Jonny grinned at us as he scratched under the little alpha’s chin. “So basically, what you’re saying is that while you have triplets on the way, you’ve decided to practically adopt a pair of twins as well? Damn, Sammy boy. When you get mated, you go all in.”

I rolled my eyes. “We aren’t adopting them, dodo. We’re fostering them, if anything. I’m sure they have family somewhere who will be worried about them. I know deep inside myself that if I were missing these two little cuties, I’d be tearing the world apart to find them, you know?”

“That’s all well and good, and I realize that we’re not talking about it in front of them, but we also know what happened to the two who would be missing them most.” Connor took a deep breath and shook his head, his eyes filled with sorrow as he looked at the little furballs. Kyle had taken everyone aside when they’d arrived in town to tell them the story so we wouldn’t have to recount it in front of the babies.

We’d been hanging out at a local park after we’d stopped to pick up lunch, waiting for everyone to arrive. It had seemed safer to keep the cubs away from humans. Kyle had argued that anyone who noticed would probably think they were big kittens, because who would expect someone to be sitting at a park with a couple of wild animals? But my protective urges had taken over.

Kyle rapped his knuckles on the picnic table. “As much as I hate to say this, it’s time to load into the cars and drive to Aunt Effie’s. I’m kinda jealous of our parents right now. I like the idea of having to shift and run through a dark forest to get there, instead of driving down a paved road like a bunch of norms.”

We all smiled in agreement. After growing up hearing our parents’ stories, we all would’ve liked to have seen the cottage back when it was surrounded by an ancient forest in its own secret, magically protected glen, set apart from the modern world. But Uncle Maon had removed some trees and put in a road many years ago when Aunt Effie was expecting her first child.

If we couldn’t have seen them in their original forms when they were a brownie and a phoenix, it would’ve at least been nice to have seen the magic cottage, but that’s okay. We always had enough fun just visiting them and their crazy family.

I was a little nervous about how the cubs would behave, but I needn’t have worried. When our cars pulled up in front of the cottage, Uncle Maon was waiting on the porch to greet us. It was funny, but he’d retained just enough magic to know the little things.

A small boy with wild red curls dangled down Uncle Maon’s back, his hands looped around his dad’s neck. I was pretty sure that was Thaddeus, or Tad as we called him. Two girls were arguing inside the house, probably Helena and Diana, their strident voices coming through the windows, while Dayvan and Alix, their two older teens, were playing catch in the front yard. Yep, all was right in this little world.

Aunt Effie opened the door as we approached, coming out to join Uncle Maon with a hand resting on a hugely pregnant belly. I cuddled the cubs to my chest as I followed Kyle to the porch. “Aunt Effie! You didn’t tell us you were expecting again!”

Uncle Maon chuckled and shot me a knowing look as he gently removed the child from his neck. “I’m pretty sure that your aunt isn’t the only one with news along those lines.” He looked around at the group of us; everyone had shown up, from my brothers to Lulu and her mates. My entire generation was present and accounted for, babies and all.

Jude and Jonny wore matching slings with their twins snuggled against their chests, while Oni held Dylan on his hip. I hadn’t had a chance to talk to Ian and Destiny yet, but I’d make sure to congratulate them on their mating later. It felt right for us all to be here together, in this place where our own parents’ journeys had begun. I was startled from my thoughts when Uncle Maon met me on the porch steps and gently snagged the cubs from my arms.

He kissed the tops of their heads and gently hugged them. “Greetings, Xander and Zane. Aren’t you two brave boys! Oh, my goodness. You’re hungry, aren’t you? Well now, you just come right along with your uncle, I have a saucer of cream waiting inside for each of you.”

I followed him into the house and on into the kitchen, glancing curiously at Kyle, who simply shrugged. “Uncle Maon, you knew about the cubs? And what did you call them?”

Uncle Maon glanced up from where he had knelt down just inside the kitchen door to set the cubs in front of saucers of cream that he’d indeed had waiting for them. “Of course I knew about them. Didn’t I see them in my tea leaves this morning? And I called them by their names. It’s written all over their auras, can’t you see it? The alpha is Xander and the little omega here is Zane.”

