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Maybe I was weird; I’m not sure, maybe all new fathers did this, I really don’t know and I wasn’t about to ask Heyel. I placed the hare down, bloody and broken body added to the rather significant pile I’d managed to amass outside the den. Ok, maybe it was overkill, see my pun there? But after being accused by some imbecilic idiot from Iromar that I hadn’t fed my imprint properly I’d maybe started going a little overboard, the pile consisting of two hares, a dove, a fish, three field mice, a rabbit and the hind leg of a buck I’d ‘borrowed’ from Heyel’s personal storehouse hidden within the cliffs/ he probably stole it from someone else so I hardly felt guilty, besides, Andromeda needed it more than Cat Eye and her bastard daughter who I would refuse until the end of my days to call sister. I scowled in irritation, an anger that slide away the moment I peered into the den, violet blue eyes lingering upon my imprint and the pups she lay curled around. I even spared a moment to glance briefly at Meryl, just to make sure he was, like, breathing, but that was all the attention i offered him for now, smile touching my lip as I sat in the doorway of my feather-lined kingdom. A year ago it had been empty and yet, that one day all those months ago had changed it. I had what I was forbidden to have, hell, I’d already experienced first-hand why we weren’t allowed to take mates or Father children. It had nearly destroyed me. She was a weakness so obvious and glaring any Demon would be foolish not to take advantage and yet, with her, with them, cam e a strength I never knew I had, a desire to protect that would see me die a thousand time over for rather of my infant sons or my imprint, the girl I had every intention of making my mate when the time was right. I just had to do it proper and classy and not when we were in the middle of a demonic war.

I had a family and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’d proved Ava wrong, her and her determination to insult my manliness, I’d proved I knew exactly where to put it and I was evidently amazing at it, judging by the quality of my children. I smirked, lip lifting upward as I continued to simply watch them all sleep, having reason before the dawn to hunt once more, as I did each day, leaving the pray I caught at the den entrance for Andromeda when she woke before heading off to meet with the Assassins. Today however- they could meet without me, I was taking a sicky, or a family day, or whatever it was called. I wasn’t going to leave the pray and go, only to return at night or briefly in the middle of the day to make sure all was well. Hey, having a career and a family isn’t easy, but I’ve been managing, I know when she needs me and I come- every time, that she is getting better is enough and yet I can’t help but feel I’m missing out on my sons. I only see them at night or sometimes a little in the day and they’ve already grown so much. I suppose a small part of myself is pleased for the presence of Meryl, at least he is old enough to help Stella when I’m out. Hmm, maybe he did have a use after all.

I eased myself down at the mouth of the den, content to spend the day with my family today, to bask in the glory that was my sons, despite them being black, though I still lived in hope that when they shed their puppy fur they’d be white. I sighed, resting my head on my paws, wishing indeed that Zeivah had lived to see them, even just to hear their names which were perfectly un-angelic, although, I’d already decided that when we had a daughter (I figure I’ve already broken the law, so breaking it again and again shouldn’t matter) that I’d name her after my mother, something traditional, in the latina, for her, after her. Although, if I never had a daughter I can’t say I’d be disappointed, I adore the fact that I had only sons, boy were entirely more useful, stronger, more powerful, I’d have no use for a daughter so perhaps it is fortunate I don’t have any. I yawned, jaws parting to flash sizeable fangs as I contented myself to doze until they woke up, keep a guard of all four all the same, powerful form watching over them. As long as I lived, no one would ever harm any of them ever again, even Meryl. Maybe he wasn’t mine, but he was Andromeda’s and if she wanted him kept safe, so be it, the boys already called him brother, evidently it seemed the older boy was going to become a permanent fixture in my dysfunctional household. Oh well, he kinda fitted- simply because he fitted nowhere else, just like the rest of us. We fitted together and that was all that mattered.

AZRAEL

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"5 years ~ No Mate ~ Soul of Andromeda ~ Heyel x Zeivah ~ 41in 177lbs ~ Sire of Starfall & Guardian ~ Diveen "