Cherishing Destiny (A Dangerous Destiny)

by Blakely, Noelle

  Mac reached out to shake Alex’s hand, and when Alex took it, he found himself in one of those--who’s got the manlier grip--competitions. The man smelled like any mortal, so Alex squeezed, but not hard enough to hurt him. He was shocked when the man squeezed back with surprising strength. Alex put on the pressure, and when Mac responded with his own increased grip, Alex caught a brief flash in Mac’s eyes. A Were!

  Ryan taught Alex that the Weres would only smell like creatures when they shifted or changed, and if the shift was subtle, then so would be the scent. Quickly, before it could dissipate, Alex scented deeply. A wolf so not likely an assassin. He relaxed his grip and so did Mac. Reginald never noticed the silent contest taking place.

  Mac unrolled the cloth bundle and four silver plated ceremonial swords that were wrapped inside. Alex looked them over, being careful not to touch the silver blades. In places on the pommels where silver had been inlaid, they were wrapped tightly in tape. He tested the weight of the blades and selected one that felt as serviceable as it looked ceremonial. Just then a boy came to the doorway of the study and Reginald went to speak with him. After a brief whispered conversation, Reginald turned back to the men. “Please, excuse me. I must see to an issue with the horses.” He left following the boy.

  Alex stood with the sword in his hand looking at Mac. “You’re a Wolf. Are you spying here?”

  “Wolves are not the enemy of Vampires. Why would I be spying? I’m just trying to do my part finding weapons for travelers.”

  “So then, Samuel Gates is fully informed of the presence of Were-wolves in town.” Alex narrowed his eyes at big Mac.

  “Not wolves, wolf,” said Mac. “And If you tell Gates I’m a Were, I will be forced to leave, and the ones that need weapons around here will be the poorer for it.”

  “If we’re not enemies then why would you need to leave?” Alex asked.

  “I don’t trust that guy,” Mac said. “I know he has dealings with at least one mercenary Were-panther. I don’t have any reason to believe that this Were has anything to do with the ones working with the Hunters. There’s lots of mercs that don’t, but mercenary Weres give me the creeps and they call this one the Chief. He’s a tracker, and I heard, maybe, an assassin too.”

  “So, why the handshake from hell?” Alex asked. This wolf was stirring his interest.

  Mac smiled, and Alex was reminded of Ryan. “I heard that Vamps were getting weak. I just wanted to know the truth.”

  “And do you know it now?”

  “You seem pretty strong to me, but I guess I don’t know how strong you used to be, so that doesn’t really tell me anything.” Mac shrugged.

  “So, you just wanted to know, and you heard about Gates and a Were-panther. Are you still going to deny that you’re a spy?”

  “I’m not saying that I don’t share information with wolves, just like I do with humans and Vamps, but that doesn’t make me a spy.”

  “Semantics,” Alex laughed.

  “I know you don’t trust Weres. Are you going to tell Gates? Do I need to pack up?” Mac looked at Alex’s face to see if he would believe the answer.

  “I’m not going to tell Gates. As a matter of fact, I have a little proposition for you that could be beneficial to us both.” Alex thought again about Ryan and the fact that he had saved Alex on more than one occasion. “By the way, you’re wrong. I do trust a Were. A wolf is watching over my wife as we speak.”

  Twenty-five

  Ryan was making his way out of the settlement when he passed by a house with a huge round metal tub in the yard, filling with rain water. It gave him an idea, and he knocked on the front door of the house.

  A few minutes later, he was tying the tub, upside down to the pack straps on the second horse. He had to throw a blanket over it to keep the rain from making a racket when it struck the tub like a drum.

