by Jade Royal
“Hey,” she greeted. He looked up at her and smiled weakly.
“Hey.” There was something solemn in his facial expression.
“Are you al-” She took a deep breath and froze. Her chest rose up and down harshly.
“Oh my god,” she breathed. She looked down at her stomach. It was flat, but she smelled her own pregnancy.
“You-you-you knocked me up!” Kyra exclaimed.
“Me?! I told you to get off! I tried to pull out, you wouldn’t let me!” Kyra threw herself back down onto the bed.
“What in the hell are we going to do with a pup?!” Kyra sighed.
“I don’t even trust you.” She turned onto her side feeling tears come to her eyes. Jaxson got up from the chair and sat on the edge of the bed next to her.
“Haven’t you always said you want to be a mom?” Jaxson asked her.
“Remember you were upset about not being able to have pups.”
“Yes I want to be a mother, but I want to have pups with someone I trust!”
“Kyra why were you angry that I left?” he asked her.
“I don’t know, I thought…I thought that maybe we could work out. After hearing the way you pleaded for my life.”
“So what changed? I understand you’re upset about me leaving. But I’m back, and I’m willing to stay here to work things out with you. You have to believe what I say though. Mira set that shit up between me and her. Honestly if I had gotten caught as red-handed as I did I would be begging for your forgiveness not trying to convince you that something was wrong. That plus you would be able to tell if I was bullshitting you.”
“So what do you want me to do Jaxson?”
“We’ve marked each other again,” he said pointing at the bite mark on his shoulder.
“I want to be with you, Kyra. You’re carrying my pup, and I couldn’t be happier. Because I love you so much and I didn’t think my heart could ever feel something like this. I want you to trust me, Kyra. I want you to love me. I want you to want me as much as I want you and to believe that I will do whatever it takes to earn your trust again.” Kyra’s tears finally fell. She rubbed her bite mark that was a symbol of their claim for each other. Jaxson leaned over and kissed her stomach.
“You’ll break my heart again, you know,” she said.
“When your mate comes, and you leave me for her.” Jaxson wiped the tears from her face.
“A couple years ago I had this dream…” he began softly.
“This beautiful wolf came to me. We sat in a meadow, and I just played with her not sure why I was so interested in the animal. Then before my eyes, she shifted into a gorgeous female. She told me her name was Naomi and that we were true mates. I instantly believed her because I could feel our natural connection. She said that she died giving birth to her pup. She hadn’t thought that she would ever find her mate and during her heating cycle, she became with child with the wolf she trusted to help her through her cycle. Two months later after she gave birth, her heart just stopped. No one knew why and no one was able to help her. The minute she died the universe showed her who her true mate was and she came to my dream to tell me that the only place I would ever find her was in death. She said I should continue to live life and had hope that I would find a woman to love. I didn’t believe that shit. Until you.” Kyra sat up slowly and looked at him in awe.
“I-I had the same dream,” she gasped.
“My true mate came to me after I shifted for the first time. Then when I died, he was there again. He gave me the choice. Stay in the afterlife with him or go back to be with you.”
“And you chose me?”
“Obviously,” Kyra smiled. Jaxson smirked and plucked her nose.
“See, my mate won’t ever come. So I can never break your heart. And now…it makes so much sense why we connect the way we do. We both lost our true mates, but we were able to find love. In each other,” Jaxson said as he held the side of her face.
“It seems so,” she said.
“Let me continue to love you, Kyra. Please. Both you and my pup.” Kyra gave in. What else could she do? She had chosen to come back to the world for him. She may as well do just that.
“I hope you got a lot of love because I’m needy,” she smiled. Jaxson laughed and grabbed onto her, hugging her tightly.
“I got endless love for my cocoa bean.” He lifted her chin and kissed her deeply. When he pulled away, Kyra giggled.
“We’re having a pup,” she said happily.
“I can’t believe it!”
“To think I thought Tristan and Gemma were next,” Jaxson chuckled. He stood and went to search her drawers for one of her nightgowns. He found a pink one and went to the bed and put it over Kyra’s head dressing her. Once he was done, he lifted Kyra in his arms.
