Defender's Blood The Birth and The Battle (Urban Fantasy)

by A. K. Michaels

  Zach filed that away – surely you could get it here in the US? He would find out.

  Chapter 18

  About two weeks after they left Unity, Vlad and Irina came home. Vlad was looking relaxed and happy and Irina, well the change in her was so dramatic that Alex was shocked.

  They came to see Zach and her before they went home and when Zach opened the door, Irina flew in and straight for Alex. She grabbed her in a hug and kept saying ‘Thank you’ over and over. Alex extricated herself, held Irina away and looked into her eyes. There was no sign of the hurt, fear, shame or any similar emotion in her clear eyes.

  Irina opened her mouth and the words flew out. “I know, I know what you’re thinking, Alex – I’m so much better. Vlad has been fantastic, we went to see a therapist together, Vlad came with me. It was really good for us, we felt we could say things in that room that we would not have normally said … it was amazing. Some things came out and we dealt with them. I still hate what happened, Alex, I always will. Especially that Jayne got hurt and the male … well ... he got killed, but now, well we’re going to have a baby. Vlad is just as happy, he just keeps saying it is my baby, that’s how we got through it. It is MY baby and Vlad loves me so Vlad loves the baby – simple!” Irina finished and the smile on her face was huge.

  Alex turned to look at Vlad who was standing talking to Zach. His demeanour was not one of someone who had another man’s baby foisted onto him. He looked mellow and happy. Christ, she never thought the outcome would be this good!

  “So little Wolf, are we going home or what?” Vlad asked.

  “Yes yes, in a minute Vlad – where is it? Where’s the present for Alex?” Irina all but shouted.

  Vlad patted down his pockets, pulling out a small box. “Irina, you didn’t need to get me anything,” said Alex, a bit embarrassed.

  Irina just carried on talking. “Alex, you did this, all of it. If it wasn’t for you, I dread to think what would’ve happened. It’s to say thank you and to protect you.”

  She handed the box over to Alex and she opened it. Tears came to her eyes – there was the most gorgeous gold Wolf on a necklace. It was small but the detail was amazing and it bore more than a passing resemblance to Irina’s Wolf.

  Irina chuckled. “I know, it looks like my Wolf, doesn’t it? Vlad spotted it in a little antique store, it was in a back street, we had got lost wandering around and passed by and he saw it. It’s perfect for you – to remind you that it was you that made our life possible, and happy and oh loads and loads of other stuff.” Irina finished, she was breathless.

  Irina hugged Alex again and Vlad grabbed her hand. “Come, little Wolf, I want you home and in bed, we’ve been travelling all day and I have not had your little body in my arms for far too long!” Vlad’s voice had dropped and Alex could hear the want in it.

  “Okaaay you guys – out – I don’t want you ripping her clothes off in my living room, Vlad!” Zach said rather loudly. Alex didn’t think Vlad heard, he was too busy pulling Irina out the door.

  Zach closed the door and came back to sit beside Alex. “You did good, little one, real good. Irina is right, if not for you the outcome of that day would have been disastrous.”

  Alex spoke quietly. “I only did what I could, Zach … isn’t this lovely?” She held the gold Wolf out to him and he took it in his hands, which were so large that it looked tiny in them.

  “The workmanship is awesome, it really does look like Irina’s Wolf. It’s a lovely gift. I’m so glad things worked out, I would be lost without Vlad. Who would I beat up in training!” Zach grinned.

  “Oh, I’m sure you would find someone … Dmitri, for instance?” Alex retorted.

  Zach spoke with feeling in his voice. “I suppose, but Vlad and I have been friends for a very long time Alexina, he is like a brother to me.”

  “I know, Zach, and now both of you are going to be daddies!”

  “Now that is such an amazing thing to hear. Who would’ve thought such a thing possible?” he answered.

  “Well it’s happening, my Vampire – and I have a feeling it will be sooner than we think.”

  Zach looked closely at her. “Is something wrong? Are you okay?” he queried.

  “Yes Zach, but I know that this is going to happen sooner rather than later … I can feel it,” Alex whispered.

