by T. S. Ryder
Yuliana gasped, her hands flying to her mouth as Leon came to stand over her, growling fiercely. The Lioness tried to get to her feet, but the Lion rammed her again until she lay still on her stomach, tail pressed to her belly, snarling in her throat.
Leon Shifted and pulled Yuliana to her feet. One of his arms clasped around her waist, and she gratefully clung to him. The possibility of what could have happened made her shiver, but she still mustered up enough strength to glare at the Lioness. She received a death glare in return. The Lion turned to face them and Shifted as well. He was a massive man, even bigger than Leon. His waist was as thick as an old oak tree, his shoulders twice as broad.
"Keep your pack under control, Aspen," Leon snarled. "Yuliana is my mate and I will go to war against any of you that harm her."
"As if you little Wolves would have a chance against my pride," Aspen sneered. "We're Lions. But as you wish. I did inform my pride that you had mated a vampire and that they were to stay away from her… I expected you to keep her locked up, though."
Leon snarled, his arm tightening further. "She is my mate, not my prisoner."
Aspen shrugged. He turned to the Lioness, who was crouching on her belly by this time, ears flat against her skull, her tail twitching. The Alpha Lion jerked his head, and she growled but slunk off. Yuliana couldn't imagine how terrible it would be to have to put up with such an awful Alpha. Leon treated his pack with respect and was as concerned for their wellbeing as he was his own.
The Lion's gaze shifted to Yuliana. Her natural meekness made her want to shrivel away from him, but she glared instead. The Lion smirked. "She is a pretty one, I'll give you that. It's just a shame that your bloodline will end since you chose a mate that can't give you children."
"That's a myth." Yuliana was surprised by her own boldness. She stood a little straighter. "Vampires are fully capable of having children. We're not undead, we can reproduce just like humans."
"Still too different from Shifters to get pregnant."
Yuliana didn't reply. Was she? She hadn't been thinking about babies or pregnancy since she came here, but she fully expected to have a baby someday. Maybe more than one. But if it was true, and she couldn’t get pregnant by Leon…
Her breath caught in her throat. She had been feeling extra tired and hungry lately… if it was possible that Shifters and vampires could reproduce…
If only there was a way to know for sure! Maybe I can send for a test.
She shook herself from those thoughts. She had been with Leon for only a few months. It was too early. Even though vampires were capable of having children, it took years for a woman to conceive.
More giant people were gathering around them now, both man and woman. Most were fully clothed, others half-naked like Leon and Aspen, but there were a few that had everything out on display. Yuliana tried not to look at those ones. Nearly all of them were glaring at the vampire, though, and she found what little boldness she had managed to pull up fading.
"I do wonder why you chose to mate a vampire," one of them, a woman with a clipped, harsh voice said, her gaze on Yuliana. "And especially one so small. She looks like she has a strong body, it's true, but how can you actually mate her?"
"We've already mated," Leon growled.
"And you didn't break her pelvis? Tell me, is she stronger than your average vampire, or did you just not mate her properly?"
Yuliana glared at the woman. "He mated me perfectly! And what goes between us is none of your business. We are mates, and—"
"A question," another of the men interrupted. His glare was not on Yuliana but Leon. "How does it feel, knowing that you betrayed your people? All of us Alphas have been wondering this. By mating a vampire, you have turned your back on Shifters. What's next, are you going to be the king's lapdog?"
Leon growled. "Careful, Sam. I do not have unlimited patience."
"Nor do I. In fact, mine ran out when I learned you had brought a vampire into your pack. And as the Alpha of the Bison herd, I invoke the rite of Volda."
Leon tensed. Yuliana glanced between him and the other Alphas. They all looked shocked, and a few of them growled in their throats while others shook their heads and muttered. The vampire's grip on Leon tightened.
"What is that?" she asked. "What does Volda mean?"
"It's a rite for when an Alpha thinks another Alpha's mate is unworthy of the position. He challenged me to a fight, over you." Leon looked down at her. His eyes glittered. "I cannot refuse, or else it's automatic forfeiture."
