by Jessica Swan
“And you do it well. I’ll never be able to thank you enough for saving my life the way you did, again and again.”
“You don’t have to. You’re my mate. I love you.” He smiled, running his fingers through her long, wavy hair.
“I love you, too, Marcus.” She smiled back.
They turned their back on the grave and took their time back to the car. Selene had something on her mind she felt she had to bring up. “So, are you moving upstate with the others?”
Marcus sighed and said, “It’s a difficult decision. I don’t know if I’m ready to decide yet. My entire life is here, including you.”
Selene didn’t say anything. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it, never wanting to let go.
“I know it’s a lot to ask, and it’s kind of soon still, but will you go with me?” he asked. “You could even resign from PAIA and come to work at Black Wolf Agency with me.”
She stopped walking, turned, and gazed into his eyes. “Only if we go all the way with this because I want you to be sure you want me by your side. I don’t want this to last a month, a year, or even ten years. I want this to be a lifetime commitment. I want you to be sure you definitely want me.”
“Of course I’m sure. Wait, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Maybe,” she grinned playfully. “But I want you to say it. I want this to be at least a little bit like how I pictured it in my head.”
“Okay, in that case,” he said, kneeling down in front of her. A bright smile spread across both of their faces, their eyes never looking away from each other, as he asked, “Will you marry me, Selene?”
“Of course I will.”
She knelt down and kissed him.
“I’m sorry I don’t have a ring, and I’m even sorry about proposing in a cemetery,” he said, and she pressed her finger against his lips to hush him.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. Sarah’s life was put to an official end here, and ours is just beginning from this point on.”
“Selene, that is a beautiful way to look at it, thank you,” said Marcus.
“You’re welcome, honey.”
“When would you like to get married?”
“Soon, and I was thinking it would be really romantic if we got married in Central Park, where we first met.” She hoped she wasn’t rushing things too much.
“That would be perfect.” He smiled at her, thinking, ‘I’m the luckiest man in the world to belong to a wonderful woman like this.’
On their way home, Selene thought about what their new life would be like. If they had children, they would be safe. They wouldn’t have to worry about their kids being kidnapped, getting hit by a car, or accidentally shape shifting in public.
“I was just thinking,” said Marcus with a look of deep concentration. “Now that we’re engaged, I just want to know, what do you think about having children someday?”
“It’s funny how you can read my mind like that.” She laughed.
“Wow, so that’s where the thought came from,” he joked. “No, really, would you like to have kids someday?”
“Of course, honey.”
He looked her way just in time to see her smile. She gazed ahead, deep in thought.
“You know,” she said, pausing for a moment. “I would kill for another one of those rabbits right about now.”
Marcus laughed. He thought she was going to continue the serious conversation they were having a moment ago. Her remark certainly lightened the mood a bit. Not that it needed lightening. He wasn’t stressed at all by their conversation about having children someday. He could tell she was comfortable with the subject as well.
“I’m not kidding,” she said, laughing along with him a little. “Though I could go for the usual rare steak if that’s more convenient.”
“I’m taking a little detour before we go home, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure.”
A little while later, they arrived just outside Central Park. Marcus parked the car and opened the door for Selene, as usual.
“Really, you don’t have to get me a rabbit,” she said, stopping for a moment. Her eyes went wide for a moment and she had a dazed look on her face.
“Are you alright? You’re not feeling good, are you?” Marcus could tell. Whether it was a hunger pain, or something else, he wasn’t sure.
She snapped back to reality, fighting the momentary feeling of nausea, and continued on. “I’m fine. I’m just real hungry, that’s all.”
“Well, I’m going to catch you a rabbit. Worst case, I may come back with a squirrel, but they’re good, too.” He laughed.
She smiled and grabbed his hand, giving it a little squeeze. “You’re so sweet. You don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do. I want to make you happy.”
They walked to a more secluded part of the park. Marcus decided it was dark enough to be able to shift into his wolf form without being noticed, though when he looked, he saw no one was around anyway. All the usual people walking, biking, and roller blading had gone home for the day. The only people out this time of evening were other werewolves and trouble makers.
Marcus inconspicuously assumed his wolf form and sniffed around for a few minutes. He caught the scent of a rabbit and tracked it down. He spotted it, sitting by a rock nearby. He stealthily snuck up on it and tackled it, breaking its neck with his jaw. He always found that to be the most humane way to kill prey, and would use that method whenever possible.
He picked up the dead rabbit, trotted back to Selene happily and dropped it at her feet.
“Thank you so much, sweetheart.” She picked up the rabbit and started removing the fur, preparing to eat it.
Marcus, still in his wolf form, looked in the other direction a couple times, making eye contact with her and licking her hand.
“Of course, go get another one for you. I’ll be fine here.”
Marcus licked her hand again lovingly and trotted off again as Selene turned to her wolf form, preparing to have her rabbit dinner, licking her chops hungrily. Minute’s later, he returned with a slightly smaller rabbit than the first one he caught.
When they finished dinner, they licked their paws clean before changing back to human form. Then they leisurely made their way back to the car.