Lulu walked past me and knelt to examine the cubs with a wide smile. “He’s right! I’ve never noticed that in auras before, but you can see the names if you look for it.” She turned and looked around the room. “I can see all your names now. Thank you, Uncle Maon! That’s a cool trick to add to my arsenal.” She gave him a quick hug, one of her feathers tickling his ear and making him chuckle as she stood.

Ignoring Lulu for now, I looked back at my uncle. “Do you know how old they are? Or why they’re stuck in this form?” I leaned against the counter, looking down affectionately as they made messes of their fur with the milk as they practically dove face-first into the cream. “I want to help them, but I don’t know how. Maybe I’m not the one that is meant to, I don’t know.” I trailed off miserably, scratching my arm as I watched the little ones that I wanted so badly to help.

He shook his head. “I can only share what the leaves showed me, and what their auras say. Aside from that, I’d just be guessing. I do know this though, you will have the key to free them, when the time is right. Until then, let them play and be free to be cubs, it’s not hurting them. The transition will be far less painful for them than it would be in their human form, as they adjust to their new life with you.”

I bit my lip and thought about that for a moment. “Are you sure that I hold the key? Surely someone stronger would have that ability. It’s not that I doubt my powers, but I’m not exactly a take-charge kind of guy, you know?”

“Could’ve fooled me, baby.” Kyle grinned with a knowing look in his eye as he kissed my cheek and slid an arm around my waist. “Now quit doubting yourself. You’re one of the terrible trio, remember? Your powers have powers, we all know that. When the time is right, just search your heart and see if you can’t find a way to help our babies.”

“Our babies?” I shot Kyle an incredulous look.

Kyle shrugged a shoulder. “Unless we find their extended family, who else is going to keep them? Finders keepers, right?”

I started to correct him, but Uncle Maon nodded solemnly. “These cubs are alone in the world, I do know that much. My leaves showed me the pair of them, surrounded by darkness. It was as if they were all alone, save for two powerful figures that stepped up behind them—a jaguar and a leopard. Hmm, now I wonder who that could be?” He shot us a wink. “Like I said, I wish I could tell you more, but that’s all I can see since my powers aren’t what they once were.”

The kitchen felt small as everybody shoved in around us to watch the cubs lap at their cream while we talked to our uncle. Kyle shot Uncle Maon an irreverent grin. “But how strong were your powers in the first place, uncle? I’ve heard that you were known to be wrong a few times.”

Uncle Maon stood tall and lifted a brow, sniffing playfully at the suggestion. “And when might that have been, pray tell?”

Kyle shrugged. “I heard that you told Uncle Peter and Uncle Parker that they were expecting a pair of she-cats, but Destiny is a bear, only Faith is a cat. And you told more than one of the parents in the pack that they were going to have more babies after us.”

Uncle Maon chuckled as he wagged a finger at Kyle. “The future is always changing and in a state of flux due to free will, you guys know that. Some of you were meant to have siblings, but some of you interfered at the wrong moments when your parents might have conceived them, therefore denying you the sibling you would’ve had.”

Jonny cracked up. “I told Jude that kids were nothing but cockblockers.”

I glared at my brother, then looked pointedly at the cubs and the other babies in the room, including the one he held to his chest. “Hush, doofus. There are kids around.”

Uncle Maon chuckled and waved a hand before turning back to Kyle. “And another thing? Remember that you are from founding families and have longer lifespans than normal shifters. Your parents are young enough that they still might surprise some of you with another sibling or three, who’s to say?”

He turned around, looking at the different faces in the room until he settled on Destiny’s. He walked over and laid a hand on her flat stomach. It was funny how completely unaware he was of whether or not he was stepping over her personal boundaries by touching her. Uncle Maon tipped his head to the side thoughtfully and nodded. “Yes, I thought I smelled that. When I scented she-cat in your uncle’s womb, despite Destiny’s bear, perhaps I was scenting ahead to the grandchild? It’s hard to say, but she’s definitely carrying a cat right now along with that little fox in there.”

Ian burst into tears, throwing his arms around Destiny’s waist and resting his shorter head against her chest as they hugged. He looked over at me with a watery smile. “Destiny told me that she was pregnant with twins, but even she couldn’t scent what they are just yet.”

