by Mikayla Lane
Yeah, real sexy, she thought with a snort, turning from her depressing reflection.
She tried not to think about how frumpy and awful she must look next to Angel and Dree, who looked the perfect duo of maternity chic.
She slipped into her shoes, headed out to the living room, and saw Chris standing there while Angel glared daggers at him with her hands on her hips. They both looked over at her when she came in the room.
“Hey!” Chris said as he took a step towards her and stopped as if he wasn’t sure what to do.
It was charming and a little upsetting for Quinn to see the normally confident alpha male looking unsure of himself, and she smiled at him and Angel.
“Hi,” she said. “So, are you here to walk with us to the medlab?”
Angel glared at him and he looked from his sister to Quinn and grinned.
“I was hoping to, but Angel thought you may want to be alone,” Chris said, ignoring the narrow-eyed stare Angel was giving him.
Chris knew he’d pay for the stunt later, but right then all he could think of was how beautiful Quinn looked. Her face and skin glowed with health, and the tousled waves of hair that he’d always adored were framing her face in perfect, bouncy layers. She had that adorable “girl next door” look about her that was only accentuated by her humble, kind nature.
Chris couldn’t imagine how he never realized she was his mate in the 10 years he’d known her. She still stole his breath whenever he saw her, and his heart stuttered in his chest. Even then, he was fighting not to touch her and feel her energy around him.
“Well, uh, I guess we shouldn’t keep them waiting,” Quinn said nervously as she headed to the door.
Angel pushed Chris out of her way, moved to Quinn’s side, looped her arm through Quinn’s, and propelled them to the door. Quinn allowed the woman to take them outside and smiled up at her in gratitude as they headed down the path to town.
Chris was left to shut the door behind them, and he ran down the stairs to catch up to them. He almost growled at his sister when he saw their interlocked arms prevented him from touching Quinn in any way without it being awkward.
Angel turned her head and stuck her tongue out at him as she and Quinn continued up the path, and he flipped her off just as Quinn turned to see where he was. He sighed and shook his head when he saw Quinn’s disapproval before she turned back around.
Chris kicked out at the stone path in frustration as he struggled to think of what to say. He felt like an ass following behind them like a loyal dog, and he needed to talk to Quinn—but not with his sister around.
“So . . . how are you feeling?” Chris figured that was a safe enough thing to ask.
“I’m just awesome!” Angel said as she turned her head to grin at him. “Thanks for asking.”
Chris visualized strangling his sister for a moment while Quinn snorted, and her shoulders shook as if trying to contain her laughter. Quinn suddenly turned her head and gave him a smile that made his heart stop for a moment.
“I’m feeling great,” Quinn said. “Thanks.”
Chris knew he had a dopey smile on his face, and he didn’t care. It was the first time in four months that he’d seen that kind of smile on her face, and he couldn’t help but be affected by it. The slight blush that colored her cheeks before she turned back around gave him hope that she still cared for him. It emboldened him to keep trying.
“Are you sick in the mornings? Do you need to rest for a minute before we get there?” he asked, wondering if she was tired from carrying such a large belly around.
Although she wasn’t as small as Dree and not as big as Angel, Quinn looked swamped by the child protruding from her stomach. He hadn’t really thought about how hard it had to be for them to move comfortably until it affected Quinn. Now he wanted to make sure she wasn’t getting too tired.
Both Angel and Quinn turned around. His sister looked at him like he was an idiot, but Quinn smiled at him, and it was worth it.
“I’m fine,” Quinn said. “Thanks.”
With her smile lighting up her face, Chris wasn’t terrified that she’d said she was “fine.” He grinned back at her before she turned back around, and this time he stuck his tongue out at Angel.
She laughed at him and turned back around. When Angel saw Quinn’s curious look, she just shook her head.
“My brother is an idiot. But he can be an adorable idiot,” she replied, causing Quinn to smother a smile.