  He headed back by a slightly different route. He tried not to travel by any one certain path more than once in a month or two so that he never left a trail that seemed well used or habitual. Less than half a day from the Cabin he crossed a jeep trail that had been utterly washed out by the rains. It had been a difficult road in the past, and it was practically non-existent, now. He tied up the horses for a rest while he ran through the trees on foot, following parallel to what used to be the jeep trail. As he suspected, it ended at a fishing lodge or what used to be a fishing lodge anyway. He moved carefully and found that it was utterly deserted. The main lodge had a large central great room with a fireplace tall enough to stand in. Two wings extended from either end of the great room. One must have been two stories of guest rooms before but was totally collapsed now. The debris closed off that end of the great room, effectively creating a wall that still kept the central area fairly weather tight. The second wing was a single story and contained a kitchen, dining hall, game room and what must have been an owner or manager’s apartment. It wasn’t fancy, just a small living room and a couple of bedrooms. The closets were open and mostly empty. A few clothes were strewn on the beds along with a lot of empty hangers. Someone had packed as much as they could in a big hurry. He saw candles and a couple of oil lamps sitting around. Their generator must have stopped, and they had no electricity. As near as he could tell, they left shortly after the Solar Storm. It was clear that they made it out before the road washed out. He didn’t think that they would be back anytime soon even if they did make it through the earthquakes, Hunters, and sickness. He grabbed a couple of cans of food and an opener from the kitchen. Great! Peaches! Sara will be thrilled. He laughed out loud in the quiet of the lodge and headed back at a jog.

  When he rode up to the cabin, it was eerily silent. His heart started pounding when he began to think that something must have happened to the women. Someone stepped around the corner of the cabin, pointing a cross bow at him. He shifted and was halfway to the intruder before he realized it was Sara. He stopped abruptly and shifted back, standing naked in the rain. His clothes were ruined and laying in the mud back by his horse. He felt the prick of another Arrow in his back. Sara, in front of him, lowered her crossbow. Aurora, at his back, removed the point from his skin and said, “Nice bathtub.”

  Sara was still laughing a few minutes later when they carried the tub into the cabin. Ryan’s torn shirt was tied around his waist, covering what needed to be covered – not that he was shy or that Sara and Aurora hadn’t seen him naked on more than one recent occasion. They unloaded the supplies into the cabin, and Sara led the horses to the trees around the back. Curious, Ryan followed her.

  It seemed that while Ryan was gone, Sara and Aurora had used green branches and saplings to weave a fence around some of the trees behind the cabin, creating a small holding pen for the horses. They also built a roof of branches on some poles to create a little semi-dry shelter. The rickety shelter made him think about the tarps strung in Lily’s yard. He blushed and was glad Sara couldn’t see him well enough in the rain to know.

  When they went back inside, Aurora was already boiling water to fill the tub. Once there was enough hot water in the tub, they carried buckets of cold water in from the rain barrel outside. They had fixed that too, Ryan noted. When he left there were caved in staves on the barrel, and he wasn’t sure he would have known how to fix it, but Aurora must have learned a few things in all her years. He was suitably impressed. When the tub was full, Sara insisted that Aurora take the first turn. Aurora sat in the tub with her knees up as her long legs could not stretch out in the round tub. Sara took some of the fragrant lavender soap that Ryan had brought back from the settlement and lathered Aurora’s long burgundy locks with it. She massaged Aurora’s scalp with her fingertips, closing her eyes and breathing in the scent of lavender and Aurora’s clean hair. Aurora’s eyes were half-lidded as she relaxed. Her lush black lashes veiled the little bit of blue that was visible. Sara, very slowly and lovingly washed every part of Aurora with the shrinking bar. By the time she finished, her own clothes were wet and clinging to her body. Ryan, who was warmi
ng himself, sitting with his back to the wall next to the fireplace, watched the entire ritual with a lazy, satisfied grin. He felt a warm stirring in his loins, and he stretched out his legs when his position became a little uncomfortable.

  He was mildly aroused in a pleasant way, but Sara was his sister, even if they weren’t blood related, and Aurora was a Vampire, a married Vampire to boot. That brought his thoughts back around to Lily. He felt guilty and a little dirty by what happened between them. He didn’t love her, and he didn’t want to be her mate. He was positive she felt the same way. He felt more for the married Vampire than the wolf he was now mated to. It shamed him, and he decided not to tell Sara and Aurora about Lily.

