“How does she fare?” He looked at Greida and Althor, whom took turns attending his wife. It was times like these, when he saw both of them in his chamber together, that he grew more alarmed.
“The same, Laird. We’ve tried the herbs, the salves, the potions. Nothing works.” It had been Greida who had responded.
He nodded grimly. “Where’s Riley?”
“He sleeps in his chamber, now. The poor lad was crying, worried about Andie…” Greida said, her voice trailing.
“He’s wanted to sleep here with her, but I’ll nay allow him to,” Gavin said evenly.
His eyes caressed Andie’s pale face. She lacked all her usual color. Sallow skin and sunken eyes made her look like she was on the edge of death- and she was. She was considerably thinner when compared to her pregnancy size, and her cheekbones were very noticeable. He grabbed her frail hands and noticed the thin bones beneath the taughtly stretched skin.
“Leave us for the night,” he said in a deep resonating voice.
Before Althor left, Gavin asked him, “Any new prophecies, Althor?”
Gavin looked at him and Althor raised surprised eyes to Gavin’s. “Change of heart, Laird?” Althor asked, with none of his usual sarcasm.
Gavin shrugged. “I need hope and I doona care where it comes from,” he said honestly.
Althor shook his head sadly in irony. When the laird was willing to listen to him, he had nothing to say. “Nay, Laird. Nay new prophecies.”
“Thank ye, Althor, for yer services through the years.” Gavin focused again on Andie, forgetting about Althor, and so he missed the look of surprise on the other man’s face.
Gavin’s lips began moving in silent words. He would stay up for the next couple of hours, praying as he usually did for his wife to return back to him.
Near desperation, he added one more hour to the ritual, praying for a miracle.
The miracle came to him the next morning as he awoke from his sleep next to Andie. Though he’d only slept a couple of hours, his energy was attributed to his dreams. He hurried out of bed and left their room.
“Riley?” he said, gently shaking his son awake.
Yawning, Riley opened his sleepy eyes and looked up at his father in confusion. “Papa?” Still looking at his father, his eyes suddenly lost their sleepiness. “Mama?” he asked hopefully, getting excited.
Gavin shook his head but gave his son a gentle smile. It had been a little over a week since Andie had fallen into her sleep-state. His son had asked every day whether she would awaken.
“Nay, she’s nay awake, but I’ve an idea. Come,” he said extending his hand. “I need yer help.”
Riley bolted out of bed and followed his father. Gavin went to his newborn babies. He handed Riley Maggie, since she was smaller, with a warning to be careful, and then picked up Andrew. Together, they walked down the corridor to Andie. Closing the door behind them, Gavin and Riley sat on the massive bed, where a sickly Andie slept.
“What now, Papa?” Riley looked up at him so innocently, he hated to raise his hopes.
“Let us pray,” he said.
Together, with the sleeping babies resting on the bed, they prayed the whole morning. In the afternoon, they ate together, while the wet nurse came to collect the babies. Once reunited in the early evening, the family prayed together again. Riley fell asleep early and was cuddled next to Andie.
Gavin didn’t stop praying until the moon was high. Though he’d never been a particularly religious man before, he was now. It wasn’t out of a newly found piousness, however, it was out of desperation and a willingness to try anything to save his cherished wife’s life. Making certain his precious babies were safe, he rested next to Andie and Riley.
He hoped to dream of her.
He awoke to gentle fingertips stroking his hair. Sleepy, he opened his eyes slowly, remembering the feel of the calming caress. Soothing, comforting, gentle.
“Mama?” he asked, then tears gathered in his eyes as he remembered his Mama was sleeping still.
Would she ever wake up?
“Riley.”
It was a strange voice. It was rough, deep, and sounded as if it went unused for a bit.
Gavin, feeling a sense of awareness creeping into his soul, stirred awake.
The children! He thought in panic. What time of day was it?
Then he heard Riley.
“Mama?”
A roughened voice answered, one almost unfamiliar except for the gentle baritone. Gavin looked to Andie.