Chris sighed when he saw the town come into view and knew they’d be in the medlab surrounded by everyone for the gods only knew how long. His hopes of getting Quinn alone in the next few hours were zero, and he wasn’t happy about it, but he was also too glad to be with her at all to complain about it.
He ran to the door of the medlab, held it open for Quinn and Angel to go in, and almost cursed when he saw the dozen people in the open area of the medical facility. Quinn was a little concerned as well, and she stopped, looking up at Angel as if she’d lied to her.
“I don’t know why they’re all here!” Angel whispered. “I had no idea!”
Grai moved from the group and walked over to them.
“I’m so glad you decided to come,” he said as he gently took Quinn’s hand in his. “Don’t panic; most of these people aren’t staying, they’re with me. I did ask Dr. Rostovic to join Lauren and Amun since he is a human doctor, and his expertise is invaluable. I would love to see my grandson again, but we must go.”
“Bye, Dad. Be safe,” Angel said as she reached up to hug him.
“Always. You too,” Grai replied as he hugged her tight.
Grai let her go and embraced Chris, and Quinn had an odd feeling that Grai was speaking privately to his son and warning him to behave. Not wanting to spy on the private moment, she turned back to the room and saw only the three doctors that she’d seen when she first arrived.
Feeling more comfortable with the smaller group, she walked over to the smiling trio of medical professionals.
“Thank you so much for coming,” Lauren said.
“Do I have to change into a robe or something?” Quinn asked, hoping they’d put her in a room or something if that was the case.
“No,” Amun smiled at her. “The scans we need to do, we can accomplish while we sit and talk.”
The relief that washed over Quinn must have been visible on her face because the Russian doctor started laughing.
“Advanced technology is a beautiful thing, ya!” Sergei guffawed as he motioned towards a semi-circle of chairs that had been pulled into the center of the computer screens.
Angel came up beside her, sat in one of the chairs, and patted the one next to her.
“Come on. Let’s get this over with so we can do something more fun,” Angel suggested.
Quinn looked back to see Chris still talking to Grai, and she sat down beside Angel.
“You’ll have to forgive us,” Lauren began. “We’re so excited by the initial scans we did, and we’ve got a ton of questions. But first, why don’t you tell us about your pregnancy.”
“Wait!” Chris yelled out then ran from his father over to them. “Sorry . . . I want to hear it. Since I missed it.”
Quinn blushed at the admission as he sat down beside her and cleared her throat.
She explained about the miserable first month when she thought she’d die and nothing would stay down but organic vegetable juice. The doctors furiously took notes, and Quinn could tell they had questions but must have agreed to wait until she was done speaking.
She explained about the electrical oddities that had begun to happen further in her pregnancy and gave Chris a small smile when he took her hand in his. She was tempted to pull her hand away but didn’t.
“Then I got taken and found out that the baby wanted to be named Christopher, he was an alien, and he gave me a beast,” she said, thinking the chit chat would be over.
Sergei sputtered and almost choked as Lauren patted his back while he got himself under control.
“Is he all right?” Quinn was concerned about the man’s bright red color.
“He’s fine,” Amun said. “We saw it on your scans, but we weren’t sure if it was a mistake until you just confirmed it.”
“I thought she was human?” Angel asked in disbelief.
“She is,” Sergei said with a cough. “Or rather, she was.”
“What?” Chris asked in complete shock.
Quinn nodded her head, wondering why it seemed to be such a big deal.
“Ainsley and Fiona said it was normal in hybrid/human births,” Quinn said, surprised when their jaws dropped.
“There’s more?” Lauren couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Yeah,” Quinn said, surprised they didn’t know. “They said that in human mothers, the beast ensures a male child because only a male can force some enzymes or something in the mother’s brain to prepare it to evolve to support its own beast.”
“It’s fully functional?” Amun asked it on a stunned whisper.
