Branches of the Willow 3

by Christine M. Butler

  He took the pillow from me, tossed it back across the room onto the bed, and then pulled me into his arms. It seemed like one fluid move, and I didn’t have the strength to stop him. “I’m sorry.” He sighed deeply, and kissed the top of my head. “I’ve been so worried about you, and then to find out you got pregnant, and what that means, and you don’t seem very happy about it, because why else wouldn’t you tell me right away?” Everything came trailing out of him then, and I knew I had been a big fat jerk too.

  “I was worried that something bad would happen and I would get both of our hopes up for nothing. I was drugged, a lot, when I was held in that cage. What if…”

  “You thought you would lose the baby?”

  Tears sprang free from my eyes then. “Yes.”

  “Oh Jess, this is what I’m here for. You’re supposed to share these things with me so that I can help. I’m going to cancel work tomorrow. We’re going to see your mother, and Ashley, because they will know what to do. They can keep an eye on your health.” He moved me so I was far enough away from him that he could look down into my tear-stained face. “We’ll figure this out, but in the meantime, you will get more rest. You will make sure you’re eating good. And most importantly, you will stop acting like you have to get through everything on your own. You are not any less of a person for having help. The strong know how to rely on others to carry part of the weight, it’s how they grow stronger.”

  “When did you get so smart?” I sniffled.

  “When I stopped pretending I wasn’t in love with you.”

  My heart melted right then and there. My mate took me to bed, without any further hesitation. At least, that is, until something crashed downstairs, and my heart felt like it was going to take burst through my rib cage and take flight instead.

  “What the hell?”

  “It was probably just the guards downstairs.” Mikael reassured me. “Stay put, and I’ll go check.”

  “Since when do we have guards downstairs?”

  “Since we got you back. You just didn’t leave the room enough to notice before.” Mikael left the room, and it wasn’t long before I heard voices coming from the hallway. “You can try, but please, make it quick. She needs to sleep.”.

  “I swear, I will.” It was Ashley’s voice, I recognized it now.

  “I’m going to go take care of the noise makers downstairs. Let Jess know everything’s fine, and that I’ll be back up shortly.”

  “Okay.” Ashley burst through the door then, and came over to give me a hug. “Hey. Mikael said he’ll be right back, but everything is fine.”

  “No offense, Ash, but what the hell are you doing here?”

  “Asi and I are staying here in one of the other rooms for a few days. We needed to get away from the craziness over on the pack lands, and I figured you could use some company too.”

  “Oh. Did Mikael know about this?”

  “Of course, that’s why he asked me to,” she tossed up air quotes, “pick you up and bring you back to the pack.”

  “Gotcha.” I slid further down in my bed, and pulled the covers over me. “I’m so tired,” I managed to get out through a yawn.

  “I think your mate is going to kill some guards down there. They’re in the middle of a rowdy round of poker, and he’s chewing them all out.”

  “Sorry, Mikael,” I heard a male voice saying as footsteps bounded up the stairs.

  “My mate is with child, she needs rest, and you lot will keep it down while she gets it.”

  “WHAT?” Ashley shrieked. “Did he just say what I think he just said?”

  I smiled at Ashley, and she crawled up on the bed in the little space that was between the edge of the bed and me. Ashley ran her hand over my belly. “Seriously?” She asked.

  “Yes, seriously, although I planned on telling you a bit differently, tomorrow.”

  “Oh my God, I can’t believe it!” Ashley beamed. “I’m going to be an Aunt!” Mikael walked in then, with a pack of crackers in hand, and I could have shoved Ashley out of the way and kissed him for being so thoughtful.

  Asi poked his head in the door, “Ashley?”

  At the same time, Ashley had turned, bounced of the bed, and leaped towards Mikael. “You knocked up my best friend!”

  “I did no such thing!” Asi added.

  “Not you!” Ash snapped at Asi. “You!” She pulled Mikael in close for a hug. “I can’t believe I’m going to be an aunt.”

