Falling in Love with the King of Beasts

LET'S CELEBRATE! IT'S MY BIG DAY: A WHOLE NEW BOOK, A WHOLE NEW WORLD, A WHOLE NEW HERO! Check out the excerpt at the end of this chapter (added after the chapter was published so you aren't charged for the words). I hope you love Zev as much as I do!

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RETH

Aymora forced Reth to let Elia go long enough that she could check Elia quickly, while Jayah examined her stomach and listened to the baby's heart after the shift. 

Elia watched them both with wide, sad eyes. She shivered, though it wasn't cold in the room, and Reth worried that she was going to shift again.

"Give her the tonic so she can stay," he said, catching Aymora's elbow when she started to back off the sleeping platform. 

Aymora's forehead pressed into lines as she looked down at Elia, who had immediately buried her face in Reth's neck and clung to him.

He held her there, stroking her arm, but glaring at Aymora. "Do it.. I need to talk to my mate, and she needs to be with me."

Aymora looked at Jayah who shrugged. Then she sighed. "I will give her enough for the next few hours," she said reluctantly. "But we need to have a serious conversation before she takes any more. If the contractions start again…" she trailed off.

Reth just nodded, then coaxed Elia to sit up while Aymora spooned some of the tonic from the green bottle into her mouth. She winced at the taste, but swallowed it, then blinked and smiled at Aymora. 

"It's you! You're here too!"

Aymora half-frowned. "Yes, sweetheart, of course. I'm going to care for you—with Jayah's help. Elia… are you okay?"

Elia's brows pinched together and she looked back and forth between Aymora and Reth. "I feel so tired. I just… I feel so tired."

Reth pulled her in and held her close, waving Aymora off when she looked like she might lean in for more examination. "Let her rest. We'll find out more tomorrow when she's been able to sleep and eat and just rest," he said gruffly. 

Aymora backed off the sleeping platform, but her eyes didn't leave Elia, and Reth didn't like the uneasiness on her face. His mate was fine. She'd just been stuck in her beast, gone into early labor, and now she was exhausted. She had reached her limit. That was all. 

He was about to tell Aymora so, when there was a knock at the door and they all startled. They'd been so consumed with Elia, they hadn't noticed the footsteps coming up the tunnel, or Gahrye peering into the room.

"Are you… is she okay?" he asked carefully.

Elia gasped. "Gahrye!?" she sat bolt upright, pulling out of Reth's arms and started trying to drag herself off the bed to go to him. Reth was stunned.

And furious.

Elia struggled to get herself off the sleeping platform, Aymora ended up helping her, with cautious looks over her shoulder at Reth. But Elia tottered over to Gahrye and gripped his arms as Reth struggled to swallow back a growl.

"Thank you…" she wept. "Thank you for getting me back here."

Gahrye eyed Reth warily and didn't pull Elia into a hug. "It's fine. I'm sorry it was so hard. Are you okay?"

"No! And yes! I mean… I'm so tired and… nothing seems real. Does this seem real to you?"

Gahrye glanced at Reth again and his throat bobbed. "Uh, yes. But I know what you mean. It's surreal. Hard to believe."

She nodded quickly. "And… and we need to talk. And I need to talk to Reth!" she gasped, turning then to face him again and Reth did his best not to scowl as she scrambled back to him, her face crumpling. "I can't believe you're here. I can't—"

He took her face in his hands and all his anger melted away at the confusion and fear in her. "Elia, listen. I didn't come to you, you came to me. You're here. You're in Anima. Do you understand?"

"I do. I do," she said, nodding, her eyes silvered with tears. "It's just… it feels like a dream. You remember, right? The dream."

He nodded too and pulled her into his chest, stroking her hair and kissing her temple. "No more dreams, Love. We're here now. You don't have to worry. I'm here. Aymora's here. Behryn… we're all going to make sure you and Elreth are safe.

Then Elia sucked in a looked down at her belly, stretched out between them and put her arms around it, like every mother throughout time, as if to hold Elreth closer. 

"Is she… is she okay? I was in the Beast for so long."

"She's fine so far," Aymora said briskly. "You shouldn't worry, Elia. You should focus on resting and gaining some weight, and getting your strength back." 

"But I couldn't get back. I kept getting stuck inside it." She looked up at Reth the way a child would look at their father and she shuddered.

Reth swallowed and held her, uncertain what to say. His heart was sinking to his toes. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong with his mate. She was acting like a child. 

"Elia?" he murmured quietly.

She pulled her head up to meet his eyes. "Yes?"

"I think you should rest. I think we should both rest. And we can talk about all of this in the morning. Okay?"

"Okay."

Without letting her go, Reth looked at the others. "Leave us. Please. She needs a break. And so do I. You can stay in the cave—all of you, if you want," he said, pushing away the Alpha within him that wanted Gahrye as far from his mate as possible. "But please, leave us alone."

"Reth, we need to keep checking her every couple of hours to make sure the contractions aren't returning."

He nodded. "Then you knock first and you don't come in until one of us tells you to."

Aymora nodded, and Jayah submitted. 

Gahrye had dropped his head and was already turning for the door. Reth forced himself to call him back. "Gahrye… she's right. Thank you. I know you got her here. And it wasn't easy. Thank you. We'll talk tomorrow. I promise."

Gahrye nodded, then hurried out of the door head of Aymora and Jayah. Reth asked Aymora to blow out the lanterns on her way, and she did, pausing before the last one to give him a weak smile. 

"I know it's scary, Reth," she said. "But she's strong. She'll get through this. You both will."

He nodded, then closed his eyes in relief when the door finally closed and they were alone.

*****

NEW BOOK OUT NOW! My entirely new character and world is now live! Add "Rise of the Dark Alpha" to your library now:

Zev prowled towards her, all shining, brutal beauty, his chin low and those incredible, piercing eyes fixed on her. He didn't stop until they were toe-to-toe and he blocked her view of every other male in the circle. 

His eyes dipped to her mouth as he leaned in, his whisper playing on her skin. 

"You. Are. Mine." 

His deep voice twanged in her belly as the howls of the wolf pack rose from behind him to echo across the mountains of Thana, while the other Chimera protested his claim. 

Fighting the urge to stroke his broad, bare chest with her shaking hands, Sasha forced herself to tilt her head and raise an eyebrow. "So bold for a pup who just found his fangs."

The other males hooted with laughter.

Ignoring their taunts, Zev's eyes sparked and he leaned even closer, the scruff on his jaw tickling her cheek as he smiled. "So bold for a human who already knows the pleasure of gasping my name."

She shivered when his teeth grazed her ear. 

(SEE THE FULL SUMMARY IN THE AUTHOR NOTE BELOW)