“I know you have got to be hungry,” he said.
“Especially the way you manhandled my ass last night.”
“Well, you were standing there sexy and shit trying to tease me. Never tease a she-wolf in heat. She’ll kill you.”
“Tell me about it,” Jaxson smiled. He carried her out of the room and towards the kitchen. It was a little after 7 am so he knew the rest of the pack hadn’t woken up yet. So for the time being it was just him and Kyra. He sat her on the island in the kitchen then searched the fridge.
“What you feel like eating?” he asked her.
“Eggs, bacon, grits, and biscuits.” Jaxson side eyed her, but she was very serious. In that moment Jaxson realized he was going to be a sucka for both his pup and his woman. There was no way he would ever be able to tell her no.
“Alright fine. Good thing my mama taught me how to cook.” Kyra clapped happily. Nothing like watching a man cook. She didn’t know Jaxson could cook as well as he did until he started cooking. Kyra just sat there in awe being his taste tester. The biscuits were in the oven when Kellan came out of the tunnels.
“I smell biscuits. Which means Kyra’s cooking,” Kellan said. He stopped in his tracks however when he saw it was Jaxson doing the cooking while Kyra watched him.
“You cook?!” Kellan asked, shocked.
“Funny,” Jaxson smiled.
“Kyra, I see you’re well…” Kellan’s words trailed off when his nose began twitching. He took a long deep breath. His eyes went wide as he looked between both Kyra and Jaxson.
“Oh shit,” he gasped. He came over to the island where Kyra was sitting and hugged her tightly before dapping it up with Jaxson.
“Congratulations! Man, I can’t wait for Bliss to have another heating cycle. I love this fatherhood shit. You’re gonna love it too.”
“I know, I can’t wait. I was scared when it first happened, but now I’m excited. Two months seems to fucking far away.”
“Yes, it is,” Kellan said.
“But it’s well worth it. everyone’s going to be excited about this for you two.”
“Excited for what?” Bliss asked, entering the kitchen next. Kingston was sucking on her breast thirstily while Bliss walked.
“Oo grits! Now Kingston can have some of it and give my breast a damn break,” she sighed.
“What should we be excited for?”
“Use your nose,” Kellan told her. Bliss constantly had to remind herself that she had amplified abilities when she wasn’t paying attention. She took a deep breath and smelled the change in Kyra’s scent.
“You knocked her up!” Bliss screamed in happiness.
“Kyra’s pregnant!” Bliss shouted. And just like that, every pack member came running into the kitchen, all tripping and skidding over each other.
“Did I hear that right or am I bugging?” Tristan asked. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and Gemma was wearing his, and it looked like they were interrupted from doing the nasty.
“You heard right, but you’re still bugging,” Kyra teased him. He punched her in the arm but then hugged her.
“Wait, she’s an enforcer, and now she’s pregnant! How does that affect things?” Niles asked. Jaxson gl
ared at him and pointed a claw at the young wolf.
“If either of you challenge my pregnant mate I’ll peel the skin off your bodies,” Jaxson threatened.
“Well, no one is going to challenge Kyra. I don’t care if she’s an enforcer or not. If you have to challenge a pregnant female to win then, you don’t belong in a position to help protect and enforce rules in any pack of mine. That’s understood?” Kellan asked. Both Zander and Niles nodded their heads. The she-wolves gathered all around Kyra, chatting about babies and whatnot while the men helped Jaxson finish making breakfast. It was all normal until Mira ran into the kitchen. Her hair was a tousled mess, and her eyes were frantic.
“What’d you yell out Bliss?” Mira asked.
“Who’s pregnant?” Everyone stopped and looked at Mira.
“Kyra’s pregnant,” Bliss responded. Mira immediately shook her head, denial running through her veins.
“No, no. It’s not true. Tell me it’s not true,” she gritted, stepping towards Jaxson. Jaxson pulled Kyra down from the island and put her behind him. Rita and Jayce stood in front of them seeing the crazed look in Mira’s eyes.
