by Lexy Timms
“Do you think the Council’s done?” Vlad asks.
I gaze off into the trees, trying to find a horizon that doesn’t exist through the thick forest surrounding us. I look up to try and find the sky, but I can’t see that either. Only treetops that shroud the village in constant darkness.
I can’t wait to see the sky again.
“I don’t know,” I say. “But our part is as done as it’s going to get. Now it’s time to focus on Clarissa and her pregnancy,” I say.
“We killed the main heads of the Council,” Theo says. “But I think they’ll reappoint.”
“Then let’s hope they appoint some Primals with some sense,” I say with a grumble.
“When we go back, where will we head?” Vlad asks.
We all walk into the cottage and begin rummaging around for some clothes to wear.
“My apartment’s a bit small,” Theo says.
“My cabin is undergoing renovations,” I say with a growl.
“That code for ‘Clarissa pulled some shit’?” Vlad asks with a grin.
“What about Toshi’s place?” Theo asks.
“Does Toshi even have a place?” I ask.
“Then that’s a ‘no,’” Vlad asks. “But I do know a place where we would all be accepted. Comfortable. Fed and free to live in commune with Clarissa.”
My eyes lock with Vlad, and I shake my head.
“No. Hell no. Absolutely not. Not after the bullshit we went through.”
“What?” Theo asks. “Where?”
“I was going to suggest my village,” Vlad says.
“I’m not fighting some idiotic fuckers to get through a gate to eat,” I growl.
“You wouldn’t have to this time, don’t worry,” Vlad says. “Just think it over. Bring it up to Clarissa. See what she thinks. Maybe she’ll want to go home. Back to wherever she lives. But it’s an option we have, so let’s keep it open.”
I snort air through my nose before I finally stumble on some clothes.
“Here,” I say as I toss them out. “Put these on and let’s go.”
“Not as nice as my suit, but it’ll do,” Vlad says.
“Fuck your suits. Let’s get a move on.”
“You’re just mad you don’t have suits,” he says, grinning.
“Oh, this will be fun,” Theo says.
“I hate you all.”
“Except you don’t,” Vlad says. “But you’ll eventually admit it.”
I conceal my grin until their backs are turned to me.
I don’t hate them. Not by a longshot.
But they don’t have to know that.
Chapter 28
Clarissa
Iwalk hand-in-hand with Toshi back to the cottage. Steam is rising from our naked bodies, and my mind is swirling. What’s going to happen to Kyle? What are they going to do to him? Is there any way we can get to him? Just because I can’t be around him doesn’t mean he deserves to be locked away for the rest of his life. He has an entire world that’s ready to embrace him. Ready to help him figure out how to live this life with the new side of himself. My veins are overflowing with a strength that only grows each day. I can hear that small voice. And the more I hear it, the more I think it’s my child talking to me. I lay my free hand on my stomach and caress the bump that’s growing, and as I walk in a trance back into the cottage, I feel Toshi’s hand fall to my lower back.
And something inside of me snaps.
I grab his arms and whip him around, barreling him through the front door. His eyes are wide, and he automatically goes into a protective stance until our lips crash together. His hands rub against me, and his cock grows between my legs. My hands smooth up his arms until our fingers are lacing together. Our tongues collide in a slow, sensual kiss, and the heat pouring from my body makes Toshi’s nostrils flare.
“Clarissa? Are you sure?”
“Shut up and fuck me,” I hiss.
Toshi sweeps me off my feet and drops me down onto the couch. My hips are rolling into him, greedily seeking out his dripping dick. His hand slides between my legs, his fingers finding my swollen clit. My pussy begins to drip onto the cushions as his fingers work my beautiful bud.
My lips swell against his, and I can feel myself quickly approaching my end. I want him. I need him. I’d been so worried that something terrible had happened to him, and now that he’s back I don’t want anything other than to be as close to him as I can get. I can’t stop petting him. Rubbing against him. Touching him in any way I can. I push him off me and we fall to the floor, and I inch myself onto his cock as I orgasm.
