The Isle (Chronicles of the Irish Princess Book 1)

I flew out of bed and ran for the bathroom as the morning sickness woke me from my sleep. I was now positive that it was no longer Sarah who was effecting me. It had been a few days since our coronation as king an queen. Ever since, this was how I had been waking up. As suspected Kai was quick to follow me getting a wash cloth wet and ordering the staff to bring me some oatmeal and toast. It was one of the few breakfasts that my stomach could handle. I still hadn't told him, and I knew he was beginning to worry about me. Once I was sure it had passed, I sat on the lid of the closed toilet taking the water from Kai's hand.

"Leah, I really think we should call for one of the doctors to come and look at you."

Here goes nothing. "There isn't a need for that. I'm not sick."

"Is it Sarah then? Are your full powers amplifying this more?"

"No," I shook my head. "It's not Sarah. I found out a few days ago. But I wasn't sure how to tell you."

"Leah, sweetheart, what's wrong then?"

"Nothing's wrong, it's all very right. Kai, I'm pregnant." Setting my toothbrush back in the cupholder.

His eyes got wide and then, like I dreamed they always would, they filled with dears as he dropped to his knees. "Please tell me this isn't a dream."

"Nope, not a dream. According to the doctor, I'm due in July. About two or three weeks after Sarah."

"Leah, this is wonderful. But wait, what about going after Aideen?"

"I'm going to get rid of her, if it's the last thing I do before these children are born. They deserve to be born in a safe and peaceful world. If that means we take down evil witches in our kingdom to get to Aideen, then so be it."

He pulled me too him and kissed me. There was a knock on the door, once again being interrupted. Maybe becoming King and Queen three weeks after being married was a poor choice. It was Jael, my handmaiden.

"Sorry to interrupt Your Majesties. Lord Oran would like to meet with you as soon as possible."

I dipped my head in defeat.

"Thank you Jael, please let him know we will be there momentarily," Kai responded.

She left after that to give the message. I went to my closet and pulled out my gold sequin top and floral pencil skirt, along with my golden flats. After dressing, I sat at my vanity and pulled my hair into a neat bun and quickly put on some light makeup. I met Kai in the hallway and we headed down to his office. Oran was standing at the window when we arrived. He looked to us smiling.

"Hello children."

"Grandfather, what can we help you with?"

"Actually, I want to help you. Leah, your brother is becoming more worried by the day. Stressed really, I've tried to talk to him, get him to see reason, but I'm not sure I can. You should probably work on a binding spell for Aideen with him. Or at least look for something. I'm worried that now he is King, our kingdom will go to war before she is ready. My goal is to loose as little lives as possible. Then there is the account of both you and Sarah being pregnant. I'm not sure how it will affect your abilities when you enter the last part of your pregnancy."

"You know?"

"Leah dear, I may be an old man, but even I can smell when someone is pregnant. I'm surprised that Malakai didn't figure it out himself with how long your scent has been different."

Kai turned red beside me. "Well seems as this is the first time I've been around a pregnant woman, I may be out of touch with my wolf a little in that department. As for Luca, I'll talk to him as well. Thank you for letting us know. I know that he has been trying to move within the factions to talk about preparing for this. Much of it without my consult, but I know he wants Aideen gone just as much as the rest of us."

Before Oran left he hugged us both and I walked him out. Kai went to call Luca so that we could meet up.

"Leah, one more thing," he turned and kissed my forehead. "Try and take things easy. Don't be afraid to come to me or any of the other Elders if those two get out of hand."

"I won't, thank you Oran."

"Please, from now on, you can call me Granda."

I smiled at him as he made his way back to his quarters. He and Arianna were busy settling into their suite as normal members of the royal family. Now that the power had been passed down, they were spending more time with some of the other Elders, like Gran, Chief, and the Alphas from Hungary. Oran for now, was still the Alpha in charge of the Irish pack. Though he was enjoying letting Scott have most of the work.

I sat back in my little chair in the corner of the office. I had my own space in the Spell Room, but here, I liked to come and sit with Kai; even if there was some distance. I mostly enjoyed the comfort of being close to him. He came over from his desk and kissed my head.