Her eyes were slit open, but they were open!
“Andie?” he said in a hurtful whisper. He dared not hope.
She managed to open her eyes a little wider and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly. “Gavin,” she said groggily.
He closed his eyes and buried his head in her stomach. Riley began chanting “Mama” over and over again in excitement. Taken aback, Andie placed her hand over Gavin’s head and ran her fingers down. She thought she saw Gavin’s shoulders shake. Was the fabric over her stomach wet?
Gavin looked up then and she saw his glowing eyes. Fresh tears gathered there and fell on his cheeks.
“My love?” he whispered reverently, unbelievingly.
“‘Tis I and no other,” she whispered to him.
He closed his eyes again, sinking his head into her belly. His hands gently gripped her waist as he quietly cried in relief.
“Papa! Mama’s awake!” Riley said, bouncing on the bed. He stopped when the babies began to wail. “I’m sorry, I woke them!” Riley said, his voice quieter.
“Babies…” Andie said, as if trying to remember
Gavin lifted his head and he wiped the tears from his eyes. He stood and grabbed the loudest of the two- Maggie. While he rocked her and calmed her wails, his eyes remained focused on Andie.
“Babies?” she said, her eyes opening a little wide. Slowly bringing her hands to her stomach, she felt her now flat, almost concave belly. She made a strangled noise in her throat and tears that hurt her to cry, fell down her face.
“Andie, doona cry, my love,” Gavin said brokenly. He looked at Riley. “Riley, son, get both Greida and Althor. Inform them that your mother has at last awoken.”
Riley did as Gavin had instructed. Maggie, now quiet, was placed on Andie while Gavin picked up Andrew.
“Our babies…” Andie whispered.
“Our babies, my love, our babies,” Gavin said emotionally. “D’ye remember anything, Andie?”
She closed her eyes, both in weariness and in thought. Slowly, she nodded. “Are the babies alright?”
Gavin laughed and she slowly opened her eyes. “Didna ye hear the haleness of their wails? Aye, my love, they are more than alright. They are miracles, and that is due to their remarkable mother.”
She lifted the corners of her mouth again. She looked down at Maggie and lifted her hand to the baby’s head. “Beautiful.”
“Just like their mother,” Gavin said as Althor, Greida, and Riley appeared at the door.
“Thank the Lord!” Greida said and bowed quickly. “She’s awake!” Moving towards Andie, Greida began assessing Andie’s health. After a couple of minutes, Greida looked at Althor and Gavin.
Gavin swallowed nervously, as he still rocked Andrew to sleep. “Well?”
“She looks well. Hale.” She said that with a catch to her voice, as if she still couldn’t believe Andie was awake.
Gavin closed his eyes in relief.
“‘Tis a miracle,” Althor said, laughing. Greida’s laughter began to bubble and soon Gavin joined in.
It was the cacophony of nervous laughter.
Nervous but happy.
“Enough. I’ve eaten twice as much as ye!” Andie said, laughing. A full month later, Gavin was still nervous and pushy about her health, forcing her to eat more and more food. “I’ve recovered, Gavin. I’ve nay need to eat the clan dry.” He laughed and Riley joined in. “I’d like to leave the chamber. I doona need to stay here all day anymore.
”
Andie was rocking Andrew on the bed, refusing to eat another bite of the food Gavin had brought her. Greida had allowed her to nurse, though Greida expressed doubt as to whether her milk would flow since Andie had been so ill. Two days ago, Andie had brought Andrew to her breast and he latched on hungrily. After minutes of frustrating suckling, he began to wail. Patiently, Andie had placed him back, and inexplicably, her milk began to flow.
“Nay, Mama. Ye must do as Papa says.”
“Oh I must, ye say?” she asked Riley.
“Yes. Ye were verra ill and we were all scared. Except for me,” he whispered loudly, though he hadn’t wanted Gavin to hear. “I was brave. I soothed Papa.”