I spray his hips, and he hisses, his claws digging into my hips.
His cock grows inside of me. Throbbing incessantly against my fluttering walls. Our eyes are connected, and my claws are digging into his chest, and I can feel our souls melding into one. He flips me over and pounds into me, the wounds in his chest healing as he pins my hands to the side. His body is strong. Decadent. Lean with muscle coated in a sheen of sweat.
I slide my hands up his arms and over his shoulders, and he purrs lowly for me. Darkly. Heavenly. Taking over the depths of my mind as I’m sucked into his world.
My heels dig into the floor as I meet him thrust for thrust. I can feel a cold wrapping around us, and I cling to Toshi as his nose nuzzles my cheek. Our purring syncs and our hearts collide, and I can feel the blood rushing through my heart at the same pace as his. My tongue laps out, catching his earlobe as his face falls to my neck. I can feel him licking. Sucking at my skin. Covering me in his scent as his hips begin to stutter.
“Toshi. Don’t stop. Please. I’ve missed you. I need you. I love you.”
“Oh, Clarissa. You have me. All of me. Ai shiteru yo.”
My back arches with the pleasure coursing through my veins. My head bows back as the sounds of skin slapping skin fill the room. My eyes roll into the back of my head and my toes curl, sending my claws straight into the chiseled muscles of Toshi’s arms.
And behind me, I see Theo. Standing at the door, watching.
Waiting.
Smiling.
My body explodes, and stars burst in my vision. My body sprays Toshi, coating him with my mark as he sinks himself into me. The two of us wail out into the room of the cottage, covering it from wall to wall in purrs and cries and hissing. Toshi’s hips still against mine and his face falls to my bosom. His arm wraps around the deep arch in my back as I collapse to the floor. But his other hand? It’s cupping my stomach.
Lovingly.
Protectively.
Like he would be if I was carrying his child.
He peppers my chest with kisses and licks as my body settles down. His hot cum is leaking from between my legs, but he refuses to give up his position. He nuzzles into me with deep purrs that rattle my ribcage. Purrs that settle the beating of my heart with his. Purrs that settle the aching in my bones.
He’s healing me. Like I healed him.
He pulls from between my legs, and it causes me to shiver. He gathers me in his arms, and my head lobs over to the front door. Theo is still staring with that goofy smile on his face, but this time Vlad is next to him. With his arms crossing over his chest and his eyebrow quirking in the air.
Then I see Sebastian walk by and sniff the air before he continues to his destination.
“Have you talked with them?” Toshi asks.
“Vlad,” I say breathlessly.
“Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but I think you might actually get your wish.”
I nuzzle into Toshi’s purring throat to get closer to the soothing sound.
“I’m not leaving,” he says. “You can sit here as long as you like.”
“Until Josie and Joel come back,” I say.
“You let us deal with them,” Vlad says.
“I’m with the Wolf,” Sebastian growls.
“Could you get them all to come over here?” I ask.
“You want to talk now?” Toshi asks.
“What’s th
ere to talk about?” Theo asks.
“That was a decent show you two put on,” Vlad says. “But I think I can do better.”
“Not a chance,” Sebastian says as he emerges from the hallway. “I’d win that challenge in a heartbeat.”
“What?” I ask breathlessly. “What’s going on?”
“I think what we’re all trying to say is, we’re yours, Clarissa,” Toshi says.
My eyes volley between each of the guys as they nod their heads. Well, Theo nods his head. Sebastian shrugs with a grin on his cheeks, and Vlad’s smiling with a look of devilish intent in his eyes.
One might say even wolfish.
“I love you all. So much,” I say as tears form in my eyes. “And I’m so glad you guys aren’t upset with me.”
They all approach me in a heartbeat and pass me around. Lap after lap. Touch after touch. Kiss after kiss placed upon my forehead. They each feel my stomach, rubbing and feeling the small child bouncing around in my body. But it isn’t until Sebastian touches my stomach that it happens again.
