Gerard released Lachelle’s hand for the first time since they arrived and walked over to Kelly. He narrowed his eyes, studying her beautiful face. She raised her chin in obvious defiance.
“I don’t understand you, Declan,” Gerard said. “She’s standing right here in front of us.”
“No, she’s not.”
Now Lachelle was confused.
“That person in front of you isn’t your Kelly. The original Kelly died.”
The present Kelly paled.
“In fact…” Declan made a show of using a dish of water one of his men brought to him and then dried his hands. He strode to Kelly and jerked her chin even higher. She shrieked as he seemed to poke her in the eye. Everyone in the room gasped.
“Get off me, you bastard!” She fought to get free, but the men held on with ease.
Declan turned to face the room, and on the tip of the finger he held up was none other than a contact lens. Lachelle blinked at Kelly. Sure enough, now one of her eyes was green, not silver. Exclamations of shock rippled around the room.
“She’s human,” Declan explained. “My investigations have found that Patrick Sevelle funded a lab where experiments have been conducted over the years on shifters.”
“Oh my God!” Janessa cried out horrified. The news floored Lachelle as well.
“This man again?” one of the council members said. “It’s a good thing he’s dead. But what does this mean? If he experimented on shifters, why are her eyes green? And what does that have to do with the real Kelly?”
“This person is human.” Declan let this news sink in. “I’m only guessing at the details—and we can question her later—but it may be that when Patrick learned what the scientists he employed could do with shifters, he hatched a plan. He would compromise our family’s authority by working from the inside.
“The scientists gave this woman just enough shifter DNA from the real Kelly Durante to make her smell like the real Kelly. My guess is she’s also had plastic surgery for the right look. He taught her all of the history between Gerard and Kelly and then sent her out to make her grand appearance before Gerard.
“With the story about being abandoned to die alone, Patrick depended on Gerard being so wracked with guilt, he wouldn’t recall that he had shared his story with Patrick and filled in what Patrick didn’t already know about the civil war and their actions during that time.”
Everyone in the room sat stunned. Lachelle couldn’t have guessed in a million years what Declan shared. Sure, she knew Kelly lied, but for the ruse to go this far? It was too much. She found herself grateful that the evil Patrick was dead, and one of the council members said so.
“This is unprecedented,” the councilman said. “We can’t hand her over to the humans for prosecution for her crimes.”
“Can’t we?” Declan frowned at the fake Kelly, and she glared him down.
Lachelle realized the same thing Patrick had done with Gerard he did with Kelly. He placed her in the position of police commander. Maybe he wanted to use Gerard and discovered Gerard was too damaged. Then again, he might have thought so far ahead that Gerard was simply a step in this master plan.
“I say we punish her by our own laws,” one of Declan’s men suggested.
“I’m human,” Kelly shouted. “You have no right to do anything with me!”
Fake Kelly worried about being killed like Patrick. Declan was home despite human fear and distrust. She didn’t have much hope.
“Are you?” Declan grinned. “You have shifter DNA running around in your body. If the humans do a test…”
Fake Kelly cried out in terror.
“We’re still ironing out how humans and shifters will live together in this world. I’m guessing they’ll start asking questions about you, looking into your background. They’ll wonder how you were able to become a police commander.”
Lachelle caught on to where Declan was going. “She was put in her position, like Gerard was.”
“I went to school,” Fake Kelly claimed, but she was so red now with embarrassment, Lachelle didn’t believe it.
“I went through training,” Lachelle told her. “And I know when I see someone who’s pretending to be what she isn’t. You were a sniveling fearful mess when the dragons fought in the street. There’s no way you trained for anything other than to lie.”
Gerard took Lachelle’s hand. He looked at her and then at everyone in the room. “Kelly was never my mate, but even if she was, I’ve made my decision. I want Lachelle. I will bond with her—today.”
Declan slapped his brother on the back. “Anything you want, my king.”
Gerard curled his nostrils in distaste, and Declan chuckled. He knew Gerard wouldn’t take back the leadership role for anything. Lachelle started to suspect that Declan had done a lot of planning and working behind the scenes to bring them to this point.
“Take her out,” Declan ordered. “We’ll turn her over to the humans. They can do what they like with her. Call everyone here. We’re going to have a bonding ceremony for my brother and his mate.”
