Haulcon's Revenge (19 page)

Haulcon smiled. “I must go and speak with Ziplan’s family then my own before I find my rest.”

“
I understand. When will you bring this Adair to our territory? I can only surmise that it must be torture for you to be away from her and your heir.”

Friedol had no clue. It was especially hard since he and Adair had left things with such tension. “Extremely. In a day or so. I want to ensure there isn’t any fall out of us reclaiming one of our fallen before I bring her.”

“
Okay.”

Moving away from his second in command, Haulcon went directly to Rishta and Mucor, Ziplan’s parents.

~YH~

Adair knew he was there. Even though it was dark in her house and she couldn’t see a thing, she could feel him. Her unborn child also declared the presence of his father by moving within. Over the last week since she’d last seen Haulcon, things in her body had started to change rapidly. She’d seen many pregnant women before and she was pretty sure that they did not grow as fast as she was.

“
So, you decided to come back.”

“
It had never been in my mind not to return for you, Adair.” His rich timbre was barely above a whisper, but she could hear him.

More in her mind than actual words.

“
Hm, you could have fooled me.” She continued lying on her side, not moving since she realized he was there. “I don’t know how things work in your world, Haulcon, but here if a woman doesn’t hear from a man in a week, she pretty much can be sure it is over.” She allowed the anger she felt at him to drip sarcastically from her words.

“
You’re my mate. We will never be over,” he growled.

“
Don’t try and go all valf Alpha machismo on me. I don’t have the patience for your shit!” She pointed a finger toward the area she had heard his voice.

“
Forgive me.”

She found him beside her on the bed, curled along her back.

“
No.” She shoved her elbow hard behind her, aiming for his gut.

It made contact but he didn’t even grunt.

Damn superhuman toughness.

“
Would you prefer I be human?” He fingered her hair back away from the side of her face and pressed his lips to her ear. “Is that what you want, sweet?”

“
What I want is for you not to act like an ass and decide you have the right to have a big man pity party. Instead of leaving m-e.” Her voice broke. She should have realized how close she was to crying. Her emotions had been raw and on the edge all week. But she’d fought against them, kept them restrained. However now that Haulcon was here they seemed to have pushed past the wall she had built.

“
Please, do not cry.” He dragged her into his arms. “I have no experience with how to handle a weeping female.”

Here the sincerity of his words just made her cry even more. “Well, you are going to get a lot of experience with them because this baby has my emotions all over the place.”

Cradling her, he asked, “Are you unwell?” He ran his hands over her body as if searching for something.

“
No. I’m fine. I think. It’s just everything is happening so fast.”

Finding the swell of her stomach he cupped her there.

She felt the warmth of his touch. In some way it seemed to calm both her and the child. The baby shifted inside of her as if attempting to curl against his father’s palm.

“
I can sense my child growing strong within you.” He flexed his fingers, grazing them along her nightgown-covered skin.

“
You mean taking over my body. Just today I had three steaks in one sitting. I thought I was going to be sick.”

“
Beautiful, I’m sorry.” He kissed her neck. “You need my serum.”

“
Wish you would have recalled that fact while you were away.” She still had not forgiven him.

“
I never stopped thinking about you. I just needed to ensure my people were safe. Secure. There is still a threat to us. Now that people know what we look like, the mountains have been crawling with reporters and hikers and all manner of humans. Those wanting to do us harm and those just curious.”

“
I’m sorry, Haulcon.” She turned, facing him. “I know how private you want to keep your way of life. I can understand and respect that. Sadly, not all humans feel the same.”

“
This I know.” He sighed. “Thankfully because of our distance from the city they have not even come close to truly locating us. However, we all must be cautious. Somehow with the fact that others have come up missing, someone has discovered a way to find us. Probably while we are out hunting.” He shook his head.

The stress in his voice was clearly evident.

“
I feel what you are going through.” She placed a hand over his heart. “However, don’t leave me again, Haulcon.”

The room was silent.

“
Your pain is heavy.” He covered her hand with his. “Talk to me.”

She didn’t know if she could open up to him about what she’d been through in her life and keep her sanity. She’d learned not to deal with it. To keep it buried inside and pretend that all the hurt and ache wasn’t there. As a photographer she was a loner, by design and by necessity. She couldn’t risk needing anyone and then this giant of a male comes into her life.

“
Before you, I had a way of life that worked fine for me.” She moved her hand from under his and moved away. Space was what she needed.

“
In what way did it work?” He didn’t try to touch her, but allowed her the small distance.

Gratefully she continued, “My mother died shortly after I was born. I never knew her.”

“
I’m sorry for your loss. What happened to her?”