“Ye did?” Andie whispered back, biting down her smile. She stole a glance over at Gavin who raised his eyes in patience and sighed. “Ye are a brave lad, Riley. I love ye so,” she said.
“I love ye, too, Mama,” Riley said, kissing her cheek. Andie smiled gently at him, then turned her gaze to Gavin.
“How’s Maggie, our Papa’s little lass,” Andie said, smiling.
“Sleeping soundly as she always does. Ye know, in my arms, nay in her bed,” Gavin said, but was hard pressed to remain stoic in feigned irritation. Giving in, he smiled at Andie.
Papa’s little lass was right. She already had him tightly around her tiny finger.
Later that evening, when Riley was sleeping in his room and the bairns were sleeping soundly in the nursery attached to Gavin and Andie’s chamber, Gavin settled down next to his wife, sighing in contentment.
“Ye doona have to continue to bathe me. My energy has returned and I feel as good as I’ve ever felt,” she said, resting her head on his bare chest.
He placed his hand over her head and closed his eyes. Would he ever get used to holding her like this? He knew he never would.
“Allow me that small boon, Andie. Ye were so close to death, I feared never having the ability to bring ye back to me. Anyways, my love, we agreed that ye would rest until two days hence.”
“Aye,” she sighed. “‘Twas the only way ye’d agreed to allow me to visit Meghan, Gabriel, and their little sweet James.”
He relaxed, content to have her in his arms. Her vibrancy returned tenfold. Her skin was luminescent, and her eyes were energetic and bright. Even her cheeks were extra rosy and her lips were dewy and soft. It seemed as if she hadn’t gone through that terrible ordeal in the woods when she gave birth to their children.
“I canna believe that Alistair fathered Riley.”
“I couldna believe it either.” Gavin paused a moment, then said, “Ye know the second messenger I used when ye and Meghan occupied mine?”
“Yes.”
“He was under Alistair’s direction. ‘Twas how Alistair was kept informed of the messages. ‘Twas how he manipulated a great many things.”
“So Charlie hadna been the only mon that was used against us?”
“Nay.”
After a long period of silence, Andie asked the question that she’d been mulling over since she’d found out about Riley’s true parentage.
“Should we ever tell him?” she asked hesitantly.
“What d’ye think?” he asked, wanting to know her feelings.
“I doona think we should. Ye are his father, nay him. ‘Tis best that Riley never knows that bastard existed. We are his mother and father. Sarah and Alistair were nothing but cruel and evil people, and the only good to ever come from them was Riley.”
Moved by her words, he kissed her head. “Lord, I grow to love ye more and more each day. When I believe ‘tis nay possible to love ye anymore, my heart surprises me and swells even more.”
She kissed his chest. “I love ye, Gavin.” She smiled then. “How fortunate I am to have you. I love ye, and Riley, and our precious bairns. Though I’ve lost my family, I have gained another. I know that they are content that I have found ye. My father and mother would have approved ye for me, Gavin. They would have loved ye, if they were alive now.”
He exhaled slowly as her words settled over him. “Ye honor me, my love. I shall always protect ye, and protect our children, those we have now and those left to be born.”
“Left to be born?” she shrieked lifting her head.
“Ye doona want anymore?” he asked humorously.
“Of course,” she said, smiling, unable to keep a straight face. “How is it ye believe that I survived the birth? I was supposed to perish. Our little Andrew carries the Dark Wolf traits.”
He sighed as his heart skipped beats. He’d come too close to losing her. “I doona know the answer to that. Though ye know I felt our connection when ye began to undergo birth pains alone in the snow. Ye are my mate,” he said, kissing her head. “Perhaps bearing two bairns instead of one undid the curse. Mayhap the curse was no match for ye and yer strength. What I know is that I am thankful and will forever be. I have my heart back, my soul, and all is right in my life. My children and my beautiful wife have shined light into my dark existence. I live for ye and them. I shall protect ye all with my life, because ye and the bairns are my life.”
