The Vampire King's Cage

by T. S. Ryder

  “So you stole my love potion and did what exactly?”

  “Spiked his favorite orange juice,”Sophia grinned and held up a carton of orange juice.

  Thea’s heart sank. All this time, when they both thought he hadn’t been taking the potion, he actually had been. Was it the only reason he was feeling something for her now? She wanted to cry again.

  “Except that’s Elise’s, not mine,”Logan said.

  “You didn’t drink out of it at all?”Thea asked. Her heart tottered on the edge of hope, ready to fall either way.

  “Nope.”

  “That’s a lie,”Sophia said.“I saw you drink it! You drank like three glasses of it that one day.”

  “When I was sick?”Logan said.“Yeah, when I have a cold, I’ll drink it, but that’s it. Elise drinks a glassful every morning. I can’t stand the stuff.”

  “So then…”Sophia looked at them both.“Are you saying Elise has been drinking the potion I put in here?”

  Thea shook her head and laughed.“Don’t you even know how it works? You idiot. I made the potion. It has my essence in it. So that means whoever drinks it falls in love with me. When did you steal it from me?”

  “After the first time Logan broke up with me,”Sophia said.“When he slept with your slutty ass.”

  Logan gasped and turned to Thea.“Think about that. It explains everything.”

  It took a minute for it to set in.“Elise is in love with me?”

  Logan nodded.“And she’s acting in extreme jealousy against me. Much like Sophia is now.”

  Sophia gritted her teeth and scowled. Her voice was small when she spoke again.“So if I gave Logan this potion, it wouldn’t make him love me?”

  “No,”Thea said.“It would make him love me. And besides, it’s just for fun anyway. There’s no such thing as magic.”

  She squeezed Logan’s hand. They may have said too much already. There was still a secret to be kept, and if Sophia thought the potion was real, it could cause trouble. She needed to think they were full of it.

  Logan reached out and took Sophia’s hand, stepping closer to her. He leaned down to whisper into her ear. Thea could barely hear, but she knew what he was doing. He was casting a memory charm to make Sophia forget what had happened. Then he stepped back and took Thea’s hand as Sophia blinked at him.

  “I can’t believe you thought love potions were real,”he said.“It was just a joke.”

  Sophia glared at them.

  “I’m sorry I hurt you, but I’ve known Thea for years. It took me a while to see my feelings for her, but now I know. I love her. I know you’ll find someone great who will love you.”

  “Whatever. You’re a jerk anyway.”Sophia pushed past him, shoving his shoulder hard as she went. She slammed the front door on her way out.

  “That was nuts,”Thea said.

  Several doors upstairs opened. Minutes later, everyone was in the kitchen.

  “What’s going on?”Steven asked.

  “Just my jealous ex-girlfriend breaking in to poison me. I’m going to check everything in the fridge. If you have any food or drinks in your room, I’d check them.”

  “You’re a real ladies man,”Steven said.

  They all headed back upstairs to their rooms, but Logan reached out a hand to stop Elise.

  “One second,”he said.“This involves you, too.”

  When it was just the three of them, Logan lifted his hand in a sudden movement and cast a spell that hit Elise square in the chest.

  “What the hell was that for?”she asked.

  “You were drugged,”Logan said.“That spell undid the effects of the potion.”

  Elise looked from Thea to Logan.“What? By who?”

  “Sophia,”Thea said.“I made a love potion a while ago. She found it and didn’t know how it worked, so she spiked Logan’s drink, thinking it would make him love her again.”

  “Except that she didn’t know it doesn’t work like that,”Logan said.“And she spiked your orange juice.”

  “What?”Elise poured a glass of the juice and held her hand around the glass as she cast a spell to reveal magic. The juice glowed faintly.“What the hell?”

  “Yeah.”Thea sighed.“So it seems that all your recent anger over us being together was really only your jealousy toward me because you were in love with me.”

