by Grey, T. A.
Extreme guilt swept over her. She searched the faces of the pack around her and saw they were stern with consternation and worry. Did they know that Stephanie was gone because of she and her sisters? That it was all her fault. A part of her wanted to voice her thoughts just to see their righteous anger aimed at her. Maybe if they laid into her about it she wouldn’t feel so bad.
Lyonis nodded to the crowd. “I think we should continue with the festival. Whoever or whatever has taken Stephanie might have done so to kill our spirits. We won’t let that happen.” Willow wasn’t the only one who heard the utter conviction in his voice.
“And should we expect to have a mating announcement then?” Amy said coldly. Willow glared at her then mentally flipped her off with both hands. The picture cheered her up so much she grinned at the woman. See, she really was getting better at controlling her anger.
It wasn’t until Lyonis wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him that she realized she was referring to their mating.
“I’m still working on that,” he said with a smile. Everyone in the crowd chuckled—but Amy. Willow couldn’t help it; she had a silly smile on her face. Something about making that woman mad just made her feel infinitely better.
As the pack started to break away, Amy stepped forward and said, “If she doesn’t mate with you at the Winter Festival then I’m challenging her to rights.” The whole pack stopped and turned with stunned expressions on their faces. Before Willow had a chance to ask what that was, Lyonis marched up to Amy. Willow flinched; the sight of the Alpha mad always made her feel peculiar like she wanted to calm him.
“What was that?” Willow nervously looked around for anyone to clue her in on what rights were and why it had him so upset. No one met her gaze though—cowards.
Amy didn’t back down though; she lifted her chin to meet him head on. “I said that if she isn’t mated to you by the Winter Festival then I’m challenging her for rights.”
Willow looked around and still no one clued her in. So she stepped next to Lyonis.
“Wanna tell me what that means?” Lyonis’ eyes were hard with anger but they softened as he looked down at her.
Amy sighed and began, “It means—”
“Stop it!” he commanded. This time Amy flinched and looked down, even took a step backwards. Much more softly he turned to Willow to explain. “What Amy has disgustingly made the mistake of doing is challenging you to the right over me.”
Willow’s laugh came out before she could stop it. Lyonis cocked his head at her like she was mad. “Sorry, sorry. Couldn’t help it. I just pictured you coming with a deed stamped to you that gets sighed over to me—hilarious.” Lyonis didn’t laugh with her though, in fact, no one did. She looked around at everyone.
“Oh, come on that was funny.” When he still didn’t laugh or crack a smile, she grew worried. “Okay, well what the hell does that mean?”
“It means that you have to fight her...whoever wins will be chosen as my mate.” Willow’s mind spun. When her mind finally stopped wandering, it landed on none other than a grinning Amy.
“Huh?”
Amy rolled her eyes. “You and I will fight. The winner gets the Alpha and gets to become his Queen.” Willow hated the smugness in her voice.
“I won’t allow this,” Lyonis said. If anything, Amy looked even more triumphant.
“You have to. I’ve already declared the challenge and I intend to go through with it. This pack needs a Queen, not some woman diddle-daddling around the Alpha while willing females are ready for the position.”
“Amy,” Lyonis warned.
“If she isn’t mated to you by the festival then we’ll settle this the old-fashioned way.”
Willow eyed Amy up and down as one might an opponent they’re about to fight. Amy was shorter than her and slender, and although she wore bulky winter clothing Willow was pretty sure she wasn’t packing a lot of muscle under there.
“Challenge accepted.”
The entire crowd gasped. Willow’s stomach danced with butterflies.
“What?” She had the sudden feeling that she’d just doomed herself.
Lyonis’ frown had never been so deep before. He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the crowd and behind the building. The alley was cramped as it was, but with Lyonis towering over her, anger pulsing off him in waves, it felt as big as a goldfish’s bowl.
“What?” she said again, her irritation growing.
