Then I see Sebastian walk by and sniff the air before he continues to his destination.
“Have you talked with them?” Toshi asks.
“Vlad,” I say breathlessly.
“Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but I think you might actually get your wish.”
I nuzzle into Toshi’s purring throat to get closer to the soothing sound.
“I’m not leaving,” he says. “You can sit here as long as you like.”
“Until Josie and Joel come back,” I say.
“You let us deal with them,” Vlad says.
“I’m with the Wolf,” Sebastian growls.
“Could you get them all to come over here?” I ask.
“You want to talk now?” Toshi asks.
“What’s th
ere to talk about?” Theo asks.
“That was a decent show you two put on,” Vlad says. “But I think I can do better.”
“Not a chance,” Sebastian says as he emerges from the hallway. “I’d win that challenge in a heartbeat.”
“What?” I ask breathlessly. “What’s going on?”
“I think what we’re all trying to say is, we’re yours, Clarissa,” Toshi says.
My eyes volley between each of the guys as they nod their heads. Well, Theo nods his head. Sebastian shrugs with a grin on his cheeks, and Vlad’s smiling with a look of devilish intent in his eyes.
One might say even wolfish.
“I love you all. So much,” I say as tears form in my eyes. “And I’m so glad you guys aren’t upset with me.”
They all approach me in a heartbeat and pass me around. Lap after lap. Touch after touch. Kiss after kiss placed upon my forehead. They each feel my stomach, rubbing and feeling the small child bouncing around in my body. But it isn’t until Sebastian touches my stomach that it happens again.
That small, barely-there voice.
“There you are.”
I look up into Sebastian's eyes as tears trail down my cheeks. Is that whose child I’m carrying? It would explain the telepathy. Sebastian gazes down at me with a tenderness in his eyes I can’t ever recall seeing, and his hand slowly strokes my naked stomach. Sending goosebumps cascading over my skin.
“We’re glad you’re not, either,” Sebastian rumbles.
I curl into him before I’m lifted into the air. I don’t know where he’s taking me until I feel my body fall to a comfortable, warm mattress. My body is covered with blankets, and I can feel lips falling to my forehead. Four pairs of distinct lips that all make my heart flutter the same way. My boys. My men . Loving me and standing by my side. Accepting the child growing in my womb.
I cradle it close as I curl up, readying myself for sleep.
I don’t know what comes next. I don’t know if we’ll go after Kyle or if he will escape and find us again. I don’t know if the village will let us stay, but part of me hopes they don’t. I want to go home. But I’m not sure I want to go back to my home. That was reserved for Kyle and me. The barn. The room. The back of the house. It doesn’t feel right to go back there without him. It feels like I’m clinging to a past that will never resurface.
In a way, that’s what I’ve been doing for a long time.
I worry about Kyle, but I also need to look toward the future. We killed off the original Primal Council. All that’s left are its blind followers. We came to do what we needed to do. Kyle was freed, but from the sounds of it he willingly went back to make sure Toshi was okay. And I have no reason to doubt Toshi’s words. His story. I can look into his eyes and see the truth in them. See how hurt it makes him feel that he didn’t have the strength to free Kyle once he was freed himself.