"I would wish Luna's blessings upon you, except you seem to have already been blessed," Oskar smiled, adding, "doubly so."

"Cora told you then?" Of course, he should have known better than to expect she would keep the news to herself.

For the majority of Cora's life Oskar had been her pack's alpha. The new alpha as well as several of their betas, including Cora's mate, were defeated and killed during the Pack Wars. Even though she accepted Fenrir as her alpha, the old loyalties remained.

"If it's any consolation I am the only other person who knows."

Draco had hoped to be the one to tell Oskar his news once things between Hermione and him were more settled, but he was not angry with Cora for going behind his back, not when he had benefitted so much from her loyalty to Oskar. Cora treated Draco the same way she would any trueborn son of Oskar. For all her teasing, the woman was quite protective of him.

"When you dashed off last night, I thought you were only going to check on your pups and come right back. I didn't think you were going to spend the night with the witch."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Come now, Draco, even if I wasn't your sire, insensitive to your heightened emotions, or if I were a blind man, unable to see the silly grin plastered on your face, I'd still possess the nose of a wolf, I'd smell the witch on you."

Draco was glad his skin lacked the ability to blush, or he would have turned red to the very tips of his ears. His sire was not done, though.

"Not just me, I'm sure every male in the pack would recognise her scent. I remember it all too well from the night she was brought here—heady stuff."

The snarl out of Draco's mouth was pure reflex. Once conscious of his actions, he immediately stopped and apologised to Oskar.

"Relax, pup. You'll have no competition from me. I've had no interest in breeding or bed sport since I lost my mate, but it doesn't mean I don't notice things."

Draco said nothing. He used to be better at hiding his emotions, but pack life had softened him to some extent. After they beat the snobbery out of him, they helped him realise how pointless it was to fake emotions with members of his pack; but with the increasing visits from the Death Eaters and his growing feelings for Hermione, perhaps it was time to remember those old lessons Lucius had once taught him.

"Draco, I hope you haven't completely lost the cunning of the snake after you found your wolf."

"What do you mean?" He asked Oskar.

"Your brothers may keep their distance now, but as the time for the birth of your pups draws close, they will attempt to woo her or find other ways to ensure they get to be the next one to knot with the fertile witch who can bear them children. You know Fenrir has promised the entire pack their turn with—"

Draco was unable to hold back the growl those words produced. He was aware of course; he was present when Fenrir made the announcement to the pack.

"It worked! The Dark Lord took worthless filth and made it fit to carry our children. It's true. The Mudblood is pregnant. So, serve me, your alpha, well and I'll make sure each of you gets the chance to fuck their pups into her."

Shortly after the announcement, Fenrir had gifted Draco a freshly bit female as his 'treat' for getting the 'Mudblood' pregnant. The only reason the alpha had not put a stop to Draco's interactions with Hermione was because he had no inkling of his beta's true feelings. Fenrir still thought of him as Lucius Malfoy's spoilt brat who presumably would be disgusted with having anything to do with a Muggleborn.

"As far as the pack is concerned, she's not one of us. She's just a vessel we've been gifted to produce our children."

"But, that's not what you think?" he asked hesitantly, uncertain if Oskar would understand or consider his thoughts treason against the pack.

"No," he answered with certainty, "I don't think Hermione will be able to conceive someone else's child just like I don't believe you'll be able to impregnate any other female."

His wolf whined in agreement. It had told him the same all the times he mated with the other females that were not Hermione.

"We live in times when lycanthropy is no more than an infection, when once Lycans were a species. In these modern times, most shifters do not even have the fortune of living in a pack, let alone receiving the guidance of an Elder who can teach them our forgotten history. Do you remember the stories I told you?"

Draco nodded. Of course, he remembered. Once he got accustomed to pack life, Oskar had felt it necessary he familiarise himself with their myths and legends, or 'history' as Oskar referred to it. On numerous occasions he had the opportunity to listen to Oskar tell the pups of the pack the story of their creation.

