by T. S. Ryder
"What about the rest of the radical witches?"
"They seem to have fled. Haven't heard anything from them. I doubt that they're done, but I'm certain that this was their big secret weapon. As long as we stay vigilant and work harder to improve relations between witches and everybody else, I don't expect that we'll end up in a similar situation again."
Sofia nodded. She pressed a hand to her stomach and shivered. "Am I a horrible person? A terrible mother? I put our child at risk, I–"
"Shhh." Aaron pressed his finger to her lips. "Don't. It's the past, and if you hadn't chosen the way you did, we may not be here together. I have no immune system, if I was human right now, a cold would wipe me out. Our child is safe, and you are safe. That's all that matters."
"You took that thing on, even though you were still recovering from my stupid mistake. I nearly killed you for this child—"
Aaron cut her off with a kiss. "Don't. I don't care what horrible things you're thinking, it was all worth it for the outcome. I love you, Sofia, and I love this child. I would gladly die for either one of you, let alone both together."
"I don't want you to die at all." Sofia laid her head on his chest, shivering yet again. This incident had just been too close… but if there was something good that came from it, it reaffirmed how much they loved one another.
"So I was thinking…" Aaron pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Now that we know how this works, and how to reverse the effects, we could have more children. I know we agreed to adopt, and I still want to, but maybe we can think about being pregnant again sometime in the future."
Sofia smiled. "Well, it's something to talk about, anyway. I think in the future we should have more knowledge about how exactly it works. But I like the idea. I want lots and lots of children."
"I know. I believe you said twelve when I first asked you."
"No, you did." Sofia lightly pushed him, thought she relaxed against him quickly again. "I think I'm still a little too tired to discuss it right now. Everything that happened... Well, we can talk about it later."
Aaron stroked her hair. "You're right. We don't have to decide right away. After all, we still have four months until this little guy is born."
He gently prodded her belly, and she felt a kick from inside her in response. A grin crossed her face. "Or girl."
"Right. Of course. Or girl." Aaron glanced away. "And I know you just woke up, but you did suffer a significant blood loss and you should rest."
Sofia's eyes narrowed. Aaron was acting very elusive… What was he hiding? She pulled away from him, swinging her legs out of bed. Aaron wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back, his brow furrowing. He nestled into her neck.
"Where do you think you're going? I just said you needed to rest."
"You're holding something from me."
"So you're going to go out and walk around when you ought to be in bed?"
Sofia shrugged. "I was just going to get some water."
Aaron swung her around, tucking her feet back into the bed. He plumped the pillows behind her, making her smile. She always enjoyed it when he was this attentive to her. Although she was suspicious that he was just going to try to deflect her attention again, she was going to let him take care of her.
He was wearing a tight pair of pants, and she admired the way his ass looked in them as he got her a glass of water. When he caught her looking, he grinned and undid a couple buttons on his shirt before returning to her.
"Careful, I have to rest," she teased. "And I think my mother is just outside the door making sure that we don't… you know."
The king cocked his head. His nostrils flared and he nodded. "You're right. I can smell her out here."
Sofia accepted the water, watching him. "Okay. So spill."
"Spill?"
"When I said the baby might be a girl, you looked shifty."
Aaron dropped his head but grinned at her all the same. "When the physician was examining you, I saw something on the ultrasound. I know we agreed that it was going to be a surprise—"
"Not fair for you to know and not me!"
"We're having a boy." Aaron's grin was so big it could have split his face.
"A boy?" Sofia placed both her hands on her stomach. "A boy. He's going to be a little hell raiser, isn't it?"
Aaron laughed and kissed her. "If he's anything like you, then yes. But who would want it any other way?"
*****
THE END
Did you like what you read?
”The Vampire King’s Virgin“ is a standalone book in a series of Vampire King romance novels. Other parts of the series (more coming soon!):
- Claimed by the Vampire King
- Owned by the Vampire King
- Chosen by the Vampire King
- The Vampire King’s Captive
The books each have a guaranteed HEA and contain plenty of action, hot vampires, steam and pregnancies.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading “The Vampire King's Virgin” as much as I liked writing it. Please consider leaving an honest review here; it means a lot to me to hear from you.
T.S. Ryder
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Her Two Alphas
Description
A curvy virgin given away by her father PLUS two Alphas ready to share a mate PLUS a wolf looking to sacrifice for love.
Curvy Elena Aldana is about to be mated to not just one, but two Alphas. Except she doesn’t know about it. Her father has made the deal. She doesn’t want to. Until she sees them – tall, broad-shouldered, and muscled. Hmm, her virgin lady parts might like this after all.
Lukas and Will are ready to share a mate, both for their own reasons. Lukas is in massive debt and, though not his fault, he needs wealthy Will’s help. And Will? He gets what he wants, and that’s a family.
But bad things are afoot. A rare astrological event has brought forward the soul of the Geisterwolf, an ancient Alpha who will sacrifice a living Alpha's mate to bring his own lost love back. And this time he's chosen Elena.