  Asriel finally caught on, and looked over at me. “Congratulations, Jess. Mikael.” He nodded to my mate, who was still tangled up with my best friend. “Ashely, come on, let’s leave them be now.”

  It took a few more minutes to get Ashley to take the hint, but when I nodded off on her, that finally seemed to do the trick. The room grew quiet for a few minutes before I felt the other side of the bed dip down under Mikael’s weight. Then a hand was rubbing tiny, soft circles on my belly. I couldn’t help the smile. Worse, was the hope that crept in behind it.

  “Do you remember when you were mad at me because other people knew before you did?” My whispered voice was swallowed up into the darkness of the room.

  “Yeah, listen, I’m sorry about that.” His hand stilled on my belly, waiting for me to forgive him.

  “You just told my best friend, her mate, and a room full of guards downstairs before you gave me a chance to tell my mom. I’m going to let you deal with the fallout from that.” I turned on my side then, as I heard Mikael curse to himself.

  “I’m in trouble, huh?”

  “Mmhmm.”

  A THORN

  I woke up to my cell phone ringing, and Mikael wasn’t in bed with me any longer. “Hello?” I managed to eke out groggily.

  “Jessica St. Marks!” My mom was shouting into the phone. “Is it true?”

  “Mom, I was sleeping! Is what true?”

  “Word spread like wildfire all through the pack this morning that you’re pregnant, and here’s your mother-the last to know!”

  “Oh GAWD!” I growled out. “Mom, I’m sorry. I told Mikael last night, and he was so excited he just started telling everyone in the house. I was so tired…”

  “Oh my God! It is true! Jessica… I can’t believe you’re going to be a mom already!” My mom was suddenly sniffling and crying into the phone.

  “Mom, calm down. I’ll be over later.”

  “No, you won’t.” Mikael chimed in as he carried a tray of food over to me on the bed. Then he took the phone from me. “Eat!” He commanded, then he changed his tone to speak to my mom. “Eileen, sorry, I wasn’t thinking last night. I should have known the guards would go back cackling like hens with gossip. Please, come by to see Jess! I’ve put her on bed rest all day! She nearly passed out yesterday from exhaustion. If she can’t do it from bed, it’s going to wait, at least until she can catch her breath.” I heard my mother babbling on and on to him for a minute, and then Mikael cut her off. “Hang on my phone is ringing.” Mikael looked at it, “It’s Jameson.”

  “Hello, Jameson.” Mikael looked serious then. “You should send Eileen out here to make sure Jess has company and is resting! As soon as she’s here, I’ll be on my way.” Mikael stopped talking and just listened for a minute, a huge smile spreading across his face. “Yes sir! I will. They are my world!”

  He hung up and came to sit with me, “What was that about?”

  “Your dad just held me accountable for making sure you, and his grandchild, stay safe.” He smiled down at me again and then leaned in for a kiss.

  “Why do you have to go?”

  He looked like he was debating on whether to tell me or not. “They found Annabelle. She’s being brought in for questioning. “I want in on it. I need to know where my brother is, Jess, before he does anything else to harm our family.”

  “What about Leanna?”

  “She wasn’t with Annabelle.”

  “Damn it. It’s harder to find them when they split up. I should go in too.” I tossed the covers back and
tried to get up only to have Mikael’s strong arms wrap around me, and lay me back down, beside him.

  “No, you need to rest some, Jess. We can wait on that. Your mom will be here soon. Ash and Asi are sticking close by you today, too. Please, I need to know you’re okay. Let us take care of this while you get rest.”

  “Fine, but call me and let me know you’re okay, or I will just lie here and worry instead of resting anyway.” I realized my hands were shaking as I placed them against his chest. “What if they’re trying to get to you now, since they can’t touch me?”

  “I promise I will be careful and I will call. Plus, I will come back as soon as possible, baby.”

  I devoured the food Mikael brought me while waiting for my mom to show up. It didn’t take her long, which meant my mom had driven here like a bat out of hell. I heard her voice downstairs, just moments before I saw her. “Where’s my baby?”