"Long before any wizard walked the earth, blessed Luna created a perfect blend of man and creature, for she so favoured both she could not choose one over the other. She gave her creations one soul with a dual nature that existed harmoniously within a single body capable of shifting to reflect the duality within. Each breed was given one alpha to lead and protect them in place of Luna.

"Over time while the other breeds quickly went extinct, it was only the werewolf who was able to adapt and exist as Luna intended. An age came and went by, and the werewolves lived on. Strong individually, as a pack they were far too strong to be defeated by any natural predator. That changed with the appearance of wizardkind.

"Unfortunately for us, the first few interactions wizards had with our kind were limited to outcasts, who in their maddened state lost touch with their human side and craved human flesh as compensation. The things wizards truly feared about us hold true for our kind, even today. They fear our ability to wield magic without a conduit. Our bonds fortify our minds so we are immune to any kind of mind controlling or altering spell a wizard can cast, and our bodies are naturally strong enough to bounce off most curses without the use of a defence spell.

"Their fear led to the wizards developing curses, which first rendered us incapable of reproducing children who bore our dual nature, to eventually being incapable of producing children at all. Our Elders cried out to Luna, who in her mercy promised that if we lived by her rules and mated under her light we would have children who were either wizard or wolf, so our children escaped persecution. Luna has kept her promise, but over the centuries, Lycanthropes went from being a thriving species to nothing but a disease. As the winners, the wizards wiped traces of us from the earth nearly as much as they did from history."

To Draco, Oskar's tale sounded just as fantastic as any bedtime story his mother had read to him from The Tales of Beedle the Bard. While fun to listen to, they could hardly be considered to hold any kind of historical accuracy. It was true that the winners of a war altered history, and it was likely that when wizards appeared on the scene they were a predatory species that led to the extinction of some other species, but he could not imagine them doing so through curses that affected progeny. His knowledge of the Dark Arts was rather extensive, yet he had not come across a curse having the ability Oskar described. Then again, he had never once imagined the possibility of something as foul as a horcrux existing until he failed to protect one of the cursed pieces of the Dark Lord's soul.

Noticing Oskar was still waiting for a response, Draco nodded.

"If these experiments of the Dark one are successful, he won't be creating anything new—simply returning to us an ability we once possessed. But children will always only be born to those blessed by Luna. It is why out of all the females and males who have taken the potion till now, only your witch was able to conceive children. I believe the moon goddess favours your union."

"What are you saying, Oskar? What about the pack?"

"You wear your mask well, pup, but I can sense your feelings for the witch. Win her heart, bond with her. The pack will leave her alone in recognition of your claim."

—

Oskar watched Draco leave and wondered if it was too soon to tell him about the prophecy, even though he had already fulfilled his role in it. The former alpha never imagined he would live to see the prophecy come to pass; he thanked Luna for her blessings and fulfilling the promise made to his kind so long ago.

He would heed the centaurs warning; one was more likely to fulfil the undesirable parts of a prophesy while attempting to circumvent it. Hermione was the key and he had given the pup a nudge in the right direction. He would just have to wait and watch their destinies unfold.

"Do you know her personally?" asked Gunnolf. They were discussing arrangements for the prisoner due to arrive later this week.

"No, not personally," replied Draco. He had only seen her across the Great Hall at Hogwarts. There had never been any cause for them to interact in the past.

"Well, as far as orders go we've got to make sure she and the baby stays alive. We also need to keep her presence here a secret. No one, other than the pack, is to know she's been moved here."

"So, we're keeping it from the Black Cloaks and the Death Eaters?"

"Yes. It's best that way. Fenrir says, after the celebration at Godric's hollow a few of them grew fixated with her. They took to visiting her even after she was given to your father. While they made sure there was no room to doubt the paternity of the child, they found other ways to use her... Lord Malfoy was concerned she'd miscarry or die if she continued to suffer their attentions."

