by H Q Kingsley
I slowed down my chewing. I’d nearly forgotten about how I ended up in Capri. It felt like a lifetime had passed since Elspeth had ripped me from my island.
“Things are good,” I finally said. “They didn’t start out that way but… Elspeth and I… we’re…”
“Good?” Mishel offered.
I smiled, feeling my cheeks heat as I thought about just how good Elspeth and I were.
“We had sex,” I blurted out, seemingly unable to contain myself.
Mishel’s eyes went wide. “Oh… umm… okay?”
I dropped my head in embarrassment. “Oh my goddess. I’m so sorry. It’s just… I’ve never had sex and then… holy crap, why am I still talking. This is so weird,” I rambled. I couldn’t seem to stop talking even though I wanted to kick myself. “I just don’t really have any friends here,” I finished, biting my lips to keep them closed.
Mishel looked me over for a long, awkward moment before he placed his chicken down on his plate and turned to me. He stretched his hands toward me, and I put my food down to take them.
“I don’t really have any friends here, either,” he confessed. He gave my hands a light squeeze. “Maybe we can be each other’s friends.”
I smiled, feeling a fuzzy warmth in my chest. “I’d like that.”
Mishel let me go and turned back to his food. “Okay, so go on. Give me all of the juicy details.”
15
Dimitri Isakov
I sat down on the cushioned sofa with a glass of scotch in my hand.
When the door of the study opened, I turned my head slightly to see Elspeth walk through the door.
“How’s he feeling?” I asked, able to tell from the big, dumb grin on his face that things had gone well with Iosefa.
Elspeth walked over to his desk and poured himself a glass.
“He’s good. Resting,” he told me as he took a sip from his glass.
I grinned. I was happy for them. Elspeth genuinely seemed better. Better than ever.
“I haven’t seen you this happy before. You’re finally turning over a new leaf, huh?” I asked. “Maybe you can cut us some slack with training.”
Elspeth laughed. “In your dreams.”
I raised my hands and shrugged. “Hey, I had to try,” I said with a chuckle. “Hey,” I met his eyes. “Before the council gets here, I wanted to say thanks again. You know… for Mishel.”
Elspeth nodded. “No problem.” He smiled. “Iosefa seems to really enjoy his food.”
I nodded. “I’ll have to be sure to pass that along.”
The study doors opened and the rest of the council spilled in.
“Now that we’re all here. Let’s discuss our plans for Alpha Adrian,” Elspeth said, as the council settled into their seats.
“Do you have anything in mind, Alpha?” Alfred asked, staring inquisitively up at Elspeth.
Elspeth nodded. “I do, but I wanted to run it by all of you since you’ll be taking the most risk for what I have planned.”
I bit back a smile at the confused looks the council gave him. They were unaware of the new, changed Elspeth, and it wasn’t like him to run dangerous plans by anyone. It was our job to risk life and limb for him, and old Elspeth took full advantage of that.
“Alpha, you know that we would die for you. For the clan. Whatever you have planned, count us in,” Mark said as he rose to his feet.
The rest of the council aye’d in agreement—even Jonah, scrawny as he may have been.
Elspeth gave them a nod of gratitude. “I appreciate that.”
The council gave him another stunned look. Old Elspeth had also not been great at verbalizing his thanks.
“I’ll have the rest of the clan continue to protect our borders in case Adrian makes a play for our land. But as for the council, I’d like to send you to play a little offense.”
He turned his attention to me. “Dimitri, will you lead a charge onto Astro Shade turf?”
I nodded. “Of course, Alpha,” I answered before I could stop myself.
Mishel was in a dark place, and I wondered if now was the best time for me to take off on a dangerous mission. But what choice did I have? My Alpha needed me.
I walked into the kitchen, surprised to find Mishel laughing inside. It had been a while since I’d seen him laugh so hard it made him double over.
When I stepped further into the room, I realized Iosefa was with him and they were cooking together. I glanced over the counters and table and quickly noticed the bottles of wine. Cooking and drinking together.
