Chapter 106: Sharing A Hut
Elián;
"Did you have fun today?" Queen Cassia asks me as we get to a hut, and I can not help how big my smile is when I nod.
The night is dark around us, but it hardly bothers me. The moon is bright, and there are lanterns all over the place, hanging from other huts.
The dark here doesn’t feel scary. Rather, it feels serene. Like a calm little bubble you can just breathe and exist in.
"Elián?" Queen Cassia calls, and I come back to the present before looking back up at her twinkling golden eyes.
Of course, I had fun! I ate so many things, learned so many things about this place... saw beautiful creatures I’ve never seen before, and for the first time ever, I was made to feel good about my appearance, and important about myself. Today, I didn’t feel ugly, weird, or odd.
I’ve hardly ever felt like that before.
Even though I just got here, I already feel like I belong. Like I never wanna leave.
"I did. I had loads of fun." I reply, and Queen Cassia smiles warmly at me.
"Good. There’s more to see tomorrow." She replies, and my jaw drops in dumbfoundment.
"There’s more??" I question in shock, and she giggles.
I thought I had seen everything. I’ve seen so much today, I’m pretty sure my dreams would be bubbling tonight, and she’s telling me there’s more??
"Nature is never done showing us things." She replies, and I grin like an oaf.
"I’d love to see more of Gravemaw," I reply honestly, and she lifts my chin gently with two of her fingers.
If Queen Cassia were to be a meal... I’ll say... warm cake... The fluffy kind that a knife would slice beautifully through. That and creamy milk.
Or soup... The kind of delicious, flavorful soup mothers give their kids in bed when the kids have runny noses. The kind my mother never gave me...
"I’m glad Koda has you with him now." Her voice finally breaks through my thoughts, and I blink at her in confusion.
"He’s brighter now. Happier even though he doesn’t show it much. And it’s all because of you. He’s found a spark in you that reignited the fire I used to see in my little boy. Thank you." She continues, and I pause.
I blink at her in silence, and to my surprise, she leans forward and plants a kiss on my forehead.
"Thank you." She whispers again, and she takes her fingers from my chin.
"Go get some sleep. There was a full moon two nights ago. I’m pretty sure you haven’t fully recuperated from it." She adds as she turns her back on me and begins to walk away, and my heart stops.
What did she just say???
How did she know I felt tired after the full moon?? Is it... is it a normal thing for people here to get tired after one, or...?
Do I look tired?? Is it obvious that I spent a whole day sleeping in a carriage?
Why’d she say that? And she said it like there were implied meanings too... Should I have asked her what she meant??
"Elián?" Koda’s voice calls from the hut behind me, and I whip around in confusion.
Koda!?
Didn’t Queen Cassia say this was my hut!?
Why then is Koda in it? Does he have something to tell me?
"Why are you just standing out there? Come in?" His voice calls again, and I blink at the door before walking over to it and opening it.
I step into the hut, and my jaw drops.
It’s larger than I expected. I don’t know what I was expecting... but it wasn’t this.
This is a spacious room. There are tiny candles in holes crafted into the walls.
There are boxes and vials. In one corner of the room is a small wooden table and chair with a quill and an ink bowl, with a few papers.
In another corner is a trunk that resembles a treasure chest... and there, right in the middle of the space, oddly not touching any walls, is a bed. A bed of... I don’t know what the bed is made of.
What would bears who are loyal to nature make beds out of?
"Was that Mother out there with you?" Koda’s voice comes again, and when I snap my head in the direction of the voice, I find that Koda is on the floor on the other side of the bed.
He has a book in his hand and a tray of berries in front of him.
What is he doing in my hut, being all comfortable?
"What are you doing?" I question, and he stops chewing as he lowers the book.
"I’m reading." He replies, and I scoff.
"I can see that. I mean, why are you doing it in my hut??" I reply, and his brows crease.
"You mean our hut?" He replies, and my heart skips a beat.
The elderly woman’s words from this morning suddenly come back to my mind, and I take a swift step back.
Given that you’re going to have six yourself, it’s good to see that you get along with children.
The words send a chill down my spine, and Koda just blinks at me.
"We’re going to be sharing this hut throughout our stay here." He says, and I almost have an aneurysm.
"What!? Why!?" I demand in fright, and he sighs before standing up.
He drops the book on the bed, crosses over the tray of fruits in front of him and walks to me.
He’s standing so close to me, I can feel his body warmth and smell that soothing rain-like scent that there is to him.
"Because you’re my Omega, and the only logical place for you to be... is with me." He answers my earlier question, and the woman’s words play in my mind again.
You don’t have to worry, though. You’ll have all the help you need raising them.
I quickly take a step away from him, and he tilts his head as he stares at me.
"That’s ridiculous! We never shared a room back at the estate. Why would we do it now?" I demand, and he sighs.
"Because that was the Ashfang estate, and this is Gravemaw. They’re worlds apart." He replies, and my throat goes dry.
This... he’s not planning on having his way with me tonight, is he!?
Is that why that old lady said I’d have six kids!?
Is Koda going to have his way with me and get me pregnant with a set of sextuplets!??
No.
No, no, no, no, no!!!
I barely understand the concept of periods and pregnancies... talk less of being pregnant with and having to give birth to six babies!!
That sounds like a death sentence!!
Who even needs that many kids!??
"Elián... are you okay? You’ve gone pale." Koda’s voice suddenly snaps me back to reality, and I gulp.
He steps towards me and tries to hold my hand, but I scramble away from him.
"You can’t stay here. I need my space." I say in panic, and he raises a brow.
He eyes me in silence, and it infuriates me that his ever stoic expression doesn’t ever give away what he’s thinking.
"Well, I’m sorry, Elián. You’re just going to have to make do with what we have. No one in the entire village will get you another hut. We’re staying together." He replies, and my jaw drops.
Angry, I scoff at him, and the words that escape my lips shock even me.
"Then I’ll go tell Mother you’re bullying me into staying with you!"
He pauses at first, and then a huge smile splits his face. Like he’s happy about something. But I can’t understand what.
Is he happy that I want to report him to his mother?
"Go to her then. But even she won’t get you another hut." Koda replies as he gets off the bed.
He picks the tray of fruits off the floor and walks over to the table on the other side of the space.
He drops the tray there and then looks at me.
"Are you going to sleep, or are you going to watch me all night?" He questions, and I look back at the bed.
It’s big... but also small enough for both of us to touch if we sleep in it together.
No.
No way... this is the road to six babies.
I’m not ready for that!
"Fine! Eat the hut if you want, and have a nice jug of milk after. I’ll go find somewhere to sleep outside!" I retort before turning around.
I had barely taken two steps towards the door when I found myself suspended in the air.
I yelp in shock as he throws me over his shoulder and begins to walk towards the bed.
"Hey, you bully, what are you doing!? If you try any perverted stunts with me, I’ll scratch your eyes out! Put me down! Put me down!!"