The men took Fake Kelly out, but one of the council members spoke up. “Hold on. The real Kelly is dead. That we know now, but that doesn’t mean this woman—another human—is Gerard’s mate. Haven’t we had enough interference with their kind?”
“What did you say about my sister?” Janessa stormed over to the man, but her husband zipped in to keep her from laying hands on him. She frowned at Declan. “Move, Declan. He thinks he can accuse Lachelle of ‘interfering.’ I’m going to show him interference.”
“Steady, my love.”
Declan looked like he was even more in love with his wife at that moment than he had been previously. Lachelle rolled her eyes in amusement. She liked Janessa defending her even if she could take care of herself. Her sis’s love meant a lot.
“Lachelle’s identity as Gerard’s real mate will be proven shortly,” Declan said.
“It’ll be too late after the bonding,” the councilman insisted.
“As king,” Declan emphasized, confirming he had taken back the role from his brother, “I insist on the bonding. Besides, which of you will stop Gerard from doing what he wants?”
No one said a word.
“Gerard is the most powerful of us, hands down. Everyone knows this.”
Lachelle gazed up at her man and believed Declan. She had sensed the strength and power rolling off Gerard countless times, especially when he shape shifted. He kept his distance from others and held himself under sharp control. She loved him so much. If his wish was to be alone, then they would be “alone” as a family forever.
“No comments?” Declan asked the group. “Okay, we will move forward. Lachelle, I can have someone bring your parents if you wish. It might take a few hours because of where they’ve moved.”
Lachelle turned to Gerard and rested her palms on his chest. “No, let’s do it now. I want to bond with Gerard. Later, we can plan a wedding for my parents to attend. Right now, I just want to seal the deal and belong to Gerard as he belongs to me.”
Chapter 18
“Gerard?” Lachelle covered a yawn and rubbed her eyes. She stepped out into the night and scanned the darkness. Nothing stirred, but something told her he was there. “Are you having trouble sleeping?”
He appeared from the shadows and approached her. As he drew close, her heart pounded. Love and desire mingled, and she put her hands out without thinking about it. He captured them and raised her fingers to his lips.
“You knew I was there?” he asked.
She grinned. “Yeah, maybe I’m a shifter now.”
He gave her a doubtful look that she barely made out by moonlight. “It doesn’t work like that.”
She smacked his arm. “I know, but I can still tell when you’re close. Who knows? Maybe it’s the baby.”
“Your heart is beating too fast. You should rest.”
“I’m fine.”
He wouldn’t listen. Someone had placed pati
o furniture outside their cabin, on the tiny slip of a porch. Gerard raised her in his arms and settled on one of the chairs with her on his lap. She nestled against his chest and shut her eyes.
Images of their bonding ceremony came to mind, and she looked up at him. “We proved it.”
“Yes.” He knew what she meant.
“I’m your mate now.”
“You always were.”
“Those warm fuzzy feelings. I cried like a baby. Snot was everywhere.”
One side of his mouth rose. “Yes.”
“Hey!” She smacked his arm again and then laughed. All of the council was convinced as well as the rest of the dragon shifters. She and Janessa were officially the Hughes men’s mates.
Some said the bonding was a sign that relations with humans would improve. Lachelle didn’t know how true that was, but she hoped for it. Fake Kelly never intended to act as a liaison between humans and shifters, but Lachelle had begun to think she herself could.
“So are we moving back to the city?” She and Gerard discussed the decision after their bonding ceremony, but neither had come to a conclusion. Gerard only wanted to protect his family, he’d told her, and he was willing to wait at the homestead for the baby to be born.
“I want to.”
“So it’s decided?”
He started to answer but then froze. She wondered if it was an enemy, but as far as she knew none of the enemy shifters were still around. The humans didn’t know where the homestead was. More magic, she had heard.
A thought occurred to her. “You know what, Gerard, that woman couldn’t fly or do much of anything you guys could do. Now it makes sense why.”
“Lachelle?” He was still acting weird.
“What is it, baby? What’s wrong?”
“Baby.”
“I’ve been calling you baby a while now. You don’t like it?”
“No, I mean…” He touched her belly. “The baby is ready.”
And just like that, she went into labor. Her water broke. The contractions started. She didn’t know how he knew, but he was right. Terror took hold of her. Thoughts of the pain and a tiny human shifter hybrid ripping out of her filled her mind. She cried.