With all of the treatments he’d been on and his obsession with doing everything right to get pregnant, I hadn’t seen Mishel take a drink in nearly two years. But there he was, drunk and laughing.
I smiled as I walked up to him. “Hey, baby,” I said, placing a quick kiss to his cheek.
He grabbed the collar of my shirt and kissed me so deeply that I felt my cheeks warm as I remembered Iosefa was in the kitchen.
I pulled back, licking my lips as I caught my breath. “I just came to see if you were ready to go home,” I said. “Elspeth is letting me off for the night so I can pack.”
“Pack?” Mishel let out a drunken giggle. “Are you going somewhere?”
“A mission for Elspeth.” I ran my hand through his hair. “I’ll tell you all about it when we get home.”
“Who says I want to talk when we get home?” Mishel grabbed my shirt again and pulled me down to him.
I pulled back with a grin. I loved this version of him. I loved seeing him light and carefree, but fucking him in Elspeth’s kitchen with Iosefa five feet away was a little much.
Iosefa held up his hands when I looked over at him.
“No, don’t mind me.” He tapped his head. “Elspeth is calling me anyway. I’ll leave you two to it.”
He turned to leave and Mishel reached out to smack his butt as he walked by. “Go get him, tiger. Looks like we’re both getting some tonight.”
Mishel and Iosefa erupted in giggles and my eyes bounced between them.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked, only making them both laugh more before Iosefa disappeared out of the kitchen.
“I take it you enjoyed being at the mansion then?” I asked Mishel.
He sighed and fluttered his eyelashes. “Yes. I suppose this one time I am forced to admit you were right. It was good for me to come here. And I just adore Iosefa.”
I smiled down at him. “Did you just say I was right?”
Mishel rolled his eyes. “This one isolated time. Yes.” He wrapped his arms around my neck. “Now, how about you carry me home and fuck me until you leave for your super-secret mission?”
I nodded as I pulled him up into my arms. “Absolutely.”
Alpha Adrian’s territory was a day and a half’s journey from Capri.
Their base was near the mountains and the journey was long and exhausting, particularly with the council. They weren’t typical soldiers. They didn’t know how to travel in complete silence. Instead, they yammered and bickered the entire time until I wanted to pull my hair out and kill them all before Alpha Adrian even had the chance.
I actually felt relieved when we finally reached the edge of Astro Shade’s territory.
Their clan’s land was subpar, at best. The housing was rundown, the city was dingy and dated—nothing like Capri. There was no color, no shops, seemingly no joy.
“Seriously, what are we doing out here? There’s nothing to report,” Alfred said as we made camp on the edge of the forest.
“I agree,” Mark grumbled. “Let’s storm the place, kill everyone, and go home.”
I rolled my eyes. I was so tired of all of them.
“And what if we get captured?” I challenged.
“By who? Looks at this place! You think they’ve got an army that could take us down?” Mark complained.
“I think looks can be deceiving,” I said. “Now shut up and make camp. We’ll observe and then decide if attack is our best option.�
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They grumbled as they turned back to their supplies and I ignored them. Fucking amatuers.
I started to turn away from them to observe the city again before a sickening feeling settled in my gut.
“Where’s Jonah?” I asked, realizing he was still missing.
Mark shrugged. “Probably went to shit,” he said and then chuckled like a two-year-old.
I rolled my eyes. Fucking amatuers.
The sun had slowly slipped below the horizon, and the city hadn’t had a single bit of activity.
“See, what did I tell you? Not a threat. Let’s go kill some Shaders!” Mark said as he settled in next to me.
I shook my head. “No. Something’s not right. A whole clan lives here, and we haven’t seen anyone. It doesn’t add up.”
“That’s why we have to go into their territory and just go house-by-house offing—”
“Shh!” I hissed, cutting him off.
I perked up my ears, listening for the crushing of leaves I was sure I’d heard.