  Aurora stood up, and the soapy water sluiced off of her beautiful body, making Ryan twitch again and letting him forget altogether about Lily. Aurora dried herself wrapped a towel around her and returned the favor of a gentle scrubbing to Sara. Ryan was actually dozing when suddenly both women were standing in front of him, smelling wonderful and looking very hot.

  “Your turn,” Aurora said. Sara was nodding and pinching her nose.

  “Wow, okay. I can take a hint,” he laughed, stood up and dropped the shirt that was tied around his waist, right there in front of both women.

  Aurora just took his hand and dragged him to the bath. Sara sat down by the fire to brush out and dry her hair. The bath water was milky with soap and suds, but it smelled fantastic and was certainly a lot cleaner than Ryan was, so he hopped in the used bath water without objections. Aurora poured clean water over his head from a bucket she’d left warming by the fire earlier. She lathered his hair, which was growing out, his spikes looked less spiky and more wild.

  “I could cut it for you,” she said as she rinsed the soap out, combing her fingers through it to look at the length.

  “Sure,” he said. “I could use a cut.”

  “And a shave,” Sara added from the fireplace.

  “I did bring a razor in my pack.”

  “I saw scissors in the first aid kit we found in the packs we took.” Aurora looked distracted after she said that and Ryan knew she was still bothered by the men they killed.

  He finished washing while she dug through the packs for the razor and scissors. He even packed a can of shaving cream, which she found too.

  He dried off and wrapped a towel around his waist. He sat on a stool by the fire and Aurora moved around him in a circle as she worked on his hair. By the time she was finished, it was nearly dry, and his usual spikes were back. She ran her fingers through them, arranging them a little. “Sexy,” she said. “But don’t get a big head about it. You still need a shave.”

  As she was shaving Ryan’s neck just under his chin, she worked slowly because she was watching the artery pulsing in his throat. She was fascinated, and it was making her Vampire eyes glow and her own heat rise. Ryan could feel the change in her, and even though he knew she wouldn’t hurt him, he shifted a little. His head was leaning back against her belly, and her hands were at his throat. She made the last stroke of the razor and ran her hands up his jaw to feel the smooth skin. Ryan closed his shifted eyes and opened his senses to her touch. He could feel her soft hands caressing his face and smell the lavender from the soap they all shared. His head was pillowed on her soft, flat belly, and he could hear her heart beating so rapidly under her skin.

  His eyes flew open, and he spun around so fast on the stool that he startled Aurora, who had been mesmerized by the moment too.

  “What are you doing?” She took a step back.

  He reached out and grasped her hips, pulling her back toward him. “Aurora, come closer.” She resisted a little. “Trust me,” he said.

  She was a little nervous, but she stepped into him as he laid his freshly shaved cheek against the cloth of the towel covering her flat belly. He closed his eyes and held her close.

  Sara was looking at the scene suspiciously. She and Aurora exchanged confused looks.

  Ryan opened his eyes and tilted his head up to look at Aurora. “Baby,” he said.

  “I really don’t like being called Baby,” She said. She heard him call Sara Baby all the time, and she had never actually liked that pet name.

  “No,” he said. “Baby. You are going to have a baby.”

  “What are you saying?” She was confused and starting to get upset.

  “I’m saying you’re pregnant. I can hear the baby’s heart beat,” he was smiling his signature sparkling Ryan smile, and she wanted to slap it from his face.

  “This isn’t funny.”

  “I’m not joking.”

  “It’s not possible.”

  “But it’s happened anyway.”

  “Shut up and let me think!” Aurora looked down at Ryan’s smiling face and swooned.

  He caught her and pulled her into his lap to keep her from hitting the floor. He held her tight and stroked her hair. He looked at Sara for help, but she was only staring at them in shock.

  “Aurora, wake up! Sara, help me!” he was trying to stand with Aurora limp in his arms.

  Sara snapped out of her stupor and rushed to help him. He got his arm under her legs and carried her to the pile of blankets and sleeping bags they were using for a bed. He laid her down and saw that she was stirring.

  “She’s really pregnant?” Sara was astonished. “You realize that she is not technically alive and that she shouldn’t be able to get pregnant. No Vampire has ever had a baby. It’s not even possible.”

