“Micah, whatever drug was given to me put me in heat. Not just heat but super-heat. I’m pretty certain that would override my birth control and that I’m pregnant.” He felt the air whoosh out of his lungs. “I’m not one hundred percent sure but that’s my suspicion. I think we can test in a few weeks. I might not be, but I’d be surprised if there isn’t a little cub growing,” she pulled one of his hand to her stomach, “right here.”
Micah’s knees went weak and he dropped to the ground, his face pressed against her stomach. Tears flowed, covering her skin. He wrapped his arms around her waist and concentrated on her body. He barely felt her hands massaging his scalp as he reached for his new gifts and used his senses. There. Like the fluttering of butterfly wings, he heard it. The small, strong heartbeat inside his mate. He laughed and cried as he looked up into Harliss’s stunned gaze.
“No test needed. I hear her. I hear her heartbeat.”
“Her?”
“Oh yes. A beautiful little girl.” He pressed his mouth close to Harliss. "Hello, little one. I’m your father and I’m so happy you’re growing there.”
Epilogue
The celebration of Harliss’s pregnancy and Micah’s Spirit Walk was in full swing when General Elio Vargas stepped into the back yard. Of course, they knew he was there, but chose to ignore him until he cleared his throat. It was the last bit of control they refused to give the man. They all dressed in traditional Otronian clothing. The women in form-fitting long dresses that were simple, yet elegant. The men wore long, baggy shorts that fell to their knees. They looked relaxed but in reality, the men were ready to defend themselves and especially the women.
“Why are all of you here? Why did you bring a ship to the area without prior notification?” Micah turned to face the man a smile on his face. When Vargas saw the tattoos on Micah’s body he backed up half a step before narrowing his eyes in suspension.
“They’re here because someone poisoned my mate Harliss and she needed healing. She was by the way, healed. Thank you for your concern.” Micah liked being able to throw sarcasm into his words. Harliss had come to stand beside him and wrapped her arms around his waist. It helped to calm his Cougar.
“No one told me.” He seemed genuinely upset by the news, surprising Micah. The general’s attention suddenly shifted from him to Talia, who had moved away from the table. He raised his eyebrows in surprise when Vargas cleared his throat and dropped his hat to cover his groin.
“General Vargas, I’m Talia Caomhanach the Head of the Otronian High Council. I’m here to investigate the attacks on my people. I hope your being here means that you will assist me.” Micah smiled when Vargas’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.
“Of course. I-I’d be happy to help you.” He cleared his throat again and looked down before he returned his attention to the group of people in the yard. He focused his gaze on Mace briefly before turning to Talia.
“I want to issue a formal apology to you and Aoki and his mates for my part in his injury and his being taken from the house. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. I’m guilty of not understanding many things about The Beings or the Otronians. But know that I had no idea that anyone was poisoned.” He shook his head, seeming to clear his thoughts.
“But that’s not why I’m here. Aside from investigating the ship landing here I came to inform you of the news that has hit the public. It seems someone has leaked video to the press. It has brought attention to Aoki and his mates and also the fact that Abby was rescued from 1982.” Mace stood quickly and pulled Abby behind him.
“Relax, Mr. Adams. I’m not here to bring either of you in or cause you trouble. I want to tell you that there will be reporters all over the area trying to contact you. Of course, with the military guarding this house, they can’t come to your door. We’ve been inundated with requests for interviews from news outlets all over the world. I didn’t know you’d be here. Aoki and his family either. I was originally going to use the train tube to contact the facility and talk with Micah about the situation. But I see that won’t be necessary.” A loud noise from above had everyone looking up. A helicopter was flying overhead with a large spotlight shining on the house and the yard.
“Fuck.” Mace grabbed Abby and pulled her face against his neck and wrapped his arms around her in an effort to protect her. “They’ve got news crews in the air.” Kai just smiled and waved. Mace growled, causing Kai to laugh.
Talia sighed. “Perhaps we should go inside.” Vargas nodded at her softly spoken words and then grabbed his cell phone.
“Clear the god damned air space over the farmhouse now! Detain the news crew and confiscate their footage.” He paused and Micah could make out a voice on the other end asking how they could legally detain them. “Tell them they flew over restricted airspace and I’ll have their asses put in jail so fast on so many federal charges their great-grandkids will be coming to visit their fucking dried-up bones inside a penitentiary.” Micah had to turn his head to stop General Vargas from seeing him laugh. Kai and Aoki had no trouble laughing out loud.