“Take it easy,” Rita told her.
“You take it easy! It’s not like Jayce is having a pup by another wolf.”
“Well, Jayce is my mate, so that’s different,” Rita said.
“There is no difference!” Mira snapped. When Jaxson had left, she didn’t know what to do about it. Honestly, there was nothing she could do but wait for him to come back. Now he was back, and the first thing he did was knock Kyra up? Mira was fuming. In fact, she was past that. She was pissed the hell off.
“I’m challenging you!” She said pointing to Kyra. Kyra gasped and stepped from behind Jaxson.
“Are you serious?” Kyra scoffed.
“You had weeks to challenge me, and now when I’m pregnant you want to challenge me? Are you insane?”
“Tell her she has to fight Kellan. A fight is a fight,” Mira said crossing her arms.
“Mira you know that-” Mira cut Kellan off with a wave of her hand.
“Don’t feed me any bullshit. Standard wolf law, when a challenge is issued the one it’s issued against must fight. Simple. So she has to fight me.”
“Unless someone steps up in her place,” Gemma said.
“I accept the challenge on Kyra’s behalf.” Mira looked at Gemma long and hard. She knew Gemma didn’t have control of her wolf yet and those were dangerous odds.
“I don’t want to fight you,” Mira hissed.
“Then you don’t fight at all,” Kellan said.
“Gemma has stepped up to accept the challenge. So either you fight her, or you don’t fight anyone.”
“You’re so fucking lucky,” Mira spat at Kyra. She then looked at Kellan. She’d never tried it before, but she figured it was worth a shot.
“You’re accepting me into the pack today right?” she asked. With her power, she tried to persuade Kellan into giving her the answer she wanted. His energy was strong and his mind steely, but Mira worked around it. Kellan looked at her with his brows furrowed. Something slammed her power off, and she was shut completely out of his mind and thoughts.
“What’d you just try to do to me?” He asked, approaching her. Mira backed up.
“Huh? Nothing I didn’t try anything!” Kellan stared down at her, anger radiating through his body. No one had ever invaded his mind besides his parents and his mate. Then again, that wasn’t an invasion. Not like he just felt.
“I’m not accepting you into the pack today Mira,” he stated. Growling underneath her breath, Mira continued to back up. This was not the way things were supposed to go. It hit her that she was probably never going to be accepted into the pack. Sooner or later Kellan was going to break that news to her. Mira, of course,refused to leave until her wrath was felt one last time. She knew just the way to do it.
“What was that about?” Bliss asked as Mira stomped off.
“She’s upset that Kyra is pregnant by the man she thinks she loves. Any female will be upset about it. When you’re upset, you tend to do and say irrational shit. It was her probably losing control of her emotions. But-but there was something else that took me off guard, and I didn’t like it one bit,” Kellan said.
“I felt a change in you,” Selena said, her hand glowing a sign that she was ready to heal something even though there was nothing physically wrong with anyone.
“What do you mean?” Rita asked.
“For a slight second your energy changed. My hand started glowing, and I sensed a darkness trying to spread itself in your head. But then you shut it down,” Selena answered.
“Is this the same darkness you’ve seen in Jaxson?” Kellan asked.
“The very same one,” Selena said.
“And the common denominator is Mira.”
“What do you think it is?” Jayce asked.
“I’m not sure. But I have this new book. Let me check on something real quick.” Selena hurried off back to her bedroom.
“I can’t believe she wanted to challenge me,” Kyra gasped, shaking her head. Jaxson kissed her temple.
“I got your back cocoa bean don’t worry about it.” He kissed her temple then put her back on the island to sit. He spooned up the grits into a bowl and began feeding her. The rest of the pack got plates for their own food and ate standing around in the kitchen. Kyra devoured everything. Even Kingston stopped sucking Bliss’s breast to have him some of the grits. Because of its consistency, it was easy for him to swallow without having any teeth.
“Riley’s awake,” Rita said hearing her daughter toss and turn in their bedroom with her sensitive hearing.