I looked over the camp. Alfred was sound asleep and Jonah… I swallowed. Jonah was still missing.
“Mark,” I said quietly. “Wake Alfred. We have to get out of here. It’s a…”
I trailed off as an army emerged from the shadows of the woods. Two members had Jonah in their clutches.
“Looking for this?” one of them asked with a big sadistic grin on his lips.
My stomach dropped as I caught sight sight of the slight council member before they carelessly tossed him to the ground. His face had been badly bruised, and his right eye was swollen shut. Blood was seeping from the corners of his mouth and there was a bad abrasion at the temple. As Jonah hit the dirt, his left arm laid at an odd angle to the rest of his body.
Mark lifted his eyes from where Jonah now lay crumpled on the ground and turned in a small circle before he looked at me with a defeated look on his face. “We’re surrounded.”
16
Iosefa Henare
After two days, my imprint mark had faded and I frowned as I looked at myself in the mirror. I’d hoped Elspeth’s fang marks would last forever. I could still feel the mark, like a constant tingle in the crook of my neck, but I wanted to see it. I wanted the world to see it. I belonged to Elspeth Callum.
“What’s that face for?” Elspeth asked as he watched me from the bed.
I turned away from the mirror to look back at him. “Nothing, just…” I sighed as I padded back over to the bed. “My mark is gone.”
Elspeth patted the spot next to him, beckoning me to him, and I crawled into the bed and nuzzled in next to him.
“Your mark isn’t gone. It’s forever, my sweet wolf.” He kissed my forehead. “You are mine, forever.”
I smiled, loving the thought of forever with him. “I know,” I said. “I guess I was just hoping for a scar or something visible to show people I’m yours.”
Elspeth grinned. “I can bite you again,” he said, nipping at my shoulder.
“Hmm, maybe.” My forehead wrinkled. “I definitely need something. I can’t keep blurting out that we had sex at the dinner table.”
Elspeth’s brows shot up. “Okay, I feel like that’s a story I need to hear.”
I shook my head. “It’s nothing. I told Mishel we had sex.”
Elspeth laughed. “Okay.”
“I think we’re, like, friends now.” I shrugged. “He’s really nice.”
Elspeth brushed his fingers through my hair. “That’s good, Sefa. Mishel is a good person.”
“Is he here today?” I started to climb out of bed. “I’ll go say hi before breakfast.”
Elspeth pulled me back into him. “No. Dimitri is on a mission. I thought Mishel would like the day off.”
I frowned and Elspeth traced my lips with his thumb.
“Don’t pout, sweet wolf. I’ll make a call and arrange for him to be here in an hour.”
I shook my head. “No, don’t do that. He’s my friend, not my servant. I don’t want to beckon him here.”
Elspeth shrugged as if that was exactly how he treated his friends.
“I’ll just call him and see if he wants to go shopping or something,” I said.
Elspeth nodded. “Shopping sounds fun. I’ll be sure to make certain you have substantial funds.”
I opened my mouth to protest but then shut it. Don’t negotiate against yourself, Iosefa. I told myself. Despite my best efforts to stay true to my roots, I’d become a little bit accustomed to the finer things.
“Thank you,” I said, leaning in to kiss him.
He kissed me back, cupping a hand around the back of my head to pull me in deeper.
I shifted my weight to climb on top of him but pulled back as nausea suddenly overwhelmed me. When I went to straighten up, the movement only intensified it.
Elspeth traced his hands over my stomach, and I hurriedly pushed them away.
His face twisted in confusion. “Sefa, what’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I said, climbing off him. “Suddenly, I don’t feel so good.”
Elspeth reached out to touch my forehead with the back of his hand and pursed his lips. “Hmm, you don’t feel like you have a fever. Is something bothering you?”
“Yeah, I think…” I shot off the bed, making a mad dash for the bathroom. I’d just barely made it over the toilet before I hurled up everything I’d eaten the night before and then began to dry heave when my stomach was empty.
