by Sky Winters
Before Lance had a chance to answer, Orion unleashed an earth shattering roar and, as he held Lance’s gaze, he began to change.
Lance’s mouth fell open as Orion began to grow. His body, already humongous and powerful, began to sprout dark tufts of black, course hair, and his handsome face began to grow broad, and then more narrow toward the snout, until he resembled a gigantic black bear. He stood proudly in front of Lance, his dark eyes glimmering and full of emotion that was difficult for either of them to express, an emotion a lot like love. Suddenly, Orion started, and moved toward Lance. It took a lot of willpower for Lance not to flinch away. He had never been so close to such a large animal before. But he managed to stay calm, and allow Orion to investigate.
He sniffed Lance, and then moved his cool wet muzzle down to Lance’s abdomen. An unmistakable look of surprise crossed the bear’s face, and his dark eyes widened when he looked back into Lance’s eyes. Lance looked down at his abdomen, wondering what in the world the bear might be thinking, and was shocked to realize that his stomach was swollen and purple. Instead of being afraid however, Lance looked into Orion’s eyes and they shared a moment of quiet understanding. Lance was Orion’s mate now. And for better or for worse, mating with the leader of a bear clan meant that there would be children involved. Lance was going to be a parent.
“What have we here?” An unpleasant and familiar voice suddenly rang out from behind Lance. Orion gritted his teeth and started to growl, squinting his eyes. At the approaching figure. Lance turned around, suddenly realizing that he was still naked, and sighed in frustration when the man who had been taunting him from the hood of his car approached.
“I’m not sure I like the look of this, do you boys?”
A chorus of negative responses came as a group of about five other bear shifters appeared out of nowhere. “Nope.” “Not at all.” “Not one bit.”
“In fact, this looks like something really terrible. What would your father say? Mating with someone who isn’t even within the clan?”
Suddenly, the men started shifting into bears until Lance was completely surrounded by vicious-looking animals. One of them lunged at Lance, ready to tear him apart with his sharp teeth, but Orion jumped in front of him protectively. He let out a warning growl, obviously daring anybody to come toward Lance again.
Most of the smaller bears backed off, but the biggest bear, the one that Lance had begun hating the most, refused to submit. He walked toward Orion, his teeth bared, and struck at him violently. Lance scrambled away to safety behind a nearby tree. He wished that he had brought some kind of a weapon, but he had nothing. There was no way that he would be able to help Orion fight off these angry bears. He couldn’t even figure out why they were acting so abysmally toward their leader. All he could figure was that they didn’t like him hanging around with someone like Lance. But it seemed to go beyond homophobia. There was something else on their minds.
The fight had already gotten bloody, and part of Orion’s beautiful mane was matted down and shining with the dark liquid. Lance was looking around the ground for a stick to smack the other bear with, when suddenly Orion gained the upper hand. He growled mightily and slammed the man to the ground with a powerful blow. He stood over him, growling viciously, his teeth just centimeters away from the other man’s neck. If he’d wanted to kill him then, he obviously could, but instead Orion appeared to be waiting for him to submit so that it wouldn’t have to come to that.
It seemed as if he was going to refuse, but just in the nick of time, he shifted from his bear form and back into his human form, looking at Orion with irritation and defeat.
“Have it your way,” he growled, scrambling away from the huge black bear and standing with the rest of the men he had brought.
They all walked away, leaving Orion standing in his bear form, heaving in irritation as the adrenaline coursed through him. Lance had never seen Orion fight so viciously before. He knew that he was capable of it, and he had seen a few fistfights, but never anything like this. He’d forgotten how impressive it could be to be near someone so powerful.
Orion finally began to shrink, the fur disappearing from his skin until he was in his human form again. Lance ran toward him as he fell to his knees, gripping a gaping wound on his shoulder.
“Are you all right?” Lance asked, his eyes wide.
“Of course,” Orion said, grinning up at him. “But I think what we need to worry most about right now is getting you inside somewhere.”
“Me? Why?”
“Because you’re pregnant.”
Chapter 19
The motorcycle ride back to his mother’s house was quiet. Both of them were exhausted from the fight with the other gang members, and Lance was deep in thought. He had always suspected that the myths about the bear shifters were true, and if they were true, it meant that the mate of the leader was meant to have the children that carried on the next generation of bear shifters. He had never imagined that he would be able to have children of his own, especially not a child growing right inside his body. He couldn’t help but wonder how his mother would feel about it. Did she know that the bear shifters were more than just a myth? Or that men could get pregnant?
When they arrived back at the house, he was relieved to find that his mother wasn’t home yet. Apparently things were going pretty well with Dr. Daniel. It gave him enough time to head up to the bathroom that he and Orion had just fixed up so that he could tend to Orion’s wounds.
“That’s not necessary,” Orion said, gritting his teeth as Lance began to clean the wound.
“Too bad,” Lance replied, digging through the drawer for medical gauze and wrapping up Orion’s shoulder.
When he was finished, Orion stood from the rim of the bathtub and led Lance to his bedroom. “You need to sit down, you’re with child now.”
