by T. S. Ryder
She threw her head back, biting her tongue to stop herself from screaming. There was no talking after that. The pain was terrible, so bad she thought she might pass out. If time didn't have meaning before, now it simply didn't exist. Everything was in the now. There was no future, no past, just Stephen's voice telling her she was doing great and the pain and pressure pushing through her legs.
And suddenly that pressure was gone and a baby's cry filled the air. Iduna collapsed as Stephen wrapped the baby in the shirt.
"A girl," he said, eyes wide.
Iduna held her arms out. "Give her to me."
She was small and covered in amniotic fluid. Her skin wrinkled, her head completely bald. Iduna hugged her against her chest, buffering the baby from the chill mountain air with her own body heat and the dry clothing they had left. She was beautiful. She was perfect.
"You have to palpitate my stomach to deliver the placenta. And tie off the cord with a shoelace, but that should wait…" They didn't have time to wait. "Tie off the cord. You'll have to bite through it. We need to be able to get going as quickly as possible."
Stephen nodded. He kissed her. "She's beautiful, just like you. But there isn't running with a newborn. I'll fight. I'll fight."
"The cord." Iduna's heart beat against her chest, each thump in unison with her Bear, getting more and more agitated. "Take care of the cord first. That way I can run if I need to."
Stephen did as she said. Her mate pressed one last kiss to her mouth, and then he was gone. The baby continued to cry, no matter how much Iduna wrapped her up and held her against her chest. The Bear knew it was natural, but if the baby didn't stop crying, she would bring Christianson or his friends right to where they were hiding.
She never understood before how mothers could smother their babies when trying to hide. Now she did. It was so tempting just to cover the baby's mouth, just to muffle her cries. But doing so would far too easily prevent her from breathing altogether. So Iduna huddled there, clutching her crying baby, crying with despair as the sound of gunfire rang through the air. Twice she heard a Wolf's howl, then silence.
That was when Christianson found her. He didn't bother hiding his approach and smirked at the sight of her.
"Where's your boyfriend, then? He abandon you here? Never mind that. My friends will take care of him."
Her Bear growled as Christianson stepped forward.
"Not that it matters to you. Don't worry. I won't kill the brat. I'll just take it, maybe even take it as my own. It'll just be more proof that Shifters won't take care of their own, while men like me—"
His smile widened, but he had already made his fatal mistake. The rage of a mother Bear could not be underestimated, and that was exactly what Christianson had done. Iduna's Bear surged forward, fury beating her pulse. She set the baby safely in the bushes before launching herself forward. Christianson rose his gun, but Iduna's jaws were already around his head.
She felt his bones crunching beneath her jaws, heard a muffled shout of surprise and pain. Her paws slashed at him, claws tearing through flesh. Logic and reason fled. All that was left was pure primal instinct to protect her child. The taste of blood on her tongue was bitter, metallic. He screamed and writhed, but couldn't work himself free. Iduna clamped her jaws shut.
And then it was over.
Iduna backed away from Christenson's mangled body. Her Bear nodded in satisfaction and retreated, leaving her to return to her baby. She was flailing her fists, and Iduna wrapped her up tight again and settled down, waiting for Stephen to come back.
Crack.
A bullet impacted the stone wall next to her head. Shards or rock cut into her face. Iduna's heart seized as she saw a flash of a rifle. A man stood some distance away, gun in hand, aimed at her. She opened her mouth–to what? Beg for mercy? Shout for Stephen?
A howl split the air. A giant wolf flew out of the trees, ramming into the hunter. Iduna didn't watch. She held her baby close to her chest and tried to keep her warm. The hunter's screams rang through the air as Stephen mauled him.
Fifteen proven cases of Shifters killing humans. Now seventeen. Eighteen, maybe, depending on Christianson's other 'friend.' But they had brought it on themselves.
"Don't worry," she whispered to her baby. "Mommy and Daddy will always protect you. Always."
Chapter Ten – Stephen
Stephen hung up his phone, hopefully for the last time that night. He rubbed his left temple. A headache pounded through his skull. Even with the advanced healing that Shifters had, spending hours dealing with politics and the legal system took a toll on Wolves like him, who weren't and never wanted to be Alphas. He was only glad that it was Iduna and not him that was studying law to fight for Shifter rights within the courts. He'd never survive it.
He smiled as he thought of his mate. In the seven months since the birth of their daughter, she had not only begun studying to become a lawyer but had also put together a plan to protect Shifters. The attacks on her community of Bears, along with the police involvement, had been brought to national attention. It invoked a significant outcry from across the world, with many countries calling for more police accountability. All the hunters that had been involved in Christianson's scheme had been found and were awaiting imprisonment. The BC government had been quick to round up and prosecute the other hunters.
As good as the action that the government had been taking against those directly involved, there were even more positive things happening. Stephen had returned to his community of Wolves and told them what was happening to the Bears, and they had been horrified. Now there were programs being put into place to heal the fractured relationship between Bears and Wolves. It wasn't perfect, but Stephen thought it was helping.
Still, there was a lot of work to be done going forward, and Stephen found himself in the middle of it. But he was happy to fight if it meant a better future for his daughter.
