ones down with the boys for a few minutes while I put the kettle
on,” I tell them.
Andrei shuts the door and I ce the kids i n the sectioned off ypen that goes around the couch the
two boys were sitting on. I ce them both on the mat with their toys.
“Jonah sing out if they need me, and don’t take off Marabe’s gloves” I warn him giving him a stern
look, he always took them off her though she has never hurt him it still made my stomach knot knowing
she could kill him with just a touch. I quickly made coffee for Lucas and Andrei, and seemed to get
along pretty well.
Lucas had called a few times since the funeral and they seemed to be pretty good friends, though
Lucas rang Andrei the other day about something to do with
the other day about mething to do with work when they were suddenly talking about the kids and seem
to speak each day now. It was good to see Andrei actually be friends with someone outside the pack
and Lucas actually got on well with all our pack members.
I listen while they chat and hold up the sugar to Lucas and he holds up two fingers and I nod, cing
two teaspoons i n his coffee.
“I actually wanted to ask you something but thought it better in person,” Lucas tells Andrei as I hand
him his coffee.
“What is that?” Andrei asks him, sipping his own coffee while I go retrieve my own.
“The Safari Casino, well, obviously Kyan owns it now, but he wants to sell it. In fact, he is hellbent on
destroying everything that reminds him of his father,” Lucas says with a sigh.
“He will regret it, besides you are his legal guardian. He can’t do anything until he is of age,” Andrei
tells him and Lucas nods his head before scrubbing his hand down his face.
“The boy can be a lot like his father when i
“The boy can be a loke his father when i tes to getting his way,” He says and his words seemed to
trouble him.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Honestly, the boy scares the crap out of me, out of everyone. I love him, he is my nephew but he can
be” Lucas stops what h e was going to say and he looks over his shoulder toward the door like he was
expecting to be overheard. I found it strange that he feared a nine-year-old boy.
“His father was so good with him, he knew how to handle him and his…Gifts. I have no idea what I am
doing with him”
“He seems like a good kid, sweet,” I tell Lucas, not understanding.
“He was until the day of his fathers funeral, he seemed fine and then thest two days he has been
ordering we move, h e may not be an Alpha of Alpha’s yet but not even I can go against what he wants
o r demands,” Lucas says.
“So what has this got to do with the Safari Casino?” Andrei asks.
N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive ? material.
“Do you need a break? We can take him
“Do you need a bre? We can take him
agree. Maybe it would be good if he could just forget everything and y with Jonah. Jonah doesn’t
start school until Tuesday, so he could spend the weekend.
“Really, you wouldn’t mind?” Lucas asks, looking between Andrei and I. I shrug.
“If he wants to, he is always wee here,” I tell Lucas and let out a breath.
“Kyan!” Lucas calls out to his nephew. Kyan walks out, stopping in the doorway.
“Yes, Lucas?” He asks, looking at his uncle.
“Sage and I were wondering if you wanted to stay the weekend with Jonah?” Andrei asks Kyan.
“Really, a sleepover?” Kyan asks and Andrei nods. Kyan beams excitedly before suddenly his smile
wipes off his face.
“Will Marabe be here?” Kyan asks.
“No, Kat is picking the kids up when she gets back from court,” I tell him.
“Okay then,” He says, smiling again. I thought his question was odd. He seemed t
thought his questioas odd. He seemed t o like Marabe when he wasst here. And why did he
mention her and not Eziah? Kyan turns his attention to his uncle.
“Did you ask him yet?”
“I was about to, but then Andrei asked if you wanted to stay for the weekend” Kyan nods before
wandering off and Lucas turns back to Andrei.
“Kyan wants to sell the Safari Casino. He wants nothing left to remind him of his father. He made us
move out of the penthouse the day his father died. We have been living at his grandmother’s estate.”
He shakes his head before clutching his hair before sitting back in his chair to look at Andrei.
“I convinced him, you hear that? I convinced a nine-year-old boy,” He says, shaking his head.
“I convinced him to keep it but I can’t run it like his father did, Kyan won’t step foot i n the ce right
now, I know if he sells it off he will regret it, so I convinced him to let someone partner up with him” My
brows furrow, does he want to Andrei to
brows furrow, does want to Andrei to run it? How would that work with Andrei out here? It was too far to
“You’re selling half of the shares for the ce?
“Well, that’s what I wanted to do, but Kyan asked if you would allow Jonah to partner up with him. He
will keep it and the manager is running it until hopefully Kyan, when he is older, wants to take over.
When Jonah is old enough, he will own half the ce, but for now, the shares will be divided evenly
and will need to be in your name, seeing as Jonah i s only six,” Lucas exins, and my brows furrowed
in confusion.
“They are kids!” I tell Lucas, thinking this was insane. Andrei nods in agreement.