Lance pursed his lips. He wasn’t sure he would ever get used to hearing Orion say things like that.
“Take off your shirt, we should check the baby and make sure that everything is going alright. It’s not really good for the mothers to endure such stressful situations, especially right after conception.”
Lance obeyed, and was surprised to find that his abdomen had grown even since the encounter in the woods. The discoloration on his belly was growing darker, and Orion studied it seriously.
“You’re going to have to lie low for a while,” Orion said finally. “It looks like the baby is going to be fine, but if you end up having to deal with those guys again there could be problems.”
“What’s the deal anyway?” Lance asked. “I didn’t do anything to them. They’ve been after me from day one. Why?”
Orion sighed, running a hand over his face, and sat down on the bed next to Lance. “Well at first they were just doing their duty to protect the town. It’s hard to tell who’s a friend and who’s a foe here. There are a lot of rival gangs, and some of this territory used to belong to different groups. Unfortunately, the area of Winston was still unsettled by the time the humans began to start building. There have been debates between the bear shifter groups for centuries about who owns this land, and right now, it’s us.
“My gang is here to protect the humans that live here so that none of the other rival bear shifter gangs will hurt them. My father took it really seriously, because his mother was a human. My mother was a human too. But when a bear shifter mates, you become part of the pack. You might not necessarily be able to shift, but certain changes might occur. That’s especially true once you are with child.”
Lance nodded slowly, trying to process it all. “Okay, that makes sense. But I still don’t understand why they would mess with me after seeing me with you today. What’s going on with that?”
“They must have sensed me in the area, and seen me with you. They were always jealous of each other, thinking that whoever I chose was going to become the alpha of the pack. They wanted to be the alphas. So they served me loyally. But they must have been able to sense it when you became pre
gnant. That means that none of them have a chance anymore, so now you’re in danger, because a lot of them are ruthless and they would do whatever it took to get the power that I have given you.”
Lance was surprised. All he had wanted to do was to love Orion. He had no idea what that fully meant though. What with all this being pregnant and in danger from a bunch of bikers who could turn into bears. But did he regret it? Would he have still done what he did if he had known that he would be in so much danger? All he’d really wanted to do was to take care of his mother. Raising a family had been the bottom of his list. But now it looked as if that was his destiny. He wasn’t sure if he was okay with that.
“I know that you’re probably going to have a hard time with this,” Orion said, putting a hand on his arm. “And if you need help to tell your mother about what’s going on, I’ll be here for you. But I really think that it’s best for you to stay out of sight. I’ll protect the house, but if you leave, you’re going to find yourself in danger.” He squeezed Lance’s arm, hard. “Never leave this house without me. Not until the baby is born. Only then will you be safe. That is when it will be official, that you are my alpha. None of them would dare to mess with you after that. But until then, it’s all fair game. They will do whatever they feel like they have to do in order to get the power of the alpha.”
Lance’s stomach dropped. He had never been in danger like this before. How was he supposed to take care of his mother if he couldn’t even leave the house?
“Try not to worry, okay? I’m going to take care of it.”
Orion’s words were soothing. They were exactly what he needed to hear.
Suddenly, Lance heard a car pull into the driveway and Dr. Daniel’s deep, jovial voice speaking kindly to his mother as he dropped her off.
“Well,” Lance said, “I guess we’re going to have to come clean.”
Orion grinned, and offered his hand to help Lance off the bed. Even though there was danger, they would deal with it together.
Chapter 20
“You mean I’m going to be a grandmother?!”
Lance was taken aback by his mother’s excited response. It was the last thing he had expected to hear from her. When he had told her that he was gay, she hadn’t responded particularly well. But this time, she couldn’t be more excited.
“Orion, I’ve heard things about your family for quite some time, and I just want you to know that I’ve never once looked down on you all for being different. In fact, your mother was a close friend of mine.”
Lance was shocked, but when he looked at Orion, it didn’t seem as if he was surprised at all by the news.
“She told me everything,” Lance’s mother continued, “and for a long time I really wanted to try to do something about your situation. I know your father was devastated by her passing. But don’t worry, son. You have always had a family with us and you always will.”
Lance was dumbfounded as his mother rose unsteadily from her chair and moved forward to embrace Orion. Then, she moved to Lance and hugged him tightly too.
“Why don’t you guys let me cook dinner tonight?” Orion said. “I feel really badly for putting you in danger. And besides, I don’t want to leave Lance alone in his condition.”
“You’ve always been such a sweet boy,” Lance’s mother said, touching his cheek. Orion smiled gently at her, but turned away, obviously uncomfortable with the blatant show of emotion.
“I’m just going to get started, it seems like you to probably have quite a bit to talk about.”
Lance was about to protest and offer his services in the kitchen when Orion turned to him and raised his eyebrow.
“I’m serious Lance, take a load off and sit down. We can’t have anything happening to the baby.”