“Do you have any idea what you just did?” Willow crossed her arms and deigned not to answer that. He scowled at her.
“If you don’t choose to mate with me, then you’ll have to fight her in front of the whole pack.” Willow flinched, her gut tightening in panic, but on the outside she kept her face calm and cool.
“And?” God, was she really going to push this?
“And if you lose, I’ll never be able to mate with you.” It suddenly became difficult to breathe. Her chest tightened around her lungs until she was sucking in gasps of air. He was there for her though. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pushed her head down between her knees.
“Take slow breaths. In and out. Gently, there you go.” Eventually the feeling stopped and allowed her to breathe, but the vise around her heart hadn’t loosened an inch.
“If I lose then you have to mate with her.”
He nodded gravely.
“Unless you choose to mate with me before the challenge, then her challenge is void.” Panic set in fast.
“I can’t. I can’t mate with you.” Willow hid her face in her hands, not because she was going to cry but because she couldn’t stand to meet his eyes. Sure she’d admitted that before...but that was before. God, had things really changed in such a short amount of time?
When she heard no response, Willow slowly lifted her head to find herself alone in the alley. Hot pain seared through her chest like a lance. She’d already been warned. If she wouldn’t be his mate, then he’d never feel like this again, even in a forced mating. She was supposed to be his. What would happen to him if she didn’t accept his proposal? How could he live with a woman whom he knew wasn’t his real mate?
It took her several minutes before she had herself under control. Wetness pushed against her eyes, threatening to make her embarrass herself. And for what? A man she didn’t want. Fuck. Willow slapped her hand against the cold brick. That was a lie. He wasn’t who she thought he was. He was kind, funny, loyal, and smart. And if she didn’t choose him then she wouldn’t just be hurting him...but the whole pack.
Willow had never run from a responsibility before. Okay, well she ran at the news that she was being given to an Alpha, but that doesn’t count. After all, who wouldn’t?
Sudden shouts tore through the town. Willow took off on a run, her mind envisioning that horrible bitch hurting Lyonis—or worse, the demon stomping into town. She raced up the alley and found the crowd even bigger. People smiled and cheered, hugging each other and talking over one another.
“What’s going on?” No one answered her or heard her, so she started pushing her way through the crowd, squeezing between the bodies until she finally broke through the front.
She blinked at what she saw and soon her heart was soaring like everyone else’s. Stephanie was back!
* * *
The surprised teenager was pulled into the arms of everyone around her. She laughed with them but soon everything quieted down as Lyonis approached her. He drew her into a tight hug before stepping away as the McLannahan parents came rushing in with tears of joy in their eyes.
“Stephanie! Oh God, it’s really you,” her mother said. Stephanie squeezed each of her parents tight with a smile and, oddly, confusion in her eyes.
“Where have you been?” her father commanded. The crowd grew deathly silent.
Stephanie’s face pinched in confusion as she looked from one parent to the other, then the crowd around them. A slow expression of horror crossed her face.
“What do you mea
n? I went out for a run. I told I was going.” She crossed her arms defensively. Her parents looked at each other then at Lyonis.
“But honey, that was days ago. We’ve all been looking for you,” her mother said.
Stephanie laughed nervously. “Mom, I just left today. That’s why I’m back.”
Willow, like everyone else, didn’t know what to make of it. The girl still wore the same clothes her parents said she left in. A white t-shirt and black and white striped running pants. But she’d been gone for over five days now.
“That’s enough!” shouted her father. “Did you go into town and party? Why didn’t come back sooner? We’ve all been worried to death over you.”
The girl flinched at her father’s voice. “Daddy, I swear I didn’t. I don’t even know anyone in town. I just went for a run, I swear.” Tears wobbled in her eyes before falling fast down her cheeks.
