Haiden


    F:.


    “We have brunch at Mum and Dad’s today,” I said casually, after the excitement of the


    gifts was over.


    “Okay, that sounds nice,” Envy replied with a small smile.


    00


    We stepped through the portal together, hand in hand, andnded on Red Moon soil. The shift was instant, the familiar tang of pine and smoke in the air, the cool weight of the mountains pressing close. Talen stretched under my skin, restless but curious, and I had to shove him back down before he prowled out. Mum’s cabin sat just where it always had, tucked into the tree line like it belonged there more than we ever did. Smoke curled from the chimney, and the smell of herbs drifted from the garden bed she swore she didn’t tend, even though everything in it thrived. The door opened before we knocked. Mum barreled out, apron already dusted with flour, and didn’t hesitate for a second. She swept Envy into her arms like she’d been waiting a lifetime to get her hands on her.


    “My girl,” she said, rocking her side to side with surprising strength. “You look radiant. Happy birthday, love.”


    Envyughed, cheeks pink, letting herself be fussed over. “Thank you, Mum.”


    From the kitchen window, Dad’s voice bellowed out like thunder. “Boys, get your asses in here. I need a hand.”


    “Yeah, yeah, I hear you,” I muttered, but I didn’t move right away. Instead, I hung back with Mum and Envy in the living room. Mum was already pulling Envy down onto the couch, chatting like she hadn’t seen her in years, telling her about the herbs she was drying, the brunch she had nned, and who in the pack had been annoying hertely.


    Then, as casually as if she were offering a cookie, Mum reached into the basket by the side table and pulled out a blunt. She handed it toward Envy with a grin. “For the nerves, sweetheart. Do you good.”


    I was across the room in a second, snatching it before it touched Envy’s fingers. “Are you


    serious, Mum? She’s pregnant.”


    Mum rolled her eyes like I was being dramatic. “I smoked all the time when I was carrying you lot, and look, you turned out just fine.”


    “Debatable,” I muttered, ring at her while Envy tried not tough.


    Mum smirked. “See? She thinks I’m funny.”


    I lit the blunt myself and took a long drag. “She doesn’t get it. End of discussion.”


    Talen purred in the back of my head as I exhaled toward the ceiling. Envy leaned into


    me with that little smile of hers, the one that said she was equal parts amused and


    exasperated.


    “I think I’m okay without it,” she said softly.


    “Damn right you are,” I said, pulling her closer with my free arm. “I’ll take this one for


    the team.”


    Mum cackled, loud and unbothered, and for the first time in weeks, I saw some of the tension ease out of Envy’s shoulders.


    “There’s my pretty girl.” I whispered, kissing her temple.


    Dad’s voice bellowed again from the kitchen, louder this time. “Haiden! Get in here before I burn the bloody sausages!”


    I groaned, taking another drag before stubbing out the blunt in Mum’s little y ashtray. “Fine! But I swear to god, Mum, don’t get my mate high while I’m gone.”


    Mum widened her eyes in mock innocence, hand over her chest like I’d just used her of murder. “Who, me?”


    “Yes, you,” I shot back, pointing a finger at her as I stood. “No tricks, no ‘just a puff<b>,</b>‘ none of it. She’s pregnant, for fuck’s sake.”


    Envy pressed her lips together, trying not tough, her hand on her bump like she


    <b>18:10 </b>Fri<b>, </b>Sep <b>5 </b>


    :


    already knew this circus was part of marrying into my family.


    Dad hollered again. “If the kitchen goes up in mes, I’m ming you!”


    “Coming!” I barked back, then muttered under my breath, “God help me.”


    I left Mum and Envy on the couch, Mum already fussing over her with a nket and a te of sliced fruit she swore would “bnce her hormones.”


    68


    The kitchen was chaos, Dad had the ce looking like a war zone. I could see Xavier out the back window setting up the table, while Noah and Levi were trying their best to make a cake. Shit was flying everywhere. There was spokeing from one of the pans and Dad shoved a spat into my hand like I was a recruit on his war front.


    “About time,” he grumbled. “Your mate likes things cooked right, doesn’t she?”


    “Yeah,” I said, sliding into ce with a sigh. “Which is why I’m here. Otherwise, you’d


    feed her charcoal and me me for it.”


    He snorted but didn’t argue, and we fell into the familiar rhythm of cooking together.


    From the other room I could hear Mum’sugh and Envy’s softer voice, the sound blending in a way that made something tight in my chest ease. Talen stretched inside me, calmer now, purring like sappy mutt he was. Maybe brunch with my parents wasn’t such a bad idea after all. By the time we brought the food out, Mum had Envy swaddled in one of her knitted throws like she was about to tuck her in for a nap, not brunch.


    “Sit, sit,” Mum ordered, patting the chair beside her. “You’re glowing, darling. Honestly glowing. That pup of yours is going to be beautiful.”


    “Mum,” I warned, setting down the tter of eggs and bacon.


    She swatted me with a tea towel. “What? I canpliment my daughter–inw.”


    Envyughed lightly, though her hand instinctively went to her bump. “Thank you. I feel… rounder than glowing most days.”


    “Rounder is good,” Dad said, dropping a te of pancakes on the table. “Means healthy.


    :


    Means the baby’s thriving.”


    We all sat, the table crowding with food, bacon, eggs, pancakes, and fruit. Mum, of course, tried to heap Envy’s te full.


    “Eat, love. You’re feeding two now.”


    68


    Envy picked delicately at her te, though I noticed she let Mum fuss. Levi gave me a small smirk across the table, like he was enjoying watching me squirm. The rest of brunch carried on in the same chaotic, warm way it always did at my parents‘ ce. Dad told a story about me setting the curtains on fire when I was six. Mum told Envy I’d been a colicky baby who never slept. My brothers added their own digs here and there, smirks on their faces. And through it all, Envy sat wrapped in Mum’s knitted throw,ughing and listening, her cheeks glowing brighter than I’d seen in days. I looked around the table, at my parents, at my brothers, at my mate, at her, and felt something I hadn’t in a long time. For a few hours, war and witches and fear weren’t the center of our world. Family was. And damn if it didn’t feel good.


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