  Zach pulled her close. “It’s going to be all right, Alexina.” She cuddled into his warm body – she was always amazed at how warm he was, she had always thought Vampires would be cold. When she was safe like this with him, she believed it would be fine. Sometimes though, when she was on her own … well, she didn’t think it would be.

  The paint arrived for the room, or rather the nursery. Vlad, Dmitri and Zach took it upon themselves to do the painting at the weekend. Alex didn’t care who did it as long as it was done. She and Zach packed away most of the things, the furniture went into storage and the sleigh bed and dark drawers were not suitable for a nursery. When the bedroom was completely empty, it was ready to be painted. They took the curtains down and Alex realised they would need new ones, these were too dark and just wouldn’t go with everything else that would be in the room.

  She was standing watching the men prepare the room for painting and thinking about what ones to get. Plain, patterned, nursery rhyme characters, balloons? She couldn’t make up her mind when a thought flew right into her head. It was so strong it nearly knocked her off her feet.

  The same thing happened to Zach and he grasped the wall in front of him. The feeling was gone as soon as it had came but Zach flew to her side. “Are you okay? What the hell was that?” he asked Alex. Dmitri and Vlad were looking at the two of them wondering what was going on.

  “Unicorns – they want unicorns on the curtains!” she said.

  Alex had no doubt where the thought, feeling, whatever it was, had came from – the babies.

  Zach confirmed, “That’s what I got too. I was thinking what the hell have unicorns to do with anything.”

  Alex explained, “I was thinking about what curtains to get. I assume they didn’t like my ideas!” She was still feeling a little shaky and Zach took her to lie down.

  When he was just about ready to leave the room, he sensed it again. Someone, something … the feeling was so strong but he knew if he looked he wouldn’t see anything. What the hell!

  He calmly walked back to the spare room/nursery. “Vlad, can you do me a favour?” he spoke quietly.

  Vlad turned and looked at him and frowned at the worried look on his friend’s face. “Sure, Zach, what is it?”

  Zach tried to explain. “You’re going to think I’m mad, but I keep feeling a presence. I can’t see anything and I can’t pinpoint it, but it’s been since Alexina got pregnant. I felt it again just then when I took her to lie down. Come with me, put your senses out … see if you can find anything. If only to calm my nerves.”

  Vlad nodded once. “Okay, come on.” He walked purposefully towards their room.

  Alex was a little puzzled when Vlad entered their room – what was going on?

  Vlad spoke as soon as he passed through the doorway. “Yeah Zach – I can feel it too, but like you can’t pinpoint it. I’ve never felt anything like that before. I can sense something, but not see it, it’s kinda puzzling. What the hell can it be?”

  “I have no idea, Vlad, but its fucking bugging me. If I can’t see it, how can I protect Alex from it?”

  Vlad was looking thoughtful. “Zach, maybe it’s not there to hurt her? Did you think of that?”

  Zach frowned. “No Vlad, I didn’t. So you think it may be there watching over her?”

  Vlad shook his head as if trying to clear his thinking. “Fuck man, I don’t know, but if you’ve felt it since she got pregnant and nothing’s happened so far … maybe?”

  “Yeah, maybe,” Zach replied, not sure either way.

  “So are you going to tell Dmitri and me what that was all about – the un
icorns?” Vlad was waiting on Zach to answer and he could see he wasn’t sure whether to or not. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, we can just get on with this painting. Remember though, you’re coming to help me when we do ours!” Vlad said.

  Zach nodded and they started painting. Vlad was his closest and longest friend, there shouldn’t be anything that he couldn’t tell him.

  “So, you two – you’re not going to believe this, Alex and I didn’t at first. Just to clarify we’re not nuts, but the babies have made themselves known to us. Of course with my hearing I can hear the heartbeats, but it’s clearer than that. We have a ‘sense’ of them. Earlier, well, Alex was standing thinking about curtains, of all things, and wondering what to get for them. They decided to let us know – very loud, very clear – unicorns. The little ones want unicorns on their curtains.”

  Dmitri stood with his mouth open. Vlad looked like he couldn’t believe his ears.