  I don’t know what to tell you. She is pregnant. I can hear the baby.

  “He’s right,” Aurora said propping herself up on her elbows. “Now that he said it, I can listen and hear it for myself. What is happening to us?”

  Ryan couldn’t help it, his smile was back. He laid a hand on Aurora’s abdomen and said, “I think it’s a miracle.”

  ∞∞∞

  Eight weeks had passed since Alex left the trio at the cabin. The clouds and rain dampened their moods as much as the ground outside. The rain was starting to turn to snow sometimes at night, and they often stayed in all day sitting around the fire. Only Ryan ventured out much, mostly to hunt. He procrastinated returning to the settlement. He didn’t want to face Lily; he just couldn’t think about that right now. He knew he should tell Elvis and the L.T. about Aurora’s pregnancy, but he didn’t want to leave the pregnant Vampire. Aurora and Sara had become the center of his world and he liked the sense of family they shared. That didn’t keep them from going a little stir crazy, and their activities to keep themselves entertained were getting exceptionally creative. Foot rubs and hair styling were big with Sara and Aurora. Ryan always seemed to end up on the foot end of things as the women brushed and braided each other’s hair.

  Aurora told stories of ages past. It was amazing what she remembered.

  “Tell us how you and Alex met,” Sara once requested.

  Aurora looked uncomfortably down at her hands resting in her lap. “I don’t want to talk about that,” she said. Sara never asked about it again.

  Aurora’s abdomen was still flat and smooth. They figured that she was still less than three months along since the only explanation could be that something was altered in her after the Solar Storm. Aurora knew that she had conceived on the night of the Solar Storm because that was the last time she made love to Alex. Since then, they had been sleeping in groups and had little time to themselves. They had been more intimate with Sara than each other. She knew that it was because they had to feed on Sara, and the intimacy was so often tied to the act of feeding, but she was missing Alex badly, no matter how much she loved being with Sara. Aurora desperately wanted to discuss the baby situation with Alex. She didn’t let on to the others that she was actually kind of scared about the whole thing.

  Ryan worried about Aurora and the baby, and he was constantly shifting so he could listen to the baby’s heart beat.

  “Stop doing that!” Aurora said one day as he sat quietly listening a few feet away. “My senses are going crazy, and
every time you do that, you smell like a wolf den.”

  “Sorry,” he said sheepishly, but he continued to listen for the baby when she slept or when he was further away from her but still close enough to hear.

  Aurora knew that he was doing this, but he was so genuinely concerned that she couldn’t bring herself to scold him again.

  So, while Alex was meeting with Vampires in Syracuse, Ryan was massaging Aurora’s feet and gazing thoughtfully into the fire. Her soft voice was mesmerizing, but he wasn’t listening to her story, just the gentle murmur of her tone. He was busy thinking.

  He suddenly interrupted with, “I think you should see a midwife, someone to make sure you and the baby are okay and tell you the things you should be doing or not doing.”

  “What is a midwife going to do, advise me on a proper diet?” she snorted. “You know I can only feed on human blood. Even your blood would do nothing for me.”

  “Still, I think it would be beneficial to have the opinion of someone with experience,” he said almost pleading. “The three of us know exactly squat about having babies.”

  “Besides, where are you going to find a midwife out here in the sticks?”

  He blushed, thinking about Lily. “I know where to find one, but it means I have to leave for a couple of days.”

  “Fine,” Aurora said. “If it will get you out of the cabin for a couple of days and keep you from listening to my belly grow every five minutes, I’m all for it.” She immediately regretted being harsh with him. He was only concerned for her and the baby.

  Sara understood. She smiled at Ryan and laid her hand gently on his arm in a gesture of thanks and approval.

  He left the next day for the Were settlement. He dreaded facing Lily, but he couldn’t stay away forever, and he had already missed her last moon cycle. He wanted to travel light and fast this time. He was more uncomfortable than ever about leaving Sara and Aurora alone. He took an empty pack to bring back a few things like soap and maybe some fruit or veggies for Sara. He stripped naked and put his clothes in the pack. Out in front of the cabin, in the cold rain, he shifted.