43 Octo-Mom

It's hard to hate a person who's feeding you zucchini cookies and cooking your meals.

My grandma always said to never bite the hand that feeds you, and I don't plan on going against it.

"As a breeder, you are more special than regular she-wolves. You have the ability to conceive several times a year. For regular werewolves, we can only conceive from rutting during the solstice moon, when the mating season approaches. Which is usually around springtime with a duration of a week because we go into oestrus for only 5-7 days. She-wolves are not as easy to impregnate," she said, putting aside all theatrics to seriously relay information that she deemed beneficial for me.

My eyes almost bulged out of their sockets at her choice in topic.

Why did I have to hear words like 'rut' and learn about mating while I am enjoying these good zucchini cookies?

The timing could have been tweaked a little.

Granny Ada either noticed my discomfort and chose to ignore it or didn't care too much for my blatantly uncomfortable face, that possibly looked like I was constipated for weeks.

"Our chances of conception run lower than even human females; although, the time of pregnancy is only 4-5 months compared to the 9-10 month time of the average human woman. Many couples rut the entirety of the solstice moon, yet some tend to come out with no results. She-wolves have rapid healing and strong bodies that tend to destroy the male's seed upon entry. It is almost like the destruction of bacteria from white blood cells in a defense of sorts to keep out virus and infection. The stronger the she-wolf, the harder it is to conceive. Yet the stronger the she-wolf, the higher the chance of the pups survival during pregnancy."

At this point in time, I was listening to her carefully while nibbling on a cookie.

It seemed interesting to learn about the differences between human females and she-wolves.

"The she-wolf can become impregnated with multiple pups; however, most do not carry to full term or one or more of said pups may end up being stillborn. It is a very common occurrence. As a breeder, you have the ability to carry a full litter in succession and to full term. Your body was gifted to easily conceive and heal after conception." Her bright eyes seem to be gauging my reaction to see if there were any questions.

I just nodded along before the information was actually processed.

Wait.

What the hell?

"Full litter?" I choked out through a dried mouth, full of cookie crumbs and zucchini.

She was quick to hand me a cup of milk.

"Yes. Full litter. As in 4-8 pups per pregnancy," she explained with this look that said that this was something entirely normal for the female population to have 4-8 kids at the same time.

That is not normal.

Not for humans anyway.

My mouth dropped open in disbelief for several seconds.

I knew that it was not a well-mannered look, but I couldn't really control my emotions.

I already had knowledge of this information from research; however, it is a completely different story when said information is being applied to myself.

My throat felt bone dry when I cleared it once with a cough to cover the embarrassing atmosphere.

At least I wouldn't have to get in vitro to have 8 kids.

But then again, do I really want to give birth to 4-8 'pups'?

Who even knew what would come out?

I unconsciously crossed my legs at the thought and could feel the blood leave my face at the extremity of her words.

No way.

No way in hell am I going to birth 4-8 kids at the same time.

I would be called octo-mom for years if my relatives knew!

And I doubted that I could be a good mom to eight 'children' at the same time.

Not many women would be able to take care of all eight and give them the care that they needed.

I only have two arms.

Eight and two don't go together.

At least not in my books.

And knowing my luck, if I ever ended up pregnant with Eros' kids, I would be the one with eight kids.

Wait.

Why am I even considering having Eros' children?

I was quick to clear my wayward thoughts after that, patting my chest as if to laugh off this strangely nightmare like reality.

The tempting notion to stay with Eros was starting to invade my thoughts, but reality was quick to drag me back.

This information was definitely a slap to the face and it woke me up from the dream.

I do admit that the life I previously lived wasn't exactly desirable, but at least I had a choice in everything I did.

Although I lived with a mask on every day and was always in complete fear of being discovered for my abnormalities—okay, who am I kidding?

Do I really want to go back to a place where I would stand out in a way that could cause danger to myself?

Or stay in a place where I wouldn't be looked at like a freak and used as a specimen for scientific experiments?