"And if he loses, you're mine, to do whatever I want," Sam snarled. "So what will it be, Leon? Will you fight me, or save yourself some pain and just hand over the vampire now?"
Leon growled. He pulled himself from Yuliana, despite her cry of protest, and marched to face the other Alpha. "You will regret this, Sam. I will protect my mate."
Chapter Six – Leon
From the looks on the other Alphas' faces, Leon knew that they didn't approve of Sam's challenge. The Volda was an ancient, outdated rite rooted in the denial of women's choices. If Yuliana had been a Shifter, even a human, rather than a vampire, they never would have stood for it. But she was a vampire, and there was probably more than one that hoped Leon would lose against the Bison.
If they were going to Shift, Leon would stand no chance against the other Alpha. Just as natural wolves couldn't take down prey that size on their own, Wolf Shifters couldn't stand against Bison. But fortunately for him, while in Human form they were fairly evenly matched, and the Volda could not be fought in the Beast form. It was not about killing their opponent, after all.
"Move away from the fires," one of the female Alphas said. "The last thing we need is for you two idiots to burn down our tents."
Leon grunted and turned away. He headed for the outskirts of the camp, where they would do minimal damage. His gaze caught Yuliana's. Her eyes were wide, her hands clamped over her mouth like she was about to be sick. She gasped suddenly; Leon instantly knew what that meant, and was just able to jump aside as Sam charged him.
The Bison whirled on his heel, a fist shooting out from his side. Leon tried to dodge again, but Sam's knuckled caught him in the ribs. He stumbled back, gasping for breath. It was a cheap shot and they both knew it, but that didn't stop Sam; he pressed the advantage he'd just opened up, slamming his fist into Leon's ribs again before taking aim at his face. The Wolf was just able to dodge the blow. When he attempted to return the punch, Sam easily blocked him.
The Bison gripped Leon's wrist, grinning savagely. Leon twisted, but Sam rammed him with his shoulder, then used the force to roll the Wolf over his back and slam him down into the ground. His vision went utterly black, his lungs unable to pull in air. Sam was over him, crushing him, and he vainly struggled against the larger Shifter.
Panic spiked through him. He wasn't used to fighting his own kind. It had seemed obvious that he could take the Bison, but they were notoriously bad-tempered; Sam must fight all the time. What would happen to Yuliana is Leon lost?
Can't happen.
Leon lashed out blindly. His hands caught Sam's face and he clawed and gouged at the Bison. When the other Alpha yelped and pulled away from him, he quickly squirmed out of the Bison's grasp. Stumbling to his feet, Leon pulled in a few deep breaths, waiting for his head to stop spinning.
The Bison rubbed a red, puffy eye and Leon grinned. He straightened and inhaled through his nose to steady himself. And out of all the bodies pressed together, watching, one stood out the most. Yuliana's peculiar, sweet scent. Only there were more undertones to it now. Leon's head swung round. They said that a woman's mate was always the first to detect that subtle change in scent after a woman's third trimester… but Yuliana certainly couldn’t be that far along!
Could she?
She hadn't had the classic pregnancy symptoms. No morning sickness. No unusual fatigue, except lately, no noticeable weight gain. No menstrual cycle, but she said she hadn't had one for a few years–apparently it was comm
on among vampires, especially ones without access to blood, to have sparse periods.
A fist caught him on the side of his face, making him stumble. Sam actually gave him time to recover this time, laughing and gloating.
Leon felt steel infuse in his spine as he continued to breathe in Yuliana's scent. He attacked the Bison, howling. He quickly caught the other Alpha in a headlock, though received a few punches in return. Same twisted, grunting.
"We can keep fighting or you can surrender," Leon panted. "I will not stop until one of us is dead."
"She is a vampire!"
"She is my mate."
Sam punched Leon in the stomach, forcing the Wolf to release him. "She is not—"
"She carries my child."
The Bison's eyes widened. He fell back a step, and his gaze flickered to Yuliana. A low grunt and Sam shook his head. "I retract my challenge."