Andie hugged him tightly, basking in their love. The life they would share together would be full of bright days, comforting nights, and bountiful love.
Epilogue
Gavin sighed as Althor smiled. His eyes flashed.
“What has ye smiling, Althor, the great seer?”
Althor laughed. The laird would never change his skeptical ways but he had become more tolerant over the last two years since his wife had survived the birth of his twins and their newly born daughter, Katherine, named after Gavin’s own mother.
“The curse has fallen. I see no more of it to come. When it comes time for Andrew to seek out a wife, he willna have to fear loving her. He willna have the same fear that ye had with yer own.”
Gavin smiled to himself. So his son would have the benefits of the Dark Wolf’s traits and none of the curse, like Gavin himself now had- like Gavin’s own father hadn’t had.
Althor, too, hid his smile from the Laird. He was elated to bring this news to him. “I do have a new prophecy, Laird.”
Gavin sighed in mocked impatience. “Yes, old mon. Tell me of this damn prophecy.”
Althor smiled and let Gavin see it. The laird nodded, a smile hovering on his own lips.
“Listen carefully laird-
The Maitland curse is now no more,
The Dark Wolf heirs shall be free,
The curse shall be spoken lore,
With no other damning decree.
And so with twins,
Freedom comes abound,
A new prophecy begins,
New lives have been found.
A future with light,
There are no fears of loss or pain,
The bloodline shall have a future so bright,
As the legend of the Dark Wolf has been tamed.
Fears and darkness have been cast aside,
Marriages may be formed not only for lust,
Love may exist for the Dark Wolf and his bride,
Forever, to have and to trust.”
About Allie
Since I was old enough to read, I've been imaging far away places with intriguing characters and happy endings. I love to create interesting heroes and heroines, and the worlds they live in. I often joke that if it were not for the fact that I love to write, I would be worried about the many voices in my head vying for domination to get their stories told. Scenes come at me from nowhere and everywhere, and the characters take it on, rolling with their dialogue. I'm simply a spectator as they converse.
I've always wanted to write for a living, and fortunately, I do. I live with my husband, toddler, and fur-children. We have a busy house, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
I am grateful for my readers and their support. I promise to try and not let you down! I'd love to hear from you. Please drop me a line, or write a review.
I hope you enjoyed this labor of love. Check out my website f
or extras. You can also contact me via Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Google+, and Spotify!
Thanks, and happy reading!
Other Books by Allie
The Vampire Race Wars Series
Book 1: My Dark Queen
Xander and Elena
Book 2: My Dark Beauty
Lucien and Samanda
Spring of 2015
Book 3: My Dark Angel
Reichen and Angel
Summer/Fall of 2015
Heart of a Highlander Collection
(Stand alone novels)
To Have and To Trust
Please read on for an excerpt from My Dark Queen, Book 1 of my paranormal romance series, The Vampire Race Wars.
Excerpt of My Dark Queen
Vampire Race Wars Series, Book 1
Paranormal Romance
(First and Second Prologues Omitted)
Chapter One
The FATES Realm, Sarai’s Palace
“You must, Xander. No arguments.”
“You can send another, Sarai. I’m busy,” he said, drinking his whiskey straight-up, no rocks. He smiled a little, showing his incisors. “You summoned me, and I’ve told you time and time again that I’m fed up with that, Sarai. I am not a taxi.” His accent was more pronounced as he dragged out the last word.
Sarai studied him for a moment. He was dressed in his usual manner- black pants, black shirt and a black trench coat. He had gel in his dark hair, and she raised an eyebrow to this unusual display of trendy style. Enormous at six and a half feet, he was massively built. His eyes, though, were what captured the females’ attentions. They were the clearest of aquas, a vibrant replica of the Caribbean Ocean, and flashed iridescently when it suited his mood. He was built to be a warrior, built to be a king. Strong, arrogant, self-assured- he was all that and more- and Sarai knew just how to pluck his strings and play him like a violin.
To Have and to Trust (Heart of a Highlander Collection Book 1) Page 33
