The Wolf King Needs an Heir by Max Rose

CHAPTER TEN

The Summer Palace

Spring

Julian had shifted, not into a wolf but into a blimp. He was seven months pregnant now. He felt gigantic. He felt front heavy. He felt as if he had an airbag jutting out in front of him, only it wasn’t filled with air but with sand.

Also, his back ached all the time.

Edric helped with the back aches. Edric rubbed his back every day, massaging the tight, aching muscles of his lower back until the tension and pain faded. It was strange having an alpha king massaging his back or his feet (feet which also hurt sometimes and didn’t seem to fit his old shoes anymore). It was strange—and delightful—having a wolf as powerful as Edric so focused on taking care of him and the child Julian carried inside.

At least the Summer Palace in upper New York State was wonderful. This palace was smaller than the one in New York City, with a smaller staff and fewer guards because the grounds extended for five miles in all directions, walled in and watched by security cameras. The palace itself rivaled the Seaver Court Palace back in NYC for fancy décor and luxury, yet the atmosphere here was different. Slower. More relaxed. Not as stuffy and uptight.

The summer had three stories and an east, west, and central wing. Almost a half-mile of grassy field spread behind it, with a helicopter pad near a rose garden. Beyond the fields were woods. The palace was miles and miles from any other city or even building. Occasionally, other pack alphas loyal to the throne showed up to discuss business with Edric, but there were few formal court sessions with all the pomp and ceremony and so on.

Julian loved it here. He did miss his human friends back in New York. But even though he didn’t really have the same level of friends here with the palace wolves, he got to see a lot more of Edric. A lot more. Also, he’d grown close to Lana—Dr. Smith, he should say. The doctor had come with the rest of the staff after Edric announced he was moving the court to the Summer Palace several months early. Julian still saw her every week without fail.

He still felt ridiculously pampered here, and sometimes that made him feel uncomfortable, even guilty. He’d given up his old life completely. He didn’t even have a phone to keep in touch with his old friends.

But it was difficult to feel guilty for losing parts of his past life when trapped in all this luxury. The Summer Palace even had an indoor pool with a hot tub. He used the hot tub as often as he could because his body was alternately sore and swollen or both. In the water, he was floaty. Gravity didn’t bother him as much. Edric often teased him about Julian turning into a wrinkly prune, which might be true but wasn’t as amusing as Edric seemed to believe it was.

Right now, he was lying on a lounge chair near the indoor pool, chilling in the sunlight streaming through the glass panels overhead. The pool had an interior textured tile deck with a wide glass ceiling and lots of lush tropical plants thriving in the humidity. He had a yaoi manga with him, but he’d been growing sleepy in the sun. So he was not quite dozing yet, letting his mind drift over his life and all the changes. Sometimes, he felt as if this were all a dream. He would wake up late for his job at the fast-food drive-thru or show up for a college final and realize he hadn’t done one lick of studying…

That was another thing he felt guilty about—abandoning his studies. Edric promised him he could finish his degree. Edric had even offered to hire tutors or make any arrangement necessary so Julian could continue his studies. Julian hadn’t taken him up on the offer. He’d meant to. He really had. But…he’d had morning sickness. And he always seemed to be tired. Sometimes he felt very ditzy, as if he’d lost a healthy portion of IQ points. Sometimes, his life before getting married seemed like something very far back in his past. A book now closed.

So he’d made the choice on his own to simply dedicate all his time to growing this child. When he felt guilty about any of it, he made sure to hide it from Edric. His husband would not understand. Julian loved his mate, but that was one thing he couldn’t deny. Edric was a king, but he had very little idea of what life was like for “commoners.”

Still, Julian had come to love him desperately. Yes, love. Their story had been a strange one. Married within five days of first laying eyes on one another, all because of some prophecy Julian had never believed and still didn’t. Left to find friendship together once they were husband and husband. That friendship deepened into love as they grew to know each other, understand each other, to share moments together. To run as wolves together. When they made love. And all those stolen kisses, those caring words shared between them. Julian had feared a loveless marriage. He had expected one when he’d agreed to it. But he’d been wrong. He didn’t know if that was due to the universe taking pity on him, or if the Goddess had sympathy for omegas, or what. He would take it.

