Cherishing Destiny (A Dangerous Destiny)

by Blakely, Noelle

  Sara and Aurora stood in the doorway. They watched as the enormous, shaggy black wolf, grasped the strap of the pack in his massive jaws. He looked at them with his glowing eyes for a moment then turned and ran off into the trees.

  As a scout, Ryan often travelled like this. His long strides and steady gait, that was not too strenuous, ate up ground at a surprising pace. As he estimated, he was able to reach the settlement in less than a day. He stopped during the last half mile or so before reaching the pack and waited. He stood like that with the pack at his feet for no more than a couple of minutes before a hulking gray wolf approached him. He knew that he was recognized, but the wolf walked all the way to him and they sniffed at each other nearly muzzle to muzzle. Ryan recognized the wolf as one of the oldest of the young sentries. He thought he remembered that his name was Stephan.

  Stephan was about fifty or so, still young for a Were, but considered a mature adult in prime breeding age. Ryan realized that it was Stephan’s wife that had given him the bathtub on his last trip. Stephan rubbed his head against Ryan’s, sending him on his way. Ryan picked up the pack and continued in. He thought about stopping at the L.T.’s first and telling him about Aurora’s pregnancy, but instead he continued straight to Lily’s house.

  The green house was complete, and the muddy garden was no more. Lily herself was just emerging from the new structure. She stopped in her tracks at the sight of the shaggy black wolf in her yard. Ryan shifted, and Lily couldn’t help but let herself take in the full view of his nakedness. She blushed, and Ryan, who hadn’t given a thought to his nudity before shifting, turned his back and dug into the pack for his pants, pulling them on quickly. Lily appreciated the rear view as well and blushed even more. Ryan pulled a t-shirt over his head as he walked toward her. She pulled dirty gloves from her hands as she waited for him to reach her with no expression on her face except the remaining pink flush in her cheeks.

  Her eyes grew wide, and she started when he drew close to her. He has Stephan’s scent all over him! For a moment she feared that they had fought, superiority fights were not uncommon, but she realized the scent was steady and not filled with adrenaline or hormones. Just a greeting while in wolf form she realized. She relaxed a little. Stephan was never far from her thoughts. She loved him hopelessly, but knew that he would never belong to her. He was married and faithful to his wife, even though Lily caught him admiring her sometimes. Now, she was mated to this grinning man/boy in front of her. She was determined not to marry him though, even if he had been more pleasant to mate with than she expected him to be.

  “Ryan,” she said nodding at him.

  “Hi, Lily. How are you doing? I see you finished your greenhouse.” Ryan was nervous.

  “Yes. No more drowned plants in my kitchen.”

  Mention of her kitchen, embarrassed Ryan, and he hoped she wouldn’t make him repeat the impromptu mating session that occurred in there. He didn’t want to sleep with her, but he knew it was his duty and he would do it if she asked him to.

  “I have a favor to ask you,” he said.

  “I guess we better go inside then.” She turned and walked toward the back door to the kitchen.

  Oh, no, Ryan thought, but he followed her anyway. When they went inside, he saw that the kitchen seemed much cozier without muddy plants everywhere. She motioned for him to sit at the table and she put a tea kettle on the wood stove that was stoked to a steady blaze. Her modern appliances were sitting useless like the fossils of dinosaurs long gone. She pulled out another chair and sat. His stomach momentarily seized when he saw her bending over and grasping the back of that chair in his memory. He decided right then that this needed to be done quickly, so he got right to the point.

  “Lily, I was wondering if you would be willing to take a trip with me for a few days to examine a pregnant woman.”

  She didn’t say anything right away, and he fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair. Cautiously, she asked, “This is your baby?”

  “No, it’s not my baby. The woman isn’t even a Were.” Weres couldn’t cross breed with humans the seed just wouldn’t take. He doubted that it would be any different with a Vampire, not that anyone could guess what would or wouldn’t be normal for a Vampire pregnancy.

  “Is she close to delivering?”

  “No, I’m guessing she’s about three months.”

