by Celia Kyle
Lissa focused on the guard and gave him a small smile. “I would appreciate that, thank you.”
She ignored Galen’s answering growl and instead was intent on carefully rising from her chair and then making her way down the length of the room. She managed to keep her hands to herself until they exited the large space and entered the hallway. There, she reached out for Stavros, wrapping her fingers around his forearm and using him for support as she made her way to her assigned guestroom. No longer was she housed in the Alpha’s suite, which was fine for her. She didn’t want to be near him, didn’t want to fall in love with him again… Again? She’d never stopped.
She’d never stopped loving him and in the end… it would kill her.
Chapter Four
The cool ocean air ruffled Lissa’s hair and she grasped a few errant strands to tuck them behind her ear. She’d taken refuge on the back veranda, Galen and the pack still relaxing inside. The house was filled with wolves on both two feet and four and as a full human, she felt decidedly out of place. The baby stretched and pressed against her stomach, snaring her attention. She placed her palm over a small bulge he caused. She wasn’t sure if it was a foot or hand. It was simply her child.
“I’m here for you, sweet pup,” she whispered, thankful for the bursts of wind that would wash away her words. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
At least not while I’m alive.
She wasn’t sure why she tried to hide her thoughts from the child since he sensed them anyway and squirmed inside her. “Shhh… Give me a break, sweetheart.”
The scuffle of feet on the flagstone announced someone’s approach. No, not someone—Galen. It was in the way the pup reacted, the way the baby’s emotions overrode Lissa’s and a timid excitement filled her child. She used to feel the same way when she had Galen in her life. Always on edge, always anxious to be with him, loving every moment they spent together. But that was then.
His warmth bathed her back, his body temperature higher than a normal human’s and the heat enveloped her in a soothing embrace. She remembered this about him, remembered that his nearness easily banished any chill in the air. Even the pup seemed at ease with the new heat and calmed in an instant.
“It is cold out, agapi mou. Stavros should not have allowed you to venture from the house.” Censure was in Galen’s voice and Lissa was quick to defend the other wolf.
“It’s not as if he could stop me, Galen. He could earn your displeasure by following me outside or his death by touching me. You can’t blame the guy for choosing life.” She thought she heard Stavros snort, but it quickly transformed into a cough.
“No, apparently I cannot,” he drawled and then broke into Greek to issue a quick order and that was followed by Stavros’ retreat. “He is gone, but that does not change the fact that you should not be out here.”
Lissa shrugged. “I shouldn’t be here at all.”
She’d become used to reading people, sensing emotions that lingered in the air even if she could not scent them like a wolf, and she knew she’d enraged him. “And where should the mother of my child and my child be? On the other side of the ocean? Without my protection?”
This time she snorted and rubbed the now smooth skin on her arms. “Your protection leaves much to be desired.”
“You should be thankful Andrea—”
She spun to face him and immediately regretted the decision. She was struck anew by his overwhelming looks, his presence, and the dominance that surrounded him like an ever-present cloak. He wasn’t just tall, dark and handsome. He was so much more. He had an animalistic quality that called to something primal within her, that urged her to jump into his arms and disregard their past and embrace the present.
Dangerous.
“Do me a favor. I realize that in your mind I have no right to ask for anything, but as the mother of your child, I do not want to hear her name pass your lips when we are alone.” She wasn’t sure what drove her to make the request, but she hoped he granted her that small concession.
A smile teased his lips. “Jealous, agapi mou?”
“Hardly.” Scared… Furious… Consumed by hatred…
“And what do I get if I agree to this?”
She raised her eyebrows and adopted a hopeful expression. “My undying gratitude?”
He barked out a laugh. “Not quite enough, agapi mou.”
He traced her face with his gaze, eyes scanning her and not missing a single thing. He skimmed her dark brown hair, the line of her neck, her breasts, which were larger from her pregnancy, and finally the large bulge of her stomach. His face softened, the anger and stress she’d seen on his face since he’d found her now gone, pure love shined from his eyes.
A thought occurred to her and before she could swallow it, it burst from her lips. “How can you look at him inside me, love him so much, and yet hate me?”
He gasped and those eyes that had had been so filled with love were now consumed by anger. Always anger. “I would have to think of you as something more than the mother of my child for you to affect me in any way.” His words were harsh and sharp. “You carry my heir. That is all.”
Her son’s response was instantaneous and it forced her to grasp a nearby pole for support. He was a strong child, a strong werewolf, and his emotions were riotous inside her. But no matter what invaded their lives, a single emotion and response was ever present. Above all he wanted to protect her. Even from within her womb, he battled to keep her from harm and emotional battering.
The low growl vibrated through her, shaking her from inside out and seeming to flow from her pores in a tremulous wave of unending sound. It was soft yet constant, quiet and yet filled with a deadly threat. Her son, so fierce.
Galen stepped forward to grasp her when she’d slumped, but at the reverberating growl, he immediately raised his hands and took a step back. “What the hell is that?”
