ONE WEEK LATER
Raven held the unused pregnancy test in her hand, knowing it was now or never. She’d been putting it off, but over the last week, her stomach had not gone back to how it had been before her heat, and she hadn’t bled yet.
She’d been very busy, aiding in the care of the girls who’d been kidnapped by Monica. She helped arrange for them to get medical care and find their families as well as assisting their families to come to terms with what had happened. She had been happy to be of assistance in this time of distress, but there now was nothing left to do, except face the truth.
Tucking the test in her pocket, she went to the bathroom she always used, only to find the door closed.
“Oh man.”
Quentin was walking out of his and Hunter’s bathroom and glanced up when he heard her. “You’re going to be waiting a long time. Damien and Payton are in there.”
“Together?” she whined. “Don’t they know they have a perfectly good bedroom to have sex in?”
Quentin chuckled.
She went downstairs, only to find that bathroom occupied, too. She knocked.
“Go away,” Lachlan said. “I’m busy.”
“But I have to go to the bathroom.”
“Then, use another one.”
“I’m going to remember this,” she yelled through the door.
It had taken her all day to work up the nerve to take the test. She’d kept telling herself that the next time she had to use the bathroom, she’d do it. But she had put it off, not wanting to see the results, so now, she needed to use the toilet before she peed her pants.
There was a bathroom in the basement, but Chase and Ranulf were down there, working out. She did not want to see them while she took the test. It would be too much.
But if they were downstairs, then that meant the bathroom in their bedroom was free.
She ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and rushed into the room.
It was such a relief to sit down that she almost forgot to pull the test out of her pocket.
She remembered the directions and followed them to a T. She went to set the pregnancy test on the counter to wait three minutes, but it didn’t even need that long. She could see the urine make its way across the stick, and the plus sign showed up right away.
She shouldn’t have been surprised. She had known deep inside that it would read positive. But even so, she dropped the test in shock.
She was pregnant.
And she had no idea what she was going to do now.
Should she pack up and move across the country? No, that wouldn’t be fair to Ranulf or Chase, whoever the father was.
She groaned.
What were her parents going to say when she told them she was unmated and pregnant and she didn’t know who the baby daddy was?
Not to mention, she was probably going to break up an epic friendship.
Sleeping with both males didn’t seem like such a good idea now, but hindsight was always twenty-twenty.
Her phone beeped in her pocket, and she realized she was still sitting in Chase and Ranulf’s bathroom. She needed to get out of there before they caught her because she was sure with one look and sniff of her, they would know something was wrong.
Shit. Speaking of her scent, she was going to start smelling pregnant soon. She really needed to come up with a game plan.
First things first. Get off the pot.
Raven finished up, washed her hands, and stuck the pregnancy test back in her pocket, so the guys wouldn’t see it in their trash.
But when she opened the door, she had not expected to see the two of them standing there. She hadn’t heard them at all.
Chase lifted a brow. “You okay? You sounded pretty distraught in there. Ranulf and I were afraid we’d have to come in and rescue you.”
Ranulf rolled his eyes. “No, we weren’t. But I do hope you’re all right.”
The two of them looked so handsome and sexy, all sweaty from their workout. She’d hardly seen them all week since she was helping the girls, and she’d almost forgotten how delicious they looked.
She eyed both of them, wondering which one was the father and, more importantly, which one she secretly wanted to be the father.
She wanted both, which was impossible, but it was the damn truth, and didn’t that just suck?
Out of nowhere, she burst into tears, shocking all three of them.
Ranulf and Chase rushed toward her.
“Raven, what is wrong?” Ranulf asked.
“Come. Sit,” Chase said, directing her toward one of the beds.
All thought of trying to flee to another state left her, and she pulled out the stick and slapped it into the first hand she saw.
“Holy shit,” Chase said.
“Fuck me,” Ranulf said.
“She already did. That’s why she’s in the condition she is.”
For some reason, this made her cry harder, and both males squatted down in front of her.
“I’m sorry, baby girl,” Chase said. “I was just joking.”
She sniffled. “It’s not that.”
Ranulf tucked some hair behind her ear. “Then, what is it?”
“We don’t know who the father is. And we won’t until the baby is born—although there are some tests for that beforehand, but it doesn’t matter. One of you is stuck, being a dad, while the other isn’t. You’re never going to be the same.”
Chase picked up her hand. “Raven, do you really think that we both would have serviced you during your heat without thinking this stuff all the way through?”
She looked up at them. “Really?”
“Yes, really,” Chase said with a smile.
“And we don’t care who the biological father is,” Ranulf added. “We already decided that if you were pregnant, Chase would be Daddy, and I’d be Oh Great One.”
Raven scoffed. “I don’t think so.”
“You’re right. I thought Papa would be good.”
“It’s not bad.” She sniffled again. “But isn’t that weird? To both raise the same child? What if you find mates?”
Both of them stared blankly at her and then burst out laughing.