“Exactly, they are friends now, but what happens when Kyan is a teenager and they drift apart. Not all
friendshipsst Lucas”
“This will,” Lucas says.
“You can’t know that,” I tell him, about to tell Andrei to say no.
“I do, because Dominic used to have
“I do, because Dom used to have simr gifts in a sense to Katya. He saw things, and those boys are a
part of each other’s future. Dominic is never wrong. Kyan will get worse, he will be his own destruction
along with” He pauses.
“I can assure you Jonah and Kyan will remain friends, maybe more”
“Maybe more?”
“The future isn’t easily read. It was the only piece Dominic couldn’t figure out. Dominic wasn’t sure if
they were mates or friends,” Lucas tells us. I am pretty sure m y eyebrows moved to the back of my
head somewhere. They raised that high at his words.
“We are talking about my son, right? Jonah. I am so confused right now?
“Me too” says Andrei.
“Do you trust Katyapletely?” Lucas asks Andrei.
“Yes, of course,” Andrei answers, and I nod.
“Well, I trusted Dominic. Dominic’s visions have never been wrong. He knew h
visions have never wrong. He knew h e would die the day he came here. He knew and stille
because if he didn’t Kyan future would end terribly”
“What do you mean?”
“I can only say so much, things can change with the knowledge of them. Dominic told me Kyan would
kill him one day, that he would destroy himself after that. He told me that when Kyan was two. Killing
his father would in turn kill Kyan”
“But Dominic died,” I whisper. Goosebumps rise on my arms when saying that out loud.
“Yes, like I said, things can change. Kat dying anding back changed that, altered things. Dominic
knew if Kyan killed him, it would be Kyan’s downfall when he had a new vision. Dominic dabbled back
into his family’s magic, searching for the reasoning of why it changed and trying to alter it and find
another way. He realized the only way to save Kyan was to save someone else”
“I am not following,” Andrei says.
“Are you saying he knew he would die by taking a bullet for Marabe?”
“That’s exactly what I am saying. Like I said, I can’t risk saying much, but I assure you Jonah and Kyan
will remain together. Dominic told me pieces, what he could before he signed Kyan over into my care
the week before he died,” Lucas exins. A shiver runs up my spine.
“I should go check the kids,” I tell Andrei, who nods. I needed to get out of there. That entire
conversation was turning strange. Walking into the living room, the boys were watching something on
the tablet. Eziah is sitting next to Jonah and Marabe was holding onto Kyan’s leg, trying to get his
attention as she pulled on his pants leg.
“Go away, annoy Jonah,” He tells her, pushing her hands off his leg. Jonah’s brows furrow and I watch
as he reaches down, grabbing Marabe and cing her on hisp so she could watch too next to her
brother.
“Why are you being mean to her?” Jonah asks.
“I wasn’t, she was touching me” Kyan answers, looking at Jonah. Jonah appeared confused and so
was I. Kyan
appeared confused So was 1. Kyan spent the entire time ying with Marabe the day he was here.
His behaviour had definitely changed.
“Who wants to watch a movie?” I ask, walking into the room.
“Jurassic park” Jonah asks and I could kill Andrei for letting him watch that movie. Jonah loved it until
night came and he was convinced a T-Rex was going toe to eat him from his bed.
“It gives you nightmares,” I tell him.
“But Kyan is staying. I won’t have nightmares with him in the room please mamma,” Jonah asks and I
look toward the babies who clearly shouldn’t watch it.
“How about you watch it after Kat gets the kids? It’s a little too scary for them,” I tell him. He looks at
Eziah and Marabe before he quickly nods his head.
“Alright you pick,” Jonah says and I find a cartoon to put on.
“I will go make popcorn, and hopefully those two will have a nap,” I tell the boys, knowing Kat said
usually around this time they both went down for a nap. As I walk
they both went dow or a nap. As I walk out of the living room and into the hall, I spot Lucas walking
toward me.
“Andrei said Zane was heading into the city tomorrow. I will send him back with some clothes for Kyan.
Andrei said he could borrow some of Zane’s mates siblings for tonight?” Lucas looked at Andrei over
his shoulder. Andrei nods at him.
“If you need me toe get him, just ring and I will head straight here,” Lucas says, ncing over my
shoulder at the boys on the couch.
“He will be fine,” I tell Lucas, who seemed nervous about leaving him here.
“But if he isn’t, just ring and I will be here as quick as possible,” He says before stepping past me and
into the living room.
“Kyan, I am leaving now” Kyan looks up and nods to his uncle.
“I love you, buddy,” Lucas tells him.
“I love you too, you know that,” Kyan says, and Lucas sighs.
Lucas left, and the day went by slowly
Lucas left, and the went by slowly before eventually turning into night and I had just finished tucking the
two boys in bed. Kat rang earlier and said they were stuck in court still and that was at quarter to five. I
told her to just stay the night in the city and that the kids were fine here.