“Orion is right honey.” His mother nodded gravely. “Bear shifter children grow a lot more rapidly than normal children. In fact, you can probably expect to be due within two weeks rather than nine months. We’re going to have to set up a nursery for the baby, but until then, you’re going to have to stay off your feet. They have very delicate constitutions, especially when they’re mixed with human blood. Orion’s mother had to stay in bed all two weeks. I know you’re not going to like it, but it’s important.”
Lance was shocked by just how knowledgeable his mother was about the bear shifters. She had never told him anything about it. Perhaps she had been sworn to secrecy by Orion’s mother.
“I never knew that about Orion’s mom,” Lance said, sitting down reluctantly. Orion, satisfied to see him off his feet, disappeared into the kitchen.
“I’m sure there are a lot of things neither one of us know about each other. I’m afraid that communication hasn’t always been my strongest suit. And I’m very sorry about that. Maybe we can start fresh. Right now. I know that it’s a little late in life, but it’s better now than never don’t you think?” She offered him a hopeful smile.
“Yeah Mom, I think that’s true. Thank you for being there for me. And Orion. This is kind of an overwhelming experience.”
“When you told me you were gay, I was worried that you would end up with a man who didn’t care about you. I haven’t had a great track record in that department after your father passed, and maybe I let my own personal biases get to me. A lot of the time, anger comes from fear. And let me tell you, I have always been very afraid for you. I want only was best for you and I’m sorry I didn’t always know how to show it.”
Lance was touched. He had never expected to hear anything like that from his mother before. But now that she had said it, and he was expecting a child, it seemed more natural than anything else might have. He was so grateful for her understanding.
A sudden pounding at the door startled Lance and his mother. Before Orion had a chance to come out to investigate, three men broke the door down and were standing in front of Lance.
“Time to die,” one of them sneered.
Lance was frozen in fear, even as his mother shouted at them to get out of her house and to leave her family alone. The man lunged toward Lance, and before he knew what was happening, he felt a surge of power rush from his abdomen to his fists, and sliced the man’s face with his hand. He gaped down at it, and saw that he had somehow shifted his hand into a bear paw.
The men were stunned, as their leader lifted himself from the ground, clutching his bleeding face and staring at Lance in disbelief.
“What the hell?” he murmured.
Suddenly, Orion was in the doorway of the kitchen, laughing. “That’s my boy,” he said, winking at Lance. Lance blushed, and soon, Orion was beating down the men that had entered the home while Lance helped his mother to her feet and ran with her to the back bedroom, locking them in while Orion finished off the intruders.
After about five minutes, the sounds of the fight grew silent, and they heard footsteps approaching. Lance stood in front of his mother, his bear claws out and ready to fight. His entire being was flooded with relief when he saw Orion open the door and smile at him.
“Nice job,” he said, hugging Lance. “Is everybody okay?”
“We’re going to be fine,” Lance’s mother said, getting to her feet and hugging both boys close to her. “Everything is going to be fine.”
Epilogue
“Open your eyes,” Orion finally said, releasing Lance’s hand. They had been walking through the woods for a while, and Lance was getting tired. The baby was due any moment now, and it was the most exercise he had gotten in two weeks, as his mother had tended to him during his pregnancy.
“Oh my god, Orion! What is this?”
Lance was shocked by the beauty of the cabin that stood before him, and Orion beamed proudly.
“Surprise.”
Lance was overwhelmed with emotion and tears sprang to his eyes. “I had no idea… So this is what you’ve been working on for the past two weeks!”
Orion grinned. “It’s for us. For our family.”
Lance’s heart swelled with pride and he embraced Orion. Th
eir lips met in a passionate kiss, and when they finally broke apart, Orion led Lance inside.
“Your mother thought it would be a good idea for us to have a place of our own. She knows we’ll be there to take care of her too, but since she’s gotten better and even been going on dates with Dr. Daniel, things have been looking up for her.”
“Yeah,” Lance breathed, fingering the intricate carvings that Orion had done throughout the walls of the cabin. “This is so gorgeous!”
“I’m glad you like it.”
A sudden pang in the abdomen made Lance buckle over and Orion’s eyes widened.
“Are you okay? Shit, I knew I shouldn’t have made you walk so far!”
“No,” Lance said, laughing through the tears streaming down his face. “The baby is coming.”
“Oh!” Orion’s eyes widened and he burst into a flurry of activity. He led Lance immediately to the bedroom and stripped him down, retrieving hot water and towels.
“Are you okay?” Orion asked, fear in his dark eyes.
“It will be over before we know it,” Lance said, strained with pain.
And it was.
After a few painful contractions, Orion was holding a beautiful baby boy in his arms. He was the tiniest baby Lance had ever seen, and soon Orion was in bed beside them, holding them both with tears of joy streaming down his rugged face.
The next few weeks were the happiest Lance had ever experienced. Orion was the perfect father, and soon brought Lance’s mother to the cabin for a visit with her new grandchild.
Lance was overwhelmed. He had spent the past ten years feeling more lonely than he had ever felt in his life. He felt like he had no family to speak of, and really struggled with the idea of having love of any kind in his life.