Julian had done his best to be a mate worthy of Edric. Had he been? Part of him worried that he wasn’t.

He’d never really found his footing with being a ruler or royalty. Edric had promised to support him if he had things he wanted to accomplish, making Julian the wolf kingdom equivalent of the U.S. First Lady. First wolf? Whatever. It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that Julian didn’t like politics of any kind, especially not pack politics. Wolf packs and their rules struck him as obscure, outdated, behind the times, and needlessly obsessed with power dynamics and hierarchies.

Being pregnant made him too tired to deal with it when he didn’t have to, and Edric was a powerful king even if his mate was a politics-shy wimp. So maybe Edric being so strong had made Julian lazy.

Then again, Julian knew he was incredibly lucky—unspeakably lucky—in his life right now. He had a personal physician. He had his every need taken care of. Plenty of women didn’t have anything close. Plenty of women worked right up until they went into labor. Meanwhile, he was sitting by the pool reading a manga about men in love. Mangas that Edric “borrowed” and read when he thought Julian wasn’t paying attention. Julian was too amused by it to call his mate out on it.

But…back to love. They didn’t say that word to each other. Not yet. He didn’t know why. He desperately wanted to, but he was waiting on Edric. Maybe because he was afraid… Still, he knew the love was there. Edric showed it in his eyes, his kisses, the way he patiently massaged Julian’s aches away, not leaving it to some royal masseuse. The way they ran together as wolves, just the two of them, free of protocols and dictates and nonsense. He loved Edric with all his heart. There had been no one point when it became clear, no golden moment when he realized that he truly loved the man he’d married, but he couldn’t deny the truth of it. Maybe it was time to be brave and tell Edric those words. Maybe it was time to…

Julian didn’t know the exact moment he dozed off. The warmth of the filtered sunlight combined with how comfortable he was (a big belly could be a real pain to find a comfortable position for long) and his sketchy sleep patterns all combined to have him drifting off to sleep.

But he jerked awake when someone put a hand on his belly, and he felt the baby do a somersault inside him. He gasped and his eyes flew open. His manga toppled onto the tiles with a smack.

An old woman had her hand on his belly. She was staring at his belly and frowning fiercely. The old woman was small, with wild wisps of gray hair and a deeply lined face. She held a simple cane in her free hand and wore threadbare robes of faded red and gray.

“Who are you?” he squeaked. He didn’t know if he should move or ask her to remove her hand.

Her frown transformed into a friendly smile. As she smiled, her face wrinkled even more. “I am Seer Vali Morgan. It’s nice to finally meet you, Julian Rylan. I’m sorry I missed your wedding. I was in the desert.”

He blinked at her. Was he still asleep and dreaming? Where had this old woman come from? “In the desert?”

“A vision quest. I have them yearly, whether I need them or not. And then I went to Florida. Like a bird migrating in the winter.” She laughed. Well, more of a cackle than a laugh. “But I’m here now. Curious about the child.”

She hadn’t removed her hand from his belly. He had never grown completely used to people touching his belly once they knew he was pregnant. Well, wolves at the palace anyway. The female ones. They seemed fascinated with him. Many of them seemed happy for him, as if they shared something that connected them. But sometimes, he could scent their jealousy. Some felt threatened by him. He’d gone as far as to ask Terra about it. She told him some women felt threatened by the existence of males who could “pop out babies like candy from candy machines.”

They had nothing to worry about. First, he felt nothing like a candy machine. A tractor-trailer, maybe. Candy machine? No. Also, male omega wolves were rare. They could only be created by a successful mating between a human and a werewolf, but even so, not every fertilization resulted in a viable omega male. That was what Dr. Smith had explained to him when he’d asked about it.

“Does Edric know you’re here?” he asked the old seer. Vali Morgan. He recognized the name, if not her face. She was the one who’d set everything in motion over an old prophecy…

“Hmm. Does the king know I’m here? Maybe? I have not seen his royal high and mightiness yet. I wished to meet the child first.”