"Do you want some tea or anything?"

"Not right now thank you. When is my brother coming?"

"After lunch, he is busy meeting with the other factions this morning."

"Shouldn't you be present at that?" I questioned.

He shook his head. "I sent my uncle in my place, hoping that he would be able to level with Luca before he saw us. You can go back to the room and take a nap if you wish."

"I'm okay, but I do think I will go find your grandmothers and chat with them. Maybe even your mother will be there." I smiled.

Smiling he shook his head, "You are definitely not the same girl who grew up in Oklahoma. Actually willing to spend time with my mother."

"Malakai, let's not forget that for the longest time I was in the dark. So naturally I thought she was crazy. We have a much better relationship now a days. I also think that your family has taken a liking to Liz. So any chance to see her and the kids is a welcome one in my opinion."

"Oh how you've grown, my Luna."

Wandering my way out to the gardens, it wasn't long before I began to hear voices. With a smile on my face I came upon the ladies and Liz sitting under a small gazebo enjoying some late morning tea. Sarah and Kate were no where to be seen.

"Good morning, Queen Leah," several of them announced in unison.

"Good morning ladies. Please you may call me Leah, the title doesn't need to apply when we are gathered informally."

Gran was quick to pull me down by her side and pour me a cup of tea. "Her my dear, drink this. It helps with the nausea."

When I looked up all of the ladies were looking at me. Many of them with glimmers of excitement in their eyes. Arianna was the first to bite the bullet.

"So, does Malakai know yet?"

"Yes, I just told him this morning."

Her and Gran clapped their hands, "Yay! Now we can start really being Grandma's Kali. First, Sarah and her two bundles, now this babe. The castle is going to be swimming in diapers."

"Now, ladies. Just relax, you've got at least until June before this all happens," Koko reminded.

"Yes, I'm sure Leah is overwhelmed enough just from trying to protect Sarah's pups, now she need be concerned with her own." Val, the Luna from the Russian pack stated.

Until the women began talking, I hadn't thought about it at all. The thought of me being pregnant and leading me to neglect my duties as a Queen, and a descendent of the Catalan bloodline was now merging into one big explosion. I tried to contain my feelings, but my pregnancy hormones got to me and I burst into tears. Liz was quick to hand me a tissue and place her hand on my knee for comfort.

"Leah, breathe, let it all go, let your anxiety and stress go. It's not good for the baby, or you. Just focus on the sound of my voice."

The other Ladies looked around the space, trying not to stare. But a few of them, it was like I could hear their thoughts by the looks they were giving. The lot of them had guilt rolling off of them, upset that they had hurt the new Queen. Freya and Nicole knelt in front of me. Nicole placed her hand gently on my face wiping away my tears.

"Leah, you are going to be a great mother, a great queen and even greater savior to our people. To all of the kingdom. You just focus on you, your mate and your child. The Great Mother will guide you through the rest. If Greg and I can sit and pray for nearly eight years for a child, then you my dear have nothing to fear. As the Mother's daughter, you are already blessed beyond belief. You have a strong family, and even stronger mate who will be with you."

I smiled at her, "Thanks Nicole."

"Right now, no more talk about babies or war. We will do our best to keep Leah happy, right ladies," Freya reprimanded.

There were a few nods and a chorus of "yes" that echoed in my ears. Nicole was right, it was too early for me to worry about the birth of my niece and nephew, or even that of my own child. For now, my focus needed to be on keeping Sarah and I healthy, fit and safe. Though I was willing to bet that the last one would be hard to accomplish. The Ladies kept talking about their own children, normal mom-to-mom talk. Involving some teens that were showing sings of rebelliousness and younger kids who just wanted to be free. Liz mentioned that Anabelle was going to start working with Emilia next week on her skills. I don't know who was more excited with that, Liz or Ana.

While we were talking Ana had come back with Lily, who was Nicole's daughter. They had spent the morning playing together in the gardens. Like always Ana climbed up on my lap and gave me a big hug. Lily stayed by her mother asking about lunch.

