“Wait, aren’t we going to use the swimming pool?” she asked, looking back toward the house.
“Nope, I’ve decide to show you another place for us to visit,” her lion man said, moving through the woods like it was nothing.
“If I did what you are doing right now, I would have given up in two seconds. Aren’t your feet killing you stepping on all the sticks and things?” she asked, resting her head on his chest, staring down at the ground.
“That is why I’m carrying you, and no, my feet are toughened up. I move through the woods, jungles just fine.” He stopped and stared down at her. “I’ll always take care of you and our children, True. But, please, if you need something or if I’ve done something wrong, tell me. Not only as a man, but my even my lion inside wants to care, love and protect you.” He kissed her forehead and continued his walk.
For a few minutes, she just took in their surroundings. The birds were waking, and the sun was coming up as other animals around them started to move in the woods. True could see the wild flowers around her, and the leaves that were already turning color. Even the air smelled like fall.
“You know what I miss? As a kid, my mom would take me and my brother up to this place where they made fresh apple cider and cinnamon apple donuts. We’d walk the maze of trees picking our own apples, pumpkins and have our cider and donuts.” She put her hand on her belly. “Do you really believe I’m pregnant?”
“You’re pregnant; your scent has changed. We will do many things with our children. Maybe we’ll be able to find such a place to take our children; it sounds like fun,” he said and stepped once more into another cove.
“This is amazing, just amazing,” she said as he lowered her feet down. “The only thing I wish I had was pictures to capture this time.” She looked over her shoulder at him. “After all, it is a special time, we’ve gotten mated, or whatever you guys call it, and if you are right, we’re going to have a baby.
“This water here we will have to be careful,” he pointed to two eyes in the water, and she shook her head and stepped back into his chest.
“Nope, not going to happen. Sorry, but I don’t swim with crocs or alligators. See, we should have swum in the pool, because I sure didn’t come here to get mated, get pregnant and then lose the father of my child to a damn animal.” True looked around, shaking her head. “I bet there are even anacondas around here.” She looked over her shoulder at him. “And if you even say anything about this, I’ll scream.” She covered his cock with her hand. “I don’t want to be here, lion man. Please, something is off.” True once more looked around and shivered. True didn’t even realize she was rubbing her arms when Lawrence wrapped her up in his warmth.
He gently turned her and stared down at her. “You really are nervous about something, aren’t you?”
True nodded and rested her head against his chest. “Please, this place is pretty, but it’s off. Something isn’t right here. I want to go back; we can swim in the pool.”
Chapter Six
Lawrence scanned around the nook he had found. She was right, there were a few snakes around, but something else had her scared, and it was pissing him off he couldn’t find it.
He bent down and lifted her up into his arms, cradling her against his chest. “Relax, baby, I’ve got you,” he said, feeling her shake. Lawrence turned to head back when a shadow moved at the far end of the lagoon. It was there one minute and then gone.
“We’re going to go back to the pool, get something to eat and find your stuff. Is that okay?” he asked, moving back toward their party’s home place. It would seem someone or something had invaded their celebration, and he, for one, was going to find out who after he took care of his woman.
“I’m sorry to sound like a child, but the place was off and it would have worried me to death seeing you swim in there.”
“Never apologize for warning me about something. I couldn’t feel what you did, but I’ll listen to what you say always.” Lawrence pushed through the trees in record time without worrying True in his arms, but at once, the new guard was there walking with them toward the pool.
“Do you see anything?” Hunter asked as Mack joined them.
“Just a shadow, but True felt something,” he said, placing her down in one of the loungers around the pool. “Relax here for a minute, baby, while I explain where we were.”
She nodded and glanced back toward the woods. “It’s not back there though.” True said, staring off to one spot.
Lawrence stepped in front of her scooping her back into his arms. He spun around snarling. Whatever had been there had followed them. At once, alarms went off; people that had been sleeping now awake, gathering their women as he did.
He ran toward the house. “You will stay inside, little lynx.” Lawrence said as Grace ran up next to them.
“I’ll protect her, you just take care of that threat,” Grace said as he lowered True down inside the door to the house.
She grabbed onto his arm. “Be careful, because if I’m carrying your child, I want his father there with me.”
He reached up and cupped her cheek. “I just found you; I’m not leaving you.” Lawrence leaned down and kissed her hard and quick before spinning around, leaving his woman.
As he ran toward the woods where True had been staring, Lawrence allowed the lion inside his hunt. It was now time to stalk the one that had done it to them.
“Wait for us,” Hunter growled, moving up next to him as two others joined them. “Do we know what we are hunting?”
“No, True recognized it before I did. I just caught a glimpse of it coming back here from the second alcove.”
“She should recognize the signs; he’s the one who hurt her,” Moirai appeared in front of them.
He stopped and frowned at her. “What do you mean? I thought the hunt was this afternoon?” Lawrence held the beast in; the idea of this man who had hurt his woman out there watching them had him itching to hunt his prey.