  Elise spun and pulled her eyebrows together.“That doesn’t make any sense. I don’t have feelings like that for you.”

  “I’ve been wondering about that,”Logan said.“It must work even if you have loving feelings that aren’t of a romantic nature. But that could be why you were angry instead of just all gaga in love with her. Your friendship type of love was even stronger than normal and it made you crazy with worry for her.”

  Elsie shook her head.“I guess this explains a lot. I wasn’t even sure why I was acting that way.”Then she gasped and put her hands to her mouth.“Oh, no. Logan.”She gripped his arms.“I did something horrible.”

  “What?”

  Elise dashed up the stairs and returned a moment later, holding his bottle of mouthwash.“I poisoned you.”

  “You what?”Logan snatched the bottle from her and cast a spell on it.“Oh. It wasn’t a deadly poison. Still. It would have made me really sick. Why would you poison me?”

  “Just to get back at you. I don’t know. It didn’t really make sense, I guess.”

  Thea put her hand to her stomach. She’d been using Logan’s mouthwash for weeks. She’d assumed her sickness was all just morning sickness. But maybe it was more.

  “Good thing I don’t use this stuff anymore.”Logan opened the cabinet and dropped the bottle in the trashcan.

  “You don’t?”Elise asked.

  “It makes my mouth burn,”he said.“So I stopped using it.”

  “But I didn’t,”Thea said.

  Logan’s head whipped toward her.“What?”

  “I’ve been using it for weeks.”

  His eyes widened and he went to her side, putting his arm around her.“It won’t kill you or anything, but…”He put his hand on her stomach. He looked at her and gulped.

  “It might hurt the baby?”she asked.

  “I don’t know,”he whispered.

  “The baby?”Elise asked.

  Thea nodded.“I didn’t want to tell you when you were so mad. I thought it would make things worse.”

  Elise stared at her with a horrified look etched into her face.“You’re pregnant. With my brother’s baby.”

  “Yes.”Thea put her hand over Logan’s.“Would that potion do anything?”

  “I’m not sure,”Elise said.

  Chapter Nine

  The three of them sat in the living room, huddled around Logan’s laptop. They’d been searching frantically in the shifter and witch secret forums to find an answer. So far they didn’t have anything concrete. It was too early to call their parents.

  Elise got up and started pacing.“I think we can wake them up for this. I mean, what if it did hurt the baby? We might need to act fast.”She put her hands on her face.“I can’t believe I did this. My own niece or nephew. My best friend’s baby. I’m horrible.”

  Thea got up and hugged her.“You were under the effects of the potion. We know you wouldn’t do anything like this otherwise. It’s why we were so concerned. You were acting completely out of character.”

  She shook her head.“No, but before the potion, I was upset about it. I did think—”she paused to look at Logan.“I thought you would hurt her. I really did. You never said anything about having feelings like that for her.”

  “Obviously.”He looked up from the computer for a moment.“Are you telling me that if I told you, you wouldn’t have told her?”

  “Not if you said not to,”Elise said.

  “Liar. You would have told her and I wasn’t ready to. But then, when I found out she gave me love potion and had feelings for me, there was no reason to hold back.”

  “You gave him a love potion?”Elise asked.r />
  Thea nodded.“That’s why I made it in the first place. That night of the party on Fifth, when you met Paul, and we slept together for the first time? And, apparently, made a baby. Well, earlier that day when we were all in the kitchen drinking coffee, I spiked his drink.”

  “But I barely drank any,”Logan said.

  “But you did drink plenty of alcohol later, which increased the effects,”Thea said.

  “But it wouldn’t have worked at all if I didn’t have real feelings for you, which I do.”

  Thea chuckled.“I’m not questioning you or your feelings.”

  “No, but Elise might.”He looked at her for a long minute.

  “No,”Elise said slowly.“I don’t think I do. I’ve seen how you are together. You are different with her.”