I held up a hand before Uncle Maon could reveal anything about my own pregnancy. “Whatever you see or scent about my babies, I want to wait as long as I can to find out. Kind of like delayed gratification, you know? Besides, I have these two little boys to focus on for the moment.” I bent to pluck them up from where they lay sated beside the bowls, reaching for a tea towel to clean their faces.

“You certainly do.” Aunt Effie popped her head in through the kitchen doorway. “Listen, you kids need to go start finding seats around the table. We have the two long tables set up outside, we should all be able to squeeze around.”

I took an appreciative sniff of the Irish stew that was cooking on the stove as I stood and passed Xander to Kyle. “You mean we’re invited for dinner? Excellent!”

“Of course you are, don’t be silly.” Aunt Effie patted my back before rushing off at the sound of screaming coming from the other room.

Uncle Maon shook his head. “Enjoy your babies while they’re young. You’d never dream that it could happen to you, but eventually, even the sweetest of cubs becomes the menace that is known as a teenager.”

Once we were all settled around the table and eating our dinner, the conversation turned to our quest. Everyone was interested to hear the rhyme. After I quoted it, Uncle Maon thoughtfully tapped his chin.

After a moment, he turned to me with an excited smile. “I don’t know why, but I just got a mental image of a ruby heart. Not the pretty thing that resembles an upside-down bottom that people draw when they doodle, but an actual gemstone heart that looks like the real organ. Funny idea, but it reminds me of an old story. Have you ever heard the legend of the warriors from the early Burmese culture? Fascinating creatures, they were. Anyway, they believed that putting ground-up rubies under their skin on their left arm would make them stronger and more invincible to the opposing forces.”

“Why the left arm?” Lulu asked curiously, as if that were the only part of that legend that might give one pause.

Uncle Maon waved a hand. “Because that’s the part that leads straight to the heart, naturally. I guess that’s what made me think of an actual heart that looks like a ruby. If the legend were correct and they put ground-up rubies into their blood, I’d imagine the right magic would make the heart into a ruby. Don’t mind me, I’m being fanciful. My imagination likes to run off course from time to time.”

Aunt Effie leaned forward, waving her spoon as she spoke. “If we’re talking about rubies, my favorite is from the ancient Indian civilizations. They actually believed that the rubies originated from the fruit that grew on the tree of life.”

“Wait.” I looked around Kyle to catch my aunt’s eye. “When you say the tree of life, are you talking about the one that our parents saw transformed? I think I vaguely remember that happening, but my brothers and I were so little that it’s pretty foggy at this point.”

She held up her hands. “Who’s to say? But yes, that was the rumor.” She turned to her husband. “Oh, Maon! I can’t believe I almost forgot about those lovely Egyptians. Remember their thoughts on the ruby?”

Uncle Maon smiled as if remembering times long past. “Yes, they believed that if a ruby were to touch a woman’s skin, it would guarantee her beauty, love, and eternal joy.”

Kyle snorted. “What if a guy touched it? Would that give him a bigger—“ I put a hand over his mouth and shook my head, daring him to say another word as I glanced at the cubs who were sitting in Uncle Maon’s lap watching us with their big, topaz eyes.

“I don’t think so,” Aunt Effie said with a chuckle, answering Kyle’s unfinished question. We visited a little bit longer before I realized that it was getting dark and we still needed to travel for a few hours by air to get home.

I leaned against Kyle’s shoulder as I smiled reluctantly around the table. “I know we all hate to cut this short, but I really need to get the cubs home so Kyle and I can sort things, and we all know that we have a bit of a trip ahead of us.”

“Tell your dads to come visit us.” Aunt Effie smiled gently as she broke off a couple pieces of biscuit and fed them to the cubs. “We really don’t see enough of you guys. Oh, did you know that Enzo and Hugo were here last week with their darling little boy? They said they’d been at your homes too. Isn’t that little Raven just the cutest thing? I’m so happy for our old friends. They’re going to be the best dads.”

Before today I would’ve agreed about Raven being the cutest, but I was getting pretty attached to the pair of cubs that we’d had dropped in our laps today.