  Vlad broke the silence. “Zach, you and I have lived a very long life, we’ve seen a lot of very strange things, we’ve fought together, we’ve lived together, we’ve even fucked together – with a woman or women, I might add,” he said with a pointed look at Dmitri so he didn’t get any wrong ideas before he carried on. “So if you tell me something I’m going to believe you. It might sound a little out there, but hey this whole situation is so far out there that it’s in the next universe!”

  Dmitri just nodded his head and got back to painting. Nothing seemed to faze that guy!

  Vlad slapped Zach on his back and picked up his paint brush. A little while later Dmitri spoke. “Zach, uhm … if those little ones give you the next winning lottery numbers, let me know!” and he laughed very loudly. Zach and Vlad joined him, it was a good release, laughter.

  Alex lay in bed wondering what the ruckus was all about. Men. Didn’t matter if they were centuries old Vampires, or young Werewolves, or young humans, they were all the same. Put them together to do a chore and they acted like schoolboys. So long as they do the painting, she thought as she fell into a very deep sleep.

  She slept for hours and when she got up the guys were playing a gamestation of some sort – she didn’t even know Zach had one. They were sitting around, eyes glued to the screen and drinking beer. She stood in the doorway. It all seemed so normal. A guy and his friends having beer and playing a game. If not for the fact that they were all extremely old, good-looking Vampires, that is.

  Zach’s head flew round and his eyebrow raised at her. ‘Good-looking? So you think Dmitri and Vlad are good-looking, little one?’ He pushed the thought to her – she wasn’t sure if he was joking or jealous.

  ‘Not nearly as good-looking as you though, my Vampire’ – she pushed back at him.

  He just wiggled his eyebrow some more. ‘You’ll need to prove that later, my little wench!’

  She moved further into the room. “Who wants pizza?” she asked and they all nodded their heads. She phoned for the pizza, more than enough for all of them, and then phoned Irina. “You should come over, the guys are playing some kind of shoot ‘em up game and I’ve just ordered pizza.”

  “Yum, I’ll be right over.” Irina didn’t say bye – she was always doing that.

  Irina arrived before the pizza and joined Alex in the kitchen. They sat chatting and Alex was once more so relieved to see her so happy. “So uhm, I’m not sure how to ask this Irina, but I don’t know anything about Wolves’ pregnancies. Is it the same as a human? Length and such?”

  Irina smiled, “Not exactly, it’s a bit shorter at only seven months and we crave a lot of meat ...”

  “Meat? Why?”

  “We need the protein for the energy … well that’s what I think, anyway. I just know we eat heaps of it. Why?”

  Alex was thinking about her own eating habits. “I’ve been craving meat – the amounts I’ve been eating are outrageous. Zach can’t even believe what I’ve been putting away.”

  Irina looked thoughtful before she replied, “Well you must need it, Alex, your body sort of knows. So if you’re eating a lot, it needs to. It’s not like you look as if you’re eating a lot. Apart from your bump, you’ve not changed.”

  Alex thought otherwise but didn’t argue the point. “Anything else different from a human one?” She wanted to get as much info as she could, she was very curious.

  Irina hesitated slightly before answering, a slight blush on her cheeks. “Well there’s another thing … it’s not typical for human but Wolves, well we … uhm ... I’m not sure how to say it delicately. Let’s just say, Vlad is a very happy man at the moment!” Irina raised her eyebrows in a very funny manner and it took Alex a minute to realise what she meant.

  “Oh, so your … sex drive? It’s in full swing?” she stated with a smile.

  “Oh yeah!” Irina purred. It was a strange sound coming from the throat of a Wolf, but it was a definite purr.

  At that point, Vlad was at Irina’s back in a flash. “You purring for me, little Wolf?” He grabbed her from behind and nuzzled her neck.

  The pizza arrived – thank goodness, Alex thought. Vlad looked like he was going to ravish Irina right there in front of her.

  They all sat around the kitchen eating pizza and talking, laughing and having a good time. Soon after they finished Irina got up and spoke quickly. “Thanks Alex, that was lovely but we need to go now.”