If Will and Lukas can't bind together to fight for her, Elena will be dead within a month…
They can’t fail.
Chapter One – Will
I could do with a smoke.
Will Evans didn't bother to hide how bored he was. He leaned his chair onto the back two legs as he loudly yawned. It wasn't like this meeting of the Alphas actually included him in any capacity.
Most of the other Alphas were old, white-haired and stuck in their ways. His opinions were about as welcome as yellow snow. They saw him as an entitled upstart. And maybe he was, but he was an Alpha just like them. Why shouldn’t he speak his mind? He supposed that he should be grateful to be even invited. Only the Alphas of the most powerful packs were present.
They must want money from him. His pack wasn't especially large, or especially powerful. But he was loaded. Oil had been discovered on his packlands just before his parents both died, and the wells were putting out over a thousand dollars a day. And suddenly everybody wanted a piece of him.
"As we know, Venus, Earth and Mars are coming into alignment," the Wolf that had organized the meeting, Xavier Knight, joint Alpha of the Rocky Ridge and Lakeland packs, stood at the front of the table, looking grave. "Most of you know what this means. For those who don't, it means that the Geisterwolf will be returning."
Will couldn’t help himself. He let out a loud snort. Was this meeting called to talk about a silly superstition? As if a planetary alignment would 'call forth' some supernatural creature from beyond the grave. This was a waste of time.
"The Geisterwolf," Xavier continued, ignoring Will, "will select one of our mates fo
r its sacrifice, and all of us must stand together to protect her. As soon as the planets are aligned, the Geisterwolf will appear and attempt to take an Alpha's mate to bring back his own lost mate. My partner, Timothy, has been researching how to defeat the creature once it arrives. We have certain defense measures that we can put into place. If you suspect that he is after your mate—"
"Can we get to the point where any of this has to do with me?" Will interrupted. "All this mysterious, mystical, long-dead ghost Alpha coming back to steal another Alpha's mate is all well and good, but I don't have a mate. So why am I really, here, Xavier? What do you guys need my money for? Renovating your old farmhouse? Flying everybody to Russia?"
A few of the older Alphas frowned at him, and a couple of them muttered under their breaths. But the fact that none of them actually spoke against him only proved his point. They were after something, and it was more than likely dollar signs.
Will stared down Xavier. He never had much to do with the other Alpha, despite them being of comparable age. Probably because his parents never really let him socialize with people outside of their own pack. Not that Will liked hearing about how his father should have mated his mother over and over again.
"You're not the only one here who doesn't have a mate," Xavier said, his expression and voice completely calm. "I believe that it is only through unity that we can resist this threat."
"Doesn't have a mate." One of the older Alphas, a man named George, snorted. He stood and pointed an accusing finger at Will. "I know for a fact that you have not one but two women that you're sleeping with. If you were any sort of decent character, you'd choose one and take her as your mate instead of continuing on with your disgraceful habits."
Will rolled his eyes at that. As expected, the fact he broke the Alpha mold was the point of attack against him. He pushed his chair back a little more, flexing his muscles so the tattoos he had inked over his biceps rippled. "So it's okay for Alphas like Xavier and Timothy to both share a mate, but not for two females to share me?"
"The difference, I think, is that we are actually mates. From appearances, it looks like you have no intention of taking a mate." Xavier remained utterly calm, his expression neutral, no judgment in his voice.
Will hated that about him, how nothing seemed to ruffle his feathers. "So you're mated to Timothy, too?"
"Yes. We were paired as mates by our parents before we were born."
"Maybe the Geisterwolf will go after one of you for his new mate then," Will snapped. He let the chair drop back to all fours with a thud, then stood. He wasn't a piggy bank they could crack open whenever they wanted some extra cash. "Have fun swapping your wives' tales."
Will stomped out of the room. They were all a bunch of weak-willed, simple-minded idiots. Sooner or later it would have ended up that they wanted money from him, and he wasn't about to share his pack's wealth with those who never so much as acted like they cared about him or his pack before. Not one of these Alphas had come to his parents' funeral, and not one of them had ever offered advice on what it was like to be an Alpha.
They were too busy telling him what a screw up he was to tell him anything useful.
Once he was outside, Will ruffled through his pockets, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He leaned against the wall as he took his first drag, holding it in his lungs for a moment before blowing it out in a cloud of smoke. His smoking was yet another reason they hated him. He wasn't perfect and didn't pretend he was, so he obviously wasn't worthy of his position as Alpha. It was only when he sucked in a second breath that he realized that he wasn't alone in leaving the meeting.
"What do you want?" he snapped at the Alpha had followed him. Luke something or other. With a family scandal that was worse than Will's, it surprised Will that he didn't take more flak from the older Alphas.
At least I'm open about having two females, and I'm not unfaithful to my mate.
"I'm Lukas Shultz, Alpha of the Cedar Grove pack."