She moved her hand over his belly as if conducting a sonogram with her palm. It tickled. The child inside him turned and kicked as if excited by the attention. He stayed balanced on the edge of telling her to stop and letting her do her mystical seer thing, unable to decide which to choose.

“The boy is healthy and strong,” Vali said. “Good. Good.”

He felt a surge of annoyance. “We were hoping to keep the gender a surprise.” Dr. Smith had seen the sonograms, but she was happy enough to keep the secret. Now Julian knew it was a boy. Unless the old woman was crazy and wrong. Actually, the more he thought about it, the more that could be a definite possibility.

“Oh, well,” she said cheerily. “I noticed the dangly bits and let the world know. Now the cat’s out of the bag. Or the twig and berries are on the tree for all to see. Anyway, the good news is, he’s healthy and has a strong aura. He will make a fine heir and will have a great future in front of him. He will surpass even his father. Oh, and he will have your green eyes.”

Julian felt a surge of pride. His son, a child he’d help create, would be important. Again, unless this old woman was mental and simply telling him things he wanted to hear. Like a carnival fortune teller. A loose-lipped one at that.

He shook his head and gently removed her hand from his belly. “Thank you for…for coming here to tell me that. I know Edric will be eager to talk with you.”

The old woman didn’t seem to hear him. “The king believes he saved his family and their dynasty. But it will be you.”

“I know. I’ll give birth to his heir,” he said, biting back on his annoyance at these “prophecies.”

“No. It has nothing to do with the child.”

“Wait. I thought—”

“It is who you are,” she said, cutting him off. “The change you bring. You are stronger than you know. You are a good man, and you will make a good father.” She stood abruptly and smacked the tip of her cane on the tiles. “I’ve said enough. Too much even. That’s always been one of my many flaws. Along with being too beautiful for mortal man.”

Julian stared at the seer, trying to think of a polite response. He was never able to come up with one. At that moment, Edric charged into the indoor pool room, walking so fast he was nearly running.

“Why are you here, seer?” Edric demanded. “Where have you been?”

The old woman bowed. As she did, she noticed the manga that had dropped to the tiles when she’d startled him out of his nap.

“Oho. What’s this?” She picked up the book and squinted at it. “Such pretty men with big eyes.” She began paging through it. “Ha! Naked man butt. I can never get enough of that. Look, dimples.”

Julian quickly took the manga back and set it aside, face down. The back of his neck had grown hot. “That’s mine, thank you very much.”

Edric stopped at the old woman’s side, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not used to being ignored, seer.”

“Tut, tut. Don’t complain, Your Majesty. I journeyed here to meet your mate.”

“Really? You’re over half a year late.”

“She was in the desert on a vision quest,” Julian offered, completely deadpan.

“I see…” Edric was still glowering, arms crossed. “No, actually, I don’t. You arrived without presenting yourself to the king? I have to hear about it from the servants? My patience is vast, but it isn’t inexhaustible.”

The old woman shook her head and had a good laugh. “The day you are patient is the day I get two naked, big-eyed men between the sheets with me.”

Edric closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose. “Thank you for planting that image in my brain.”

That made the old woman cackle even harder. When she finally stopped, she shared a look between the two of them. “I wasn’t entirely forthcoming with my answer about why I came, Your Majesties.”

“Shocking.”

She patted Edric’s crossed arms and then made a show of rubbing her hand. “Careful with those muscles, Your Divine Wolfiness. My bones aren’t as strong as they used to be. I could have broken my hand.”

Edric stood there looking at her. He slowly raised one eyebrow. Julian could scent his growing exasperation.

“Now, what was I saying? Oh, yes.” She raised the same hand she’d been rubbing. “I bring a warning.”

Edric groaned and rolled his eyes. But Julian found himself placing both his hands on his belly protectively.

“Was this from your vision quest?” Julian didn’t ask with any trace of sarcasm or doubt. He might not believe in prophecy or the werewolf moon religion, but if there was any chance of harm coming to his child, he wanted to know.

“A seer never reveals her tricks. But I came here to tell you so you can be prepared for the trials ahead.”

