Chapter 46

ten months later

"Is that the best you can do?"

I groan as I drop my knees to the ground from the plank position I held for less than thirty seconds. I will punch Xavier if he continues to bother me.

"I'm not letting you go until you plank for forty-five seconds," he says, crouching in front of me.

"Aren't you going a little too hard on her? She just had your damn child," Nala defends from beside me with a perfect plank pose.

I raise my head, glaring at the furrowing feline with the sun kissing his bronze skin. "I'm going easy on her or, it would have been a two minutes plank," he says.

"Fuck you," I growl. Foxy cowers in a corner, making sure his lion knows she isn't angry with him. Coward cat.

Meanwhile, Xavier grins. "You'll thank me once you're back to your old self. Now start the damn plank again."

I should have never asked him to go hard on me. I was pregnant and regretted eating the box of brownies in less than five minutes.

Ten tedious months passed since we officially mated. Eight stressful months where my belly got bigger and Xavier got more anxious. He thought my stomach would split in two to release the baby for how round and big it was. At the same time, he couldn't stop poking it.

Nevertheless, a beautiful baby boy was born under the new moon. At only two months old, I'm confident he'll have my hair but keep Xavier's golden eyes. Same color as his lion. That should tell you enough about what he'll turn into.

With a groan, I go back to the plank with Xavier's eyes fixed on me. Sweat is dripping down my forehead as my face turns red. I used to do this with ease, but ten months of nothing ruined me. I hate it.

A piercing baby cry makes me grin as I drop my knees and get back onto my feet. "Duty calls," I say, patting Xavier's back before walking inside the clowder's house.

"Not so fast," he says, grabbing my wrist. "I'll go take care of that while you continue—"

"Look!" I yell, pointing behind him with a shocked wide-eyed look. Xavier frowns, following the direction, and I take that chance to push his hand away and take a run for it.

I laugh as he curses me out.

I walk to my bedroom, finding the wooden crib in the middle of it. That and Benjamin's changing table has taken the free space I once had in my room.

His cry is loud as I approach him, and a horrified gasp echo in the room.

His entire eyes are pitch black. Goosebumps make themselves known as the baby keeps crying black tears. Should I even pick him up?

"Xavier!" I yell a couple of times when a warm presence walks inside the room, inhaling chunks of oxygen.

"What happened?" he asks, approaching me.

I cross my arms over my chest, tilting my head to the side. "I think we can call the Creatures Council now. Benjamin is weird," I say.

Xavier frowns, getting closer to the crib. I hear him take a sharp inhale as his hands grip onto the rails. "That's a first," he comments before wiping the black tears from the crying boy.

I watch him bring his wet fingers under his nose, followed by his tongue tasting it. "They're normal tears, but I don't get why his eyes are like that. I'll go report it to Richard. In the meantime, try calming him."

"I have to pick him up?" I ask, wide-eyed.

Foxy growls while Xavier rolls his eyes. "He's still a baby, so don't be scared. Look." He bends down enough to pick him up. Benjamin instantly stops crying. His eyes turn back to their golden color.

His father looks even more confused as he holds him from a distance. "Now that's weird."

"It's not," a new masculine voice says.

I sharply turn around to Richard walking inside. "He's a hybrid," he says, taking the baby away from Xavier.

Benjamin's eyes turn back to black, letting out a wincing cry-. "Looks like he only wants Xavier," Richard analyses, bringing the baby to his chest and passing a free hand over his face a few times.

"Hybrid as in?" Xavier asks as he grabs Benji again, and the same thing happens. His eyes turn normal, and he stops crying. Is that normal with human babies?

"Half werecat and half faery. That's the only conclusion the Council and I came up with. We can test him if you want to, but I'm pretty sure that's the answer," Richard explains.

I quietly walk around the crib to sit down on the edge of my bed. "I don't want machines and mystic powers around Benji. Let's just wait for him to get older and see how he copes with everything," I say as I observe Xavier pacing around the room, lulling Benjamin to sleep.

"Well, I actually want him to be tested," Xavier speaks up after a moment of silence.

My eyes narrow. "We're not testing him."

Xavier raises an eyebrow. "You don't want to test him, but I do."

"Why do you want to test him?" I bitterly ask.

"Because I want to know what we're gonna deal with for the rest of our lives. I don't want to wake up to a murderous child, Red."

"He's not going to turn like that," I fire back.

Xavier's eyes angrily glow at me. The mate bond is making everything worse. "How can you be so sure?" he asks.

"Because I can feel it."

He snorts. "Well, I can't, so we're testing him."

Richard tries to calm us down. "Guys—"

"We're not testing him, and that's final," I cut off.

"You didn't even want to pick him up. We're testing him," he growls out.