  Then, she was there, walking into my bedroom, and beaming with pride. “Hey, mom.”

  “How did I not sense this sooner?” She came over, and put her hands on my still-shrunken stomach and her whole body hummed with a warm energy that I remember feeling from her as a child. It was odd, to me, that even though my stomach showed no sign of my pregnancy yet, everyone was suddenly enthralled by it, and wanting to touch me. It was part awe-inspiring, and part creeptastic.

  “I really wish everyone would stop doing that. There’s nothing to see there, yet.” I mentioned as Mikael came stepped in from the bathroom to see what I thought was creepy. He laughed, and I thought he looked a little like Santa with his face covered in a white shaving foam. Disappointment sunk in deep, because I hated when he shaved fully. Sure, his skin was smoother when he kissed me, and I didn’t get beard burn; but I loved the way he looked with the stubble sprouting up across his jaw and chin. When he was finished, he came to kneel beside where I was still lounging in bed, and kissed my lips.

  “Please, be a good girl, and stay home today.” His warm hand rested heavily on my belly as he spoke.

  “You better be glad I love you, otherwise, you’d be in the dog house for telling me to be a good girl.” I huffed at him, but he swallowed up my indignation with a fiery kiss. My mom cleared her throat to remind him that she was still in the room, but he didn’t ease up, and I didn’t let him right away.

  When he finally did pull away it was to say goodbye. “I’ll be back around lunch time to check in on you. If you need anything, you call right away.”

  “You better get going. Hopefully, you can get some information from her this time.” Mikael was already to the bedroom door and about to round the corner into the hallway when I called him back. “Mikael!”

  “Yeah, baby?”

  “Don’t go to see her alone. Please, make sure there’s always someone else there.” I swallowed hard, thinking of what happened to me last time I underestimated Leanna and Annabelle. “Please,” I begged him.

  The pained expression he wore was enough to tell me he’d listen, if for no other reason than to make me happy. “I promise, and I will call every hour with updates.”

  The tension rolled out of my shoulders then. I would have a way to measure the time he wasn’t with me. A few minutes after he left Serena came strolling into my bedroom.

  “Good morning ladies.” Her sweet voice traveled like a warm blanket around the room. Somehow it instantly made me feel safe and comfortable. I wondered briefly if my mother felt the same in Serena’s presence or if it was just me.

  “Serena,” my mom offered her hand in greeting. I watched as Serena took it, and shook. A smile played across her lips, and my mom looked like she was about to swoon. Nope, it wasn’t just me then.

  “Sorry, I’m filled to the brim with power right now. It’s why I stayed away for a bit of time. A witch drunk on another’s powers can be heady thing. I wondered why I didn’t feel anything right away after I took Sophia’s life, but apparently there is a bit of delayed reaction with the magic seeping into my bones.”

  “What the hell is going on in here?” Ashley came barging into the room, holding her head. I feel like I was out drinking last night, only I wasn’t, so this hang over sucks.

  Serena appeared apologetic, and then she started mumbling words I couldn’t quite make out, waving her hands about, and with a quick poof of air, the room exploded with a bunch of tiny little lights. My ceiling almost wasn’t visible with the little pops of light and power that were exploding everywhere.

  “Holy shit! It looks like someone threw up a mini-fireworks display in here.” Ashley came closer to the bed, head tilted back, in awe of the situation.

  “Sorry, I had to burn off some of the energy, it was affecting all of you. Had I known it was still this potent I wouldn’t have come.” Serena removed the laundry basket that had been sitting in the chair across the room, and she then pulled the old wing chair a bit closer to the bed. “So, I hear you’ve told everyone the good news now?”

  “You knew already too?” My mom asked Serena.

  “Of course. I helped her put two and two together.” My mom looked hurt momentarily, but the emotion faded, and was replaced by what looked more like gratitude.

  “I haven’t had the chance to thank you for saving my daughter.”

  “There is no need to do so, but you are welcome.”

  “This is really weird.” Ashley was still staring at the mini explosions of light up near my ceiling.