He heard Tiff gurgling and turned to see Tyson coming down the hallway, holding the baby. She burst into a grin at the sight of her father. She was just starting to grow some fuzz on her head, but with her big black eyes, exactly like her mother's, and toothless grin she was still adorable.
"Oh, Daddy needs a smile like that right now." Stephen took Tiff and kissed her. "Have you been a good girl for Grandpa?"
"She's an angel." Tyson beamed at his granddaughter. "She reminds me so much of Iduna when she was that age."
Stephen responded with a smile. Iduna's parents had finally accepted him as their daughter's mate. Carrying her miles out of the bush into a human town and not leaving her side even after they arrived had something to do with it. They got along in any case, and Stephen didn't feel unwelcome in their home.
He and Iduna were living with her parents right now, while his house back in the Wolf community was being sold, and the place they would be moving into in the Bear community was being built. There really hadn't been any question about where they were going to live. Stephen could keep in touch with friends just as easily here as there. Iduna, on the other hand, had everything here, where she had grown up. It was just natural to stay in her community.
"So did I hear some howling from Tiff last night?" Tyson asked.
Stephen grinned and nodded. "She's starting to show signs of shifting. Not just Wolf, though, a little bit of Bear as well. She seems to favor the Wolf, though. We'll see when she gets older."
Tyson nodded. "Of course. I think my daughter is trying to research a new type of evergreen while studying for her law exams. You may need to go rescue her from herself.
"Will do." He adjusted Tiff in his arms and went upstairs.
Iduna was in the study, her web browser open, a litany of papers strewn before her. Stephen smiled affectionately, watching her as she switched between the two things, her head moving like a bobble-head doll. It was amazing that she got anything done, the way she tried to do everything at once. But that was Iduna, and that was one of the reasons he loved her.
He crept up
behind her and put Tiff in her arms. "Okay, Mommy, you're done studying for tonight."
Iduna gave him a vague smile while she kissed Tiff's bald head. "Just a few more minutes."
"I'd say yes, but a few minutes for you means a few hours." He kissed the top of her curly head. "Run away with me, my love, if only for tonight. You need to give that beautiful brain of yours a rest once in a while. Let's go to a restaurant or for a walk around town. An increase of blood flow and oxygenating your blood helps with brain functions."
His mate frowned but nodded. "That's a good point. How cold is it? Do I need a coat?"
"It's beautiful out. We may want to bundle Tiff up a bit, though."
"How long has it been since she ate?"
"She was eating when I took my call, and that was half an hour ago."
Iduna shook her head and muttered something about time being stupid. Stephen's smile widened. He couldn’t help himself. He leaned forward and planted a firm kiss on her mouth. Iduna responded with a moan, opening her lips to allow him entrance. Her hands wrapped around the back of his neck. It was only Tiff giggling at the sight that broke them apart. Iduna smiled at her daughter.
"I'm glad I didn't listen to everybody who told me that I was too young to think about getting pregnant, that I needed to wait until I found my mate and that getting myself artificially inseminated was a bad idea."
Stephen stroked her cheek. "I'm glad, too. You and Tiff are all I want."
"And I found more than what I was looking for when I met you." Iduna stood. "Did you know that playing in dirt can actually help bolster a child's immune system? When Tiff is old enough we'll have to arrange dirt playdates or something. Socialization is important for a child's development. Do you know about brain development between the ages of one and two years old?"
"No." Stephen wrapped an arm around her. "Tell me all about it."
*****
THE END
The Vampire Prince's Bride
Description
A BBW with a secret PLUS a vampire general who needs human blood PLUS a shifter army out to kill!
Vampire general Darius isn’t looking for love or romance. He’s looking for a promotion. And for that, he needs a human wife and a baby. Just one look at Cleo’s curves and he knows she can give him what he needs. The thought of another man touching her makes him want to kill.
Cleo has always been strong, always in charge of her own destiny. But what Darius doesn’t know is that she isn’t as invulnerable as she seems. She keeps her secrets just as he keeps his. They made a deal. Why should they be concerned with each other's intimate lives?
But Darius and Cleo are forced to confront their worst fears when Darius is sent to fight a group of rebel shifters that may just get him killed. Violence is a vampire’s domain. But can he survive this?
As feelings deepen and danger grows ever closer, Cleo and Darius will have to face hard truths–and decide if ambition is really worth their lives, or if love is worthy of sacrifice.
Chapter One – Darius
A picture of Iosif hung over the mantle in Darius's study. The king had ruled all the lands from the Black Sea to the Carpathian Mountain range to the Danube River for almost two thousand years now and was a vampire of great strength and pride. This study had once belonged to his father and Darius had sat on the floor and stared at wonder at the king's picture ever since he was a young boy.
Hearing about the king's great feats against the shifters, who used to run rampant and murder recklessly, had always made his heart swell with pride. He had determined from a young age that he would be as great as the king, one day wearing the crown on his own head. As he grew up, he realized that his goals required a lot of hard work, but Darius was nothing if not determined.
"There have been reports of wolves here and here," he said, pointing to the map spread out on his desk. "Three dozen sheep were killed and a shepherdess has disappeared only a dozen leagues from here."
