by M. L. Briers
Lucy’s eyes snapped back to her mate the moment that she heard the snarl … one man was heading right for Declan, and her heart lodged in her throat as his razor sharp claws came down into the bear’s flesh, opening it up …
Declan’s bear roared at the pain. He spun on his paws and swiped at the shifter, catching him across the torso and ripping through the material of his shirt to the flesh beneath … the man let out a yell of his own … but on the other side of Declan the second shifter was already attacking…
“No!” Lucy bit out as tears filled her eyes, it took no more than a moment for them to spill out down her cheeks …
Her hands went to her stomach, to the cub that was nestled within her womb … Declan’s cub … her cub … their cub …
The second shifter swiped down the other side of Declan’s body, opening up the flesh to another roar from the wounded bear …
“Malachi… “ Lucy bit out … tears were streaming down her face now … “Please … please help him…” she couldn’t make her voice heard … she couldn’t seem to find the strength to raise it loud enough …
Declan’s bear was determined not to go down without a fight, without taking a pound of flesh himself, and his bear attacked like a wildling … ripping with his claws, swiping at both men as they closed in on him, both attacking at once now …
“No … stop … please … please stop…” Lucy cried out. She couldn’t watch Declan died.
Her heart ached like it was going to rip in two within her chest … her stomach was in knots, twisting and turning within her … tears fell down her cheeks unchecked … and she clutched at the cub within her belly protectively…
“My cub … my cub needs his father … my cub needs his father … he needs Declan … he needs Declan …”
“Stop this now!” Ronald roared out, but Declan’s beast wouldn’t be stopped. The bear wanted to kill … he’d tasted blood on his fangs and he wanted more …
Malachi acted fast, moving in, he snatched the first shifter up and tossed him out of the fight. The second one proved a little more difficult as he had to get around Declan’s bear as the beast tried to snap its jaws around his arm …
“Declan … Declan …” Lucy couldn’t stop saying his name, over and over until she thought that she might be able to say it in something more than a damn whisper…
“Enough!” Ronald growled out with everything that he had … a heartbeat later and the second shifter followed the first through the air as Malachi tossed the man away…
Declan’s bear saw red. It wanted to kill …
“Declan…” Ronald growled out, trying to reach that part of the bear that would listen to him, but it was useless, the beast was headed towards Frost…
“Malachi…” Ronald bit out, and the vampire grunted in annoyance.
“You’d better not be playing me old man,” Malachi ground out as he closed the distance to Declan … one punch took the bear down, the second knocked the beast unconscious…
“No!” Lucy bit out, rushing towards the downed bear as Malachi turned back towards her, meeting her before she got there and snatching her up in the air, turning her away from him…
If Declan woke up, then she would be in as much danger as everyone else from his beast…
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
~
“No … Declan…” Lucy bit out, twisting and turning in the tight lock of the vampire’s arms, fighting a losing battle to break free…
“Talk to me now old man before that bear wakes up with a very sore head.” Malachi bit out – there was mistrust in his tone as he eyed the man over the top of Lucy’s head.
The woman was like a cat in a bag, and he didn’t want to hurt her, but he couldn’t let her go either…
“I need to scent his mate,” Ronald said, taking a step towards the vampire, and a heartbeat later she found herself behind Malachi’s back wondering what the hell was going on …
“Not another step,” Malachi bit out, and four shifters growled a warning at him. “Yeah, that’s exactly how I feel…” Malachi ground out at Ronald.
Lucy made a bid for freedom, trying to get around the vampire to get to her mate, but Malachi reached out and wrapped just the one arm around her waist, hoisting her back against his hip and locking her there in place.
“The woman is under my protection…” Malachi warned the elder.
“I know,” Ronald said as evenly as he could, given the circumstances. His wolf was just under his skin too… “But the female…”
“Lucy,” Malachi bit back…
“Lucy,” Ronald corrected himself… “Said she was pregnant…”
Malachi immediately loosened his grip around her. He wasn’t holding her tightly enough to break her, not by a long shot, and yet, a vampire could never be too careful.
“Stay!” Malachi bit out to the elder wolf, and all five growled back at him. “Not what I meant, but I’m not sorry.” He added as he turned Lucy in his arm towards him…
“Declan…” Lucy bit out again…
“Lucy, look at me,” Malachi placed his palms against her cheeks and drew her attention towards him as his voice became so melodic that she couldn’t resist the sound… “Are you pregnant with Declan’s cub?”
“Yes… I think … I … Yes …” Lucy nodded slowly, her eyes were transfixed on Malachi’s, she couldn’t have broken away from his gaze if she’d wanted too – even if Declan’s bear roared up and tried to kill everyone including her, the pull was just too strong.
“I told you…” Ronald sneered, and Malachi bit down on his annoyance.
“Fine, one sniff, and it had better be a good one, and if you…”
“I would never,” Ronald growled back at the insult.
The elder took a slow walk towards them, not because he had too, but because he didn’t want to set the vampire off.
