by T. S. Ryder
“It is,” he nodded. “Both of those things.” He knew she was not looking for his approval, but also that she wouldn’t feel nearly as bad about understanding the kind of talent and hard work it took to devise such a scheme if he showed her that he understood it too.
Unfortunately, a cure did not seem possible. “We could screen everyone for the reagents,” Anais told him. “And give them a list of people they should not feed or feed on under any circumstances, but that’s it. Those already infected... they’re lost.” She cried then, inconsolable, and he held her close until she was able to function again. The news broke his heart for the people they were going to lose, but there was nothing to do for them but make their last days as comfortable as possible.
Breaking the news to his father was a task Sebastien took on himself. Baptiste Roche, the Clan King of Louisiana, had woken up several times during the past week and seemed mighty pleased with Kendra. “She’ll keep you on your toes, that one,” he told his son, pride and joy in his voice. “But it’ll just make you love her more.”
Grinning, Sebastien nodded in agreement. He already knew the world would be a bleak place without Kendra in it, and he couldn’t wait to formally make her his Queen. They’d begun the preparations for the Bonding rite, one which would tie their life-forces together and make it so that they aged and grew old at the same pace. Vampire couples didn’t need to bother with that, the longevity of their relationships all but set in stone, but mixed couples chose to undergo it even though it mean the vampire of the pair was looking at a shortened life span. To Sebastien, like many other vampires before him, this did not seem like such a large sacrifice. He wanted to spend his life with Kendra, no matter how long or short – and she felt the same, as evidenced by the fact that all he needed to do to convince her to go through with it with him was tell her what the end result was.
“Don’t worry about me,” Baptiste told Sebastien, when his son told him about the results of his investigation and his sister’s work. “I’ve had a good, long life, I was lucky enough to Bond twice, and I raised a worthy heir to the Clan Throne. I’d be greedy to ask for more.” The only request his father had was to make the Mississippi bastards pay.
And tonight, the main eve of the Grand Gathering, hosted by their own Clan Home, was the perfect night to do it.
Chapter Nine
Kendra sat next to Sebastien, introduced to the representatives of the North American vampire Clans as his Bonded mate and future wife, and watched the final confrontation unravel. As they expected, when Sebastien rose and made their accusations about the Clan King of Mississippi, his maternal uncle, the snide bastard had the gall to claim innocence. It was a good thing they had come well prepared – and with a special gem up their sleeve to reveal only after all other proof was presented.
It was one hell of a process, reminding her more of a courtroom drama than anything else, only more boring. If she had not been deeply invested in the entire ordeal, she would’ve been a little bored. But, things being as they were, she listened and observed intently, both the accused and their audience, who mainly remained on the sidelines, refusing to take anyone’s side until they had heard everything that both parties had to say.
It annoyed her, but she couldn’t blame them – most of their evidence was circumstantial, and Kendra was not sure it would hold up in a human court of law.
But their ace was not something that could be contented – or ignored.
Their ace was a collection of CCTV images, released to them by the police after several days of negotiations and, finally, threats of a lawsuit. They were a little grainy, but in full color, and showed a large red pickup truck stalking and then deliberately hitting the car of one Dr. Keith Duquesne, husband of the Louisiana Clan King’s daughter, and a scientist just a few steps away from discovering the full extent of the Mississippi Clan’s crime.
Two of the photos were particularly interesting because one of them clearly caught the license plate of the truck – and the other the face of the driver.
The truck was registered to the Mississippi Clan King.
The driver was his dhampir nephew.
Upon that reveal, all hell broke loose, and the members of the Mississippi Clan attempted to flee, but the rest of the vampires quickly rounded them up.
As Kendra learned, the vampire justice system could be a little drawn out when it came to presenting evidence, but once they were sure they had convicted the responsible party, the punishment came quickly and brutally.
The final decision was unanimous - the Mississippi Clan was no more. The scheming Clan King and all those suspected of involvement in his revenge plans were executed. The remaining Clan members were to be absorbed into other, bigger clans, to live their lives in peace and free of persecution.
It was not something Kendra wished to see happen again. She knew the wrongdoers had to be punished, but this was a little too much for her to take all at once. Sebastien seemed to understand, and put no pressure on her whatsoever, giving her his quiet presence and support to lean on.
She had to admit, it was a good feeling. Kendra was proud of her strength, but it was nice to know she didn’t have to be strong all the time anymore. She had someone she could rest with and know she would be safe and loved, no matter how strange the way that love came to be was.
With Sebastien at her side, she knew she could survive anything and come out a winner.
Epilogue
Three weeks later, she stood barefoot and dressed in red in the center of the Clan Home back lawn with Sebastien, also barefoot but dressed in dark green, facing each other as they waited for the Clan Priestess to perform the Bonding rite. The elder vampire woman, in elaborate formal robes, suddenly looked at Kendra and proclaimed with a huge smile on her wrinkled face, “You’re pregnant.”