"Are you girls hungry," I asked overhearing the conversation.

Ana and Lily nodded their heads. I smiled and stood with Ana in my arms.

"Well, how 'bout the three of us head inside and see what we can find. How does that sound?"

"Yes please," Lily smiled back. "Momma can I?"

Nicole nodded, "Of course love. Go on ahead and I'll be in for you in a bit."

Lily took my hand as we made our way inside and over to the small dining hall. As it turned out the boys; Sam, Pavel and Finn, were already inside eating some soup and bread. They all smiled at me, Pavel and Sam bared their necks in submission obviously knowing who I was. Finn didn't notice it though, he was too busy helping his sister into a chair. Once the two girls were settled, I ladled them both some soup and gave them each a slice of bread. One of the staff had moved from his post to help, but I backed him off. Queen or not I was perfectly capable of serving a few kids and myself lunch.

As we ate our meal, various representatives and guards, along with the Ladies came in and out to grab food. I recognized a few of them, and they smiled at me as they came and went. Nicole, Liz, and Agata sat with us for the meal. After we were finished, Liz took Finn and Ana back to Corbin's apartment for a rest time. Nicole did the same with Lily, and Agata took the older boys back to her quarters for some school time. I had learned that most of the moms did their learning in groups on their own and all the kids in the castle met up twice a week for some forced interaction. The importance of the school reopening was beginning to creep higher up on my priority list.

Back in Malakai's office my brother was brooding in a chair next to me. It was clear he was upset about being told to wait longer. In all my years, I knew well that my brother was not a patient man and that most times he acted rather than talked things over.

"So you two are telling me not to prepare?"

"Luca, that's not it at all. We need to prepare yes, but we need to start that here and at the Manor over the rest of our kingdom. What happened to not letting the people live in fear?" I begged.

"Leah, they are not dumb animals, they know something is brewing, the people I've talked to, they can feel it. My guards, my warriors, they are prepared for this. We are making a safe place for the people when this all starts. The Manor, full of wolves, is preparing for battle. They already know what is coming."

I sighed, he was so headstrong, like our father was. Resilient, yes, but it was becoming annoying to listen to at this stage. "You've already declared War on Aideen, maybe not publicly, but Liz informed me that word about this has gotten around the townspeople. I'm not worried that they aren't prepared. But we have Aideen, who has possessed our mother's body locked up down in the dungeons. Have you even gone down there since the night we locked her up. No, hell, Luca, you haven't even come to me to look for a spell. How are we even going to get rid of her?"

"Leah, there's no need to yell at him."

If Kai had been anyone else, I would have gone off on him too. Lucky for him, he was my mate and I was carrying his child. Something I wasn't sure if my brother even knew yet.

"Luca, I'm pregnant. If Aideen got word of that or her followers do, how long do you think it would take them to come after me. Or what about Sarah, she's carrying your twins, the next chapter in our history. We need to do something with that witch, before word of the babies gets out. Considering the Ladies of the Court already know, I'm sure we don't have much time."

My brother looked at me, half in shock, half in excitement. "I'm happy for the both of you. You're right we do need to work on getting rid of Aideen. Especially if those babies have any hope of surviving. I don't think a simple execution would work either. She's smart, she could and probably would just body jump. Not to mention there's the matter of some of her followers possessing bodies as well."

"Maybe what we need to do, is put together a small task force from the townsfolk and members of the guard. Like Corbin, Brayden, Alex and Liz, for starters. Maybe have them come back to us with a couple other people they trust and get them together, see what they know. For all we know, they probably know more about these people. Let's reconvene tomorrow with those we trust. Bring in Sarah and Scott for some leverage on our side and have a meeting. Say 9 am?"

Kai was pushing for my brother to go and collect himself. He could see the tension rolling off him, so could I for once.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Luca finally answered. "In the meantime, Leah, maybe you and I should hit up the Spell Room for a little and see what the books have to say. Maybe some protection spells for you and Sarah. Hell, I'll settle for a destroy Aideen spell at this point."

We laughed, although there was some truth to my brother's words.