“Easy there, lion man. No, I didn’t release him, seems someone around here does not appreciate my friend, and I will find out who, but please, find him. All of you change and enjoy the hunt,” she called out, and, at once, bones snapped, muscles stretched, fangs grew and fur replaced skin.
He roared and took off, searching for the thing that dare hurt what was his. All around him, wolves howled, cats screamed, even the demons seemed to be joining in the hunt.
An eagle’s scream from above had Lawrence lifting his head as the eagle dived down to the west, giving him the whereabouts of their target. He sniffed the air, taking off around the bend and stopped at what he saw.
The man wasn’t human, but it would seem part coyote. No wonder Moirai had allowed the hunt. He sniffed the air and could smell his fear as Lawrence’s friends surrounded the man, preventing him from leaving.
Something wasn’t right; the man’s scent was off. The man shifted back to his human form. “What’s the matter? Finally figured it out?” The man snarled. “Yes, that’s right; she is also a cousin.” The man sneered at him. “It’s one of the reasons I couldn’t allow a child to be born. She was only meant to keep my true family hidden, like her father does with his human.”
Lawrence’s roar was the only warning the man got before he tripped the man apart. His head going in one direction while his arms in others. Blood was everywhere as he massacred the man, truly hating the fact his blood was on him.
Inside, he was furious. Did she know about her father? Was she part of their world and didn’t know about it? So many questions.
He shook his coat and stood, moving toward the alcove his woman had been afraid of, needing to get rid of the blood on him when Moirai appeared next to him, walking beside him.
“She is special, as I said, but no, she can’t shift. Her father denied his chosen one, and maybe it was for the best; she wasn’t normal. Even if he would have mated with her, he wouldn’t have been able to save her. He has made the best o
f his life. The only reason he has True as a daughter is because they have a trace of fae inside of them, but this trace is just not normal.” She stopped and looked down at him.
“The queen of the fae knows of True and her mother. They are her distant family. She hasn’t made this known, and I don’t know if she will. Their world is different from yours. Just know you will be watched as her father is.”
“She should be told,” Lawrence said, shifting and still moving toward the water.
“And tell her, her father knew this man, that he was family to him?” Moirai asked.
“I won’t keep things from my chosen one, Moirai. It’s wrong,” he said, stepping out of the woods.
Moirai looked toward the woods. “One of my clients had some trouble and had become close to your woman.” She looked at him. “I made the mistake of telling True the truth about a few things. It took me a good month before I could get her to smile again. She’s innocent, pure, and if you tell her this about a man she adores, I really don’t know what will happen.” She reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “Some people just can’t handle certain facts. Isn’t it better they aren’t told, to be protected? Now, if she asks or hears something, by all means, but to bring it up when there is no need...”
With those words, the woman disappeared, leaving him alone. He ran to the water and jumped, letting the cool water wash away the blood and some of the negativity that was plaguing him.
Chapter Seven
True smiled at Grace and scooped out another goop of the insides of her pumpkin. She had found her clothes and the danger was over, but still, Lawrence hadn’t appeared. Grace had dragged her to where they were working on the pumpkins for the children’s hospital near their house, but her mind was on the man that had claimed her body and heart in a matter of twenty-four hours.
Grace bumped her hip with hers. “Relax; I’m sure he’s just cleaning up. I heard your man did very well on the hunt.”
True sat down and shook her head. “Should I be proud he killed the man I was going to marry? I mean, I’m glad I don’t have to worry about him, but isn’t it wrong to kill even him?”
Her friend knelt next to her. “We’ve talked about this. Any man or woman that takes a life shouldn’t be alive. Even the beating you took was wrong. Never be sorry for that asshole.”
“But who are we to judge? Shouldn’t that be some greater power?” she asked and moaned when her boss walked up giving her that look.
“You’re a pain in the ass,” True grumbled, and the ladies around them gasped, staring at her. “What?”
Moirai threw her head back and laughed. “You are the only one I know who has the balls to tell me that. You are special, my dear friend.” Moirai came over to her and hugged her. “But Grace is right. That man should have died a while ago. We just made sure it was done. Now, how about showing me how to carve a pumpkin since I’ve never done this?”
“What?” True was really surprised. She got up, grabbing a medium-sized pumpkin and started to show Moirai how to carve it. Halfway through, she looked over at her friends. “I knew about him, that he was a distant cousin,” True said, cutting out the mouth of her own pumpkin.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Grace asked.
She shrugged. “That’s what the argument started with, me finding out. I was calling everything off. Everyone thinks my mom doesn’t notice things, but she does. I know I’m like her, but we’re not stupid.” Tears filled her eyes, and she looked down, sighing. “Mom and Dad fought the night before when she found out. They’re still having problems, but they are working through them.”
“How are you handling that your father knew?” Moirai asked, reaching over and squeezing her arm.
“It’s one of the reasons I locked myself in my apartment. I always wanted a man like my father, and I still do, but there has to be a trust. I don’t know if my mom will ever get over being hurt like that, nor will I. Our bond has suffered the most, I’m afraid.”