“My beast? Oh yes!” Quinn admitted with a grin. “Atarma is awesome. Ainsley and Fiona said that he works just like everyone else’s beast, and I get all the benefits. I just don’t have a gift or super power like everyone else does.”
“She’ll have extended life?” Chris asked, squeezing Quinn’s hand as he scooted to the edge of his seat.
All three of the doctors shrugged and nodded their heads.
“Yes, we assumed that would be the case due to the excessive enzymes found in the brain. We didn’t know that a male child could give a beast to a human mother,” Amun admitted.
“We need more tests,” Lauren whispered. “This is incredible.”
“Ainsley and Fiona said it was all normal,” Quinn told them, not realizing she’d squeezed Chris’s hand when she said it.
“Is this possible?” Chris asked, praying it was true and he wouldn’t lose Quinn to a limited human life span.
“I don’t know, Chris,” Amun said as he stood and grabbed a comm and started running scans on Quinn. “But we’re going to find out.”
“So does this mean any human can breed with a hybrid and become one of us?” Angel asked, thinking it turned out to be way more interesting than she had expected.
“We have many more questions than you and have no answers!” Sergei said as he grabbed his own comm and started his own scans. “Let us work so we can get us all the truth.”
Angel looked like she was going to smack the terse Russian before she sat back with huff of irritation.
“While they are doing that, how about we take a look at that baby and see how he’s doing?” Lauren suggested, wishing she could be running scans as well, but she knew they needed to keep Quinn calm while they did so.
Chris squeezed Quinn’s hand until she looked up at him. His eyes pleaded with her to let him stay and see his son, and Quinn’s heart melted as she nodded her head and turned back to Lauren.
“Let’s make sure he’s OK,” she agreed.
With a swipe of her hand, Lauren projected a 3D image of Christopher right in front of Chris, and Quinn and smiled at the look on Chris’s face. Lauren stepped up to the image and touched the face, bringing it into a more detailed focus.
Quinn gasped in shock at the detail.
“He looks exactly like you,” she whispered as she put her hand on her abdomen.
Chris was so stunned he didn’t even think to wipe the tear that slipped down his cheek as he looked at his son’s face for the first time.
“Handsome little guy, isn’t he?” Chris choked out with pride.
Angel couldn’t douse his happiness when she threw an invisible slap to his shoulder.
“He looks like his mother,” Angel teased him.
“How is he, though? Is he healthy?” Quinn needed to know Christopher would be all right.
Lauren touched the baby’s face, bringing up the original full body view and touched his chest area. With a few tweaks, she centered on his heart, and they watched in fascination as it beat so quickly.
“His heart and lungs are in perfect condition,” Lauren answered before she centered on the baby’s brain. “His beast is fully immersed, and they are already bonded.”
“Is that normal?” Angel asked, knowing Isana and her beast were not bonded yet; most babies weren’t bonded until after birth.
“No,” Amun responded, never looking up from his comm. “We’ve found that any time the mothers were in distress, the babies and their beasts bond out of necessity. It allows the beast to use the child’s gifts for their survival.”
“Christopher protected us the whole time,” Quinn admitted, rubbing her belly in thanks.
“He’s strong as hell. I can feel him from here,” Chris said, eying Quinn’s stomach longingly. He wanted to feel his son the way Quinn was.
At that moment Quinn gasped, and Chris’s mouth dropped open when he saw the 3D image kick its feet.
“Is that real?” Chris whispered.
“That’s live, as I’m sure Quinn can tell you,” Lauren smiled at the new parents, enjoying their wonder at their perfect son.
“Yeah,” Quinn admitted. “Here, feel it.”
Chris was surprised when Quinn took his free hand and laid it on her stomach.
“He’s so strong!” Chris nearly shouted when he felt a barrage of kicks against his hand.
Quinn laughed and smiled up at him.
“It’s not so much fun at 2 a.m. when he’s kicking a kidney,” she admitted.