“That’ll do it…” Malachi bit out, and Ronald stopped in his tracks and shook his head…
“It won’t. I need to scent her neck at source, see if I can detect the change in her hormones, listen to see if I can hear a heartbeat…”
“Fine…” Malachi bit out. “But if anything happens to Lucy, you’ll…”
“You don’t need to draw me a picture, Malachi. I’ve known you too many years to not understand exactly what you are capable of doing to me.” Ronald berated him and assured him of his intentions at the same time.
Frost moved on his feet, uneasy with everything that had happened, uneasier now that his elder was in danger…
“I wouldn’t…” Malachi warned the man.
Frost had been the one that hadn’t attacked, and Malachi wasn’t entirely sure why, but the shifter didn’t look impressed with anything that had happened to date.
“Don’t intend to unless you do something stupid, vampire,” Frost growled back.
Ronald moved closer, close enough to bend forward towards Lucy … he took a long drag in of the air around her, of her scent, closing his eyes and devouring that scent to see if he could find what he was looking for…
Then he snapped his head back on his neck as if he’d been stung on the nose by a bee…
“Leave, neither mate is to be harmed.” Ronald bit out as he waved the others away…
“Old man?” Malachi questioned him with his eyes.
“She’s with cub, the law can go to hell when a mate is pregnant…” Ronald said.
“Is this a stay of execution or…” Malachi questioned the man’s motives.
“And leave a cub without its father?” Ronald snorted. “What do you take us for, vampire…?”
“Yeah, I don’t think you really want an answer for that.” Malachi said, returning fire as his eyes flicked to the three men climbing back into the truck.
“I’ll walk,” Frost growled at the shifters. He waited for the truck to pull around and start up the track…
“You didn’t attack,” Malachi called out to Frost as the man started down the track on foot…
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“They attacked without honour,” Frost growled back over his shoulder.
“I’ll give you a ride back, “ Ronald called out, but Frost lifted his hand and waved the elder’s words away.
“It’s a nice night for a walk,” he growled back.
“So, it’s over?” Malachi demanded of the elder as he turned on his heels and started for his own truck.
“You have my word,” Ronald called back.
“Malachi?” Lucy seemed stunned, somewhat in shock by everything that she’d witnessed.
“You’re bear’s gonna have a mighty sore head when he wakes up.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
~
“What the hell…?” Lucy demanded. She couldn’t seem to be able to focus on what was happening.
One moment all hell was breaking loose and they were trying to kill Declan and the next they’d gone. Her head felt heavy, her mind felt foggy…
The sound of Declan groaning made her eyes snap down to his bear. She tried to pull away from Malachi, but the vampire wouldn’t let her go…
“No… Declan…” she cried out, and the bear snapped awake with a snap of his head up and around to lay eyes on her…
Declan’s beast roared at the sight of his mate, so fearful, so distressed, caught in the vampire’s arms, and he used everything within him to push up onto his feet…
His eyes were locked on Malachi, his beast pulled back his lips and roared at the vampire …
“Oh, that’s not good…” Malachi bit out.
One part of his brain said toss the mate away from him and the other reminded him in that moment that she was pregnant…
Malachi noted the way that the bear pushed his back claws down into the dirt… the damn animal was about to charge him…
Malachi moved fast as Declan roared in the heat of the moment. His bear charged, and Malachi pushed up from the ground with Lucy still in his arms…
It was a damn fine art balancing on the bough of a tree, made harder by having a struggling mate in his arms…
“Declan … your mate is pregnant!” Malachi shouted down at the bear as the beast roared once more… “Tell him about the cub…” Malachi urged Lucy, but she was too intent on getting out of the damn tree and down to her mate…
“Lucy…” Malachi bit out as Declan’s bear started to circle, snarling and growling like he wanted nothing more than the taste of a vampire upon his tongue…
“Let me go I want Declan…” Lucy wasn’t listening to the man.
The attackers had left and Declan was still alive … injured, but alive … that was the only thing that mattered…
Declan roared out. He wanted to get to Lucy … the vampire had upset her, made her cry, the man would pay dearly for that … she wasn’t herself and the beast was in full protection mode…
“Lucy – is – pregnant!” Malachi shouted at the beast.
He didn’t need to raise his voice, if the bear would just listen to what he was telling him then it wouldn’t matter if he damn well whispered it … he just needed to get it through to the man’s thick head…
“Declan,” Malachi snapped out, and the bear’s head snapped back on his neck as he glared up at the vampire, another roar leaving the beast’s throat and echoing through the night air…
“I’ll drop her unless you shift now…”
The bear twisted it’s head on its neck and roared up at him…
“You listening to me you stupid damn bear …? Shift or roll over on your back and use that fat gut of yours as a trampoline, because she’s coming down…” Malachi warned him…
Declan stopped pawing at the ground in front of him … his head twisted on his neck and he glared up at the vampire…
“She’s about to fly … I’d shift back if I were you…” Malachi warned…
With one almighty roar the bear gave way to the man and that roar continued to pierce the night as Declan burst back into his human form …
“If you drop my mate I will gut you…” Declan growled up at him and Malachi rolled his eyes in his head.