Her mother pulled her into her arms as she cried too. “Honey, it’s been days. We’ve had search parties looking for you. Jackie and Thane couldn’t even find you and you know they are our best trackers. Please baby, try to think and remember, tell us what happened. I don’t care if you have a secret boyfriend that you went to. I’m just glad you’re home, but you have to tell us.” Her mother choked on a sob as grief took over her.
Lyonis spoke and everyone’s attention turned to him. “Obviously something else has happened here. I believe her that she doesn’t remember where she was. The good news is she’s back. Let’s celebrate that for now, as we learn what really happened.”
The air seemed colder than it had a moment ago. Willow shivered and tightened her arms around her stomach. Her stomach didn’t feel good. It rolled and swished as if too much fluid was in there. Willow gagged as bile rose in her throat. Lyonis turned to her in an instant, concern hit his eyes and then he was marching for her.
“What’s wrong?”
Willow’s head felt lighter than a floating balloon. Her breaths grew shallow and fast and her stomach continued to tighten and spasm.
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
Even as her cheeks flared in embarrassment, Lyonis picked her up and carried her back down the alley. Willow didn’t waste any time before she dropped to her knees and spilled her guts onto the ground. Cheeks hot with embarrassment, Willow kept her back towards him as she regained her composure. What was with her and always being weak around him? Now she couldn’t even keep her own stomach under control.
“Are you all right?” He sounded so concerned that Willow couldn’t summon any comeback. Relief coursed through her as he picked her back up and carried her away. She hid her face in his jacket as they passed through the crowd. She wasn’t sure she could muster the courage to face anyone after that.
Some of the tension left her as he led her away from the pack. “How long have you been feeling sick?” She sighed; the Alpha was back in his voice.
“Oh about five minutes, I’d say.” She would have chuckled at her own joke but her throat felt raw like she’d drank bleach.
“Is this a succubus thing?” Willow frowned as she heard the worry in his voice. She couldn’t lie; it felt good. Good to know someone besides her sisters cared about her like that. Or at all.
“No, throwing up isn’t a succubus thing.” This time she did laugh, but the action made her throat feel like it was being rubbed with sandpaper so she quickly stopped.
They came up to his parked truck and he set her in it before getting in the driver’s side. He started it and turned the heat on full blast. Willow closed her eyes in ecstasy. God she could kiss him for that. Judging by her breath right now, that wouldn’t be a good idea. She almost laughed again—damn, something must be wrong with her.
He drove in silence to the cabin. He helped her inside and started the fire in the front room. Willow pulled off her jacket like a drunken woman then plopped down on the couch.
“I think we need to talk,” he said.
“Huh? Why?” She tossed an arm across her eyes and tried to remember a time she’d ever been so comfy.
“Willow.” He hesitated so long it got her attention. She lifted her arm enough to peak at him.
“Yeees?” He stared into the fire and it was hard to tell whether he was blushing or the glow of the fireplace colored him that way. Either way he looked gorgeous.
“Willow, in my world when a woman gets sick suddenly it means one thing.”
Willow cocked her head in confusion. Her mind raced to think of the connection between vomiting and shapeshifters. It took about twenty seconds, and then she started laughing so hard tears streamed down her cheeks.
“You think I’m pregnant?” She wheezed in breaths, turning on her side as more laughs came out of her. Lyonis didn’t seem to think it was funny though as he stalked to her and knelt down.
“I don’t think this is very funny, but I do think it’s likely you are.”
Willow’s laughs died in her throat. “You’re being serious?” His expression remained stony. “Oh, come on. I’m not pregnant.”
“How do you know?” he challenged.
Willow opened her mouth, then closed it. She opened it again, then slammed it shut. A flood of panic filled her so fast her mind spun. She thought back to all the times they’d had sex, to the very first time in Europe. He’d come inside her each and every time. How did she never even think about pregnancy? Because you were too busy worrying about being captured.
Oh God. Oh, shit. No, no, no. She couldn’t be pregnant.
But I can be.
