Page 63 of The Wolf's Bullied Pregnant Mate
“Zephyr…” Her voice was thick with emotion. Her eyes darted between me and back down to her stomach. “I’m… I’m—”
She broke off, one hand covering her mouth as she held her stomach. I reached out, placing my hand over hers, wishing I could feel a heartbeat within, but it was far too soon.
“But…” she whispered, shaking her head. “But you’ll leave the Cove. You have a home, a life, to go back to.”
“I already said I’d stay.”
But Adalyn shook her head. “No. No, Zephyr. I can’t keep you here. I can’t keep you from your life.”
“And you won’t,” I said. “Alex is still here and on active duty, isn’t he? I can do both. But Adalyn, that life was grasped in the throes of anger and vengeance. It was a way to hone myself, to grow from an angry teenager into a calmer man who knows exactly who he is.” I met her gaze. “The sort of man you might see yourself building a future with.”
I took her hands in mine, pressing my lips to her knuckles. “I’m descended from the bloodline of the original shifter who came to Azure Cove. The shifter whose mate was a witch.”
I let the words linger and let her process the meaning in them.
“I think history is repeating itself, Adalyn, with us.”
Her eyes glistened, one tear falling, and I let go of her hand with one of my own to wipe it away carefully.
“We were always meant to reunite our bloodlines,” she whispered. A quiet laugh slipped free. “That’s what you told me in my dreams.”
“Maybe my dream self had some knowledge we didn’t know at the time.” I tried to make it a joking, light comment, but my voice was too cracked with emotion.
“Do you think it could be true?” I asked her. “That we might be here to reunite our bloodlines once again. To repair the rift between shifters and witches?”
“Through a baby?” she whispered.
“Through—” I almost saidlove. “Through this connection. Through… Through you being my mate.”
“Mate,” she echoed. Adalyn looked so lost, and I hated that I had caused it. I had said too much, but I still felt as though I hadn’t said enough, and I hadn’t even scratched the surface of what I wanted to tell her about my feelings.
“You don’t have to decide,” I said quickly. “But I know it in my heart. I know that’s what you are to me.”
She let out a sob, a laugh, a combination of the two. “Zephyr, you wanted me dead a few weeks ago.”
I mustered a smile as I held her. “We’re natural enemies,” I said. “Orwere. What if we were the reason our respective kin realized that we don’t need to be anymore? Witch and shifter feuds have gone on for too long. We’re all taught to hate the other side, but… What if we don’t have to anymore?” I held her face, kissing her softly. “We could make a new story for Azure Cove. A new beginning. A combined force against the demons. You’re brave and strong, Adalyn. I do not think you’re weak. Your abilities are invaluable, and my only hesitation in having you alongside me in battle is driven by my fear of you getting hurt.”
Adalyn gazed at me. Together, we lay down right on the edge of her shield. It shimmered in the air.
“Once, shifter and witch came together to form a new bloodline. A coven and a pack uniting.” We both knew the story. “You think that can happen again?”
“I think it has already started to,” I told her honestly. “Look at you and I. Look at how at ease you were during the summer with the rest of the shifters. Look atHarper. She’s not awitch, but she accepted her shifter mate. We could be powerful, Adalyn. I will stop at nothing to protect you, but I also don’t want to hold you back.
“Our truce centuries ago turned sour, but we can make it better. We can set an example.”
Her response didn’t come in the form of words but a kiss. A deep, bruising kiss that held every inch of heryesin it. She kneeled up on the floor, straddling my hips. Her mouth was insistent and hot on mine. Her tongue swept into my mouth, her hands finding my wrists and playfully pinning them above my head.
“If we do this,” she murmured, her lips sucking lightly on the underside of my jaw. We both did this. When emotions got too much, we turned to physical intimacy to speak for us. That was common practice, but itwas new. I didn’t try to take control from her. Not yet.
“If we do this, then you need to be okay with me taking over once in a while,” she purred. “I like my submission to you. Iwantit. But I also want you to know that I’m not someone who is happy to take the backseat constantly. Protect me, yes. Have my back, yes. But I want those things to come with your acceptance that we will be at each other’s side when we fight.”
Her teeth caught my lip, and bit it harshly. I groaned, nodding.
“We could be perfect,” she said softly. “You attack, me defending. Two sides of a coin.” Her nails scratched right down my chest, fondling at the waistband of my pants. “My wolf. My protector.”
The name sent a jolt of need through me, pleasure wringing through my body. I moaned when her hand slipped beyond the waistband, taking me in hand.
“Adalyn,” I groaned.