Leon didn't wait for the other Alphas to acknowledge. He raced back to Yuliana, gathering her into his arms at once. He kissed her deeply. Her hands laced around the back of his neck. His mate kissed him back but pulled away abruptly. She glanced around at the Shifters around them and ducked her head. The pale olive of her face went red.
Ah, yes. She was shy. In his excitement, Leon had forgotten about that. He'd also forgotten about the beating he had just taken.
"Bring us some blood bags," he ordered a nearby Wolf, carrying her towards their tent.
Once there, he laid her on her bedroll and continued to kiss her. Yuliana tilted her head to give him access to her neck and giggled.
"What's brought this on? You were getting beaten up. Are you sure you're alright?"
"Fine. Just bruised. I'll be healed up before you know it." He put a hand on her stomach. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?" Her brow furrowed.
Leon kissed her again. "Yuliana. My delicious, beautiful Yuliana with all your quiet strength and determination. I could have carried you here, rather than making you walk all this way with your feet blistering and—"
"I can handle a few blisters." Yuliana's cheeks darkened. "And I'm too heavy for you to carry all the way here. But what is this all about?"
"I can scent your pregnancy."
Yuliana gasped. Her dark eyes widened and her grip on his arm tightened. He could tell just by looking at her that she hadn't known. A little of his happiness trickled away. What if she was unhappy with this? What if she wanted more time? They hadn't discussed children, Leon assuming his new mate wanted to have young as quickly as he did. But what if…
"Are you unhappy?" he asked.
Yuliana shook her head. "No… just surprised. Pregnant. But… we've only been together for a few months. It takes vampires years to conceive."
"Apparently not when they're with Shifters."
Yuliana smiled at his joke. Then her smile grew even bigger until she was beaming. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she brought herself to him, kissing him hard, and laughed.
"I'm going to be a mother! And I'm so glad that you'll be my child's father. I love—" She cut herself off, sucking in a deep breath.
Leon tenderly cupped her face. "I love you, too."
Aspen's voice spoke from the other side of the lean-to. "Apparently so much so that you've forgotten why we're here in the first place. Or when others are creeping up on you."
The Lion rounded the canvas, looking amused. Yuliana gasped, but Leon only glared at him. Aspen always thought that just because he could bully his pack–sorry pride–into doing what he wanted, it meant he ruled the other Alphas as well. While it was true that few of them could match him physically, Lion's arrogance was annoying even at the best of times.
"What are you talking about?" Leon demanded, getting to his feet.
"I'm talking about the fact that you summoned the Alphas to discuss the vampire king's motives and recent actions. But here you are, paying more attention to your vampire mate than to the potential threat of the vampire armies."
Leon ground his teeth together. "We just learned—"
"That you're going to be parents, I heard." Aspen rolled his eyes and smirked. "There will be plenty of time to, ahem, 'celebrate' later. Our purpose here is to deal with a threat that could potentially hurt all of us. As much as I'm sure you want to be with your mate at this time, we have business to conclude."
He was right of course, which only made Leon even less happy with him. Letting out a reluctant huff of breath, he turned to Yuliana. She smiled slightly and nodded, showing that she understood why he had to go. Leon kissed her once more.
"I'll be back as soon as I can."
"I know."
Leon walked away, passing the Wolf he had sent for blood as he did so. Aspen smirked as they walked towards the place the other Alphas were waiting for the two of them. It was high on the mountain, on the bare crown of the peak. Below the campsite was clearly visible. The other Alphas were already standing in a circle. Sam scowled at him, but when Leon nodded at him to show he bore no resentment (at least, not enough to bother with at the moment) the Bison nodded back.
"Now that we're all here," Aspen said, settling down on a large rock. "We ought to continue our discussion from before. Leon has expressed concerns that the vampire king is using his wiles to lower our guard and restart the war. I have noticed that he's been overly friendly towards me lately as well. And any time a vampire is friendly… well, that is certainly cause for concern."
