by Lane, Terri
“I was thinking of making a place for him and having someone look after him, hidden away,” I mumbled.
“Don’t you want to be there for your own child?” Kai squeezed my hands involuntarily.
“In a perfect world—”
“In a perfect world, we might never have met. But we’re here now and I say let’s raise him together.”
“You think it’s going to be a boy?” I asked, a small smirk touching my lips.
“I guess…I don’t know ‘he’ just keeps coming out,” Kai chuckled. “Guess I want a boy,” he added.
“You…really want the child?” I asked slowly.
“Yes, I do. So much of our purpose in this…excruciatingly long life is to make things better for the future, right? Well our future is that baby and I don’t want him to grow up hiding or being hunted. Who better to protect him than us? We can…build a new tiny coven pack. Who knows…maybe we can have a brood of hybrid babies,” he chuckled.
I stared at Kai, baffled. His response was not what I guessed it would be in the slightest. He wanted his own family? He wanted more than one child? And with me?
“You look dumbfounded,” he chuckled.
“I am. I truly, truly am,” I said. He laughed outright and then guided me to a boulder many had used as a seat before us. The top was smoothed into the perfect bench.
“I mean—don’t you want those things?” he asked.
“I never thought to consider such a…life,” I said.
“You don’t want to leave your coven,” he said. It was as if he were trying to take hold of what I wasn’t saying.
“In such fragile times…I do worry about my kind. But this is our baby and I do…I do want a life for him,” I said. I was completely torn. The thought of turning from centuries of all that I knew was no easy thing to consider.
“How can you be so ready to give up your pack Kai?”
“The thought of breaking away—being a lone wolf and all—it’s tough. But I think my connection to you and the baby is quickly overpowering the ties I have to the pack,” he said.
I couldn’t deny the bond I felt with Kai, it had latched the two of us together the moment I laid eyes on him and that was undeniable.
“It’s scary, but Sophia I swear I’ll always have your back,” he said.
“Okay…” I whispered. Kai tilted my chin up and he kissed me. His lips were firm with his promise. He pulled back and we glanced around at the darkened forest.
“I had to tell my second, Kevin, that if I wasn’t back in an hour to come look for me. He was nervous about me going to meet a vampire alone in the woods.”
“We need to speak again,” I said. A subtle rising panic at having to part from him rose in my chest.
“We will. I have an apartment no one from the pack knows about. It’s in the city, further away from the forests,” he said. Instead of ask me, he caressed each of my jeans pockets until he found my cell phone in the back.
“You could’ve asked for that,” I said, smiling.
“That wouldn’t have been as fun,” he said. He put his cell phone number and address into my phone, and saved it under ‘BD’.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“Baby Daddy,” he said confidently. My laughter bubbled up out of me and he joined in with an endearing throaty laugh. “Call me when you get back and we’ll make a real date to talk further about things,” he said.
“Okay, I will,” I told him.
“And hey, thanks for seeking me out to tell me,” he said.
“Of course, how could I not?” I said.
He kissed me again and returned my phone to my back pocket. When I opened my eyes, he pulled away and slowly returned to the trees. It felt as if half my chest followed him. How I’d become so irrevocably bound to him, a wolf, was certainly beyond me.
I drove back to the coven in a slight dream state. I couldn’t stop imagining the future with Kai and our child, and perhaps more than one child. I hoped he would be born to look just like Kai; with warm tan skin and golden eyes.
I returned to the house just as the usual night activity was picking up. Alexis intercepted me as I was on my way to the kitchen.
“There you are, I’d been looking for you for the better part of two hours,” she said.
“I’m sorry, I was tending to an errand,” I said. We were in the small alcove just off the kitchen’s double door entrance. Alexis was studying my clothing with a skeptical expression.
“What errand were you tending to before dusk?” she asked. I didn’t appreciate her tone. She seemed to be forgetting her true role while taking on my duties just a bit longer. It was certainly time to remind her of her true place while I remained head of the Portland Coven.
“It doesn’t concern you or the coven what I do in my private free time,” I said.
“Forgive my offense Sophia. I’m simply concerned, you’ve been…running these private errands for three days in a row now,” she said.
“I am careful in my whereabouts Alexis. Do measure your next words carefully. I won’t tolerate needless suspicion,” I said.
“I apologize…Sophia,” she said slowly. “But you had just come out of a tragic situation and you are pregnant. I simply believe you should be recuperating instead of constantly leaving the house,” she said.
“I’m not some wounded victim Alexis. I am perfectly capable of making sound decisions. I am aware of my own pregnancy and I know my limits. Do not treat me any differently because of what I went through in that forest. I’ve lost battles before and I know how to recover from them,” I said. Alexis’s gray eyes turned to slate, but she glanced down.
“I’ve had enough time ‘recuperating’ as it is. I’ll be resuming my duties as leader of this coven and I would greatly appreciate less skepticism from you,” I said, biting back a hiss.
“Of course, Sophia,” she said in a much humbler tone. “If I may help you come up to speed in the goings on of the coven?” she asked.