That small, barely-there voice.
“There you are.”
I look up into Sebastian's eyes as tears trail down my cheeks. Is that whose child I’m carrying? It would explain the telepathy. Sebastian gazes down at me with a tenderness in his eyes I can’t ever recall seeing, and his hand slowly strokes my naked stomach. Sending goosebumps cascading over my skin.
“We’re glad you’re not, either,” Sebastian rumbles.
I curl into him before I’m lifted into the air. I don’t know where he’s taking me until I feel my body fall to a comfortable, warm mattress. My body is covered with blankets, and I can feel lips falling to my forehead. Four pairs of distinct lips that all make my heart flutter the same way. My boys. My men . Loving me and standing by my side. Accepting the child growing in my womb.
I cradle it close as I curl up, readying myself for sleep.
I don’t know what comes next. I don’t know if we’ll go after Kyle or if he will escape and find us again. I don’t know if the village will let us stay, but part of me hopes they don’t. I want to go home. But I’m not sure I want to go back to my home. That was reserved for Kyle and me. The barn. The room. The back of the house. It doesn’t feel right to go back there without him. It feels like I’m clinging to a past that will never resurface.
In a way, that’s what I’ve been doing for a long time.
I worry about Kyle, but I also need to look toward the future. We killed off the original Primal Council. All that’s left are its blind followers. We came to do what we needed to do. Kyle was freed, but from the sounds of it he willingly went back to make sure Toshi was okay. And I have no reason to doubt Toshi’s words. His story. I can look into his eyes and see the truth in them. See how hurt it makes him feel that he didn’t have the strength to free Kyle once he was freed himself.
So much death. And carnage. And blood spilled. All I can hope is that my body will grow the way it needs to keep my child safe. A child that doesn’t belong to only one man, but to four men. Sleep takes me under and dreams bombard my mind, but one of them sticks out more than the rest.
Vlad’s village.
His warm room.
The wondrous food from that diner.
We would be safe there. Accepted there. Free to live and love and laugh there. My child would be protected by the walls and the Alphas that guard the front gates. We could be near in case another war looms over us. We would be in the country in case Kyle breaks away again to come find us.
He would be accepted there, too, if he ever found us.
I wake up with a smile on my face. It’s a nice thought, Vlad’s village. I wonder about his father. How Lord Wesley is doing in all of this. I didn’t see him on the battlefield, so he didn’t go back to the Council. But where did he go?
There are still so many unanswered questions, but the voices raising down the hallway are about to answer one of them. I can hear Joel’s voice rising above the rest, shouting one particular phrase that makes me scramble to my feet.
“You are no longer welcome, and my sword will show you that.”
Chapter 29
Joel
“C larissa needs to rest ,” Sebastian says. “She’s pregnant, and the battle has only been dead for a couple of hours. We don’t even know if they’re coming back or not!”
“We can take care of ourselves if they do,” I say. “But the lot of you are no longer welcome.”
“No one is in any condition to travel right now,” Theo says. “If you don’t want us here, maybe one of the villagers will put us up for the night.”
“It is because of you that this war even made it to us!” I shout. “I lost men on that battlefield today.”
“And so did we!” Theo bellows.
“From my count, every single one of you made it back,” I say.
“Kyle didn’t,” Vlad growls.
“Well sorry if the one man Clarissa can’t stand didn’t make it. But I have children that will grow up without their fathers. Brothers who will bury their siblings. Women who will bury their husbands. Their souls will forever be fighting an endless battle, unrested in their afterlife because of the treachery you brought with you when you stumbled upon our village,” I say.
“We’re not leaving until the morning,” Sebastian says. “And if you don’t like it, then so be it.”
“My brother’s right,” Josie says.
I watch the Primals whip their heads over to her, and I draw my sword. They can be angry with me all they want. But they won’t hurt my sister. She leaned herself nonchalantly against the edge of the kitchen counter and crosses her arms. Like she’s talking to a group of petulant children.
Not a wild pack of animals that will slaughter her without a second thought.