“Easy,” he whispered gently. “Everything will be fine.”
“Gerard.”
“Shh. My son won’t hurt you.”
She had never heard Gerard so gentle and sweet or so calm. When he touched her belly, light illuminated his hands. Was this healing? Maybe. The light grew, extending up his arms. She thought he was trying to make everything go smoothly before they headed to the shifter doctor’s clinic, but as the light expanded, it seemed to take Gerard by surprise as well.
The light engulfed both her belly and Gerard’s chest. It flashed brighter then disappeared inside him. His eyes widened, and he nipped her into his arms to carry her into the night.
Before long, they arrived at the doctor’s clinic. The place lay in total darkness, but the second they reached the entrance, the doctor opened the door. “Come in.”
“How?” A contraction hit, not exactly terrible pain, but strong enough to let her know what was going on with her body. “My sister, someone get my sister.”
She was rushed into the delivery room and settled on the most comfy bed she’d ever been on, cocooned with plush blankets and pillows. The temperature in the room seemed to be a bit high as well. That’s when she noticed the heaters.
“It’s summer,” she murmured.
“He will be cold,” the doctor informed her. “He’s used to gathering as much as he needs from your body, and it will take some getting used to for him to adjust to life out here.”
The door opened, and Janessa rushed in, wearing a robe with a silk head tie around her head. Her bed slippers shooshed over the floor as she hurried to Lachelle’s side. “Don’t be scared, Lachelle. His natural healing will keep it all comfortable for you until he leaves your body.”
“It’s the after I’m worried about. I remember what you told me.”
“You’ll be fine, girl. Let’s welcome your cute little son. I can’t wait to meet him.”
Gerard Wesley Hughes, Jr. almost jumped out of Lachelle’s arms. “What in the hairy heck is going on?”
Gerard laughed. Her man actually laughed. He was different after that light, and she knew it was because his heart had healed. “He was born with his wings out. No need to awaken.”
“Leave it to my big brother to have son born ready to fly,” Declan teased. “I’m not surprised.”
“How can he already know how to fly?” Lachelle wanted to know. “Isn’t he like a baby bird who has to learn from his daddy? I have feeling I won’t be able to keep up with this boy.”
“Nope.” Janessa snorted.
“Nessa, you’re too happy about it!”
“Why shouldn’t I be? You laughed at me when I was dealing with Bannon flying all around the house. Take your medicine.”
“Don’t make me get out of this bed and hurt you, sis.”
“You can’t catch me. You’re sore and tired for the first time in nine months.”
“Shush.”
Lachelle laughed. Her sister was right, but she felt more alive than ever before. Her baby boy had been born healthy and strong. He didn’t even need all the precautions for warmth. Little Wesley—as they decided to call him—was fired up.
A new thought struck Lachelle. “Oh, God, what if he can breathe fire already?”
At that moment, her son opened big silver eyes and grinned up at her.
“Did you see that, Gerard? He gave me the most mischievous grin when I mentioned fire-breathing.”
Gerard leaned down and kissed his son’s forehead then brushed a big hand over the mop of dark silky curls. “I’ve made my decision. We will stay here at the homestead.”
“Good choice,” everyone in the room chorused together.
* * *
The End
About the Author
Tressie Lockwood has always loved books, and she enjoys writing about heroines (and this time a hero) who are overcoming the trials of life. She writes straight from her heart, reaching out to those who find it hard to be completely themselves no matter what anyone else thinks. She hopes her readers enjoy her stories.
A Note From Tressie,
I would like to thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, please take a moment to review it and to let a friend know about me. A good review can help an author reach more people, and others will take a chance like you did. Thank you for your help, and happy reading.
- Tress
Also by Tressie Lockwood
For Hire Series
* * *
Liar For Hire
Shifter For Hire
Mate For Hire
* * *
Shona and Neena
* * *
Planning His Wedding
The Bribe and the Baby
* * *
The Sartoris
* * *
Accepting His Name
Raising His Baby
Reaching His Heart
* * *
Single Title CLEAN Works
* * *
No Way Forward
Involuntary Daddy
Matching Tony
* * *
tressielockwood.blogspot.com
Mate For Hire: For Hire Series - Book 3 Page 10