“Thanks again, Marcus. That was delicious.”
“No problem, honey.”
When they returned to the apartment, another small wave of nausea washed over Selene. Maybe the rabbit wasn’t agreeing with her, but she had the same feeling before she ate. And she felt the same yesterday also. She was beginning to wonder if something was wrong. She went to one of the kitchen cabinets and grabbed some crackers to eat.
“Still hungry?” asked Marcus, concerned. He could tell Selene was worried and not feeling too well again.
“Something like that, I guess,” she said, not making eye contact with him. She suspected what might be going on, but didn’t want to say it out loud. Not just yet anyway.
“You’re feeling nauseous again, aren’t you?”
‘How the hell did he know I was nauseous before?’ she thought, looking up at him with a slightly worried look. “Yes, I am.”
“How long has this been going on?” He was concerned.
“Since yesterday.”
“Are you feeling weird in any other ways?”
“Well, I’m a bit tired lately, but I just assumed that was because of lack of sleep from the nightmares I’ve been having. Is it possible for werewolves to get a slight touch of the stomach flu, or something along those lines?”
“No, not at all. I haven’t been sick since, well, I don’t even remember.”
Selene was scared. No, she was terrified. She didn’t know what to do. This was too soon; far too soon.
Marcus walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her, and embraced her gently. She turned around and rested her head on his chest. His heartbeat calmed her down.
“Don’t worry, baby. It’ll be fine. There’s no
need to worry. I’ll be here with you through everything, no matter what.”
“We don’t know if it’s that yet, Marcus,” she said, walking away from him and sitting down on the couch in the living room, her head in her hands.
“Do you have a pregnancy test? Was there one mixed in some of that stuff you moved here from your apartment.”
“Yes, actually there was.” She ran into the bathroom and began digging through the basket of miscellaneous items from the move.
“I hate to be nosy, but why do you have one of those kicking around, anyway?” he asked. “Just curious.”
“Um,” she began, blushing in embarrassment. She hated mentioning anything about situations with past lovers. None of them could even compare to what she and Marcus had. “To be honest, I had a scare last year. I went ahead and bought a 2-pack instead of just one.”
“Ah, I see.”
Just then, Selene spotted it at the bottom of the basket. “I found it.” She picked it up and held it for a moment, staring at it with a mixture of fear and excitement. “It doesn’t expire until next year, so we’re good.”
“Great, go ahead and take it now, honey.” He was a bit worried himself. He didn’t know what to think of this sudden surprise. Of course he was looking forward to having children with Selene, but they weren’t expecting one this soon. ‘Calm down,’ he told himself. ‘It’s probably a fluke. It’ll be negative, and all this worrying will have been for nothing.’
Selene came out of the bathroom and plopped down on the couch. By the look on her face, Marcus could tell she didn’t have an answer yet.
“We’ll have to wait a couple minutes to make sure it’s definitely accurate. I didn’t even check it yet. I’m afraid to look.”
Marcus slid closer to her on the couch and placed his hand on her thigh, rubbing it gently. “I’ll look in a couple minutes.”
She smiled at him a little and said, “Thank you.”
Two excruciatingly long minutes went by. Marcus went into the bathroom and looked at the test, a little confused. “What does it mean when there are two lines on the display?”
Within a second, Selene showed up at the door, grabbing it from him just to verify the result with her own two eyes. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe him. She just couldn’t believe what was happening. “It means I’m pregnant.” She couldn’t help her next reaction to the news. She turned away from him and started to cry as she made her way back to the couch.
“Aww, baby, don’t be upset.” He sat down next to her again.
She looked up at him, her eyes red and slightly puffy. “I’m scared, Marcus. I don’t know if I’m ready for this yet.”
“Me, either, to be honest. But we’ll get through this together, just like everything else we’ve been through so far. You’ve survived two attacks from a killer werewolf, fought one without getting a single scratch, and then killed the other one by throwing him off a cliff, nearly dying in the process. Those are things that no human has ever done in their entire lifetime. However, humans have babies every day.”
Selene thought about what he said for a moment and smiled. “You always have a way of cheering me up.”
“I try.” He smiled, gently pulling her into his arms, holding her close to comfort her.
Yes, Selene was still terrified, but at least she knew she wasn’t alone. Even though she could tell Marcus was scared too, she knew they would be there for each other through all of this. They were engaged now, and planning to get married soon. They had also decided earlier that they wanted children. Why not have one sooner than later? The baby was coming whether they were prepared for it or not.
~ Chapter Seventeen ~
*A Month Later*
It was the night before Marcus and Selene’s wedding. Selene didn’t want to have much of a bachelorette party. Since she and her Maid of Honor, Kate were both pregnant, they couldn’t drink, so Selene just had the girls from Black Wolf Agency over for a little while for some food and non-alcoholic drinks.
The day after Selene found out she was pregnant; she went to Kate with the news. Kate offered her some helpful advice and support. Since then, they had become close friends and talked or visited with each other on a daily basis. She showed Selene pictures from her wedding, and after seeing Selene’s excited reaction, Kate helped make the preparations so they could have their wedding in the same place. Marcus was thrilled with the idea as well.
