Twenty.

"Shall we go somewhere else and talk?" Eloise ventured to ask Henry, as his gaze pierced her soul, despite the discomfort painted across his face.

He still wasn't willing to enter the room, despite his desire to get closer to Eloise. Henry was so silent, but by the pained look on his face Eloise could easily gather it was because of the left over scent of Sammy and Daniel's *little game*, and Henry was still holding his breath. He managed to give her a curt nod, and Eloise gathered he wasn't going to move at all until she joined him. Though she was tempted to see whether he could keep this up, but she also thought of the extra issues they would have if the Alpha ended up unconscious from a lack of oxygen and that was enough to sway her decision.

"Then, I guess I will follow you," Eloise offered, moving towards Henry as he awaited her just outside of the doorway.

Henry watched as Eloise approached him. She looked stunning. She didn't have much of a bump yet, but to Henry she was noticeably different; in the best of ways. Her skin was glowing, and she seemed so graceful, especially in the way she took control of the earlier situation. He couldn't help it, when she came level with him he offered her his arm and was suprised when despite her initial hesitation she put her arm into the crook of his elbow and allowed him to lead her to a less *pungent* area of the pack house.

Henry didn't know how he could feel both so stiff and so relaxed by his mate's presence at his side. Their connection was everything, and yet he was beyond apprehensive over it all. He wasn't sure where to take Eloise, the public areas of the house were too... public. His office was too formal, he wanted them to relax around one another. He was still mulling it over in his head when he closed the door behind them both and Eloise's hand slipped from his elbow. He suddenly turned to look at her, but his objection to her departuredied on his lips when he saw how her face was lit with confusion.

It was only then that he realised where he had taken her.

"Your bedroom, Henry?" She asked, slightly amused. "What exactly are you planning?"

Henry's face was frowning.

He wasn't quite sure himself.

"I... I..." He swallowed loudly, cursing internally his wolf's autopilot mode.

Eloise was surrounded by her mate's scent and she would be lying if she claimed anything but an overwhelming sense of contentment coursing through her; despite their history her instincts still craved this man. She gave in to it and inhaled deeply, but froze at what she could sense, before she barrelled straight past Henry and went further into the room. Following her nose she opened the door to what turned out to be a large bathroom and stepped inside, making a beeline for the laundry hamper that was situated in there. Pulling out the fabric on the top, she eyed the blood that had caught her attention.

"You were bleeding?" She almost accused Henry, who had followed her to the doorway.

Henry couldn't help but smirk, evidence of the mate bond at play on Eloise's side felt like a triumph to him.

However, this was a mistake.

"Why were you bleeding?" Eloise snarled, the anger in her voice putting Henry on edge, as he remembered Eloise was also under the affects of her pregnancy.

"Eloise..." He began, holding both hands up to try and placate her.

But Eloise only marched towards him, waving his bloodied shirt in her hand as she began pushing him. Henry staggered back into the bedroom having been momentarily caught unaware.

"Do not insult me, Henry. I know it's your blood. Now tell me what happened?" She growled at him, moving into his personal space without hesitation.

Henry was at a loss, this was not what he had expected at all. He had forgotten in all they're separation that as his mate, Eloise had the qualities of an Alpha Female. It's the very reason he was pushing for her to come home and take her place as their pack's Luna. As such, she was prone to possessive and protective tendencies, just like he was. But her instincts didn't have a natural outlet, and she was pregnant on top of that, which would only magnify those tendencies especially as she was now technically within her own territory; so, now he had a very angry she wolf on his hands,one who felt she was denied her rights to protect her own.

"I'm not trying to insult you, Eloise." He began gently, "I only cut my hand cleaning up some glass. Look, I'm all healed now." He stated, showing both his hands to her.

Eloise grabbed his hands in hers and slowly turned them over on her own until she found the fading scars from the hand he had accidentally injured earlier. Her breathing eased as she calmed down and her eyes welled up enough that some tears splashed without her permission onto Henry's hand. At that point, Henry moved his hands up to her cup her face, moving her head to look directly at him while he wiped at the tear streaks with his thumbs.

"Hey, hey, what's the matter?" His soft voice asked as he gazed into her big brown eyes.