“Oh shit, I think I’m gonna be sick.” Willow lurched herself off the coach and ran to the bathroom. As the violent retching happened again, a scary voice in her head sang: you’re having a baby!
Chapter 19
Willow had experienced fear before. She’d felt different kinds of fear. She’d felt the tingly feeling as Lyonis stalked towards her with wickedness in his eyes; when a dark demon had stood high above the trees in Germany and roared her name she’d felt the quivering fear of impending death, but none of that compared to what she felt now.
Willow’s jeans wouldn’t button.
A smart woman might think it was because she’d just done the laundry and perhaps they shrunk some, but Willow was not feeling smart. She was feeling hysterical.
Try as she might, no matter how hard she sucked in her belly, her jeans would not fit. With a gargled scream of frustration, she tore the pants off and threw them at the wall.
“Oh, God.” The room spun in circles around her. She plopped down on the bed and closed her eyes until it stopped. “It’s just the laundry. That’s all.”
She heard the front door open and quickly ran to her bag to pull on some yoga pants. Just as she pulled them on Lyonis came into the room, a grim look on his face and a brown paper bag in his hand.
“Here,” he said gruffly and handed it to her.
“What’s this?” She opened the bag and saw a small white box inside. Her eyes bulged then she crushed the bag in her hand and threw it at his face. It bounced off his cheek and fell flatly to the ground.
“You need to take it.”
“A pregnancy test? You’ve got to be kidding me.” She was not pregnant.
Lyonis roughly combed his fingers through his hair. “Yes, you have to take it. We need to know if you’re pregnant.”
Willow gave him the dirtiest look she could muster. “I’m not peeing on that stick because I’m not pregnant.”
His jaw worked left and right. “You can’t be sure of that.”
Willow crossed her arms. “I can.”
“You’ll take that test or—”
“Or what,” she interrupted, “you’ll hold me over the toilet and make me pee?”
He seemed to grow bigger with anger, his body filling up even more of the room. “Fine but what do you plan to do about Amy’s challenge. Once accepted, it can’t be undone. That is unless you’re pregnant.”
Willow perked up at that. “If I’m pregnant then I don’t
have to fight the she-bitch?” His lips twitched.
“Right.”
Willow pretended to think it over. “Well I’m not pregnant and I honestly can’t wait to get my hands on her.”
Lyonis was in front of her in a second, his arms banded around her. He was so damn warm it reminded her of being back in Florida. “You’d fight to be my mate?”
Willow choked. Face flushing; she looked anywhere but at him. “That’s not why I’m doing it.”
His laughter was soft and silky as he nuzzled her ear. “Then please enlighten me, mate. Why are you doing it?” Willow’s body softened, melting at his nearness. She closed her eyes and let her head fall to the side as his lips found her neck.
“I, uh, just want to beat her ass.” Again that laughter teased her, taunted her.
“Your response is true of any mate. All fated mates would happily fight for their partner. Have you accepted this, Willow? That you are mine. That you’ll be my wife.” His words were low, coaxing. She had to concentrate or else be lulled in by his hypnotic words.
“No,” she said, her voice hoarse. “I just don’t like her.” His arms swept down her body and cupped her bottom bringing her flush against him.
“I think you’re very wrong, Willow. And I couldn’t be happier about it.”
Willow moaned as he rocked her against him. God, he was always hard around her; she had no idea how he managed it. She’d be lying if she didn’t admit she liked it—lots. It was only because it made her feel powerful. She liked having this control over the big bad Alpha. And while she was mentally admitting things, she loved that he wanted her with such passion. If only she could stand to be with him. She knew what happened once that step was taken though.
“I couldn’t be prouder that you accepted the challenge. Whether you realize it or not, Willow, you’ve taken giant leaps towards becoming my mate.” His hands passed up her back then slid down and slipped under her shirt to play with the skin of her lower back. Willow’s breath caught as her pulse continued to pound louder and louder.