“Raven,” Chase said, “you already know that Ranulf and I come as a package. You are our mate. Why do you think we were with you during your mating heat?”
Ranulf flipped her hair away from her shoulder. “And why do you think we both marked you?”
She shrugged rather lamely and said, “I don’t know. Because I’m good in bed?”
This had them laughing again.
“You are, baby girl,” Ranulf said and kissed her on the head. “But it’s also because we love you and you’re ours.”
Warmth settled in her heart. “Are you sure this is what you really want? You both have to be sure you’re okay if you’re not the bio dad. I don’t want any resentment from either of you.”
“Well, I’m assuming we’re going to have more than one baby,” Chase said. “We’ll just take turns.” He smiled at his joke.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Raven started.
“Never,” Ranulf said. “We always share you. Always.”
“But never with anyone else,” Chase added.
“Okay.” It was kind of hot to have two males be possessive over her with other men but not with each other. Who knew? “One more thing.”
“What’s that?” Ranulf asked.
“You both have to let me mark you.”
Simultaneously, they pulled the collar of their shirts to the side, and Raven smiled.
SEVERAL WEEKS LATER
“I’m so nervous,” Raven told her mates.
It was the day of her ultrasound, and she should be excited, but all week, she’d had dreams about being able to tell which one was the father. She literally knew it was impossible, but her dreams had seemed so real.
But it was never the same male. Sometimes, it had been Chase, and sometimes, it had been Ranulf, so it wasn’t even like her body
was able to secretly give her the answer.
Even though both males were okay with whoever ended up being the dad, a part of her still fretted, and her dreams had made her worry that their happy little bubble was going to burst.
“We’re right here with you,” Ranulf said.
“We sure are.”
“So, who is the lucky dad?” the female who was about to perform the ultrasound asked as she squirted warm gel on her stomach.
“We both are,” Ranulf and Chase said at the same time.
The woman smiled, and Raven released the breath she had been holding.
“Congratulations.”
Raven’s doctor hadn’t reacted either when she came in with both men. She was very proud of the shifter infirmary for being so open-minded. Shocked but proud.
“All right, let’s get started, shall we?” the female asked.
Raven nodded.
The woman set down the probe and started moving it around. “Oh,” she said.
“Oh?” Raven asked. “What’s oh?”
“I want you to look at the screen. See the baby there with the heart flickering?”
“Yes.”
The woman pushed down on Raven’s stomach. “It’s right here.” Then, she moved the probe over to the other side of her body. “And what do you see now?”
“It looks like the same thing,” Chase said.
“Because it is similar but not the same.”
Raven felt the blood drain from her face.
“Oh my fucking God,” she said. Her dreams had been right.
“What’s wrong?” Ranulf asked.
“I’m having twins.”
The woman grinned. “Yes, you are.” She smiled at Chase and Ranulf. “Chances are, you really both are the father.”
Ranulf and Chase hooted and hollered out of excitement and slapped high fives.
“I knew it,” one of them said.
“Yep. She smells too much like both of us,” came out of the other.
Raven groaned and threw an arm over her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” the woman asked.
“I’m never getting rid of either of them now.”
Epilogue
ONE YEAR LATER
Siya walked hand in hand with Ram into the conference room at L & L Construction. She’d never been there before, but she had pictured a table and chairs. But the room was completely empty of furniture.
“Why are we here again?” she asked her mate of ten months. It hadn’t taken six months for her to accept him as her mate—or even three months. She’d said yes after two. She was too easy when it came to Ram.
“Vance said he had an announcement that he wanted all the shifters and vampires here for.”
She hoped everything was okay. She’d really grown fond of Vance and his wife since she’d come to live with the cat-shifters. She would hate for anything to be wrong with him.
Vance moved to the front of the room just as Raven and her two mates squeezed in next to her and Ram. Siya didn’t know the woman that well, but she would always remember she was the one who had taken Monica down all on her own. She was such a badass in Siya’s mind.
Of course, right now, she was all mommy. In one arm, she held a baby boy with light-brown hair and blue-green eyes. He kept smiling up at his mom.
“He’s beautiful,” Siya said.
“Thank you. This is Channing.”
He started to fuss, and the man standing next to her, who looked just like the baby, plucked the infant from her arms. “I got him.”
“This is Reeve,” she said, pointing to the other infant that the orange-eyed, dark-haired guy was holding.
He turned the baby, so Siya could see, and she wasn’t surprised to see that he looked like the man.
“And you’re Chase, and he’s Ranulf, correct?” Siya asked.
The two men smiled. “Yes.”
“I’m Siya.”
“We know,” they said at the same time.
Raven put her hand on Siya’s arm. “Not many humans are mated with vampires. That’s why they know who you are.”
Siya lifted a shoulder and smiled. “I figured.”
“Can I have everyone’s attention?” Vance said, and Raven pretended to zip her lips closed.
Siya leaned into Ram, and he slipped his arm around her.
“I brought you here tonight,” Vance said, “because I wanted you all to hear this at the same time.”