My eyes were blurry as I stared at the green and creamy barf in the toilet. Elspeth’s hand gently rubbed my back making the pain slightly unbearable. He pulled back my hair and put it behind my ear as I continued to dry heave over the toilet bowl.
“Sefa,” he said, his tone laced with concern.
“Elspeth...” I sniffed as tears ran down my cheeks from the burning in my throat. “I really don’t feel good.”
Elspeth nodded, waiting for me to finish heaving before he scooped me into his arms, cradling my head in the crook of his elbow and hooking his other arm under my legs.
His heart was beating fast as he hurried me down the stairs and out the front door.
Where are we going? I asked. I didn’t trust myself to speak, afraid I might hurl again.
“Just hang on, my sweet wolf,” he answered. “I’m taking you to the doctor.”
The moment we had made it into the car, Jerry drove us directly into the city.
Every time the car had jumped over a pothole, I would flinch and moan in pain, and Elspeth would yell at the driver.
I’m okay. It’s fine. I kept telling him, hoping he would manage to control his temper until we made it to the doctor’s office.
He stroked my hair, making tiny soothing noises as he cradled me in the back seat.
He kept mumbling something I couldn’t make out. I just felt too sick to try and understand the words. I was completely out of it. My ears had begun to ring and the nausea was overwhelming.
The moment the car stopped, Elspeth collected me and bolted into Doctor Kendrick’s office.
“Doctor!” Elspeth shouted, hugging me to his chest.
Elspeth… I’d started to feel lightheaded, and I wanted to tell him, but suddenly I couldn’t think. I could barely even see. The edges of my vision kept fading until everything went completely black
My vision was still blurry when I opened my eyes, and I blinked a few times to clear away the haze.
Elspeth hovered over me, his hand clutching mine as he said something I couldn’t make out. I felt like I was underwater. Everything was muffled and undulating.
He stroked my hair while planting kisses across my forehead.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” I finally heard him say as he splattered me with even more kisses.
“What happened?” I asked, my voice groggy and scratchy.
“You scared the hell out of me is what happened,” Elspeth said, his voice too laced with concern to pull off the angry timbre he was going for.
I tried to sit up and he pushed me back down. “No, Sefa. Stay resting. Doctor Kendrick will be back with your blood work in just a minute to let us know if something serious is going on.”
I shook my head and tried to sit up again. “I’m fine, Elspeth.”
Elspeth pushed me back down, pinning my shoulders to the hospital bed. “Stay, Sefa.” I mean it.
I shivered at the tone he took in my head. It was the tone of the Alpha. The tone that stilled me and forced me to obey.
I relaxed back into the bed, letting Elspeth stroke my hair and hold my hand as I impatiently waited for the doctor.
It was nothing. I knew that. The weather shift from Maehelio to Capri had been wreaking havoc on my body, and it had likely caught up to me after my wine binge with Mishel. I’d likely just experienced a delayed hangover. But I had to admit, I was a pretty big fan of all of the attention Elspeth was giving me. If it weren’t for the worried, terrified look on his face, I might have completely relished in it.
I’m fine, Elspeth. I tried to reassure him, but he was somewhere else entirely. He hadn’t even seemed to have heard me.
Doctor Kendrick opened the door, and Elspeth’s head snapped up to look at him.
I angled my head toward him, still not sure if I was allowed to sit up.
“Well, I have good news, bad news, and more good news,” Doctor Kendrick said in an overly chiper manner.
“We’re not in the mood, Doctor,” Elspeth, said sharply.
Doctor Kendrick’s smiled faded a little and he nodded. “Yes, Alpha.” He looked at me. “Iosefa, I’m happy to tell you that you’re pregnant.”
My eyes went wide, and Elspeth’s hand froze in my hair mid-stroke.
“What?” We both said together.
“You’re pregnant,” Doctor Kendrick repeated. “But your pregnancy has left you with a bit of an iron deficiency, so that’s the bad news. But,” He held up a finger, his smile returning. “We can fix that with a simple vitamin. Easy peasy.”