Will took another drag, eyeing Lukas. He was about the same age as Will, although he had been Alpha for a shorter period of time. Cedar Grove was one of the largest packs around, and notoriously also one of the most broke ones. Yet another Alpha wanting money.
"Want a loan, then? Or maybe a mate from one of the members of my pack so you can try to get some free cash from us?"
Lukas narrowed his eyes. "All that money shouldn't go to an arrogant son of a—"
He cut himself off. Will was used enough to such insults that he only laughed at it. What did he care about this tiny little Alpha and his tiny little problems?
Lukas inhaled deeply, clearly fighting to calm himself. "My proposal is far different. Everybody knows that the River Basin pack are few in number, due to the massive land restrictions that you face. You lose members every year because there isn't room for them. My packlands are extensive, and I have a strong place in the council of Alphas, at least as far as numbers go."
"So you want me to buy land from you?"
"No. I suggest that we merge our packs, the way the Rocky Ridge and Lakeland packs did with Xavier and Timothy."
Will dropped his cigarette and crushed it beneath his foot. "Oh, so you're proposing to me?"
Lukas glowered at him, then pulled a photograph from his pocket. He held it out for Will to see. The Alpha's brows rose. The picture was of a beautiful woman. Built thick and strong, the way he liked them, with long, glossy black hair, pale eyes and skin the color of rich prairie earth. She wore a simple flower dress in the photo, but Will grinned as he imagined her in stocking and garters–and nothing else.
"This is Elena Aldana. She and I were arranged to be mates when we were babies. She's human, but as you can see she's very strong."
Will took the picture from him. Human. He had always thought Alphas that took humans as mates were ridiculous, as there was no human, no matter how well-versed in the ways of Wolves, that could really understand what it was like to be a Wolf. But if this Elena had been promised as a mate to Lukas when they were babies, she had to have been raised as part of the pack, right?
"So, what? You want to give me your mate in exchange for our packs being merged? Do you expect me to give you one of my women in exchange?"
"Are you being an idiot on purpose, or is it just your default setting?"
Will flicked the picture back at him. "Well, you're not proposing, so what is it? Come on, boy, speak clearly."
He grinned with amusement when a red flush rose up Lukas' cheeks, his hands clenching at his sides. "How can I be clearer? I said that I was suggesting a relationship like that of Xavier and Timothy. They may technically be mates, but there's nothing really between them. It's more that they're mated to the same woman. If we both mated with Elena, our packs would be merged. It would be beneficial to the both of us."
Will fumbled in his pocket for a second cigarette. "So you want to share a mate? Are you going to be the one to stay home and watch after the babies while I take care of pack business?"
Lukas ground his teeth and glowered at him. "You would not even have to give up your side females. Provided that they were fine with the fact that any children they had by you wouldn't ever be your replacement in the pack."
That wouldn’t work. If he was going to have a mate, he would have to break it off with Catherine and Harriet. He wasn't going to be unfaithful to his mate. Was he willing to give them up, though?
Yes. They were both beautiful girls, but neither of them could give him certain things–such as an heir.
"Well. Maybe I'd be willing to give it a try. On one condition."
"Only one?"
Will shrugged. "It's a pretty big one. If we're going to share Elena as a mate, she has my baby first. And that baby inherits the leadership of both packs. Agreed? Or do you have to discuss it with her first?"
"I don't need to discuss anything with her, I am the Alpha of my pack." Lukas took a deep breath. "If that's what it takes, then yes. We are in agreement."
He st
uck out his hand. Will grinned as he shook it. Now all he had to do was meet this delectable Elena Aldana.
Chapter Two – Elena
The jolt of the gun vibrated up Elena's arm, making her grin. She always loved this sensation, putting in the last nail of her project. She stepped back to admire her work, powering off the nail gun she had been using. The crown molding was perfect. Now all she had to do was fill in the nail holes and paint the whole thing. Some of the guys on the team didn't want to work with a woman when they first joined up, but she had been working construction since she was twelve years old and she knew her stuff better than most of them.
The foreman stepped into the room. "Aldana, the boss wants to see you."
Elena scowled. Just when she was getting into her groove. She set her equipment to one side. For years she'd had problems with the guys stealing her stuff since she always used the high-end products that they were too cheap to buy, but getting everything in pink had solved that problem. Unconventional, but effective.
Not that Elena didn't like pink. In fact, it was her favorite color. She'd have painted her truck a sparkly pink if her father had let her.
"It's a work truck," he had told her, though she had paid for it with her own money and was reimbursed only half her gas costs. "You're not during around to my sites in a pink truck. I have a reputation."
It made her blood boil, but when you worked for your father, sometimes you just had to play by his rules. The fact was that he wasn't as young as he used to be, and he needed her to help keep the business running.
Her father was talking with an old, grey-haired man when she entered the office. Both men turned to her when she stepped in. Another potential client needing a quote?