  “I’m not sure why I need to rush off for a few days to see this mystery, pregnant woman who isn’t even showing yet. Just make sure she eats right and stays active.”

  Ryan felt ill. He didn’t know how to talk to this woman who was supposed to be his mate. He had no trouble talking to any other women. In fact, he was pretty good at it. But Lily made him feel like an inept jackass. Lily saw his pale face and his obvious distress.

  “Does this woman have health concerns or are there complications?”

  “You could say that, for sure. She’s actually dead. Lily, I just have to say it; she’s a Vampire.”

  She didn’t answer right away. “Very funny. Vampires can’t get pregnant.”

  “Vampires didn’t use to be able to get pregnant, but the Solar Storm changed all that.”

  Lily was shaking her head. “The What?!”

  “The day everything changed, the Solar Storm.”

  “Oh.” She blinked a few times rapidly. “A pregnant Vampire?”

  “Yes.” Ryan looked at Lily anxiously. He saw a grin slowly spread across her face.

  “When can we leave?” she said.

  Ryan forgot to be nervous and flashed his sexy Ryan smile at her. “That depends on if you would like a horse.”

  When Ryan explained to her how he came, she thought running as a wolf through the woods sounded incredibly fun, and she packed a light bag with one set of clothes and her medical bag with just a few things in it.

  Ryan picked up some more soap and candles to carry back while she was packing, and when he got back to her place, she was standing naked on the back porch, covering herself with her hands. It took her a few minutes to change all the way to wolf form. She wasn’t nearly as practiced as Ryan, and it was harder when the moon wasn’t out or full. Ryan was patient, and when she was a thick furred brown, gray and white wolf, he shifted and showed her how to grip her bag in her teeth, and they set off. Lily didn’t ask to stop anywhere, she just left a note on the green house door for her new apprentice to take care of things for a few days.

  Lily stumbled twice hitting her bag with her legs. Ryan stopped and put her few things in the pack with his and carried it all himself. She protested as well as she could in wolf form, but stopped worrying about him when she struggled a little to keep up with him although he was carrying all of their things. Even without her bag, Lily had to stop to rest. She was not used to running for hours through the woods in wolf form, but she was enjoying it. She just needed to catch her breath and Ryan let her rest out of the rain in the fishing lodge he found on his last trip. It was dawn when they arrived at the cabin. This time Ryan let out a deep howl to let the women know it was him. The door flew open as he was shifting back to human. It took Lily a little longer, but as soon as she was human, Sara and Aurora swept her into a warm blanket and dragged her inside to the fire.

  “Don’t worry about me,” Ryan said as he carried the pack inside, naked and dripping.

  Lily was a respected healer in the pack, but she was always busy and didn’t honestly have any close female friendships, so she was a little overwhelmed by the attentions heaped on her by Sara and Aurora. They were drying her all over vigorously with soft towels. They had no regard for her personal space or private areas and her skin was soon pink and rosy all over from their efforts. Aurora wrapped her in a fresh blanket, and Sara was brushing out her hair to dry in front of the fire. Ryan was warming himself by the fire, and he didn’t escape the attentions of the two women either. They dried him, brought him fresh clothes and warmed his hands with theirs, chaffing them and blowing on them. Lily watched, fascinated. The three of them had no sens
e of personal space at all. They had no boundaries and were perfectly comfortable with touch and nudity. In a way, she was a little envious. She thought that maybe if things had started out differently between Ryan and her that it might be she, comfortably enjoying his hugs and smiles right now. Instead, she knew how unhappy he had been in her kitchen earlier and besides, she was in love with Stephan. She knew it would be a long time before she slept with Ryan again and she promised herself that next time she would at least make the effort to be civil to him.

  “Let’s see how you are doing,” Lily said to Aurora when they were dry and warm. It was Aurora’s turn to have Lily in her personal space. If it bothered her, she didn’t let it show.

  Sara sat next to Aurora and was holding her hand. Ryan hovered nearby. When Lily brought out the stethoscope and listened. Aurora caught Ryan preparing to shift so he could listen too.

  “Don’t you dare,” she said pointing her finger at him. He stopped but looked anxious.

