by Leilani Love
Madison came out of the kitchen and smiled as she watched Liam hang up the balloons. The doctor had told her about the pregnancy, and she’d taken it better than anyone had expected. They were still working out the details, but Liam’s boys were staying in a house down the street, and Madison had agreed to live with them for now. The two of them acted like protective big brothers and had talked her into staying with them. Hunter still hadn’t woken up, but the doctor was convinced it would be any day now.
“This place looks great,” Madison said, gesturing toward the decorations. “The lasagnas are cooling on the counter.”
Emily nodded. “Thank you for your help. I’m going to wrap those up and take one of them to Hope’s house.”
Madison grinned, her face lighting up. “I’m going to see if Dominic finished grilling. He promised to leave me a plate.”
Liam chuckled. “Good luck.”
After they’d dropped off the lasagna, Liam took Emily’s hand, and the two of them walked home. “Should I ask what was said after we left the hospital?” Emily said, breaking the silence.
Liam led Emily up the stairs and opened the door before finally replying. “Viktor wanted to officially extend an offer for all of us to stay. The town is still being rebuilt for the pack, and Chase mentioned having the boys train with the guard.”
Emily sat with him on the couch in the living room, content to sit in the dark for a few minutes. “Are you okay with that?”
“War is coming, whether I like it or not. I was hoping to avoid it, but after listening to Viktor talk about the rising attacks on shifters, I realized I was just fooling myself.”
Curling up in his arms, she sighed. “I wish I could see how this will end, but all I can see is that our futures are all intertwined.”
Liam nuzzled her hair and inhaled deeply, making her shudder in his arms. “I’ll just have to have faith. After all, it brought me you.”
Two days Later
Two Days Later
Madison sat by Hunter’s bed. She found herself visiting him a lot the past two days. When the doctor told her she was pregnant, she’d been surprised she’d managed to stay standing. She could see the pity in his eyes, and he told her she had options and whatever she wanted to do would be supported. She had debated getting rid of it, but when she met Emily’s grandchildren, she knew she would keep the little baby inside her. It was innocent.
While Hunter had slumbered, she told him everything. Even voiced the idea of giving it up for adoption. But when she said the words out loud, her hand went to her stomach, and she cried. No, this was her baby. It did not matter who the father was. She was its mother, and she was going to keep it.
“I feel silly for coming here and talking about my problems. Your family is very nice. Your brothers are very sweet…now that I don’t find them scary. They’re both flirty, but they flirt with everyone, so I don’t think they mean anything by it,” she teased, getting up to stretch.
Walking toward the window, she looked out over the back yard, where Chase was training some young men. Since she knew about bears and witches, she actually wasn’t surprised to learn there were also panther shifters. Dragons…well, that had taken a minute. Putting her hand over her belly, she let out a sigh. “I wonder what dragon shifters think about single moms.”
A loud grunt from behind her drew her attention. She quickly turned and hurried to the bed. Hunter’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her close. She was surprised to see his eyes open and lock on hers.
Picking up his head, he growled, “Mine.”
Sneak Peak: Saving The King
With one hand on the seat and the other trying to keep the crying baby tight to her chest, Katrina watched out the window, the world seemed to be flying past them. The snow, which had started to fall earlier, was now coming down thicker as the sound of the thunder grew louder and closer.
Katrina felt each bump and her bottom hurt as the carriage hit each rut in the road at a pace much faster than was expected. She made a soothing noise to the baby, not sure if she was trying to comfort him or herself. As they quickly rounded a corner, she felt the carriage begin to tip under her. Before it completely flipped on its side, she did the only thing she could think of; she let go of the seat and wrapped her arms around the baby to protect it from the inevitable crash.
As the carriage toppled she felt herself landing against the window, crying out as it continued to slide along the road for what felt like several long minutes. Dazed and a little confused, she was almost surprised when the carriage door flew open and the guard that she’d seen riding behind them reached down to help her out. “Hurry, they’re right behind us!”
Katrina scrambled to a standing position, so she could hand him the baby. When she reached out her hand, she remembered the baby bag and milk and grabbed it before letting the guard pull her out.
“What happened?” she started to ask, looking around realizing that the horses that were pulling the carriage were gone. She knew that, despite it feeling like they slid forever, she doubted they’d slid more than a few feet.
“Milady, quickly. On my horse. Morgana’s men are right behind us,” he answered pulling her along with him. He held the baby with one arm as he pushed his free arm out to give her a quick boost. Once she was upon the horse, he’d handed her the baby and started to mount behind her when she noticed shadows coming up behind them. Through the trees the sound of female laughter emulated, almost as if it were being carried by the wind.
“Ride, Milady! Stay on the road and head straight back to the castle.” With that she watched as he smacked the horse’s hindquarters telling the horse to go on without him. Leaning forward on the horse she glanced over her shoulder as the shadowy figures came out of the trees attacking the guard. His loud battle cry was the last thing she heard before they surrounded him.