Shocked by the statement, Kendra looked at Sebastien, who seemed just as confused as she was, and then back to the Priestess.
“I beg your pardon?” she asked, and the woman laughed.
“You’re pregnant, child! I can smell the change on you!” The Priestess confirmed her diagnosis, much to the loud joy of everyone present.
Kendra looked at the man who, by the end of this night, would be her husband. He was the only person other than herself who wasn’t cheering, but the smile on his face spoke more of how happy the news made him than all the noise everyone else was making.
“Is she for real?” she asked him, skeptical, and wondering if she’d be criticized for it, but Sebastien just laughed.
“She’s for real,” he confirmed, nodding. “She’s trained to sense such subtle changes. No one else could’ve possibly caught it, not until way longer into the pregnancy.”
Still a little dazed by the revelation, Kendra looked down to her stomach... and then back to the Priestess because a terrifying thought crossed her mind. “The baby... the rite, will it harm it?” she asked, almost frantic, remembering too many stories in which mixing magic and pregnancy resulted in tragedy, but the old woman just smiled and patter her shoulder.
“Don’t worry,” she assured Kendra. “It might be uncomfortable for you, but the baby will be just fine. It’s too small for the rite to affect it. It’s just a cluster of cells waiting to grow into a son or daughter.”
That calmed her well enough, but she still felt an enormous amount of excitement and anxiety mixed together.
A baby.
She was going to have a baby.
She was getting married, doing strange and inexplicable things to her body to make her life as long as her vampire husband’s was, and she was going to have their baby.
If someone had told her all this a month ago, she would’ve had them committed in less than an hour.
Yet it had all happened, and was no less real than the life she was about to leave behind.
Sebastien took her hands in his and smiled that special, warm smiled reserved just for her.
“Ready?” he asked, and Kendra felt her heart overflow with love
and hope for the future that lay ahead.
She smiled back and entwined her fingers with his.
“Ready.”
*****
THE END
The Alpha Wolf's Baby
Description
A curvy secretary with a new job PLUS her hot shifting boss who is leader of his pack PLUS a deadly duel!
All Bianca Jamison was looking for was a job, but what she found when she entered McKenna Enterprises was danger, intrigue and the kind of passion she was certain would never happen to her...
Men never looked at her the way Eric McKenna did – and why should they? With so many fit and slender beauties out there, who would want to give her curves a chance?
Billionaire and Alpha of the New York Pack, Eric McKenna, is going through some rough times. The Law of his Pack states that an Alpha who cannot produce a son within the first year of his rule has to cede the position – and his year is almost up...
And then Bianca Jamison appears with her Rubenesque beauty and a scent he cannot resist, and the next thing he knows, he’s fantasizing about taking her in the elevator of his office building mere seconds after they’d met!
When Pack politics take the turn for the bloody and betrayal puts both his and Bianca’s life in grave danger, Eric knows he has to keep her safe.
The only question is: will he be able to restrain the powerful passion blossoming between them?
Chapter One
Once security cleared her, Bianca Jamison ran towards the elevator, desperate to catch it. If she didn’t reach the 11th floor within the next five minutes, she’d be late for her job interview. It was the first one she had been invited to in the past three months, and she wanted to do everything in her power to make the best impression possible... which, for her, was difficult enough to begin with. People usually took one look at her 230 lb. body, and everything else about her – the fact that she had graduated at the top of her class, the excellent references she had got from every internship she did during college, the two foreign languages she spoke – immediately became invisible.
So when McKenna Enterprises called, Bianca knew she had to come in all guns blazing, decked up in her most professional duds, determined to make them see her, and not her weight... but then her bus had got caught in a traffic jam, and now all her efforts would go to waste if she didn’t catch the damn elevator.
She could see the door beginning to close and frantically called, “No! Please, stop!” To her immense relief, a hand extended from inside to stop the door from closing, just in time for her to reach it. Her shoes slid against the marble floor as she came to a sudden halt.
Taking a moment to regain both her balance and her breath, Bianca looked up to thank the kind stranger who was still holding the door open for her...
...only to meet a pair of pale blue eyes observing her with unbridled interest.
Bianca gulped, suddenly understanding how prey felt when face-to-face with a predator. There was nothing inherently frightening about him. He was a handsome man in his early thirties, about half a foot taller than her, cut lean but strong, dressed in clothes that were understated but obviously expensive – a russet suit and crisp white shirt, unbuttoned at the top, and no tie. His sandy hair was cropped into a Caesar cut and he had the kind of tan that spoke of hours spent in outdoor activities.
But that look in his eyes like he was wondering what she tasted like... yeah. That made her shiver.
“Well?” he asked, his brow raised quizzically, as if he was daring her to step inside. His voice, a little on the rough side, fit him perfectly, and Bianca thought that she wouldn’t be surprised if she found out women were lining up at his bedroom door – they’d literally just met and she could already feel the heat rising under her skin. He had a presence that went beyond attraction, something almost primal that she could not help but respond to.