The room was silent as they waited for what he was about to say.
“I’m going to retire.”
There was some clapping and some gasps, but the biggest noise was whoever asked, “Retiring from where?”
“Excellent question. I’m retiring from L & L and as alpha. I’m only getting older, and I want to travel with my beautiful wife.”
Lilith moved to stand beside her husband.
“And as you know, my son, Vaughn, has been preparing to be the next alpha for years.”
Vaughn went to stand on the other side of his dad.
“Lilith and I have been building a house not far from our current home, and it is ready for us to move in. I will always be close if any of you need me, but Vaughn, Naya, and their children are going to move into the main house. You should be closer to your alpha, and quite frankly, I need a break from all of you.”
There was laughter, and someone yelled, “I thought you just said you’d be there for us if we needed you?”
“I lied.”
More laughter.
“But seriously, it has been my greatest honor to be your alpha. Vaughn and I will make an announcement to the other cat-shifters this week, but the best thing you can do is support him.”
“Without a doubt,” Zane yelled.
Vance grinned and looked at his son. “On that note, I would like you to welcome your new alpha, Vaughn Llewelyn.”
Everyone, shifters and vampire alike, erupted in cheers as they celebrated the end of an era as well as the beginning of a future with the new cat-shifter alpha.
A Note from R.L. Kenderson
Hello, Dear Reader!
As you’ve probably already suspected, this is the end of the Forbidden Series. At least at this time. While we love our characters as much as you do, their stories have run dry for us, and we feel like forcing more books that aren’t there wouldn’t be true to our writing.
There is a chance we might pick up their world again someday, but right now, we feel like the series is complete.
We know how much you love the Forbidden world, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for reading our stories…and maybe you will find it in your hearts to forgive us.
With love,
Renae & Lara
Forbidden Blood Sample
She could already tell it was going to be one of those nights.
Vampire Princess Anaya Kensington suppressed a groan, instead sighing heavily. The bachelorette party behind her was drunk and loud. Their impatience was rudely on display as they pushed her toward the doors of the new nightclub. Their obnoxious presence was the last thing she needed.
Naya wanted to turn around and flee. She hadn’t even gone inside, and already, she was full of apathy from just being there. But she remained in line, knowing her best friend was waiting for her inside. It didn’t really matter if she stayed or left because she didn’t have anywhere to go or anyplace she wanted to be. Even the thought of going home held no appeal.
Finally, it was her turn to enter. She was grateful at least to escape the group of drunken, giggly females. Their ridiculous excitement over the bride’s upcoming wedding only made her feel alienated because of her own impending future. Breaking away, she spotted her friend as she stopped inside the doors of the huge space and glanced around.
Pulse had become one of the hottest spots for entertainment in the Minneapolis-St. Paul night scene since opening a month ago, but this was Naya’s first time at the club. The dance floor appeared full, and the booths lining the wall were occupied.
Everyone was smiling, laughing, and having a great time.
Part of her envied their carefree attitudes. She angled her neck from side to side, trying to relieve the deep ache, but nothing could remove the weight on her shoulders. Watching everyone made her realize how tired she was of feeling alone. She was restless. Humans didn’t know how fortunate they were.
Fingers snapped in her face, jarring her from her thoughts.
“Earth to Naya,” Kenzie, her best friend and human, said over the music.
Naya looked at her friend and tried to give her a sincere smile.
Naya had only agreed to come to make her friend happy. Hitting the clubs, mingling with humans, and pretending to be ordinary for the night were her stress relievers—usually. Lately though, her nights out had ended up being a disappointment because she would leave as tense as when she’d arrived.
“Naya?”
Naya raised her brows.
Kenzie pursed her thin lips and clenched her hands into fists. “Why don’t you tell your parents they can shove this arranged marriage—betrothal or whatever you call it—up their asses?”
Naya shook her head. “You know I can’t do that.”
Kenzie’s chestnut eyes narrowed, but after a moment, she huffed and her shoulders relaxed. Her gaze softened. “I wish you would.” She laughed, a small smirk crossing her lips, and she wiggled her eyebrows. “At least I was able to lure you to the wrong side of the river tonight.”
Naya returned her smile, this one more genuine.
Most of Minneapolis and St. Paul were separated by the Mississippi River, but one section of Minneapolis lay on both banks. Pulse had been built on both sides of the border. Kenzie didn’t approve of vampire rules, including the one where all vampires were required to live on the St. Paul side, and she savored the knowledge that she had convinced Naya to come to a place with a Minneapolis address.
“Let’s get a drink.” Kenzie grabbed Naya’s hand, forcing her to follow as they headed for the nearest bartender.
The back bar was decorated with etched glass and lights to showcase the club’s selection of alcohol. Above it was a balcony with more private seating. They walked closer to the counter, and Naya hesitated, feeling eyes on her. Without a doubt, she knew someone was up there, watching her.
Forbidden Hunger (Forbidden #8): Siya & Ram Page 15