"Ah! I wondered why Lucius would want to move her from Chateau Lestrange to Bleidd Castle of all places," stated Draco.

"What do you mean?" asked Gunnolf, clueless still to the way the minds of the Death Eaters worked.

"Let's just say the old guard is either too scared or too prejudiced to enter werewolf territory unless their Master orders them to do so."

"I don't get it. We work with them. They know what we're capable of, how can they believe the things about us they do?"

Draco chuckled at Gunnolf's bewilderment. "Take my word for it; we're better off if they don't want to associate with us."

"But it isn't just that. Their strategies in battle do not account for our true strengths. We can do so much more!"

"Do you really want to help the Death Eaters win in their cause?" asked Draco, making sure to keep the alarm out of his voice. It had never occurred to him that Gunnolf might be sympathetic to the Dark side.

"It's not about the cause, it's about winning. If I'm going to send pack members on a mission, I want to do whatever achieves the best outcome with the least amount of damage to the pack."

Of course! He should have known Gunnolf would not care for the politics involved. For the head beta, everything boiled down to executing an order while seeing to the safety of the pack. Draco knew from experience how misguided it was to think that way. He himself had helped the Dark Lord's cause in order to protect his mother and himself, but his actions had ultimately led to such pain and suffering being brought to their world, starting with the death of his Headmaster and leading to the fall of Hogwarts. Was it worth it, was a question he often asked himself and he did not possess half the scruples Gunnolf did.

Gunnolf, mistaking the reason for his silence, asked, "Are you okay with this move, Draco? I try to keep out of matters that don't concern me, but you're my second, so I need to know you're okay. I can always have one of the other betas handle the arrangements."

Was he okay knowing that soon he would be tasked with protecting the woman that carried his father's unborn heir?

Sure. He knew Lucius well enough to know he was not moving her here out of concern for her safety or the wellbeing of his unborn heir. Lucius's actions, as usual, were motivated by his desire not to fail his Master in the task he was assigned. Although to be fair to Lucius, and speaking from experience, the Dark Lord was not in the habit of showing mercy to those who failed him.

Draco waved his hand in dismissal. "I'm okay, but that wouldn't matter anyway as I have my own orders from Lucius; he's tasked me with her security."

Gunnolf raised his eyebrows in response. Handsome though he was the effect was nearly comical on his face.

"I received an owl a few nights ago. I was reminded that even if I was no longer the heir I still bore a duty towards my family."

After being cast aside as he was, the missive from Lucius reminding him of his duties as a Malfoy felt like a mockery. Draco no longer referred to the man as father—the word made him feel too raw, too hurt and disappointed, to care for its use. When his pups came, Draco planned to be more like Oskar or Severus, the men who had treated him the way a father rightly ought to.

"Come on," said Gunnolf, standing up, "we've got a few minutes to spare; I reckon a few rounds of grappling and throwing punches would do us some good right now."

Draco spent the day feeling restless. He was eager to go see Hermione, but as Cora advised, he wanted to give her some space, and as Oskar had reminded him, it wasn't just his future at stake. Without the protection of a mate-bond, the pack's males would consider Hermione fair game. He could keep fighting for her, like he had the first time, but for how long? No, the best option was to court her as best as he could in their current situation and bond with her.

He was sorely tempted, though, to go to her and repeat the actions of the previous night, this time in his human form. Of all the ways he had imagined things progressing between them, he never expected her to accept his wolf form first. Even more shocking, was the invitation to sleep beside her; he suspected she surprised herself as well in that.

Wonderful as it felt to have her peacefully asleep snuggled into his side, her naked bum pressed against his human cock, he made sure to leave her bed at sunrise. The wolf was too sated to pester him about the cowardly way he left her bed, but the wizard was afraid. Afraid he would see bright eyes clouded with regret, afraid she would reject the man where she accepted the beast. It was easier to leave with doubts than face potential rejection.

