“At least, we’d finally get some time together,” Quinn grumbled.
“I know how you feel,” Raven said. “I haven’t seen Connor more than a few hours in the last couple of days, but things are finally coming together here, and we should have some peace soon.”
Quinn snorted. “I wouldn’t go that far, but I suppose it will settle down some at least.”
There were still the humans at Roger’s old compound to deal with. Claire, Nate, and their friends were working on that project, and the plan was to move them out and destroy the compound. Quinn considered it a waste to destroy everything, but she’d been told that it sat on the location where the local vampire reservation had been. Many of the born vampires, Connor included, had been tortured there in the early days of the Moon virus. They’d burned most of the buildings to the ground before, and they planned to do a more thorough job this time.
Quinn was about to say more when she spotted Danny walking their way, looking thoroughly exhausted.
Raven looked over her shoulder to see what had distracted Quinn and smiled. “I’ll leave you alone to talk to Danny. Now would be a great time to tell him.”
“I still think it would be best to wait until he’s not so exhausted,” Quinn argued.
“Didn’t you say you saw Zane this morning?” Raven asked.
Quinn cursed. “You’re right. He’s bound to have noticed, and Zane can’t keep a secret.”
“Good luck,” Raven said before hurrying away, probably to find Connor.
Danny was watching Raven leave. “What were you two talking about?” he asked. “Or, is this something I don’t want to know.”
“We were talking about Zane’s inability to keep a secret,” Quinn explained as she wrapped her arms around Danny and inhaled his musky scent. Funny how much she enjoyed that with Danny. While the shifters had no problem getting up close and personal with each other when they were sweaty, Quinn had never found it appealing—that is, until Danny.
“Are you done smelling me?” Danny asked with an amused grin.
Quinn looked up at him and smiled sheepishly but kept her arms wrapped around his waist. “Sorry. I guess it’s my shifter side.”
Danny chuckled. “I don’t mind at all. Actually, I like the way you smell too. The last couple of weeks, you’ve smelled different,” he said, his brow furrowed. “I’m not sure what it is.”
Quinn blushed, surprised Danny had even noticed the change.
“Sorry,” Danny said quickly. “I guess that was kind of rude.”
“No,” she assured him. “I grew up with shifters who commented on that sort of thing all the time. There are a lot of things that can cause temporary changes in someone’s scent, like hormones or illness.”
“You’re okay, right?” Danny asked softly as he cradled the side of her face.
“I’m fine,” she said with a nervous laugh.
“I saw Zane earlier and tried to chase him down to find out if he knew why your scent was off. That lynx can move faster than I expected.”
“Zane’s pretty fast,” she said, thankful her cousin had decided to try to keep her secret.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Danny asked.
“You really wanted to be a father, didn’t you?” she asked.
Danny let out a frustrated sigh and took a step back. “Fine, we’ll talk about it later. No need to change the subject.”
“I really want to talk about your desire to be a father,” she pushed.
“I did,” Danny said. “Sometimes, I’m a little jealous of Ian. The other day, I woke up with my hand on your belly. I’d been dreaming about you being pregnant with my child. That doesn’t mean I’m in a deep depression about this. I can’t have children, and you probably can’t either, but we’re lucky to have each other.”
Quinn looked down at her belly and smiled. “It would appear that me being part mage changes things somewhat. Have you noticed you’ve been skipping blood more than you should?”
Danny nodded. “Connor got on my case about that yesterday. I’ve actually been taking less blood than the born vampires most days.”
“You’ve almost lived completely off of my blood for the last week,” she reminded him. “As near as I can tell, you’ve only had two bags of human blood.”
Danny looked ready to argue, but thought for a moment. “You’re right. That shouldn’t be possible.”
“But it is possible, and that’s not the only thing,” she said.
Danny looked down at her hands resting on her belly and then back up at her face. His eyes widened. “Are you trying to tell me you’re pregnant?” His voice shook ever so slightly.
She nodded, biting her lower lip nervously.
There was a moment of silence before Danny lifted her from the ground and spun her in circles. “I’m going to be a father!” he shouted so loudly that everyone on the island probably heard. “We’re going to have a baby,” he said more softly before kissing her lips. “How is any of this even possible?”
“I guess it’s just one of the many perks of having a mage for a mate,” she said and kissed him softly.
“What do you say I take you home and enjoy some of those other perks?” Danny asked.
“How can I say no to my sexy vampire?” Quinn couldn’t help noticing that Danny didn’t flinch or look ashamed. Her mate had finally accepted who he was.
Author’s Note
Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking the time to read Shattered Restraint. I hope you enjoyed this installment of the Moon Virus Series. This truly is my favorite series to work on, and I love my characters. If you enjoyed Danny and Quinn’s story, please take a moment to write a short review.
One of the first readers of Shattered Restraint messaged me constantly to tell me how much she wanted to have a play date with Zane. As a result, the playful lynx has been on my mind quite a bit, and I found myself looking for the perfect mate for him. You can expect Zane and Lyssa’s story in April 2016.
Check out my next book, Sinfully Spellbound, in January 2016. This will be the first book in the Spells that Bind series.
To keep posted on the details of my next book, or just to see what I’m up to, you can follow me on Facebook or Twitter.
About The Author
Cassandra Lawson lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and her two youngest children. When she is not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, listening to music, or curling up with a good book.
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