Selene wasn’t so sure about having a bachelorette party, and at first, there was an awkward silence in the room once everyone had arrived and sat down. Thanks to Kate, that didn’t last long.
“So, how’s the sex? We want juicy details,” said Kate, grinning.
“No, we don’t!” said Yvonne, laughing as she pretended to plug her ears.
“Oh, yes, we do!” said Lin, laughing at Kate’s question. “It’s good apparently.”
“Sure is,” said Selene, blushing, catching what Lin was hinting at. “Does anyone know if normal birth control methods even work for werewolves? I suppose we should have been more careful.”
“Um, actually,” Yvonne, began. She couldn’t believe she was about to tell them this. “I’m on the pill now. At first, Lucius and I tried condoms and they didn’t work at all. We have discovered there are many ways to destroy them. They also tend to disintegrate before we’re even done. I have no idea whether or not the pill will work on a werewolf. But let’s just go with no for the condoms.”
“Ah, ha! Good to know,” said Selene, feeling a bit better.
“Personally, I didn’t even think about the possibility of getting pregnant,” said Kate. “I had been a vampire so long; I put that thought out of my mind a long time ago.”
“Vampires are infertile?” asked Selene.
“Yes, I suppose no beating heart meant no babies.”
“That makes sense.” Lin chuckled. “So, what’s it like with that handsome man of yours? I bet he really knows how to please a lady in bed.”
“I don’t need to hear this!” said Yvonne; she turned beat red, trying to hold back her laughter.
“It’s mind-blowing, Lin,” answered Selene, deciding to go into details to torture Yvonne. She liked Yvonne a lot, but thought it would be funny to see her reaction to her story. “He knows probably every position you could imagine.”
“I’m not listening!” said Yvonne.
“And, not only does he have the goods, but he definitely knows how to use them.”
“T.M.I.!” squeaked Yvonne.
“And he can go all… night… long.”
“He can?” asked Yvonne, totally changing her reaction to the conversation.
“Sure can.” Selene giggled, blushing a lot.
“Yes, they can and it is quite enjoyable. It’s one of the many things I love about James,” said Kate.
“So can Lucius. It must be a werewolf thing, huh?”
“Oh, now that’s T.M.I.!” said Lin, clapping her hands over her ears as she started to hum.
“It’s okay for you guys to share your sex life, but it’s not okay for me to share mine?” asked Yvonne, kidding with her as she pulled Lin’s hands away from her ears.
“Just kidding,” said Lin, slapping Yvonne’s arm playfully.
“Okay, who wants to play Naughty Thoughts?” asked Kate, grinning as she took out a board game and setting it on the table.
“That sounds like fun!” said Yvonne.
“Sure does,” said Lin.
“Let’s go for it,” Selene added, breaking open the board game.
At first, she dreaded the thought of a bachelorette party, especially without being able to drink alcohol, but thanks to her friends, it was turning out to be a great night.
The next day, Selene stood before the full sized mirror, staring at her reflection. She was wearing the most beautiful wedding dress she had ever seen; it was white and long, coming down to her ankles, and it hugged her body, showing off her curves. She stared at her belly and placed her hand on it delicately.
It was flat for now, but in just a few months, she would have a baby bump. She smiled at the thought. Looking up at her reflection again, she admired the nice job Kate had done with her hair. She wore it down and the normal waves in her hair had gentle curls at the ends.
It was hard for her to believe she was wearing a wedding dress. She had dreamt of this moment her whole life. She remembered dressing up as a bride when she was a little girl. Her parents had bought her a white dress and veil to play in, so she could act out her wedding. She smiled at the memory. She wished her parents were still alive to see her dream finally come true. Being an only child, her parents spoiled her and loved her to death. When she had lost them in that boating accident, it seemed like her whole world had fallen apart. She shed a couple tears thinking about them and how much she missed them.
“Don’t cry, honey,” said Kate, hugging her.
“I’m just sad my parents aren’t here to see me get married. And they won’t get to meet their grandchild, either.”
“It’s okay. I’m here for you. We’re all here for you. My parents were long gone when James and I had our wedding. It comforts me to think they were still there, though, smiling down on us.”
Selene looked at her and smiled. “Me, too. Even if they’re not here in person, they’re with me in spirit.”
Kate took a moment to check over Selene’s makeup and look her over really good. Then she asked, “Are you ready to get married?”
“More than ever.” Selene smiled, taking her friend’s hand and walking out to the car.
It was a gorgeous day; perfect for a wedding. Selene got out of the car and took a deep breath of fresh, spring air and sighed happily. She followed Kate, Yvonne, and Lin toward the location she had chosen for her wedding, next to the lake. They could see the crowd from afar. Quite a few people had shown up.
As they approached the crowd, Selene set her eyes on the one who mattered to her the most: Marcus. As he met her gaze, they smiled at each other. Just then, beautiful wedding music with violins and cellos began to play, almost bringing tears to Selene’s eyes. ‘Hold it together, girl. Don’t mess up your makeup. You want to look your best for the man you’re about to marry.’