There were scowls and nods around the circle. Sam narrowed his eyes at the Alpha Wolf.
"If you were so suspicious, why did you take a vampire as your mate?"
Leon frowned back at him. "Originally it was just to stop from giving Harold an excuse to be insulted. But the more I get to know Yuliana, the more I care about her. She is my mate, not only because of convenience but also the mate of my heart."
Sam opened his mouth again, but before he could speak, a sharp howl rang through the air. All the Alphas turned towards the camp below them.
"What is it now?" Aspen grumbled, but Leon's heart was already in his throat.
Below them, vampires were pouring out of the trees and attacking the Shifters that were camped below. And there were a dozen vampires headed right for Yuliana's lean-to.
Chapter Seven – Yuliana
"Let me go!" Yuliana fought against the iron grips around her arms.
She'd never noticed before how bad other vampires smelled. Out among the Shifters, everything was clean and fresh, with a noticeable earthy smell to the world. But these vampires smelled stale, like a room that had been locked shut for a thousand years. It made her gag as she struggled to free herself.
"Yuliana, stop fighting us," a familiar voice ordered.
"Zak?" Yuliana twisted to find her old friend backing up the three vampires that had her in their grips. Her jaw dropped. When the horde of vampires had burst through the trees, attacking the Shifter camp, she had thought it was the king taking the offensive again. But if it was Zak here… "What are you doing?"
"Saving your life." Zak took the place of one of the other vampires. They picked her up bodily, grunting a little, and began running from the camp.
Loud, deep roars and howls echoed down the mountainside. That was why they were running. The Alphas were attacking. Leon was attacking.
"Let me go," she said again, trying to hang as limply as she could while still kicking at the vampires that carried her. "I told you before that I am here—"
"Yuliana, I was never here for you. It was a cover." Zak glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "The king sent me to follow the Wolves and learn more about them. I'm only taking you out of the fight right now because you gave me that knife. You haven't been completely brainwashed by the Shifters yet."
So it was all a ruse all along. Yuliana snarled. When she was free, he'd pay for this! She continued to struggle uselessly. Eventually, the vampires put her down and tied her hands behind her back. Zak threw her over his shoulder and raced away while the other two turned bac
k. The faint scent of Shifter told her why—
Leon was coming after her.
"Leon!" Yuliana shouted. "Leon! I'm here!"
Zak grunted, running faster. Yuliana rocked her body from side to side, making his grip slip. She tumbled off his shoulder, onto the ground. As she scrambled to her feet, Zak lunged for her. She fell again. Her head struck a rock and everything went black.
***
Yuliana's head pounded like she had drunk ten thousand gallons of straight vodka. She didn't want to open her eyes, but memories of what had happened just before she passed out returned. Her heart rate spiked. Hitting her head, even hard enough to knock her out, shouldn’t have kept her down long. But as she blinked open her eyes, she found herself not staring at the forest canopy. Not at the familiar sight of the lean-to canvas. Instead, she was staring at a pale pink ceiling.
Her ceiling. The ceiling she had at home with her parents…
"Leon?" she whimpered.
"You're awake!"
Yuliana's heart jumped at the male voice, but it didn't take long for her brain to register that it wasn't Leon's. She turned her head to find her father sitting beside her. A smile broke over his face. He stroked her hair back from her face.
"Don't worry, Yuliana," he said. "You're safe now. Zak told us about how the Shifters had you drugged at their camp. But you're safe now, you're home and the drugs have worked their way out of your system."
Yuliana frowned. Why would Zak tell them a lie like that? He'd have to know that as soon as she woke up, she'd reveal the truth… But he must have drugged her. He wasn't looking for a lasting lie, just one that would allow him to get out of here as quickly as it could. Anger bubbled in her stomach.
"I wasn't a captive," she growled, pushing herself up. "Where is Leon? Where is my mate?"
Her father stared at her with puzzled eyes. "What?"
"My mate," she repeated. "Where is he? King Harold double-crossed him. I was supposed to help bring harmony between our people, but the king still attacked. Where is he?"