He kept his distance from Hermione the first day and the next but by the third day, he could no longer stand the constant feeling of being on edge and went to her quarters in time for her daily walk. Draco did not know what he expected to happen when he saw her again, but he was not expecting her to greet him and fall into their usual discourse as if things were no different now than they were three days ago. Her failure to acknowledge what transpired between them made him bristle internally. Did she imagine it did not count since he was in his wolf form at the time?

To add to his state of agitation, Hermione kept brushing against him as they walked, licking her lips mid-sentence, playing with the ends of her hair and worst of all, baring her neck like a complete tease. It may all have been done subconsciously on her part, but it was testing his resolution to wait for her to make the next move. Draco could smell her desire, but instead of simply asking for the fucking she was clearly in need of, to his astonishment, Hermione Granger was playing coy. It was hard to follow her monologue on the convention-defying thirteenth use of dragon's blood when all he wanted to do was shove her against the wall, rip off her panties, then sink his cock into her moist cunt and pound away till her throat grew sore from screeching his name.

Draco was trying, really trying to be a sensitive wizard, but the creature side of him could not let her think she could get away with such insolence consequence-free. He let out a low growl, not that different from the one he used with her in his wolf form, and was rewarded with the sight of her nipples visibly tightening in response. Even though her womb was already heavy with pups, her responses were like a bitch in heat: aroused... helpless... submissive.

Grabbing her by the hips, Draco walked Hermione backwards until he had her pressed against the wall of an alcove, away from prying eyes. Palms placed flat against the wall, on either side of her head, had her caged in but free to move if she wanted.

"You have me feeling very conflicted," he began to explain. "Here I've been trying my damndest to give you your space and wait for you to come to me, and nothing," he said, staring down at her. "But, then, my wolf turns up in the middle of the night and," he lowered his voice, "you're surprisingly responsive."

He paused, jaw clenched in his effort to resist the urge to nibble on the skin of her lovely neck she unwittingly offered in the moment.

"I don't know if you'd rather have me wait till you ask or if you want me to simply give you what you need." He could not resist thrusting his pelvis so she could feel his erection against her hip. She whimpered softly.

"Guess your Gryffindor courage does fail you sometimes, Granger."

He grabbed a fistful of her hair, pulling hard enough to yank her head forward but not enough to hurt. His lips grazed her ear when he next spoke. "I've decided to take your silence as a yes. If you want me to stop, now is the time to say so." He looked her challengingly in the eye, half of him hell-bent on asserting his dominance, the other half afraid he'd lose control and go too far.

In response, her eyes fluttered shut and her mouth fell open on a silent gasp. Clearly, he would not be getting any verbal consent from her.

"Alright. Spread your legs, Granger," he ordered, maintaining a firm grip on her hair. "Yeah, that's it. Good girl," he praised. "Now raise your skirt for me."

From the way her eyes darted around, he understood her hesitation. "Go on, no one can see you. It's just me." With his assurance, she continued to do as told. "Now, touch yourself. I want to see if you're wet enough."

While she snuck her fingers into her panties to touch herself, he raised the index and middle finger of his free hand to her mouth. "Here, lick this for me, will you?"

She wrapped her lips around his fingers and slid them up and down, in a manner that gave a wizard ideas.

"Yeah, just like that," he moaned, grinding his erection into her hip imagining it was his cock she was lavishing such attention on. "Show me your fingers. Show me how wet you are," he demanded.

She lifted her fingers, slick with her juices, which he tasted with a flick of his tongue. His eyes remained focused on her face, studying her responses as he removed his fingers from her mouth and walked them slowly down her rounded belly and towards the vee of her thighs. She must have lowered her panties for easier access as his hand came to a rest over her mound unimpeded. Her hips bucked in eagerness.

His fingers began to tap on her clit while he nipped at her earlobe, sucking on the tender piece of flesh. Hermione moaned and spread her legs further apart. Instead of giving her what she wanted, Draco continued to tap on her clit.