Scared, she urged the horse faster as she noticed different figures in the woods keeping up with her. The sound of thunder startled her. What she’d thought was thunder was a giant shadow of riders coming up behind her. With it snowing, there was very little light, and she couldn’t make them out. All she could see was that they were catching up.
The figures on the left started to come through the woods. The horse had red eyes that shone brightly in the night, and the rider seemed to be covered in black markings. He wore no shirt, just a pair of brown leather pants. His grin exposed teeth that had been sharpened to points, causing her to shudder. When she felt something hit her on the side she cried out, squeezing the baby tighter as someone tried to bump her off the horse.
Katrina adjusted herself as the horse started to veer and she used her legs, encouraging the poor horse to go faster. When she was bumped again, Katrina felt the horse almost slip. She knew if he was bumped a third time they would probably stumble. With a prayer to the gods for help, she pulled the reins, forcing the horse off the road and into the woods.
Katrina felt a moment of reprieve until she saw the first arrow fly past her head. She stayed low as she tried to weave between trees, when she felt something slice her arm. Katrina bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain and hoped that they didn’t get any closer.
There was nowhere to hide, and Katrina heard the baby begin to cry in her arms. She wished she could comfort him, but her focus had to be on getting them out of there. When she noticed a large hill ahead she found herself hoping they could just get there.
Without any warning, the horse stumbled, and she felt him pitch forward. Her instinct to protect the baby kicked in and she let go of the reins as they were sent flying over the horse’s head. Landing hard on her side, she felt the wind being knocked out of her. There were several arrows sticking out of the poor horse and he let out a soft whine.
Stunned, it took her several minutes to raise her body so sore it protested as she tried to stand. She looked down at the bag she was carrying. Not sure what else to do, she opened it up and slid the baby on top of the bladder of the milk. Arthur was just sma
ll enough to fit. The bag should help keep out some of the cold as she carried him in the woods.
“Shhh, my little prince. You just have to be brave a little longer.” With that she flipped the top of the bag back over to cover him from the elements and put the strap of the bag over her head. This would at least free up both of her hands and make it easier to run. She felt a twinge of guilt for carrying the future prince this way but knew that her first obligation was to protect him and that would be easier with the use of her hands.
The hill was still ahead of her, which meant the possibility of a cave and Katrina ran toward it. The horses coming up behind her made the ground shake, and she fought the urge to look back, knowing it would just slow her down. Weaving around trees she stumbled, her soft leather boots offering no protection from the snow.
Coming up on both sides, the horses started to surround her, and Katrina felt a deep fear of what was to come. Almost tripping over a big branch, she grabbed onto it hoping if she could at least fight them off then maybe, just maybe, the gods would answer her prayers.
She heard chuckling as the men got off the horses. She noticed all of them had those black markings on their chests and faces. Despite the cold, not one wore a shirt and they all seemed unfazed by the frigid air as they started to close in around her. Swinging the stick around she yelled, “Stay back!”
The chuckling got louder, and she heard one speak in a language she’d never heard before. Based on their faces she could tell that whatever it was they were saying, she would not like it. “I am one of the Queen’s ladies. Attacking me is an assault on the Queen…”
The laughter grew and one of the men stepped closer to her. He was a giant of a man, and when Katrina swung the stick in her hand and it hit him, she regretted it instantly. The look of pure anger and hatred in his eyes made her legs quiver. Katrina felt herself shrink as she realized she hadn’t hurt him at all but instead made him even angrier.
As he raised his arm to hit her the sound of growling filled the air. She turned just in time to see a big white wolf land on his back. As the men changed their focus from her to the wolves, Katrina did the only thing she could think of, she picked up her skirt and ran.
Without knowing what direction to go, she kept heading toward the hill. She was cold and exhausted and could still hear the men yelling behind her, along with the sound of at least two wolves.
The hill didn’t seem to get any closer as she ran. As it got colder and colder, Katrina felt herself stumbling. Each step took more and more energy until she finally fell. The baby’s cries had turned into soft whimpers and Katrina held him close as she gave in to the desire to lie down for a moment. As her eyes started to close she wasn’t sure if she saw a large white figure approaching or if her mind was just playing tricks on her.
About the Author
Leilani Love is a USA Today Best selling author and Gold Medal Winner of the Readers Favorite Paranormal Books 2016.
A proud mother of two very active boys. She loves traveling to new places and meeting new people wherever she goes. Thus far, Leilani has visited Paris, DenBosch and Amsterdam and hopes to one day return. On her next trip she hopes to be able to make stops in Scotland and Italy. Currently residing in Oregon, she has also lived in Hawaii, Florida, Alaska, Virginia, Texas, Washington and California. She loves to read books and has a passion for various genres. Her love affair with dragons began when she was young and she still dreams of having her own dragon and Black Panther. For now, she is content to write about them in her books.