  “The baby’s heartbeat is strong,” Lily pronounced.

  “I know.” Aurora nodded smiling. “I can hear her.”

  “Her?” Lily pulled her stethoscope off and looked at Aurora questioningly.

  “I’m sure of it,” Aurora answered. Then, she leaned in close. “I can hear yours too,” she said, tilting her head and listening. “Only there’s more than one.”

  Lily was speechless. She was aware that she was pregnant, and wolves often had twins and triplets, but she hadn’t said anything to anyone at all yet. Aurora caught an odd look on Ryan’s face before he turned away from them. But she smelled him shift and knew he was listening, with his wolf hearing, to the babies.

  Lily cleared her throat and brought the subject back to the Vampire. “Aurora, I don’t know what to tell you about how this could happen, but you are undeniably pregnant, and from what little I can tell, I would guess that your gestation should be about the same as a human or a Were, and you can look for your baby to be born in about six months.”

  “Thank you, Lily,” Aurora said. “Please, stay with us as long as you like before you have to go back.”

  Ryan brought a rabbit to roast on the spit over the fire that afternoon. Aurora had been watching Lily and Ryan all day, but they seemed to be strangers and didn’t speak much. She was sure of the look she had seen on Ryan’s face when she revealed Lily’s pregnancy. If it wasn’t for the awkward tension she could feel between them, she would doubt what she had seen. He obviously didn’t want to talk about it, so she let it drop and didn’t put anyone on the spot.

  That night Lily built herself a comfortable bed of sleeping bags near the fire. Ryan also slept apart, and Aurora was sure there was something odd between them after that. Since the day, they had discovered that she was pregnant, Ryan had taken to sleeping on the other side of Aurora, in Alex’s place so that he could sleep with his hand on her belly.

  In the morning, Lily announced that she needed to get back. She kissed and hugged both women and Alex packed their things to escort her back.

  “Would it be okay if we don’t travel the entire distance in one day?” she asked. “It was a little tiring for me.”

  He looked at her belly and almost reached out to lay a hand on it. “No problem,” he said drawing his hand back. “We can go as slow as you need to.”

  “Then, let’s go back to the Lodge and stay there for the night,” she said.

  Ryan said sure but knew he was going to want to scout the area around the Lodge thoroughly on his way back. He had been there too much lately and was afraid of scent trails.

  He lit a fire for Lily when they arrived in the afternoon. She stared at it for a long time saying nothing. “You and Sara seem very close,” she said casually. No one had explained the relationships.

  “She’s my sister,” he said. “Step-sister. We were always close.”

  “Right, I think Kate told me that you didn’t come to the pack until you were fifteen and changing.” She, herself, was pack raised and not close to her parents or siblings at all. “You seem pretty excited about Aurora’s baby.”

  “I couldn’t tell you why,” he said. “I really dig the idea of helping to raise a child. I think maybe the past few years of temporary living situations and solitary scouting has made me realize how much I miss being part of a family, not a pack, but a real family.” He looked at Lily in the firelight she was prettier than she seemed when he first met her. He leaned over her and shifted just enough to put his ear on her belly and listen to the babies heartbeats in her womb.

  Lily stiffened. “Wow, you people really have no boundaries.”

  Ryan sat up. “I’m sorry, but I just wanted to hear them. They are my babies, right? From that day, in your kitchen?”

  “Yes, I remember the kitchen. But, Ryan, don’t get attached to these babies. They will be pack raised. They don’t belong to us any more than anyone else’s babies.”

  “But, you will have them for a couple of years at least, right?”

  “I will nurse them and try not to get too attached to them, and after they are weaned, I will give them to the pack.” Lily said matter-of-factly. “I don’t think you should plan on seeing them other than incidentally, and you won’t need to try to impregnate me again until after they are weaned”

  “How romantic. I never thought about it like that,” he said.

  “I know it’s hard to understand when you weren’t pack raised, but it’s better this way. Trust me.”

  Ryan curled up with his back to Lily and slept. As he drifted off, he was more determined than ever to make sure Aurora’s baby was safe and loved.