“Does he do that a lot? Should I talk to him about it?” Chris asked with concern, wondering if it was normal or not.
Everyone laughed at him and Chris blushed, not really sure why they were laughing at him.
“He’s a baby and dealing with space problems; he can’t help it,” Quinn told him.
She was the only one who didn’t laugh at him. Quinn thought he was adorable and couldn’t believe how concerned and intent he seemed about knowing their son.
“Oh, yeah,” Chris muttered then glared at his sister. “Cut me some slack.”
“No way, you ass,” Angel shot back.
Quinn was more amused than anything by the arguing siblings and she held up her hands between them until they became quiet.
“Baby truce,” she said before focusing her attention on Lauren. “So he’s growing properly, and you can’t detect any genetic, physical, or mental issues?”
“With Chris as a father?” Angel teased. “There’s got to be a mental thing going on.”
“I’m going to gag you if you don’t let us find out about our son,” Chris threatened, and Quinn looked unsure of whether or not he would do it.
“No,” Lauren said, trying her best to ignore the teasing. “He seems to be perfect. I see no reason why you shouldn’t have a normal, healthy baby.”
Quinn sighed in relief and couldn’t help but smile up at Chris, who looked relieved and thrilled at the same time.
Maybe we can work this out after all, Quinn thought happily.
Chapter Twenty
It was four hours after Quinn had gone to the medlab, and she was ready to strangle Chris and run screaming from the room. What had begun as a beautiful moment as they learned that their son was healthy and doing wonderful had turned into an argument over everything else.
Quinn sighed and blew her hair out of her face as Angel and Chris argued above her. Lauren had ended any pretense of paying attention a while ago and tapped on her comm and various computers around the room.
“She’s not dead! What the hell is wrong with you? You’ve let me and Dree trek back and forth all over the damn place, but now you think it isn’t safe? What the hell, you idiot?” Angel yelled, hands on hips as she glared up at her brother.
“I’m just saying she’s built smaller than you; that baby is huge, and maybe all the walking is too much for her!” Chris argued back.
“Are you calling me fat?” Angel shrieked in anger.
Quinn moved her chair back, far
away from what she knew was going to be an epic throw down and was surprised at the tap on her shoulder. She turned to see one of Chris’s brothers, and when he motioned for her to follow, she took the chance to escape.
When they were near the door and far away from the fighting siblings, the man turned to her with a smile.
“I’m Haruki, number nine of 24,” he reminded her as he held the door open for her. “You appeared to need a break.”
“I did. Do they fight like that all the time?” Quinn asked as she stepped outside into the sunshine.
Haruki laughed and gestured towards the large dining room and kitchen.
“Are you kidding? Angel has grown up with 23 brothers; all she does is argue with us. In her defense, we’ve put her through hell. Can you imagine what it was like for her when she tried to become a woman?” Haruki grinned as he opened the dining room door to her.
Quinn was surprised to see most of the other brothers and Tezarians already sitting at the tables.
“Sis!” Reign called out.
“Come eat with us!” Shane added.
“We heard Chris and Angel fighting through the shengari’. They’ll be arguing for a little while longer; you might want to refuel while you can,” Deacon added as he pulled out a chair for her.
Haruki led her to the chair and helped her sit while the brothers passed a plate around and filled it to overflowing before Deacon set it in front of her.
“There should be something on there you like. If not, we can whip something up for you,” Deacon said.
“You cook?” was all Quinn could think of to say.
She was overwhelmed by the attention and concern. Her own mother had never cared this much for her. Drugs had been her mother’s only love.
And she loved those to death, Quinn thought as she looked at the massive plate.
“Hell yeah, we cook!” Reign laughed. “Angel can’t boil water, and we had to learn to survive.”
“What he means,” Haruki added, sitting beside her with a plate of his own, “is that some of us can cook and keep the rest of them from starving to death.”
“Yeah, but I have my own talents,” Reign countered.