“Eat sweetie I’ll go get her,” Jayce said. He hurried off to their bedroom and went to get his pup. Jaxson was envious when he saw Jayce return with the small bundle of joy in his arms. She was cooing and making smiles. Even though her eyes hadn’t opened, she knew it was her father that had her in his arms. Jaxson literally could not wait until his little cocoa bean would arrive.
Rita took the baby from Jayce so she could breastfeed. Even while eating his grits, Kingston’s attention was on Riley as if he was trying to figure out who she was. Kyra couldn’t get enough of the babies around them and she sure as heck couldn’t wait to meet her own pup. After having Maverick use and abuse her then try to kill her; having this pup meant the world to her. Especially now because it was with Jaxson. Yawning, Kyra rubbed her smooth belly. Jaxson noticed her tired eyes and put his plate down. He scooped her into his arms once again. Kyra snuggled her head into his neck as sleep called her.
“Go on a put her to lay down we’ll be here when you get back,” Tristan said.
“Be back in a sec.” He carried Kyra to his bedroom instead of hers. Both her and her wolf seemed happy to be in his bed surrounded by his pillows.
“Call me if you need me, baby,” he whispered in her ear.
“I’m not far away.” He kissed her lips lightly even though she didn’t kiss him back because she was already falling asleep.
“You’ve made me so happy,” he said aloud.
“So happy.” He kissed her forehead before finally leaving the room and going back to the kitchen to the others.
Mira watched with distain as Jaxson left the tunnels to return to the pack in the kitchen. She had heard the entire conversation the pack had and knew Kellan knew what she had been up to. He knew that she was trying to force thoughts that weren’t his into his mind. Mira also knew that Selena was close to figuring out what she had been up too as well. Time was of the essence, and Mira wasn’t going to get another chance to do what she had to do before Kellan asked her to leave the caves for good. So when Jaxson left his room, Mira tiptoed towards it trying to remain as quiet as possible.
Kyra was knocked out cold when Mira entered the room. She was sleeping on her back, her head deep into Jaxson’s pillows. Mira was full of resentment. It should have been her pregnant with Jaxson’s pup, not Kyra. In such a vulnerab
le position, Mira grabbed hold of Kyra’s brain; shutting down all its functions. Kyra’s eyes snapped open, but Mira already had control of her. Kyra couldn’t move on inch. Mira climbed onto the bed and on top of Kyra.
“Jaxson was my free ticket into the pack,” Mira said.
“I wanted him from day one. And just because you saw him interested in me, you took it upon yourself to flaunt your little ass in his face.” Kyra tried to speak but she couldn’t. Mira laughed at her.
“If I can’t get what I want then why the hell should you two get to be happily ever fucking after? I don’t think so. Not on my watch.” Mira placed her palm on Kyra’s stomach. Her eyes lit up as she used her power in a way she hadn’t before. Kyra tried to scream, but she couldn’t make a sound. Mira’s hand glowed as she used the ancient magic her native American heritage taught her. Tears leaked out the side of Kyra’s eyes as pain and panic danced on her face.
“Take this as a lesson Kyra,” Mira threatened.
***
Selena ran out of her room to the kitchen. She slammed the book she was reading on the counter and looked at Kellan.
“Mira is an empath right?” Selena asked.
“Yeah. She said she can take people’s emotions away or something like that.”
“I bought this book a couple days ago. It’s about native American wolves and empaths. Taking away someone’s emotions or pain from them isn’t the only thing an empath can do.”
“What else do they do?” Jaxson asked.
“They can make someone feel emotions that aren’t there’s and they can persuade you to do things for them. That darkness inside of you Jaxson, your confused emotions and everything….she’s been trying to possess you. And she just tried it with you Kellan. The books says that powerful enough energy can stop an empath from controlling you. Kellan you’re an alpha, and she probably couldn’t handle your strength. But Jaxson didn’t you say that you stopped feeling confused feelings around her once you and Kyra got serious?”
“Yeah…”
“Your connection to Kyra was too strong for her to take your mind over with thoughts about wanting to be with her.”