Eloise just shook her head, stepping back as she removed herself from his grip, using the back of her hand to wipe away the rest of the tears that had fallen.

"Shit." She swore. "Sorry, Henry" she barked on a laugh. "Damn hormones. They strike when you least expect it."

Eloise was ignoring the grumbling of her inner wolf who had momentarily taken over, her hormonal instinct to protect extending to the bond she and Henry shared when she smelled evidence of his injury. She was stepping away, shaking her head in dismissal of her actions as she backed up in an attempt to garner some space between the two of them, and put herself back in control.

"So, I take it what the books say don't really compare to living it then?" Henry ask with a soft smile, as Eloise moved to sit on the lower edge of Henry's bed.

"You've been reading books on the pregnancy?" Eloise asked in surprise.

Henry blushed slightly, "Yeah, she is about the size of the banana now apparently."

Eloise laughed, nodding, "Yes, a banana, who comes alive when I sit down to eat or try to sleep. It's amazing how you become a greenhouse while pregnant, her size each week always seems to be comparable to some kind of fruit or vegetable."

Henry couldn't help the smile that spread across his face at this new information, and at Eloise's almost jovial nature..

"Can I ask you something?" Henry asked hesitantly, fully aware of how much he had pushed too far and set her off in the past.

Eloise took a nervous breath and nodded back at Henry, trying not to fidget with the deep blue comforter beneath her legs. The room was very masculine, very Henry she thought absentmindedly as she looked around at everything but her mate.

"You wrote on the sonogram that, she was a girl. But, all the books say it would have been too early to tell by that point. I was wondering how you knew?" Henry asked.

It had been bothering him for a while. Was Eloise going on a hunch, a feeling? Or did she know something he was missing? Henry was aware of the connections between his sister, his mate and a pantheon of beings that he wasn't ashamed to admit, terrified the life out of him.

"Oh. Yes. It wasn't the sonogram," she breathed out, knowing it would be now or never.

There wouldn't be a better opening for this conversation, and she was both relieved and unnerved by such an easy way in to the topic of conversation were about to have.

"I met Persephone, well it was summer and she asked to be called Cora." Eloise began.

"Woah, as in Goddess of the underworld?" Henry asked, lowering himself onto the bed about three feet from her, his own shock overtaking him.

"Yes. But, also of Spring." Eloise offered. "She revealed something about our daughter, also that we are having a daughter. It's why I'm here actually, I need your help to protect her Henry."

Henry frowned, his back instantly stiffening as his wolf bristled beneath his skin at the thought of their young one being in any kind of danger.

"What's going on?" He asked, leaning closer to her.

"Our daughter has lost her wolf, Henry." Eloise answered honestly, unsure of how to say it more delicately.

Henry growled out making Eloise jump in her seat.

"How?" He demanded, angered that something so precious had been stolen from his child.

Eloise was tearing up herself, couldn't help it really, she also had been mourning the loss of part of her daughter's soul, and saying it out loud to Henry of all people was harder than she imagined.

"When Char attacked you in Portland; he is a death god, Henry. His powers they... and she was too little and newly formed to survive it. Her wolfen half sacrificed her soul, to save our daughter's human half." Eloise answered shakily.

Henry's face clouded over as he recalled his time with Nyx, of how he ended up there, and how weak he was afterwards. Part of his daughter had gone through the same thing, but she wasn't saved. His snarl reverberated off the walls as his anger exploded on his daughter's behalf. He looked at his mate getting more annoyed as she waited calmly for him to settle back down.

"How can you be so calm?" He asked her accusingly.

"Two reasons," Eloise responded, managing not to rise to his offensive attitude. "Firstly, I have to stay calm for her sake. Stress and anxiety is not good for her; and secondly, there is more I need to tell you still."

"More?" Henry asked in disbelief.

How could there possibly be more.

*Author's Note: I'm exhausted. At the beginning of June Mr. River and I welcomed our own little cherub into the family. I forgot how all encompassing new borns are. We are now a family of five and loving it immensely, in the meantime I thank you all for your patience and I apologise for any mistakes in this chapter, there isn't much sleep being had right now and that does slow those cognitive processes a bit. I am trying to get little bits of writing done here and there but needless to say there are other major priorities right now. Thank you, B . x*