My cheeks fire up, embarrassed, but I don't back down. "I was caught off guard. He's my child, and he stays here!"

Xavier's jaw clenches. "Watch me. Richard, take me to the Council," he says, motioning Richard to start walking with a nod of his head.

The men walk out of the room, and I quickly stand up, going after them down the hallway. Over my dead fucking body. I call Xavier's name multiple times, receiving no answer from him.

A murderous growl comes out of me, making him stop. He can probably feel it through the mate bond. "Don't you dare growl at me like that," he says, facing me.

"Don't you dare take my child away from me," I say as I notice Richard shifting from one foot to the other, not knowing if to stay or walk away.

"He's my child as well, so we can compromise, or I'll do it my way whether you like it or—" Xavier gets cut off by the loud cry of Benjamin. The sound of thunder coming from outside makes me jump.

That's weird. It rarely rains in here.

Xavier probably read my mind because we look at the baby simultaneously before opening the door of a random room, seeing a heavy rain from the window. It was sunny less than five seconds ago.

I close it, not believing the crazy situation. "Give me Benji. I need to check something," I say, and he doesn't hesitate.

Red plump cheeks are wet with tears, and I kiss them away as I slowly sway side to side with him holding onto my breast. A friendly presence comes from behind, and sparks go off when Xavier hugs me from behind.

Benji stops crying, his eyes slowly going back to their usual yellowish. I open the door, seeing the bright sun back at its place. I would have fainted by now if it wasn't for Benji being in my hands.

"Holy fuck. He can control the weather," Richard comments with wide eyes.

I shake my head, refusing to believe it. "I need to do some research about dark faeries and, please invite the Council here. If we have to test him, I want it to happen under my watch and at home. You agree?" I ask, pulling away from the lion to look at him.

Xavier nods, giving me a small smile that makes my heart skip a beat. "That's fine."

Richard immediately sets off, and I pass Benji to my mate before locking myself up in the library. My hand passes over the books on the shelves, desperately searching for faeries content. Hours pass by, and I manage to gather enough information.

There are different types of dark faeries, but I think I found a myth that relates to Benjamin. The story is about a girl that got forced into inhuman experiments. Her body didn't respond to any type of injections until the one with the dark faery blood came in.

The people who abducted her later found out that she was a werecat, which explained why she didn't feel anything until the last one.

She died for it.

It's unfortunate, but the fact that the lunatic who kidnapped me was doing the same thing makes me believe that me still breathing is extremely rare.

Long story short, whatever is happening to Benji will stick to him for life. All Xavier and I can do are learn about it as he gets older. Dark faeries can have many gifts, and from what I witnessed, it looks like Benjamin will be able to communicate with nature.

The creaking sound of the library door opening halts my thoughts. I look toward the source, seeing Xavier in a cozy black pajama set walking up to me.

"Do you know what time it is?" he asks as I close the heavy hardcover book.

I tilt my head to the side, watching him crouch down in front of me. "Midnight?" I try to answer when he pulls my legs apart.

I swallow a nervous lump with blood rushing to my cheeks when he presses his mouth against my covered core. "Close enough," he murmurs, letting his finger slowly rub me. My panties are already getting damp, and I take a sharp inhale when he pulls down my sporty leggings. I lift my butt, helping him slide my pants off with ease.

A proud smile appears on his face when he sees how wet I am for him. His eyes move upward to mine. "What do you want me to do with this?" he huskily asks.

My heart leaps out of my chest.

"Please, don't tease me," I whisper, making him chuckle.

He slowly rubs his thumb over my bud, making my breath hitch. "I was just asking a simple question. No teasing at all," he states, pinching my clit.

I squirm under his hold. "Then do it," I breathe out.

He smirks. "Do what? This?" He slides his middle finger down, only to put it inside before going back out to the bud. Fuck.

"Xavier—"

"Or this?" he quickly asks, leaning forward until his tongue flicks on my core. I gasp.

"There's even a third option," he murmurs, sliding and curling his finger inside of me while licking me.

My hand grabs his dreads as my hips roll toward him, but as soon as he starts, he stops. "Choose, Red." His voice comes out raspy, beautifully mixing with his feline that makes Foxy and I melt into a puddle.

"Can't I just have all of them?" I ask with a dazed gaze.

He shakes his head, smirking. "No—"

A loud baby's cry stops us on the spot. Xavier and I groan at the same time. Guess the fun is already over.

"I really hate when this happens," he grumbles, getting back onto his feet.

I love Benji a lot, but in this situation, not so much, so I can't help but agree with the lion.

Since only four chapters are left I decided to do a daily update for them, so by Tuesday The Lion's Cat comes to an end.

Thank you for reading and don't forget to vote!