  Elise squeezed Thea in a tight hug and there were tears in her eyes.“I love you guys. I want you to be happy. And if you’re happy together, then that’s even better. I’d just hate to be stuck in the middle if you guys ever broke up.”

  “We are having a baby together,”Thea said.“That means we’ll be part of each other’s lives forever no matter what.”

  “And we’re in love, Elise,”Logan said.“We haven’t really discussed it yet, but we’ll probably get married someday. We’ll already have a family.”

  “Is that your proposal?”Thea asked, chuckling.

  “Not officially.”He pulled his mouth into a half smile.“I’m sure there’ll be a ring and all. Someday.”

  Thea grinned back at him.

  “I’m calling Mom and Dad,”Elise said.“It’s late enough. I don’t care if I wake them.”

  “Wait a minute.”Logan got to his feet and looked to Thea.“Are we going to tell them?”

  Thea bit her lip.“I guess we have to.”

  “Are you sure?”he asked.

  “They’ll all know eventually anyway, right?”Thea said.“In a few more months? I haven’t told my parents yet, but we’d have to soon.”

  Logan nodded.“Call them.”

  Chapter Ten

  “Logan!”Thea called out to him.

  “I’m right here.”He took her hand and she squeezed tightly.

  “It hurts,”she said.

  “I know.”He kissed her forehead and smoothed the hair from her face.“You’re doing great. It’ll be over soon.”

  Elise came into the room.“The midwife is here.”

  “Hello, Thea,”the midwife said.“I’m just going to check your progress, okay?”

  Elise took her other hand and smiled at her.“All of our parents are here.”

  “Thanks,”Thea said.

  Elise squeezed her hand again before leaving the room.

  “Won’t be long now,”the midwife said.

  Logan bent down to kiss her again.

  Over the next few hours, he stayed by her side, holding her hand and helping her through her contractions. The midwife coached her in breathing, and when it was time to push, guided her through that part, too.

  “One more big push, Thea,”the midwife said.

  She gripped Logan’s hand tightly and pushed with all her strength. A shrill cry broke into the room and Thea sighed in relief.

  “It’s a girl!”the midwife said, and held up the crying baby. She placed her on Thea’s stomach and laid a blanket over her.

  Thea looked up at Logan, then down at the screaming baby. She looked mostly human but had several patches of purple scales on her arms, legs and stomach.

  Logan’s parents had explained to them all the reasons why they couldn’t have the baby in the hospital, and this was one of them. If she was a shifter, which she clearly was, then right from the start there would be signs. Over the next hours and days, the scales would fade and she’d appear to be a normal human for several years. But, sometime in toddlerhood, she’d start to understand and grow curious about her other nature, and she’d start to shift.

  For now, she looked perfect in every way, healthy and vibrant. The effects of Elise’s poisoning hadn’t hurt her at all, though Logan’s parents had also made a potion for Thea to drink to make sure the baby would be fine, and to help make the pregnancy and birth easier.

  Thea couldn’t get any pain drugs because she was having the baby in their home, but they had provided potions that did the trick.

  “She’s perfect,”Logan said.

  “She really is.”

  He ran his fingertip over the baby’s forehead and she stopped crying.“Hello, Alora.”

  Alora let out a small hiccup.

  “I think she likes it,”Thea said.

  “She’ll make the most beautiful flower girl,”Logan said.

  Thea chuckled.“I don’t think she’ll be ready to walk and toss flower petals in the next three months.”

  “Small detail,”he said. He leaned down to kiss Alora, then Thea.“It’s funny how complete life suddenly feels. And we never planned for any of this.”

  She smiled dreamily down at her baby.“Sometimes the best things in life happen by accident.”

  *****

  THE END

  The Shifting Billionaire's Baby

  Description

  A curvy BBW investigating a murder PLUS a hot billionaire business tycoon leading his pack PLUS a dangerous killer on the loose!