“Finally, I think your bear needs it’s damn hearing checked you overgrown bag of fur…” Malachi grumbled.
“You get my mate down here now before I climb that tree and break every damn bone in your…”
Malachi dropped to the ground beside him. Lowering Lucy’s feet to the snowy ground beside him a moment before he pushed her towards Declan … the man reached out and snatched his mate away from the vampire…
“Easy, she’s fragile…” Malachi warned en route back up to the tree before the man got any ideas to rip his head off…
“Don’t tell me how to treat me mate…” Declan growled out, bringing her into his arms…
“Declan…” Lucy’s arms went around him, locked tightly as if she never wanted to let him go, and Declan liked that feeling…
“What the hell happened, why’d you attack me?” Declan growled up at Malachi, and the vampire raised just one eyebrow back at the man in disbelief…
“Look after your mate…” Malachi grumbled back. “They’ve gone and they won’t be back…”
“You kill them?” Declan growled back.
“I’m not sure if I should take that as an insult or a compliment…”
“Malachi…” Declan growled back a warning.
“Actually no, ask you mate how she made them all disappear and saved your life…” Malachi offered down. “But be careful, she’s fragile and in shock.”
Declan went to ask again, but the vampire took off across the tree branches away from him.
“I’ve got you, sweetheart…” Declan whispered against her hair, before he lifted her in his arms and started back towards the cabin with her.
~
~
~
Lucy was in shock. Declan hated to see her like that.
His bear had calmed within him. More protective and worried about their mate than what had happened once the vampire had punched his lights out.
Everything else could wait for now. Reason and explanation sat on the back burner as he sat on the sofa with his mate on his lap, a blanket wrapped around her as he held her in his arms.
Lucy’s head was against his chest and he could feel the wet tears that she was shedding. Silent tears that worried him right to his very soul.
She’d seen him shift, what if she couldn’t handle that? What if she wasn’t in shock but more traumatised than that?
Declan worried as he held her. He spoke gentle words against her hair as he tried to sooth her back to him. His hand brushed over her hair and down her back…
“Come back to me, Lucy… I need you, sweetheart…” Declan’s heart ached for her.
He never wanted any of this for her and he cursed his decision to stay … he should have left with her … he should have taken her far away and never looked back…
I screwed up…
I screwed up so damn badly…
I haven’t been the mate that she needed…
I should have taken her home…
I should have…
“Declan…” Her voice was so soft, so broken that his heart slammed into his ribs at the sound.
Happy that she’d spoken and dismayed at the sound of her words in her scratchy throat…
“I’ve got you sweetheart… I’m here and I’m not going anywhere…”
“Declan…” she said again, still lost to him, he could feel it… it felt as if she was trying to find her way back, but couldn’t…
Her emotions were all over the place, wave after wave hitting him like a violent stormy sea…
“I have you…” Declan assured her, soothing her with his touch…
Lucy nestled into him then. Curled against him as he held her in his arms… it was going to be a long night.
CHAPTER TWENTY
~
It’ll be better in the morning…
It’ll be better in the morning…
Declan…
Declan’s not dead…
Declan’s arms are around me…
Wakeup!
Declan’s here… Declan’s a dream … stay asleep … stay in his arms …
Don’t wakeup he’ll go away…
Declan don’t go away … don’t leave me …
“I can’t have our baby alone…” she whispered.
Declan snapped to attention. He’d been holding her for most of the night as she finally slept, muttering and twitching the whole time until she’d finally fallen into a deep sleep…
“Lucy?” Declan’s tone was as gentle as he could make it. Soothing, trying to pull her gently from sleep back to him.
He’d heard her words, his bear had heard it too … the beast had raised its head and growled gently…
“Sweetheart…?” he breathed against her ear…
So real… he feels so damn real … I don’t want to lose that…
Stay asleep, just a little while longer…
“Lucy, sweetheart. I’m here. I have you, and I’m never letting you out of my arms again. I swear. Never again…” he growled gently.
“I lost you…” she whispered in sleep filled tones, husky, but it sounded so damn good to hear her talking…
“You haven’t lost me, I’m here baby…”
“Baby … I can’t have a baby without you…”
Declan’s heart hit his ribs again.
“Baby?” Declan lifted his hand and palmed her cheek, running the pad of his thumb down over her soft skin. “I’d like that, but you have to come back to me…”
Lucy felt sleep slipping away and she tried to reach for it again. She didn’t want Declan to slip away too.
“Declan, don’t leave…” she snapped awake, jolted in his arms, but he held onto her, held her close and as tightly as he dared.
Her head snapped back on her neck and she gasp in a breath…
“You’re dead…” she rushed back out…
“I look good for a dead man,” he grinned at her, tentatively at first. Her wide eyes still worried him…
“They…” her eyes flicked to the cabin door then back to him … her hand reached up and she slapped her palm against his cheek, the sound echoed in the cabin …