“Is this some new prophecy I must deal with?” Edric demanded.

“There is something coming that will tear your love apart if you let it,” Vali Morgan said gravely. “All you have together can be undone if you don’t put aside fear and pride and instead hold true to trust.”

Edric grunted. “Let me guess. You have no details, only vague warnings.”

The seer pointed her finger at him, suddenly glowering. “Don’t take your mate’s love for granted. If you do, you will regret it.”

Edric glanced at Julian and then locked eyes with the seer. “Thank you, Seer Morgan. If I need a relationship counselor, I’ll come to you. Unless you’re in the desert. Then I’ll use a qualified professional.”

“No call to be testy, Your Royal Grumpiness,” the seer said. She glanced at Julian, her twinkling eyes suddenly serious. “Remember what I told you, young man.”

The old woman toddled off toward the double doors and left the indoor pool area. It was only after she’d left that he noticed his manga was missing. He hadn’t seen her swipe it, but it wasn’t where he’d left it only seconds ago. What was she, some kind of magician? Should he be angry? Amused? Should he be tolerant since she was clearly mad? Maybe all that time in the desert sun had fried her noodle. Maybe patience was best.

Edric squatted down next to Julian. His handsome face was dark with concern. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. She didn’t do anything to me.” Except maybe run off with his naked man butt manga.

“I don’t know who let her in the palace. I’ll talk with security.”

Julian reached out and took his hand. “Listen. It’s fine. She’s just a harmless old woman who wants to be important.”

“Is she?” His frown deepened. “She has caused a lot of trouble for the throne. Enough wolves put their faith in prophecy to make her important, whether she wants it or not.” He met Julian’s gaze again, eyes questioning. “What was she talking about before she left? What did she tell you?”

“She told me the gender of our child. That was one thing.”

Edric’s mouth tightened in anger. He started to stand, but Julian kept his grip on his mate’s big hand, stopping him. Edric could easily pull away if he wished. But he never did.

“Don’t be angry,” Julian urged. “She’s just a silly old woman.”

“Be careful thinking about her that way. You grew up in the human world, so you don’t quite understand. She’s a seer. It’s a position of power, prestige, and influence. She’s trusted by many people, so she isn’t simply harmless.” He sighed and shook his head. “If the surprise about our baby’s gender has been spoiled for you, it might as well be spoiled for me. Boy or girl?”

“She said it’s a boy. He will be healthy and strong. He’ll have my eyes, and he’ll be better than you.”

“I’m glad he’ll have your pretty peepers, but what’s this about being better than his old man?”

Julian shrugged and grinned. “That’s what she said. He’ll be a good heir and surpass you in every single way possible.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Or I could be exaggerating. You’ll never know.”

“Better than me, huh? I’ll take it.” He cast a knowing glance Julian’s way. “Of course, it’s probably all nonsense. Did you expect her to feed us anything other than our kid would be amazing?”

“Well, she didn’t say our child would have your gigantic ego.”

He snorted. “That’s not what I meant. I meant, did you expect her to say something negative? How about ‘Your kid is going to live in the basement until he’s forty-nine’? Or maybe, ‘your rug rat will be average in every way’? Please. These seers always predict big things for everyone who asks. According to them, every kid is going to change the world.”

“Oh.” He was a little taken aback by Edric’s cynicism. That also meant the seer’s words of praise for Julian were simply more of what “he wanted to hear,” and he’d fallen into her trap. He should’ve known better.

“What else did she say?” Edric pressed. “That last stuff she said… What does she want you to remember? Was it more nonsense about something tearing us apart?”

Julian had lost the stomach for talking about the seer. He felt disheartened, which was absurd since he’d been saying he didn’t believe in prophecy from the get-go. That disbelief hadn’t stopped prophecy from having a profound effect on his life. Case in point, he was now part of the Rylan royal family thanks to a prophecy. Edric was in his life because of that prophecy. Without it, Edric never would’ve looked his way. That didn’t make Julian feel lucky. It made him feel sad.

“It was the same vague stuff she said to you,” Julian said because Edric wouldn’t let things go once he had an idea or question in his jaws.