Her boss stared at her. “You knew I told Lawrence about your cousin?”
True shrugged. “Working for you for the last five years, I’ve come to know you, and I always had a little gift. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t really read your mind, but when you are thinking of something like you were about the discussion you had with him, I heard it.” True looked toward the woods. “Do you think that’s why he hasn’t come back, because I was with a distant family member? I mean, I didn’t know?” she asked, worried.
Moirai moved to her side and hugged her. “No, he’ll be back soon, but I think your man is arranging a surprise, but don’t tell him I told you. Now, tell me, is that how you connect with the people that come into the office?”
She smiled and nodded. “With all the strange people coming in and out seeing you and your sisters, you three need the extra help.”
“Hey, that wasn’t nice,” Moirai threw a spoonful of gook at True, and she ducked just in time, but her man wasn’t so lucky.
Behind her, Lawrence shook his head and smiled as the gook fell off of his chest. “You’re actually carving pumpkins?” he asked.
“It’s my party, so of course, I have to join the fun. Sorry about the gook; it really is nasty,” Moirai said, frowning, “and I really don’t think my face is turning out as good as True’s.”
“I’ve been carving pumpkins for a long time. It takes practice, but you did good,” True said as Lawrence wrapped his arms around her and kissed the side of her neck.
“Are you close to finishing up? I have plans for us,” her lion man whispered in her ear, sending a small shake through her.
She glanced up at him and smiled. “I was worried.”
He bent down and swept her up into his arms. “We’ll see you later, ladies, at dinner,” Lawrence said as he carried her toward the house. “There was nothing to be worried about. I will always come back to you, True.”
“So you know the nasty truth about me and my parents, did it change anything? Do you still consider me your queen learning I’m not perfect?” she asked, needing to know.
Lawrence didn’t say anything at first, moving through a part of the house she hadn’t been in. The walls were covered in many paintings she had bought for her boss in private auctions. The old mansion still held all of its original molding. When her lion man stepped into a room, all she could do was stare.
A fireplace in one corner of the room, a small table set for four out on the open balcony, a large bed had to be a super king with a canopy over the top of it, netting hanging down on the sides and, if True wasn’t mistaken, there was some kind of chains at the head of the bed, hooked to bed frame.
She glanced over at him, and he smiled. “It’s a special kind of bed, one you and I will truly be experimenting with over the next few hours.” He carried her over to the table and placed her in one of the chairs before kneeling before her.
He grasped her hands and held them. “I’m not going to lie. I was furious when I found out about that man. I wanted to kill your father for just putting you in that kind of position, and I’m still not happy, but for you, I’d set that a side.” He looked up at her and squeezed her hands.
“But I will not allow him to influence or hurt you again. No one will. You are my life now, True. You and that little one in your belly is all I need. If you want to live in the city, I’d do that for you, but I have a suggestion. If you would like to keep your job, which Moirai has asked that you do as long as it does not interfere with your health that she’d come get you every day, and you know she can do it.” He motioned his hand to the house, and True new what he was talking about.
True smiled and pulled her hands away from his, cupping his handsome face. “I’m not really a city girl. Don’t get me wrong, I do like the museums and some of the shows, but I prefer long walks like we had last night. Have any others been to your home?” she asked, not knowing if True could handle that.
“No, little lynx, no female has entered my home exce
pt for my parents and sisters, which you’ll meet soon enough. It’s big enough to have a large family. You can do anything you want to it, but I insist that you move nothing, allow me or someone else to move things around.” He placed his hand on her lower belly. “Our child will be born healthy and without complications. I don’t need any scares, do you understand?”
She smiled and couldn’t help but giggle. “I’m sorry, can’t do that; I mean, the scare part I mean; it is a Halloween party and what is Halloween without a scare or two?” True teased, earning a growl from her man.
“There will be no scaring this man; I’ve done it enough for one day.” He stood and nodded behind her.
“True?” her mother called her.
She stood, turning to see her folks coming up a back staircase. “Mom, Dad?” She looked back at Lawrence.
“I wanted them here so they know where and what we are going to do. Mr. and Mrs. Opress, my name is Lawrence Hasbrow. I’m your daughter’s chosen one,” he said, nodding to the chairs around the table. “Lunch will be brought up soon.”
He took a seat next to True as she plopped down on her chair, stunned her parents were there. The reality of what was happening had her shaking her head. “Lion man, exactly how old are you?” she asked, getting a look from him that had her squirming in her seat.
“Are you sure my daughter is your chosen?” her father asked without looking at her but confronting Lawrence.
“There is no doubt, and we are already mated, but I have asked her to marry me in the human way. I knew it would be important for True and her mother,” Lawrence calmly stated. “But I would prefer a sooner wedding, little lynx,” he said and slid his hand under the table to rest on her belly.
She laughed and patted his arm. “What lion man here is trying to say is he thinks I’m carrying his child and would like our wedding before the baby comes,” True explained.
Her father turned his gaze on her then sniffed the air. “You carry a child, but isn’t it a little soon...”
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