“We knew this war would eventually come, but we didn’t think it would be so close to home,” Josie says. “We knew we would lose men. A lot of them. You’ll have to forgive Joel for blaming that on you. He supposedly thinks he can win wars without death.”
“That isn’t the point,” I say curtly.
“The point is, you guys have to leave. If the Council is re-appointed, and they still want to come after Clarissa or somehow seek revenge on the lot of you, we won’t be able to turn around and defend ourselves as quickly as you can. We lost a lot of men today. Our village will need a period of rebuilding.”
“Which could take years because of you,” I say darkly.
“We can’t move Clarissa until she’s rested,” Theo says. “She’s pregnant. She was the reason why this war turned in our favor. And you can’t give her a night to rest?”
“No,” I say.
The mere idea of her staying here is repulsive.
I had fallen for her. I know I had. Josie was right in that regard. But seeing her in her Primal form? It was disgusting. Watching her slaughter all those other Primals even though I wanted them dead as well triggered something inside of me I would never be able to shake. I couldn't look at her the same way. I couldn’t see the beauty in her any longer. She’s strong. Capable. But inside of her, a beast rests. A beast that can easily turn on us without a moment’s notice.
She can’t stay.
I won’t have it.
“You’re heartless,” Vlad says. “You won’t even let a pregnant woman rest.”
“She is not a woman,” I say. “She proved that on the battlefield. She’s a primal. A beast.”
“Clarissa is no beast,” Sebastian growls.
“I’m only going to say this one last time. Get out and leave this village. Never come back.”
“And if we don’t?” Theo asks.
I grip my sword and swing it over my head, and I watch them poise themselves. Vlad is growling, and Sebastian is salivating, and I can feel Josie’s hands around my arms. Blood is rushing through my ears, and she’s tugging on my muscles, and Theo is slowly growing before my very eyes. This is my home. My village. I’m in charge of the people. The trai
ning. The children that are now left behind without a father. They brought this upon my village. Them and their beastly ways. Our version of war was sneaky. A long game. A tactic the Council would’ve never seen coming. And now, thanks to them, our children have seen a carnage no innocent eyes should ever be exposed to.
They are a virus, and they have to be taken care of.
“You are no longer welcome here, and my sword will show you that!”
I whip my sword around in the air, but it’s soon knocked out of my hands. I look up and see Clarissa bounding through the air, her naked human form wrapping around the blade of my weapon. She rips it from my grasp and lands on her feet on the kitchen table, crouching and gnashing her teeth as she crumples the piece of lead in her hands like it means nothing to her. I watch with widened eyes as the lead blade slices through her hand, but it isn’t enough.
She mangles it between her fingers before tossing it to the floor.
I can’t take my eyes off her. That naked human form. She’s gorgeous. A sight to behold. Until I get to her face. See her teeth snarling at me. The saliva dripping from her fangs. The claws protruding from her fingertips. How I wish she were human. With her supple curves and her strong legs and her toned stomach. Her beautiful hair could be fisted within the palm of my hand every night. We could fill our own cottage full of children she could be proud of. Children with her stunning eyes and my strong demeanor. Her graceful presence and my steady determination.
Her wild hair is blowing around her in the breeze from an open window, and I force my eyes back to her face. I have to remind myself that she isn’t human. Clarissa was right. The world she once belonged to no longer lays a claim on her. She is stronger than any of us. Stronger than all of us. I’m staring down the barrel of the most powerful gun on the face of the planet, and she has her sights trained on me.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she growls.
Clarissa is no good to me. My eyes take in her round stomach and the reality of it is sickening. She’s pregnant with one of their children. Pregnant with a Primal that will soon run this earth like she does. Like they do. They bring nothing but carnage and destruction in their wake, and I can’t stand being in their presence any longer. My village has to rebuild. Children have to be comforted. Men have to be buried. Women have to mourn, and crops have to be planted again. Cottages have to be remodeled, and there’s a very good chance we will have to pick up and move altogether.