Lissa focused on soothing the child within her, noting the tenseness of the muscles surrounding her belly. “Your son.” She spared not another thought for Galen. “Hush, little one. You remember our visit to Dr. Sanna,” she murmured. “Getting upset like this can hurt mama.” From what the doctor indicated, a werewolf mother easily handled these types of outbursts, showing her dominance over the baby, but Lissa was human and thus had more difficulty. He was gradually slowing, the occasional snarl escaping, but the rumble remained. “Hush now.” A spear of pain rocked her right side, and she hissed with the piercing ache. “Come on, baby boy.” He wasn’t letting go. “What did your men bring from my apartment? Any of the prescriptions from my medicine cabinet?”
She hated to take a sedative, but after appearing in the emergency room for the third time from this same complaint, the doctor had given her something safe that would calm the baby.
“No.” He frowned and reached for her once again. “We brought a few changes of clothing anything else you needed could be purchased. What is that sound? Why are you growling? What is wrong with you? What is he doing to you?”
“Dammit.” She fought for calm. “It’s your son. He’s very protective. At least give me ten feet of space so I can calm him and keep us both out of the hospital.”
For now. At least until the baby felt threatened again.
Galen paled, his normally deep olive skin tone now ghostly white. “Hospital?” He muttered the word as he scrambled backward and then spun on his heel and disappeared into the house.
At least he gave her space.
With his retreat came the ability to breathe and her son immediately relaxed as if knowing that Galen no longer lingered. She released a relieved sigh and carefully waddled toward a nearby chair. With care, she lowered herself to the seat, and worked at steadying her heartbeat.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t alone for long. Raised voices burst from the house, growls and snarls interspersed with the rapid shots of Greek and the occasional English word. She did notice that the English words tended to be curses. Without preamble, Galen emerged from
the home, his attention scanning the shadows of the veranda, and then he spied her. He stomped toward her, furious intent on his features and the baby started all over again.
“Galen, haven’t you done enough? I know I won’t live a moment past his birth, but do you think you could let me survive long enough to bring him to term?”
He must have heard something in her tone, the spirit of her words and not just the syllables themselves, because he jerked to a sudden halt and stared at her. His confusion was real and unfeigned. Why was he confused? Because she knew his game? If anything, he should be happy. He wouldn’t have to pretend treating her as anything other than the prisoner she was. She didn’t need public dinners surrounded by people she didn’t know.
Galen turned his head and shouted but didn’t step any nearer. Within seconds, a man burst through the double doors and rushed onto the patio. His strides were long and sure, no hints of hesitation or doubt in his brisk movements. The bone structure, the nose and jaw combined with the hair and those eyes, told her she wasn’t just looking at another wolf, but a relative of Galen’s. The brother. She wondered where Dr. Martin went. Part of her urged her to get away from the man especially when she noted what he carried in his right hand. A black leather bag. One of those black leather bags. A staple for all doctors, it seemed.
Lissa shook her head, denying his approach, and grasped the arms of the chair. She trembled, not just from the fear of having a Liakos doctor’s hands on her, but also because her pup reacted to his presence as well.
He immediately slid to a stop, hand up, raised in a position of surrender. “Ms. Hill—Melissa—please, calm down.”
“I am calm.” He had the grace not to call her out on her lie.
“I can hear the pup from here and Galen tells me you are human. If you both can’t relax, I’m going to have to sedate you. This isn’t healthy for either of you. It could cost you both—”
“—our lives. Yes, I know. I’m trying, but—” she flicked her attention from the doctor to Galen and back again, which prompted the doctor to glance over his shoulder.
He refocused on her, but didn’t speak to her. “I need you to leave.”
“But—” Galen tried.
“No arguments. You don’t get to pull rank on this. For the health of my patient, I want the veranda cleared.” He didn’t look to see if his request was followed, but then again he was a wolf. He could simply hear everyone’s departure.
Yes, everyone left, but Galen lingered in the doorway. At least it gave her breathing room and she could concentrate on her son.
“Can I check you now?”
Already, her son calmed and she nodded. He approached slowly, steps measured and careful, and he gently sat his bag on the ground before dropping to his knees.
“I’m Dr. Perrin Liakos.”
“Galen’s brother,” she murmured.
He nodded. “His brother and also the highest ranking pack doctor.” He flicked open his bag and pulled out a stethoscope. “Mind if I take a listen?”
She shook her head. Why deny him? She wanted her son to be healthy and she needed to accept that for now, she had no control over her situation. She carefully reached for the bottom hem of her shirt to bare her belly to have a snarl freeze her in place. That was followed by one from the doctor and he quickly rose and spun toward the source of the sound.
Galen. Who else?
“You will not expose her to everyone,” he snarled at Perrin before turning to her. “You will not expose yourself.”
Perrin’s voice was calm but firm. “And you will not speak like that to my patient. If you want the mother and child to live, you will begin acting like it or I will admit her. I would take her from the city completely if I could manage it, but I will put her in the hospital without hesitation and with full justification if you do not stop behaving this way toward her.”