The women headed inside while the men picked up the table to carry it back to the porch. Once he was inside, Vargas ended his call and put his phone back in his pocket. “I apologize for my language. It’s not an excuse but raised by a military man and a lifelong military man myself, it’s just part of the territory.”
“I think we can agree, General, slang terminology is not the problem right now.” Flynn had moved behind Charley and wrapped one arm around her, the other on Aoki’s shoulder. Micah could see she was shaking as Aoki embraced her from the front. Both men kissing her head and shoulders trying to comfort her. “I do not want the video or images of my mates engaging in the mating act shown to the world.” His voice was low and menacing.
“Those images and video have been destroyed. The equipment they took them with are destroyed and the men who took them have been interrogated their personal belongings searched. I made sure any database they were on were wiped clean. There is no way those could be in the hands of the public. I do understand your fears, though. What I don’t know is what exactly was given to the press or how correct it is. I have people on that now. They’re going to contact me with details and I had planned on passing that to you through Micah. That won’t be necessary now.” Vargas moved to the couch and sat, putting his hat on the table. “I want this entire situation to be resolved and to assure that every person in the Exchange House program is safe.”
Micah looked around the room, seeing various looks on the faces around him. “I think it would be best to confront this now. Let’s go to the press ourselves. It’ll look more sympathetic if you give interviews. That way you can control who you talk to and what is being said. Abby and Mace are victims in this and Aoki and his mates too. It could help everyone to just come clean about it all. Then,” Micah turned his attention to Vargas, “we can set up an interplanetary conference between Earth and Otron.”
Vargas looked up, surprise on his features. “Why is that necessary? We have the Exchange Houses.” Micah felt himself smile.
“It’s not for the general public. I think this house would be the perfect place for you and the leader of the High Council to meet and share the history of your races. It’s amazing to me that you were put in charge of this program when you weren’t educated on the aliens put on this planet.” Vargas looked like he’d swallowed his tongue. Talia moved to sit on the couch as well. Her normally tanned faced seemed a bit pale while Shaela had a smile on her face as she winked at Micah across the room.
“I think that would be the best way to handle any problems before they start. This conference between the leader of the Head Council and the man in charge of the program should’ve happened first. I’m sure you have many questions about our people General. While the Watchers have been on your planet for millennia, your people haven’t had a chance to learn about us and our culture. I heard you were concerned about the fact Aoki and my son were Wolf Clan. Harliss
, my niece is Cougar, as Micah is now Cougar.” Shaela put her hand on Talia’s shoulder.
“I’ll contact Derek and the President and set this up. This house was scheduled to be in use for several more months so I will suggest that it be used for this conference between General Vargas and Talia Caomhanach.” Micah grinned. “It’ll be my last request as head of the underground Exchange House.”
“Elio.” Vargas looked like he’d been punched, but he didn’t try to stop the conference from being set up.
“What? What is Elio?” Talia was looking at Vargas, her light blue eyes stark against her pale face.
“That’s my name. Elio. Elio Vargas.”
Coming soon
Thank you for reading Harliss and Micah’s story. I loved showing how Micah had grown from his first introduction in my first book, Mine. The next story will bring to you a surprising hero in General Elio Vargas and the Head of the High Council, Talia Caomhanach.
Other Books by The Author
The Watcher Series
Aoki
Harliss
Psy-Bond Series
Mine
Ours
The Hunter
Saving the Elite
Fae Shifter Series
Devitt
About the Author
I grew up in southern West Virginia surrounded by family and friends. I married a man I met in college and followed him along the East Coast after he left school and joined the Navy. He gave me two great boys before we parted ways. After attending beauty college, I began a 20-year career in the beauty industry including teaching at my alma mater and then working for the state cosmetology licensing agency.
I always had a vivid imagination and dreamed of writing and publishing my own stories. Now, on the downhill slide to fifty and remarried to a retired coal miner, my dream has been realized.
I now live in rural Boone County, West Virginia, with my fabulous husband, two cats, a dog and six pet chickens. When I'm not writing I'm helping my husband can goodies from our garden, walking my dog or gathering eggs.
If you like my stories, please leave a review, it helps new authors like me.
You can catch me on Facebook under M.D. Stewart Author or my email [email protected]
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