  “Tell me about it.” I answered her. “I hope it clears up before Mikael comes back, or he’ll expect fireworks all the time.”

  Ashley burst out laughing at my joke then. It seemed to have gone directly over my mother’s head and Serena’s, until that point. “Oh, Jess, really? Must you be so crude in front of company?”

  “Mom, I’m pregnant. Something you were excited about minutes ago. How exactly did you think that happened?”

  My mother rolled her eyes at me as Ashley climbed across my feet to lounge on the bed on the other side of me. “That doesn’t mean you have to tell everyone about what goes on.”

  Serena was laughing. “I miss the days of mother-daughter banter. Not with my own mother, of course. I had some time to spend with my own daughter though, before everyone realized what she was.” Her words were laced with sadness, but she smiled over at the three of us. “I’m glad you’re here, Ashley.”

  “Me?” Ashley had the presence of mind to look nervous. “Why me?”

  “I wanted to apologize for your circumstances.”

  “Um, okay. What circumstances would those be?”

  “I, well…” Serena paused and collected her thoughts. “I messed with Mikael’s mind a little that night. The night he turned you, he would not have done that on his own. I planted some ideas in his head about his brother, because he wouldn’t get close enough to Jess to react to her. I needed him to see them together. He was out of sorts and not himself that night with me mucking around in his brain. Plus…” she looked ashamed. “I told him to bite you.”

  “You did what?” I asked.

  “You needed Ashley with you, and not in a fragile human state, Jessica.”

  “You mind-raped Mikael to bite Ashley?”

  “I only planted a suggestion. He clawed her instead.”

  “Well… I guess, screw you then.” Ashley stated matter-of-factly. “And thank you too,” she added. “I’m happy where I am, and you’re right, Jess needed me to be a wolf. So, it’s whatever.”

  “Ashley…” I was ready to cry. Her choices had been taken from her since becoming my friend. Hell, her brother had been taken too. “That is too much.”

  “No, Jess. Come on, we’ve been over this where Mikael’s concerned. I forgave him. I forgive her. She had your best interest at heart. I don’t have to like the deed to respect that it was necessary. Plus, at least now we don’t have to wonder about Mikael’s hidden temper. It never did seem right that he’s been such a sweetheart after the way he behaved that night.”

  “I don’t know how you
do it, Ashley.” I was still in a mild state of disbelief. The slight popping sound of the magical fireworks above my head leant to the effect, casting a surreal tone over the whole conversation. “Is there anything else?” I asked Serena before I lost the nerve.

  “I’m not sure I get your meaning.”

  My mom piped in then. “She’s asking if you have any other secrets you’re hiding up your sleeve that affect our family.” My mom paused for a moment, getting her thoughts together. “I like you, Serena. I respect that you are also a distant relation, but enough is enough. These girls have seen enough already in their short lives, and they don’t need magic mucking up their lives any further.”

  “You are right, Eileen. I was just trying to come clean, and apologize.” Serena actually looked ashamed. “There is nothing else of note that involves the girls.”

  “I wonder what’s going on with Annabelle?” I thought out loud, suddenly needing to change the subject.

  “If they’re dumb enough to leave your mate, or his brother, with her then she’s probably dead. Lord knows, I’d kill her if I could.” Ashley was twirling a curly red lock around her finger as she spoke. Her mind was elsewhere, no doubt, on the way she had become a werewolf.

  “Well, let’s hope they get something useful out of her before that happens!” I managed to get out before my mom chastised me for being somewhat heartless. “The bitch poisoned me, and had me thrown in a cage. Excuse me for not really giving a shit what happens to her.”

  “Then try caring about how either of the boys will fair after taking matters into their own hands. Neither one of them has the type of personality to carry out brutal acts against women. Imagine, allowing her to get the best of them by goading them on where you’re concerned.”

  “Oh, fine, mom! Always the voice of reason.” I sniped. “Maybe, I should get dressed and go down there to take care of things myself, so I don’t have to worry about anyone else’s guilt, but my own.”