But then she remembered the reason she was there and mentally slapped herself for losing her concentration so easily. She nodded and stepped inside, scurrying off into a corner of the elevator. The man smirked and moved his hand, letting the door close.
“Which floor?” he asked.
“11th, please,” she replied.
A wolfish grin appeared on his lips as he pressed the button, his eyes not leaving her even once. Bianca had a feeling that she should be afraid... and yet, instead, she felt heat pool between her thighs, making her frustrated with herself. He was dangerous – he looked dangerous – but, for some reason, that realization only made her want him even more.
Chapter Two
Meanwhile, Eric McKenna was exercising more self-restraint than he had thought was possible for any werewolf enclosed in such a small space with a woman at the peak of her monthly cycle, let alone for a fully-fledged Alpha on the first day of the full moon.
Granted, her pheromones weren’t the only thing wreaking havoc on his control. In fact, he was wondering if there was a man alive who could see how beautiful she was and not want to take her on the spot.
She had a sweet, heart-shaped face with large brown eyes and small, full lips. He was already fantasizing about them being wrapped around him while she was on her knees. Her chestnut hair was bound in a tight French bun, and both her makeup and her nails were well done, using only natural tones. She wore no perfume, for which his highly sensitive nose was very grateful.
And her body... the charcoal sheath dress that encased her from neck to knee did nothing to hide the generous curves of her voluptuous figure. She was built like a pinup, though with much thicker padding, with large breasts, a pronounced waistline despite the roundness of her belly and wide hips with a juicy bottom stacked on top of thick, strong thighs.
The wolf in him whispered to the most primal of his desires, demanding he take her, but the man forced himself to stay where he was. The only thing on the 11th floor was his own company, which most likely made her a potential client – and, more to the point, she was a complete stranger. He did not need this complication... though his Beta would probably disagree.
“You know your year is almost up,” Brian had reminded him just last night, for what seemed like the millionth time, “Might and issue, Eric. Those are the requisites, and you’re stalling on the issue part.” Eric had argued him out of his house not even a full hour later, but for all that he hated to admit it, Brian was right. In his pack, an Alpha had as many duties as he had privileges, but even the worst Alpha could still legitimately hold a claim to his title if he met two conditions – defeating any pretenders to the position who issue a formal Challenge, and proving his fertility by having a healthy son. For the previous Alphas of the pack, who had already had families before they assumed the position, this had not been a problem, unless they had only daughters. In that case, they had three years to produce an heir.
A childless Alpha had one.
Knowing that he had no choice, Eric had done his part and, ever since he obtained his title, had knocked boots with pretty much every willing she-wolf he could find, even though the forced nature of those couplings bothered him greatly. Sex was supposed to be fun and emotional; what he had been having for the past year could only be called clinical.
And he couldn’t blame the ladies, either. It wasn’t their fault that the same magic that gave werewolves their heightened senses, the ability to shapeshift and many other perks made werewolves far less fertile than humans – which was a loophole he could’ve taken advantage of if the idea didn’t make him sick to his stomach. He had too much honor to knock up some poor woman who had no idea what she’d be getting into and convince her to keep the baby he would then have to take away. Even when one parent was human, a child of a werewolf was always a werewolf.
To prevent any accidents, Eric had stopped having sex with human women altogether. It was a decision he was currently very tempted to revoke, especially when he caught the sweet, sweet scent of arousal from the woman across from him. The beast inside him fought to take control with a vengeance.
With a
stifled growl, Eric closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the wall of the elevator, praying that whatever business this woman had in his firm had nothing to do with him...
Chapter Three
With a loud ding, the elevator stopped, and Bianca fought the urge to flee as soon as the door opened. The fact that the man in front of her made her feel both aroused and apprehensive was no excuse to be rude, especially since, for all the teasing, he hadn’t actually done anything that would justify her nervousness. He had just stood there and... watched her, without blinking once, until he had closed his eyes and rested the back of his head against the elevator door a few seconds before they reached the 11th floor. And, when they did, he was courteous enough to politely gesture for her to exit the elevator first. She nodded and stepped out, doing her best to hide her relief.
She’d heard him step out as well a moment later, but she didn’t dare to look to see where he went, heading straight to the reception desk instead. A glance at the clock behind the receptionist’s back told her that she’d arrived just in the nick of time, which took some of the nervousness away, and moments later a secretary arrived to take her to meet with the head of HR.
The interview went much better than she had anticipated. Faster, too, since the woman Bianca was going to temp for had left abruptly, and they needed someone to jump into her shoes as soon as possible. “Mr. McKenna’s personal assistant broke her ankle and will be out for two months,” Ms. Fonseca explained, “His secretary will be taking over for her, but we need someone who will aid her since she’ll basically be doing two jobs at once. She personally handpicked the candidates, so you’ve come pre-approved, and if you can start right away then the job is yours.” Bianca was a little disappointed. The original job posting did say that this would be a temporary position, but only two months? That was far too short a time.