  Alex was surprised at the sudden departure but Vlad had a very wicked smile on his face and Dmitri rolled his eyes as he spoke. “Oh dear God, you two go. I don’t want to see you humping each other!”

  Vlad didn’t even look at any of them, he just grabbed Irina’s hand and pulled her from the room.

  The large Russian spoke in his accented voice. “That’s my cue to leave. See you tomorrow Zach, I want to go over some of the training. I want to include some of the Witches – see how we can work it.”

  Dmitri got up – he was a huge bear of a man, all muscle. He leaned down and very, very gently kissed the top of Alex’s head. “Night, little miss,” he said. Zach showed him out, talking all the way to the door about training.

  Zach walked back in as Alex was finishing clearing away the pizza boxes, once more she had eaten far more than normal. “Now, wench – what was that you said earlier? Oh yeah, Vlad and Dmitri were good-looking. You wanting to make me jealous?” Zach’s voice was a little husky as he spoke.

  “Zach, you know you’re the only one for me, but you can’t blame me for looking!” Alex half-laughed.

  “Mmm, is that right? So if I started ‘looking’ at other women?” he asked.

  As soon as it came out of his mouth, the feeling Alex got shocked her to her core. “Absolutely not! No way, no how, Vampire!” She had never felt jealous in her life, the feeling was alien to her – but she knew it for what it was.

  “Ahh I see, you now know how I was feeling, little one. It’s not very pleasant, is it?”

  She shook her head. “Zach, I didn’t realise … is that how you felt when I thought that? If so, what the hell are we going to do? Sometimes thoughts just pop into my head, I can’t stop them. However, if I make you feel the way you just made me feel, well, I’m sorry. It’s not nice, I was ready to rip someone’s throat out. It was so strong!”

  “Yes Alexina, it is, and yes that is how I felt. I can’t help the way I feel, just like you couldn’t help the thought popping into your head. So I guess we will just have to acknowledge the feelings and try not to rip someone’s throat out.” He said it with a slight smile.

  “I’m going to try real hard not to think things like that, it hurts me that I caused you to feel like that Zach. I’m sorry, my Vampire,” she apologised.

  “Why don’t we retire to the bedroom and you can make it up to me?” he said, and she did what Irina had done earlier – she purred.

  Zach picked her up and carried her through, all the while kissing her and absolutely torturing her with his tongue. He gently placed her on the bed and move
d to undress her. He was doing it far too slowly in her opinion. “Am I now?” he asked. ‘YES’ she screamed in her mind.

  Finally, finally she was free from her clothes and she lay before him on the bed. He stared at her with such longing that she thought her toes were going to curl.

  He gently placed a hand on her expanding belly. “You’re getting bigger, little one … our babies are growing big and strong.” It wasn’t what she was expecting to hear in this intimate moment and it had the most profound effect on her. She moaned up at him and told him to get naked – quickly. Zach was quick alright, he was a flash and very soon was above her, his glorious body a feast for her eyes. His arousal was there in front of her and the sight of it inflamed her all the more.

  He kissed her all the way from her neck heading downwards, she couldn’t wait and bucked her hips up towards him. “Patience is a virtue, you know,” he declared this as if she cared at this moment.

  “Not one that I have Vampire, now hurry up – I’m going to burst!” she squeaked.

  He moved his head down and his tongue darted out. Shit – she nearly jumped a foot in the air, the feeling was so intense! “You like?” he spoke into her mound. She couldn’t talk, her tongue wouldn’t move so she just sent a thought to him – a very, very dirty thought.

  “Really? Oh you are a naughty little wench tonight! However, as I’ve said before - I aim to please,” and he carried on. Very soon she was grabbing the sheets and shaking from an orgasm that hit her hard. Zach moved himself up and positioned himself right between her thighs. He was up on his knees and he lifted her thighs over his arms – it brought her bottom up towards him and he moved to enter her already hot and wet core.

  His eyes were glowing, she thought he could light the whole fecking street. “Slow, I think,” he growled, his voice so much huskier than normal.

  “Fast,” she whimpered.

  “No – I don’t want to hurt the babies. Slow.” As he had a firm grip on her thighs he was in control and got his way.