“Fine,” I said. I turned to head to my study, and she followed behind me in silence. I could feel her mind churning, thinking up explanations for my absences up explanations for my absences. For living such a long amount of time, vampires were often creatures of habit. Any action out of the ordinary certainly went noticed. Then, as history proved, any difference in a vampire’s routine—especially those sitting in positions of power—usually meant something bad or unfortunate would follow. By not even giving her an excuse as to what I could have been up to, I may have just marked myself for mistrust.
“Many in the house are waiting for your official announcement of offspring under your Vasilek line. Or will you choose to announce the child under Damien’s name?” she said. In all my worries about the safety of my child and speaking with Kai, I’d completely forgotten about following through with the excuse of Damien being the father. Damien came from an ancient line of vampires, traceable back to one of our race’s elders. By Prime Coven law, my child would have to be announced as the next pureblood child in either my, or Damien’s line.
“Yes, I’ve been pondering whether to continue Damien’s Romani line. They’ve all died out with him,” I said.
“I would continue the Vasilek line. It would be only fitting as you will lead Prime Coven after your father,” she said. “There are other ways to honor Damien. The child can have as many names as you wish to give it,” she added.
“Hardly, I wouldn’t want to damn the child to mockery in its formative years,” I scoffed. Though I made sure to behave as I’d be expected to, I wondered what Kai would want to name our child, and whether it truly would be a boy, or turn out to be a girl. “Other than that, our house continues to run smoothly?” I said.
“Yes, though I wanted to go over our blood bank territories. We’ve lost two to Hunter patrols. We’ll have to start going farther out in order to collect blood. That, or let our people go out looking for hikers again,” she said.
“Certainly not. The wood
s are more dangerous than the blood banks. If we must send our runners farther out, then we will have to do so,” I said. Alexis nodded.
“We’ve also been contacted by the Vancouver Coven. They’ve lost nearly all staked blood banks. They’re requesting permission to collect blood from our staked locations,” she said.
“Permission is granted. Send them our collection schedules and request the aid of a few of their fastest runners. They should be willing to help us find blood stores free of Hunter presence,” I said. Our Washington neighbors were only fifteen minutes away, so sharing blood banks was hardly an issue. I walked over to my old mahogany desk and found the declaration of offspring documents sitting on it.
“It will take me forever to settle on a name for him…” I murmured. My hand found my belly. Already I felt a bump between my hips.
“Well, you have six months to come up with it,” Alexis said. I almost snorted. I didn’t know where I’d be come six months’ time. I wasn’t even certain I’d live six more months what with the Hunter’s saturating our region.
“If that’s all for now Alexis?” I said, dismissing her.
“I will return when word from Vancouver Coven comes back,” she said. I nodded and watched her leave the office. When the door shut behind her, I pulled out my cell phone and called Kai.
“There you are, I was getting worried you didn’t make it back safe,” he answered. Even flustered sounding, his voice brought me a certain calm that steadied the unease caused by my time with Alexis.
“Oh, I made it back fine. I simply had some…things to tend to at the house when I returned,” I said.
“I hope everything’s okay? You didn’t get in trouble?” he asked.
“If I were to ‘get in trouble’ it would be with myself as I head up the coven. I just had to speak with my second, so to speak, on a few matters of the coven,” I said.
“So, everything is fine for now?” he asked.
“Yes, everything is fine for now,” I said with a chuckle. “When will we meet?” I asked. I couldn’t help the touch of yearning in my voice.
“Tomorrow, during daylight hours if you’re not too tired?” he asked.
“I won’t be,” I said. “Tomorrow it is.”
“I’ll be at the apartment around ten. I have an early patrol I can’t skip out on. It’s in semi-dangerous territory,” he said.
“Please, be careful,” I said.
“Of course…so do you want to stay on the phone through the night like teenagers, or do you have business to tend to?” he asked, with a light chuckle.
“I have to make myself seen throughout the house. I’ve been absent lately, I need to keep the gossip fielded,” I said.
“I don’t care how lame this might sound, but I’ll be counting the hours until I see you again,” he said. It was ridiculously silly and overused, but it brought a grin to my face nonetheless.
“That is a manic thing to do. I’d like to return to a sane mate rather than an unhinged one,” I joked.
“Mate huh?” he asked. I heard the smile in his voice, so didn’t doubt myself.
“Yes…after all I am pregnant,” I murmured.
“Well, dearest mate of mine, don’t let me keep you,” he said. When we ended the call, I couldn’t keep the smile from my face.
* * *
Kai’s secret apartment was warm and welcoming. It was decorated in masculine blues and complementing sandy tones. His furniture was modern and inviting and the studio was quite spacious. It had a full modern kitchen, wide living space, and the bedroom area was tucked away to the far left of the living/dining/kitchen area. He also had a splendid view of Portland.
“Kai…your family is well off?” I asked.
“Yeah. My great grandfather started a bourbon distillery that’s pretty successful now. Much of the preservation and organization of the wolves in this region is due to my family’s wealth and our continuing leadership of the packs,” he said.
“You have two legacies…both you’d be walking away from?” I asked.
“No, just the one. I have my own trust, separate from the pack. Stuff my father can’t touch. I can do whatever I want with the money and I have. Hopefully Kai Craft Beer will be a household brand a couple generations down the line,” he said with a grin.
