It didn’t work. The thought that I might be pregnant to someone else had pushed my mate over the edge. He was not listening to me now, and the moment any of the quads moved near us, growls ripped from him. I wriggled closer, managing to free my arms before lifting my hands to cradle his face.
“Braxton Compass…” I was relentless, forcing him to focus on me, holding his head firmly. “He never touched me. I would never touch another male. You’re it for me. I made my choice and you’re never getting rid of me.”
We stayed like that for a few moments, and finally some of the feral faded out of those tumultuous eyes.
“Why would he want a baby with you?” Each word was ripped from his throat, sounding gravelly and pissed. “Why is he trying to create a dragon heir? There’s a larger plan here, and it’s part of the reason why he’s been lax in using his army of marked.”
I would have gasped deeply but I wasn’t able to breathe too much. Braxton was right. His keen intelligence had risen to the surface as soon as he pushed enough of the predator down.
“That makes perfect sense. That’s why he was trying to seduce me. He wants an heir. He must have been waiting until my fertile time. Maybe the fact that I was in Faerie has brought it on early.”
Either Faerie or Larky himself had done something to bring it on early. I had eaten the food from Rose; there could have been some sort of elixir or spell in them. My wolf usually detected such things, but not always. Rose had seemed legit, but right now I trusted no one but my pack and family.
Despite the unease which hung amongst us, we couldn’t delay on the bridge forever. Braxton held me close for an extra few moments before eventually dropping me back on my feet, his touch soothing as he ran his hand across my back, over and over, in this gentle circular formation.
Generally, when I came into my fertile period, it started with lethargy for a few days, and then this massive high of energy. My wolf would become very agitated, unease stirring her – I always knew at that point it was time. Even though it was only a week of discomfort, shifters could get pregnant from as early as the first signs of fatigue, so we had to be careful. I was generally careful for the entire month of my fertile time, even though there was no more than a two-week window to conceive a pup.
This sort of lower back ache had never happened, certainly not this early out. It felt like magic, like something trying to force my body into a state it was not ready for. I was half tempted to march back along the bridge and find the king’s body so I could kick the shit out of him. That stupid asshat. What had he done to me?
Chapter 8
The bridge remained unchanging, glowing, and spanning into the distance as we walked. None of us knew if the end would just pop up out of nowhere or if we’d see it coming. Nerves and worries still crossed my mind, and needing a distraction from the fears, I said: “I think you boys better tell me exactly what’s been happening while I was gone. How much time passed on Earth?”
Jacob and I had started this conversation, but a lot had been left unsaid.
Tyson jumped in first. He liked to talk and liked being the center of attention. Unlike Maximus and Braxton who just preferred to kill shit in the background.
“The moment you were taken in Krakov, Braxton pretty much lost his shit. He was mindlessly smashing anything that walked into his path, which unfortunately for one of the fruit twins, was her head.”
I heard Braxton give a bit of a snort, trying not to laugh at his idiot brother. “Yep, you could say I was a little upset.”
I heard the absolute chasm of emotion in his monotonous words, which might seem like an oxymoron, but Braxton was at his scariest when his voice and tone was dead. If he was showing no emotion, then you knew for damn sure he was feeling everything.
Tyson continued: “So Braxton had just killed one of the twins. Everything was in chaos, and I was helping Grace while she worked on keeping your sister alive.” The wizard’s voice lowered when he said the healer witch’s name.
Grace used to be a little in love with him when they were younger, and he’d rejected her without much thought. Now, though, it seemed that careless action had turned back on him. He wanted to explore how he felt and Grace was refusing to let herself be hurt by him again. It was complicated, and with all the drama there was no time for these sort of personal worries. I had faith that it would all work out for them though. They were both awesome supes, and I’d love to see some happiness in their lives. As long as Grace didn’t mess with our pack dynamics, she was okay with me. Cardia, on the other hand … I still wasn’t sure how I felt about Maximus’ mate. I just knew we were going to have trouble with her.
Our pace picked up to a run again as Tyson continued his story. “We took the other twin back to the sanctuary. Louis wanted to make sure his brother was okay, and that the dragon marked weren’t going to immediately rise up and form some sort of crazy army.”
“Where are Quale and the rest of the mystics now?” The strange silver-haired supernaturals were the council for the dragon king, but it had never seemed as if Louis’ brother was really on board with that.
Since none of the mystics had met the king, they were the descendants of his original council. I wondered how they’d all reacted when he’d popped back into existence. Bet they were at least a little worried; his last council had lost their heads, which wasn’t the nicest legacy to live up to.
Maximus shifted his arm, hugging me to his side. “They’re still in the sanctuary,” he said. “The last time we saw them they had received no orders from the king, and were still just going about their everyday lives. The knowledge that he’s free is being kept quiet around the supernatural communities. The councils are hoping we can sort it out before mass panic ensues.”