Again, Hermione bucked her hips, trying to force his fingers to slide to where she needed them, but failed since he stood to her side and kept her pinned to the wall at an odd angle that gave her no purchase.

Her continued struggle to move his fingers to where she wanted them made Draco nip at her jaw. "Not before I think you're ready, witch," he told her.

Tapping away on her clit with one finger, he pinched the piece of flesh between two others, sliding them back and forth, until they were slick with her honey. Only when he sensed her whole body tense with arousal did he let his fingers slide further down and push inside her. He did not ease into her a finger at a time. He thrust two fingers at once in an attempt to stretch her out. The walls of her pussy clung to his fingers, making him wish once again it were his cock instead.

By now, Draco was aware he was humping against her hip like some untried virgin, but it was better than nothing, and definitely better than scaring her off by trying to fuck her senseless like he most definitely wanted to.

Draco buried his face in the space between her neck and shoulder inhaling her scent as he pumped his fingers into her. He nipped at her delicate collarbones, more pronounced because of all the weight she had lost. He felt terrible when he remembered Cora's suspicions related to Hermione's health and made a mental note to take her advice on the matter. He grew distracted when she moaned loudly and squeezed her hand between their bodies to palm his cock over his clothes.

"Fuck!" he cried out, taken aback by this bold move after the timidity displayed so far. Not keen on spilling in his pants, Draco let go of her hair and pulled her hand away from his cock. He guided each of her hands to play with each one of her nipples, and then wrapped a hand around her waist, holding her close, while the other hand pumped his fingers inside her faster still. Soon as he sensed her at the edge of her climax, he stilled his fingers inside her to push a third finger in, making her nearly breathless with how stuffed she felt.

"Too much," she mouthed, fingers letting go of her nipples to seek purchase on his shoulders.

"That's it," he encouraged, feeling her hips move to accommodate him, "take me in." He moved to stand before her now, his cock pushing against the swell of her belly while his fingers continued to lazily fuck and stretch her.

"You like it now, don't you? Being stretched?" he moaned against her neck, running his tongue along the length of it. "Enjoy my fingers in your cunny, fucking you? It's so much better than doing it yourself, right?" he asked nipping at her earlobe once more. "But as good as it feels, I promise it'll be better when I have my cock inside you. Would you like that, Granger... my cock stretching you instead of my fingers?"

Her hips buckling, coupled with the broken whimper that escaped her lips, gave him his answer.

He continued to sniff at and lick her skin, not getting enough of Hermione's scent or taste. Just as her fingers dug into his shoulders and she threw her head back, on the brink of her orgasm, his thumb flicked her clit until she shattered in release.

Draco lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers in time to capture her moans as she climaxed around his fingers. The kiss started as a chaste brush of lips as she ground her pubis against his palm in an effort to prolong her orgasm. While she was still trying to catch her breath, he gently sucked on her upper lip, tracing her cupid's bow with his tongue. He teased her lower lip by lightly tugging the fleshy centre with his teeth, before licking it with his tongue. As he continued to kiss her, she became less distracted by her orgasm and more engaged, her hands abandoning his shoulders to hold his face. When his tongue slipped into her mouth to taste her, she reciprocated by sucking on the organ, even biting at the tip with a degree of aggression that made him pull back and give her a questioning look. It was not anger that he found, her eyes were lit with mischief as she rose on her toes and pulled his mouth back to hers. He withdrew his fingers from her snatch and used both hands to hold her waist.

The kiss they shared was not rushed or heated; it was merely an exploration, each trying to learn how the other liked to be kissed. The nearly studious manner in which she went about it would have unnerved Draco if he were not distracted by the delightful way her lips moved against his. Too late, he remembered he was supposed to be asserting his dominance over her; instead, he had ended up putty in her small hands as they fluttered from his hair to his jaw, from his chest to his cheek.

Draco knew then, he was never going to forget this, the first time he was kissed by Hermione Granger.