  He took Lily home the following day and went to see the L.T. He had put it off long enough.

  They sat in front of the fire, but Ryan refused the offer of a drink this time. He rubbed his sweating palms together as he told the L.T. about Aurora’s pregnancy.

  “So, Lily thinks she has about six more months. Interesting. I think you should know that two days ago Tyler came in from a scout and said that he heard about four other pregnant Vamps. He didn’t see them, but the source was reliable.”

  “More Vampire babies?” Ryan asked.

  “That’s the story, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough. If what you and Lily say is true, your vamp is probably the first one.”

  “I better get back.”

  “You be careful out there, I also heard that the Vampires want to keep all these pregnant women together, and I’m not sure for whose safety they are concerned.”

  “Right. I will be back when Alex returns.” Ryan left, returning to the cabin, with a lot on his mind.

  The next day the snow started falling in earnest. Ryan decided to risk one more trip to the settlement to leave the horses at a stable for the winter. He was getting them bridled and ready to go, when a gigantic gray wolf bounded out of the trees, spooking the horses and making them scream. Ryan changed and was right in front of the other wolf when he caught sight of Sara and Aurora coming around the corner of the cabin with bows at the ready. He pounced on the gray wolf, covering him with his own enormous black body. The wolf under him became a naked squirming Stephan.

  “It’s me, Stephan! Get off me!” he shoved at the black fur.

  Ryan shifted back and rolled off the other man. “I know who it is. I just didn’t want my sister to shoot you,” he said with his enormous smile.

  Stephan looked over Ryan’s shoulder and saw two women pointing bows. “Oh, thanks then.” He said. Ryan laughed as he stood and pulled Stephan to his feet.

  When they were inside warming up, after their naked roll in the snow, Stephan said, “I tried to catch up to you yesterday, but the snow was coming down and you don’t leave much for a scent trail.” Ryan would have been beaming with pride if Stephan hadn’t sounded so serious. “Right after you left yesterday a scout from another pack came in with some news that concerns you. He said that a Were named McPherson sent a message to his pack telling them that he had dealings with Alexander Lake in Syracuse a
nd that Lake knew he was a wolf, didn’t tell the Vamp in charge, and wanted McPherson to keep an eye on the Vamp in charge. He asked to have him followed, see who he talks to and the like because Lake is leaving to go back for his wife.”

  Aurora’s breath caught in her throat when she heard that.

  Stephan didn’t even pause. So McPherson agrees to do a little spying and he finds the ViC, a guy named Gates, meeting with a Were-panther merc.”

  “Gates!” Aurora said at the same time Ryan said, “Mercs!”

  “Yes. Gates and mercs. Can I continue?”

  “Sorry,” they both said.

  “Anyway Gates meets the panther, a tracker they call the Chief, and then the panther starts following Lake around. McPherson puts another wolf on Gates --he never told Lake about the others. Good Lad.-- and he follows the panther following Lake. Lake leaves town and presumably is headed here. The Chief passes Lake after a couple of days and is also presumably headed here. Not sure if he knows exactly where here is, but it looks like he is trying to get here before Lake.”

  Ryan quickly calculated in his head. “So, we have a couple of days at the least,” he said.

  “At least,” Stephan echoed.

  “The snow is on our side. It will have covered our tracks and scent before morning much less two or three days from now. We need to move,” Ryan said.

  “The Alpha and the L.T. won’t like it if you bring a Vampire to the settlement. The location is supposed to stay secret.” Stephan shrugged apologetically at Aurora.

  “I know where to go,” Ryan said. “Let’s get everything together.”

  “How will Alex find us?” Sara worried.

  Ryan spun her around and steered her toward the supplies. “I will find him. Now pack.”

  Twenty-six

  Alex wasn’t making good time in the deep snow. He had to lead the horses, and he had to use the snowshoes to walk. He was about a half mile from the cabin when he heard an animal scream. He could hear some kind of commotion echoing through the trees, but he could not go any faster. He cursed and pushed on as quickly as possible and still it took him over thirty minutes to get to the cabin in the soft snow.