“I hope trusting her wasn’t a mistake.” Edric shook his head, staring up at the glass ceiling panels and the bright blue sky beyond it. “It’s hard to know who to trust. Everyone swears they are loyal, but a king can’t trust anyone.”

“You can trust me.”

Edric smiled. “Good.”

He hoped that being there for Edric—supporting him and loving him—was what the seer meant when she’d said all that stuff before Edric burst in. The stuff about saving the dynasty and all that. He hesitated, suddenly feeling uncertain. The child inside him, his little boy, turned and kicked. Julian smiled and rested a hand on the huge swell of his belly. Try as he might, he couldn’t seem to let this train of thought go.

“Do you believe…people are destined for each other?”

Surprise flashed across Edric’s face. “Destined mates?” He smirked. “You’ve been reading too many of those yaoi novels.”

“So you don’t believe?” You don’t believe we would’ve found each other even if there hadn’t been a prophecy?

But he didn’t dare ask that. He was afraid of the answer.

“I believe love is a choice. You make a choice, every single day, to love.”

“Do you…choose…?” His voice died. He felt foolish and weak and couldn’t finish.

Edric reached out and touched his face gently, stroking fingertips along his jaw and touching his lips. His smiles were rare around others, but he shared them often with Julian.

“Do I choose to love you, little wolf?” Edric asked softly. “Is that what you want to know?”

Julian could only nod, his heart in his throat.

“Yes. I choose to trust you. I choose to love you.”

Julian closed his eyes, simply reveling in those words. His heart had known it. Edric had shown it with his actions. It would’ve been easy to hide Julian away in the palace, keep him separate from Edric and his life. Give him separate quarters in another wing of the palace, his own servants, leave him alone, use him to produce heirs…and have a nanny raise them. Some version of that was what Julian had expected when he’d first met Edric and this whole crazy thing had been set in motion.

Yet things hadn’t turned out that way. Somewhere along the way, during their walks in the gardens, or running together as wolves, or dining together, they had become friends…and more. True, there had always been desire. Edric was not only handsome, with a body that Julian envied, but he always made Julian feel amazing with a touch, a kiss. Somewhere in that mix of friendship and desire and intimacy, love had formed and flourished.

This was the first time Edric had said the word love to him directly. Most people wouldn’t believe that. Edric showed his love in his actions day in and day out, but Julian had been afraid to say those words first. He’d been afraid he was reading too much into Edric’s actions. He had feared Edric didn’t feel the same depth of emotion that Julian felt for him and that he would jinx it all if he risked admitting his love first… Foolish. Childish, even. But those fears had finally vanished here and now.

Edric leaned in slowly for a kiss. His right hand settled possessively on Julian’s big belly. The baby turned and kicked as if he could sense his daddy so close. Edric’s lips met Julian’s. The kiss was a loving one that had Julian feeling warmth right in the center of him.

“That crazy seer said not to take your love for granted,” Edric said as he drew back from their kiss. He looked into Julian’s eyes with more than a hint of mischief. “Does that mean you love me back?”

“How could I not love you? You…you’re my everything. You and our child. I love you with all my heart.”

Edric’s face was solemn, but his eyes were filled with happiness.

“Come,” Edric said. “I’d carry you back to our bed chambers in my arms, but I won’t risk the baby hauling you up the main stairs.”

“Were you planning on dropping me?” Julian demanded with mock outrage. “You’re saying that if I wasn’t pregnant, you’d drop me like a sack of potatoes?”

“I would never drop you,” Edric said soberly. “No matter how heavy you are.”

“So you’re saying I’m fat?” he teased, grinning. He poked Edric in his arm. The seer had been right. Those muscles were rocks.

“No, not at all. You’re carrying our child. Who is big because I am big.” Edric raised an eyebrow and leaned in to whisper conspiratorially to Julian’s belly. “Hey in there, big guy. Do you think your daddy is buying what I’m selling?”

“I can hear you, you know.”

Edric laughed and stole another kiss. “Come on. Enough of this politics and prophecy nonsense. Let’s go find something fun to do. Just us.”

That sounded like the best idea he’d heard all day.