His best friend and second-in-command, Gordon, frowned. "You think it's the Rebeluna?"
Darius grimaced as he considered. The Rebeluna was a self-proclaimed rebel group that resisted the vampire king in any way possible. Shifters of various clans gathered and were responsible for more vampire deaths than any other group in the past decade. Since they assassinated the last colonel charged with finding them, the king had turned the investigation over to Darius.
"No," he decided. "The Rebeluna are organized, efficient. These are minor inconveniences, more likely wolves who consider themselves rebels but don't have the courage to actually commit to open rebellion."
"Then why bring them up?"
Darius straightened and grinned. "They're exactly the type that the Rebeluna will recruit for cannon fodder. Send a couple of men to investigate. If humans think that we're allowing shifters to steal them away with no consequences, it might stir up unrest. Find the shepherdess, if nothing else."
"Am I interrupting?"
The cool, confident voice made him turn to the door. His twenty-year-old human wife of four months, Cleo, stood in the doorway. Darius smiled at her. Iosif and his own human mate had had no children of their own and had made it clear that the vampire they chose to replace Iosif had to prove he had good relations with humans. The best way to do that was to marry one, and so he had.
"Darius. Gordon." Cleo strode in, her shoulders back, her head held high, exuding an air of confidence about her.
She had been Darius' choice wife for two reasons. One, she was beautiful. Bronzed skin, long curly hair, stunning black eyes. When Darius first chose her, Gordon had questioned whether he really wanted somebody as 'robust' as her. She was all curves and softness, nothing angular or sharp about her–except her piercing gaze.
Which brought him to his second reason for choosing her. She made no pretenses about what she wanted – a husband who could give her all the luxury and power she desired. She wanted to be queen as much as he wanted to be king, and she would do anything necessary to ensure that happened.
Having a woman like that by his side only heightened his possibilities. She was clever, level-headed, and he had never seen her act based solely on emotion – exactly what he was looking for in a wife.
"You didn't come to bed last night, Darius." Cleo walked into the room, her black eyes never leaving his face. "I bought a new… dress that I wanted to show you."
The colonel could imagine what she would look like in the 'dress' and swallowed hard. Heat curled in his lower belly.
Gordon cleared his throat. "My lord, if you want some privacy—"
Darius waved his hand at his friend, an annoyed expression on his face. "As much as I would like to ravish my wife on every surface available in this room, I don't have the time."
"More news on the Rebeluna?"
"A small envoy of vampires were attacked yesterday evening. It's the Rebeluna's style, but there are many other reports of shifters that I have to have investigated."
Cleo nodded. "What envoy did they attack yesterday?"
"Lord Virgil's taxes. He still insists on delivering them in gold every year. Claims it's safer."
Cleo snorted. "Maybe he'll start using a check or e-transfer now."
"Maybe. And maybe I should have seen it coming. Virgil's so stuck in the past that he's an easy target for the shifters. They pretended to be a roadblock and shot the tires of his Hummer. They took the gold but didn't stick around to kill anybody."
Gordon coughed, drawing attention to himself. "We think they are gathering funds for a larger-scale attack."
The vampire didn't look at Cleo. But then, Gordon had never liked the human. He always thought that Darius deserved someone 'better'. The problem was he thought 'better' meant thinner and more emotional, worshiping the ground Darius walked on. He didn't want that.
He didn't want love.
"They could be collecting funds to bribe the lower-ranked vampires," Cleo suggested. "Or to donate money to the outlying human settlements. Turn them to the shift
er cause."
"It wouldn't be the first time," Darius agreed.
"I'm having tea with a few of the other wives today. I'll discuss an outreach program to bolster vampire relations with the outliers. I know that the recent earthquakes have caused some flooding. I'll be sure to increase aid to the areas affected."
Darius nodded, smiling at his wife. She didn't think in terms of battles and conquest, but rather how kindness could change the tide of wars. A valuable ally. In this seemingly unending war between vampires and shifters, humans were the key figures. They were vital to vampire survival, and not just because vampires required human blood to sustain themselves.
The common assumption that humans could turn into vampires was wrong. It was true that the humans who lived among vampires and were regularly fed from took on vampiric traits: their aging slowed to the point where they hardly aged at all. They also grew stronger, faster, and developed a taste for blood. But they remained human. Vampires were born vampires – and usually males at that. Without human wives like Cleo, they would be extinct within three generations.
"What are you grinning at?" Cleo narrowed her eyes at him.
"I was just remembering how we met." His voice turned low and husky. "And how I knew instantly that you were the woman to be my bride."
Cleo smirked back at him. Both of them ignored Gordon rolling his eyes.
Their first meeting was indicative of their whole relationship. There had been no romance. He had been patrolling his lands with Gordon and half a dozen sergeants. They stopped at a station in the closest city to refuel their motorcycles. Normally humans looked at them with awe, but Darius had noticed Cleo leaning against the building, gazing at the vampires as though she was measuring them up and finding them lacking.
He hadn't been able to help himself. He walked over to her. Her expression had changed slightly, and when she looked at him, her gaze lingered on the insignia on his jacket.