Ducking into my room, I walk into the closet and grab some pajamas before changing into them. I was
sleeping in the living room because that’s where we set u p the portable cot for Marabe and Eziah,
knowing Andrei’s snoring would wake them if they were in the room with u s. Tugging my shirt and
pants off, I pull o n the tank top before pulling the pants up.
I couldn’t help but stop as I got to my thighs. The sight of them always shocked me. I wasn’t sure how it
was possible. My skin now smooth, the burns and scars of my past were now just a distant memory.
The shock of seeing my skin after the war made me think I was dead. Andrei spent a n hour trying to
convince me I was alive, and that I wasn’t stuck in some purgatory. I couldn’t believe it, but when Kat
healed me, she somehow healed all my old injuries, and now my skin was perfect and smooth. 2
Smooth.
I really should have a shower, but I was exhausted, and Andrei was already passed out in bed and I
just wanted to sink into the couch and sleep. Walking down the steps, I walk into the living room and
climb onto the couch next to the cot and pull the nket up. It didn’t take long before I fell asleep. The
four kids had kept
us on our toes.
${
It took me a few minutes to register the sound of crying before I sat upright. Marabe was crying and I
could hear her waking Eziah. I grab her out and rock her while yawning and walking to the kitchen to
make her bottle. She finally falls back t o sleep, and Iy back down only to be jolted back awake. I
swear my eyes felt like they only just shut. I lost count after the first handful of times. She never slept.
The kid did not sleep. I start again, making the bottle, changing her butt, everything. The next time she
started crying, I nearly started crying with her, crying over my broken sleep. No wonder Kat felt like a
zombie, no wonder she had a severe coffee addiction. 1
I felt like death as I tried to force myself u p. I mentally cursed Andrei, who I could hear snoring
upstairs, even flipped the roof of my rude finger that he was getting some sleep
“He can’t see you,” Kyan’s voice says, making me nearly jump out of my skin. H e picks up Marabe
out of the porta-cot.
“What are you doing up?” I ask, he looks over at me.
“She won’t stop crying, she could wake the dead,” He says, walking over to the two-seater with her.
“You should go back to bed, Kyan. I will take her,” I tell him, but heys down on the couch. Marabe
wiggles around on him for a second before gettingfortable, her ear pressed against the centre of
his chest like she was listening t o his heartbeat. She yawns and I go to grab her bottle.
“I will make her bottle ande get her s o you can sleep”
“She won’t need it. Can you pass me her nket please” Kyan asks.I didn’t know what to think about
him ordering me
what to think about ordering me around but at least he said please? I passed him her pink nket and
tucked Eziah’s back around him after he kicked
off.
“Now sleep, E” Kyan says, yawning himself, his hand resting on her back. I sit down in the armchair
so I was close in case she rolled, nning to take her off him when they were both asleep. “I will just
close my eyes for a second,” I tell Sierra, who was just as exhausted in my head. 3
It was meant to be a few seconds, and I jolted awake to hands grabbing my shoulders. Andrei was
hovering above me. He holds a finger to his lips and points to the couch. Shit! Marabe. I lurch to my
feet and relief floods me when I realise she hadn’t rolled off and was stillying with Kyan, though her
back was against the couch and he had rolled on his side on the edge of the couch. Her head propped
o n his arm next to his face as they both slept peacefully. I tucked the nket back around them when I
paused, noticing her un-mittened hand was on the side of his face. My heart skips a beat and I shake
his shoulder and he stirs, looking at me over
his shoulder.
“What?” He says groggily, his eyes half open.
“Did you take her mittens off?”
“She can’t hurt me,” Kyan mutters and I look at Andrei, who just shrugs.
“Just leave her. She is clearly fine and Kyan is alive,” Andrei says as I reach for her mittens.
“Please leave her, you will wake her and she will scream again,” Kyan says, leaving his eyes closed as
he turns his face back toward hers.
“See,” Andrei says and I nod.
“Coffee?” I whisper and Andrei nods, following me.
“Yes please, I had the worst sleep,” He says, yawning and I feel my eye twitch. The man has no idea,
no bloody idea, how many times I got up to Marabe. I wanted to strangle him. 3
I don’t know how Kat does it, how any o fthem do it, how Mateo has energy all the time, I had her one
night and feel like the walking dead. I know Kat said mostly
time, I had her one ht and feel like the walking dead. I know Kat said mostly Mateo does the night
watch with the kids mostly, Kat was more erratic at night when the moon was out. I felt terrible for her,
the moon used to heal her, recharge her, but ever since she said it makes her antsy like she is waiting
for something.
“Kat saidst night she would be here by lunch time” Andrei tells me and I nod, resting my arms and
head on the counter top while I lean over the counter.