“
A human disease called cancer took her from me and my dad. She refused to get treatment while she carried me. It got worst as I grew. By the time I was born it had more than ravaged her body. I was told she lived another three months after I was born.”

Adair felt hollow inside, it always confounded her that she missed her mother so greatly. Someone she’d never known.

“
Not having her around must have been hard for you.”

She stared off into the darkness. “More so because her death took my father from me at the same time.”

“
He died too?”

“
In a way he did.” She pulled her knees up as close to her chest as her protruding stomach would allow. “Something inside of my father died, shut down when he lost my mother. He became so focused on finding something that would have cured my mother’s cancer, made a difference, that he forgot I was alive. That he had a child.”

“
Don’t cry. Please.” His own voice cracked.

Until he said that, she didn’t even realize that tears were not only running unchecked down her face, but she was also shaking with the emotions wracking her body.

In an instant she found herself engulfed in the strength of Haulcon’s arms and his cinnamon woodsy scent. It felt and smelled like home to her. Her heart ached at how much she’d missed him.

She gripped the material of his coat. “You can’t leave me too, Haulcon. I can’t take another loss. My mom, my dad, my grandparents. I didn’t watch the news in the days you were gone. I was so afraid you—you—” Her voice broke. She didn’t want to even say the words.

I am here, sweet Adair. I won’t ever leave you alone again.

Holding him tighter, she drew from his strength something she’d never allowed herself to do before—need someone else.

“
Let me feed my heir and then we need to go. My people have been anxious to meet the human female that can carry a valf child.”

His words lightened her heart, even though she was apprehensive about meeting his clan. With him by her side she could handle anything.

Tilting her head to the side, she angled herself to give him access to her neck.

“
I much prefer burying my fangs in the vessel at the bend of your hip.” He slid the tip of his tongue along the skin of her throat.

She shivered at the rich, seductive texture of his voice. It brought with it images of the last time they were together in her bed.

“
Don’t even think about it, valf man, you’re still not completely out of the dog house yet with me.”

“
Dog house? Is that a reference to me having wolf shifting ability?”

“
No.” She laughed, not even realizing the correlation. “It’s just a human saying meaning you are in trouble.”

“
Oh.”

“
Can you get to providing sustenance to your son before I go get a triple cheeseburger?”

Chuckling, his laughter vibrated against the column of her neck. “You got it.”

He sank his teeth into her artery. She first felt the intense draw as he pulled blood from her then the warmth that spread through her body as his serum saturated her veins.

She no longer feared his feeding from her, but reveled in the bond they shared.

When he finished, he licked the wounds helping them to heal rapidly. Something she recalled he hadn’t done to the marks on her left breast. It had taken almost the whole week for them to go away. Every time she undressed they were there to remind her of what they’d had together, making the desolation she experienced while he was away even grander.

He turned on the lamp beside her bed. Cupping her cheeks he stared deeply into her eyes, his pale green gaze tinged with the blackness of desire. “Never again. I promise.”

“
Thank you.” She caressed his features—strong, prominent angles. She had missed seeing him immensely. Everything about him was so different from hers and she loved it.

“
Are you ready to go?”

Smiling, she allowed her voice to drop seductively. “Are you ready to take me?”

He growled and pulled her into his chest. “Keep it up and we will not be leaving for days.”

Sliding off him, she stood on the side of the bed. “No way. I’m going to meet your people today.”

“
All right.” His gaze traveled along her body.

The oversize gown wore ballooned around her body.

“
Take off your sleepwear.”

She stepped back. “Why? I told you there will be no hanky-panky before we go.”

“
Hanky what?” He waved a hand disregarding the word play. “Never mind. I just want to see how my son has blossomed your body.”

“
Oh.” She felt heat rise to her face, but she didn’t hesitate. Haulcon said he enjoyed how she looked and she was going to take him at his word.

“
Clothes?”

Seeing the big valf Alpha tap his foot almost made her laugh. Grabbing the hem she swiped it over her head and stood nude before him. There was only a slight tremble in her lips as she let him look his fill.

“
You were lovely before, but now you’re even more breathtaking.” He reached out and brushed his fingers over her belly—his touch ginger.

Staring down at his pale hand contrasting her dark stomach she said, “Even though I’m only technically a month along, I’m the size of a five month pregnant woman.”

“
I told you that our females only carry for five months.”

“
Do you think I’ll do the same?” She glanced up at him.

“
I don’t know. When we get to the mansion I will introduce you to the medical man, Hessel. He will be able to observe your pregnancy and help us all answer some questions.”

“
Good, because I have about a half million questions.” She went to her dresser and pulled out some sweatpants and a big t-shirt. They were the only thing she could fit into. After putting on socks and hiking boots, not caring how crazy she looked, she said, “Let’s go.”