The two men faced off against one another, Perrin standing tall and strong beneath what had to be his Alpha, while Galen seemed just as resolved in his course. The violence was barely suppressed, hovering in the air, and she felt as if anything would set the battle into motion.
“Please.” Galen and Perrin remained in place and she wondered if they’d heard her, so she repeated herself. “Please.”
Galen released the breath he’d been holding and redirected his attention to her, his fear meeting her eyes for a brief moment before dropping to her stomach and then he was looking elsewhere once again. “I want to know what’s wrong with her. I want you to make her well.”
Make me well? How about let me go?
“I swear it.” Perrin immediately returned.
Galen gave a brisk nod and then spun on his heel and retreated. This time he didn’t stop at the doorway but continued deeper into the house and out of sight. No one was within view now, no yellowed eyes of wolves or the brighter hues of humans staring out at her.
Perrin was back, kneeling once again with his stethoscope in hand. “Let’s try this again.”
Let’s not. Instead of putting voice to her words, she merely lifted her shirt up over her belly, and edged the waistband of her pants down to expose the gently undulating mound. With Galen’s departure and Perrin’s calming presence, the baby was finally relaxing within her.
“Should I have another sonogram?” Worry gnawed at her. In the past, after each episode, Dr. Sanna had done a sonogram, but she wasn’t sure how Perrin handled things.
“Let’s just take a listen for now and I’ll have a small chat with your son.”
Chat?
Then her mental question was answered when Perrin began a low rhythmic song of growls and low rumbles that her son seemed to return in kind. Only a few seconds passed, the exchange seeming to continue, and then the doctor eased back with a smile on his face. “He sounds fine, heartbeat is strong and steady. Are you feeling any pain?”
Lissa took stock of her body, searching for any lingering stinging pain or throbbing aches and found none, so she shook her head and furrowed her brow. “No, and usually I’m sore…”
Perrin nodded. “Yes, that can happen when you’re not treated by your pack doctor. A hospital physician doesn’t have the connection to the baby like the child’s pack doctor would. I’m even further connected to him by our blood bond.” He tucked his stethoscope back into his back. “He understands that he hurt you and I’m sure he’ll try very hard not to do it again, but pups are sensitive to your emotions.”
He didn’t have to voice the next order since it was one she’d heard before. Stay calm. Easier said than done. “So he’s fine?”
“You should be worried about yourself, not him. But yes, he’s fine.”
She released a relieved sigh. “Good. That’s… Good. You—you can talk to him? He talked to you?”
He nodded again. “Yes, I have been trained, though ‘talk’ isn’t exactly the right description. He’s running on instincts now, but he understands a little better even though we can’t use words.”
“Wow.” She stroked her stomach, amazed at her little boy.
“Yes. I’m always amazed.” Perrin opened his mouth to say something and then snapped it closed before finally speaking again. “I know this is my brother’s child and I know the two of you have issues.” She snorted, but he continued. “But you both need to call a truce for the health of your child. I know more than the pack, but I’m sure there are many things that have been shared between only the two of you. For your sake, for the child’s sake, you two need to push it aside and simply make it through this pregnancy.” The doctor met her gaze. “You two can hash it out after you give birth, but for now, let the past lie and focus on today and tomorrow.”
Their conversation was now leaden and heavy with the shift and she tried for a light response. “Doctor’s orders?”
Rather than smile and chuckle, he simply nodded, a serious expression in place. “Yes. Rest and relaxation. The baby will benefit from having Galen around, so you both need to push your own personal feelings aside
and focus on what’s best for the child.”
Perrin rolled to his feet, now towering above her. He turned away from her, intent on returning to the house, but she had one last question. “Are you saying this because it really is best for my baby and me or because Galen is your brother and you have some misguided sense that we can somehow work things out?”
“You were good together. I’d never seen him so happy before. And then when you left…” He shook his head. “Both. The answer is both.”
Chapter Five
By unspoken agreement, Lissa and Galen followed Perrin’s directions to the letter. They had breakfast every morning, Galen murmuring a morning greeting to her before dropping to his knees at her side. The first time he’d done so had been awkward and stilted, but she’d given her permission and accepted his touch. Now it had become commonplace for him to press his ear to her stomach, hands on the roundness as he growled and “spoke” to their son. They still refrained from conversing more than necessary, but they weren’t together because they were in a relationship, it was for their son.
She simply had to remind her heart of that daily.
Such as when he took her for walks through the expansive gardens or when he paced at her side while they toured some of the small shops and prepared the nursery. Those were the most difficult times, when she would stare at an adorable blanket or an even cuter stuffed animal and know that while it might bring a smile to her child, she would never see it. Yet each time those thoughts stirred, her pup responded in kind which drew Galen’s attention.
Those thoughts encroached as she rested in a window seat, attention on the young werewolves frolicking in the yard. Some were toddlers, some teens, but their joy was unmistakable no matter the age.
What will you look like when you’re that age?