“What is the name of your family’s bourbon?” I asked.
“Wolfsbane…” he said, smiling. I’d heard of the name. It was quite a successful brand.
“When you tell me things like this…I wonder if I’m taking you from your destiny,” I said. Kai took my hand and led me to the couch.
“You and our baby is part of my destiny. Who knows what else the future has in store for me, for you, and for us,” he said. “I want to be with you. It’s something I’m choosing on my own. Or else we’d be here making very different arrangements,” he said.
“So, what arrangements are we making?” I asked.
“Plans to leave. Montreal is peaceful as far as Hunter activity. The major Canadian coven is on Vancouver Island. The major packs up there live in Ontario and Alberta,” he said.
“What about your Kai’s Craft Beer?” I asked. He chuckled and took my hand in his.
“Kai Craft Beer,” he corrected. “And I can make beer anywhere. I haven’t built a full blown brewery; not yet, anyway,” he added. I smiled at him, I liked that he crafted beer, and I liked that he came from a bourbon family. We vampires are strong believers in preserving family names and wealth. Yet, Kai, a werewolf, had his own ‘old money’ and was willing to leave his family’s name for our own small family.
“Montreal. I like Quebec,” I said.
“They’ve got nice places to live there too. We don’t have to live right smack in the center of the city to be safe,” he said.
“It sounds as if you’ve done a lot of research,” I said.
“Well I had to do something apart from count the hours until we could be together. So I found us a selection of places to choose from. I can make the call whenever, and we’ll have a place to live. Then we move in,” he said.
“Just like that? We just pick a place and a date and then leave?” I asked. My head was starting to swim, either from fatigue or anxiety. Possibly both.
“I think that’s the best option,” he said.
I took a deep breath and stood up. I didn’t know why I assumed standing would slow the spinning that started while I was sitting down. Of course, it only made it worse.
“Sophia?” Kai stood quickly and wrapped an arm around my waist. “What’s wrong? Do you feel alright?” he asked.
“I need you…I haven’t had any blood,” I said faintly. I’d forgotten to drink the night before and Porter said I should have two glasses each day; about 14 ounces. In the four-day period since I found out, I’d only had one full glass of blood. Kai sat me back down and pulled me into his lap. He offered me his wrist, but my eyes were on the thick vein in his neck.
“Can I…take from there?” I asked. My vision was beginning to blur as thirst took over me.
“You don’t have to ask,” he breathed. I struck his vein and moaned as the sweet spice of his blood leapt to my tongue. Kai’s hands tightened on my waist as I moved slightly to straddle him. His blood saturated me with much needed energy and warmth, always warmth from him. When I felt I’d had enough, I licked the puncture wound to heal it, and leaned back.
“How come you’re still behind on feeding?” he asked, his voice hoarse. I felt his erection pressed insistently against my core.
“I’ve had an odd few days so I’ve been…forgetting,” I said, growing breathless. “Your blood is better for the baby anyways,” I added. Kai’s hands tightened on my waist as I made to get off of him.
“It is?” he asked.
“Pregnant vampires must drink also for their growing child. What better blood for it than their father’s?” I said.
“Well then we better leave fast. He should get every drop of nourishment he needs,” Kai said. My giggle soon t
urned into a moan, because he’d leaned forward and pulled my skin between his teeth. I cupped my fingers around his neck with one hand and ground against the bulge in his pants. He slid his hands underneath my blouse and splayed his fingers across my naked back. In seemingly one motion, he rocked me back against the couch cushions, so that he was on top of me. His lips found mine and he delved his tongue into my mouth. I felt as if I’d burn from the inside out.
I tore at his clothes, getting them off one way or another. Mine followed his to the ground. Kai kissed my nipples, then nipped the skin of my breasts until my entire body tingled. He hoisted himself up on one arm and used his other hand to cup my sex. His thumb rubbed against my clitoris until my back arched and my cries of pleasure filled our ears. Just before I could orgasm, he thrust into me hard. The jolt of intense pleasure and heat made me feel as if I’d melted into the couch. We were wrapped up in this seeming ball of fire for most of the day.
* * *
“I think…perhaps you should drink water,” I told him. Kai was stretching after getting out of bed, still beautifully naked. I stretched onto my side and watched him search through his bureau for new clothes to wear.
“Is it weird that you pop up in every other thought I have? But you’re right here; you haven’t even gone back yet,” he said. I searched his gaze for what I hoped he’d say next. I knew we both felt the power of our connection, but I wanted him to tell me he loved me.
“I blame it on whatever that just was,” I sighed. I turned onto my back to face the ceiling. He wouldn’t say it yet.
“Intense…that was just intense,” he chuckled.
“We didn’t even accomplish the true reason I came here,” I said.
“We still have time to talk things through,” he said. “Let me grab my computer.” I studied him as he pulled on a white t-shirt and briefs, then pulled his hair up into a bun, and walked to the coffee table to grab his laptop. His movements were lithe; no doubt a residual from his wolf nature.
“I already have money…in overseas locations in case you were wondering. We won’t have a problem with money ever,” I said. Kai chuckled.