  Roland Davis is no ordinary man. He's a werewolf and Alpha of his pack. As such, Roland has duties, and taking a mate and producing an heir to lead the werewolves after him are chief among them.

  The problem is that there is only one female werewolf left in his pack, and though they’ve been trying for a baby, they haven’t succeeded yet. When she turns up murdered, Roland can't help but feel that he has lost his chance to protect his pack.

  Until he meets curvy detective Claire Doyle...

  Solving murders is Claire's specialty. Despite what her best friend thinks, she doesn't need anything else in her life. She's not looking for a man, not even a hunky billionaire like Roland.

  But as something draws her closer and closer to him, she finds that what she doesn't want might be exactly what she needs.

  When a one night stand has unintended consequences, Roland and Claire have to find a way to cope with dark secrets and an uncertain future. But is love really in the cards for them?

  Chapter One

  Roland could still smell Melissa's blood, even though the police had covered her with a sheet. He stood on the opposite side of the room, watching them work with narrowed eyes. He wanted to stride over to them and demand answers, but this situation was not one where he could intimidate others into submission. They didn't know any more than he did at the moment.

  Melissa was dead in his bed. Murdered.

  As cameras flashed, taking pictures of the blood stains and possible footprints, Roland's hands clenched. Melissa had been a sweet, kind woman. A little too submissive for his personal preferences, but she didn't deserve this. When he learned who killed her, he would kill them. She was a member of his pack, and he was meant to protect her. Failing that, he would have revenge.

  The head of security and his second-in-command, Adam, shifted closer to him. "You know they're going to ask for security footage. Last night—"

  "I'm aware," Roland interrupted. Like Adam, he kept his voice too low for the police to hear. "They will no doubt find it suspicious that we turned off the security cameras."

  The cameras had just been turned back on when Melissa's body was found. Roland had been the one to find her, laying in his bed, a knife still in her chest. He ground his teeth together. Apparently she was ready to try to get pregnant again. She had told him more than once that she wanted to be a mother. It was why she had agreed to try with him in the first place. Now she never would have the chance.

  Roland and Adam were the only two born werewolves left in the pack. As Alpha, Roland kept his kind when the full moon rose and transformed his pack into bloodthirsty monsters. Adam, his Beta, had better control over himself than the others, but even he could not fully resist the full moon. Rolan
d needed to take a mate that could bear him children. He needed an heir who would eventually take his place as Alpha, protecting the pack and keeping them in line during the three nights that their wolves took over.

  Melissa had been the only female in the pack, the last since Roland's mother passed. Roland didn't love Melissa and she hadn't loved him. They never felt the connection of being mates, even when they were in bed together. They both knew their duty, though, and had been trying to produce young for the past year.

  After three miscarriages, Melissa had decided that she didn't want to take the heartbreak anymore. They had agreed to take a break until she was strong enough to face the possibility of losing more babies. Roland hadn't thought that would ever happen. In truth, he wasn't sure how much more heartbreak he could take, and if Melissa had been in his room to start trying again, he didn't know if he would have wanted to try.

  "How are you going to find a mate now she's gone?" Adam muttered under his breath.

  Roland tensed.

  "You know that you need to have an heir soon. The pack is getting restless during the moon. Unless you have young soon, I'm afraid they're going to start challenging you. Especially Brian."

  "I understand your concerns, Adam." Roland worked hard to keep his voice level. The Beta was only expressing his concerns, after all. "But Melissa's body is still in my bed. Show some respect."

  Adam bowed his head. "I didn't mean—"

  "I know. Just keep it to yourself." Roland blew out a deep breath, struggling to keep his emotions in check.

  The faint scent of chocolate cupcakes had his head turning. As he turned, a woman strode past, completely ignoring him. His eyes zoned in on her as she went directly to the body. She walked with all the self-confidence of a queen, although she was dressed in a fitted business suit and sensible flats. Her short hair was perfectly curled, and she carried a large, black bag over her shoulder.