Page 24

Chapter 7

Back at his mansion,Josef slammed the door behind them and threw the deadbolt. "I thought you'd be grateful for my forgiveness. For not nullifying the contract for what you did. No matter. Everything is finally in order. Your end of the bargain is good and your family will get what's promised. And I will get everything that's been promised to me."

Earlier they'd gone to Healer Fielding's clinic, where she'd confirmed he was pregnant. "I don't know what happened," she'd told Bryan privately. "The second round of tests showed completely different results from the first. I must've made a mistake."

Bryan stood silently by the front door. The impossible had happened and he should've been happy about it. Lukas would be cared for. But after tasting freedom from being Josef's slave, Bryan wasn't able to accept he was once again a prisoner.

Josef poured himself a glass of brandy. "Just about bloody time, too." He took a deep swallow and poured out more. "Damn traitors. Calling themselves the New Adosh Empire. Ridiculous. They think they can take down the Xyletian Empire so easily?”

Bryan watched as the man paced around the living room before finally plonking himself onto the couch.

"Come," Josef snapped, jabbing his finger at his lap. "I’m calling Dan Whitetail over this evening to have a word about the situation in the capital, and I expect you to be ready."

"What situation?" Bryan asked.

"Nothing that can't be handled by the Empire," he grunted, swigging down another glass of brandy. "New Lykia may end up being the first defense against these bastards, and Dan says he wants to negotiate? We don't negotiate with traitors. It's completely ludicrous." When he realized that Bryan was still standing by the door he snapped his fingers again. "Comehere."

"No."

"No?" He laughed. "You don't have a choice."

"The contract states that I need to have your child. That's it. I owe you nothing else."

"You're my mate. You will do what a mate is required to do. Now come here and please your Alpha."

Without the bond, there was nothing compelling Bryan to do what he was told. "No," he said.

With great effort to heave his bloated body, Josef stood from the couch. "You will not tell me no!"

Josef went for him, trying to grab him, and Bryan evaded him and ran up to his bedroom and barred the door with a chair. Josef's thumped up the stairs after him and hammered on the door with his fist. "Where are you going to go? You can't deny me, Bryan. We're mates. We'reforever, understand?"

Bryan listened as Josef's footsteps thudded back downstairs. He sat on the edge of the bed and concentrated on controlling his breathing and the fear threatening to take control. He waited in anticipation for the man to come barreling back at any moment, for his door to come smashing off its hinges, but it didn't. He was left alone for now, but Josef's words rang in his mind. He couldn't get away from him forever. He'd once believed he had the strength to endure being Josef's toy if it meant the health of his family, but now he knew that just wasn't the case.

He was pregnant. He had a new life to protect.

Josef came back to pound on the door three times over the next several hours, attempting to persuade him with kind words and false promises. Each time Bryan expected him to break his way in. His last resort was an attempt to get to him using his hunger—it was dinnertime and Bryan was starving, but he held fast and paid him no reply, and Josef eventually gave up entirely. It wasn't until a few hours later when he heard Josef's snores vibrating the walls that Bryan felt he could leave the room, but even then, he decided not to. Instead, he opened the window and climbed down the trellis. He had no intention of staying in that house. He needed to be with his Alphas.

Bryan streaked towards the forest beneath the glow of the moon, his fur billowing in the wind. He entertained the idea of running away and leaving New Pixia forever, but that could never happen. He may not have been bonded to Josef but he was still bound to him, now more than ever.

* * *

When he reached the Uridimm village he was greeted by the sound of ghostly chanting, like the howl and barks of hundreds of wolves in perfect harmonization. He followed the sound through the forest until he reached the holy ground, and was surprised to find the area full of wolves. It seemed like the entire village had gathered there, lining the perimeter of the circular clearing with their noses raised to the sky, howling in unison. In the center of it, all the lifeless body of an old wolf lay on top of a large pyre. Gan, Nugai, and Munok stood in their human forms, each of them carrying a lit torch. They lowered them to the wooden pyre and set it ablaze, and soon the wolf's body was engulfed by a roar of flames.

Gan sensed Bryan's presence. He turned around and looked directly at him, acknowledging him with a nod before looking away. The ceremony went on until the pyre had burned down to embers, and the wolves slowly began to leave. They filed past Bryan, surprising him by bowing their heads respectfully in acknowledgement. They knew who he was, he realized. They knew that he was mated to the shamans.

"Sometimes, Uri deems it a man's time to leave this plane," Gan told Bryan as they walked back to the den. "He didn't survive the night."

"I'm sorry," Bryan said.

"There's no reason to be," Nugai said. "He was chosen to sit by Uri's side. The inevitable end for all of us."

"And now a new life has begun," said Munok. "Isn't that right?"

Munok's knowing smile made Bryan's heart skip a beat, and he unconsciously touched his hand to his belly. "How did you know?"

"We're shamans," Munok said. "It's our life to know these things."

They returned to the den, and Bryan couldn't help himself. He wrapped his arms around Gan and kissed him, and then took Nugai and Munok by the hands and traded kisses with them too, nuzzling his face into their necks and drawing in their scent. It'd only been a day since he'd seen them, but he'd missed them so much. They hadn't had sex in two days and he ached to feel their hands on his body again, and to have the pleasure carry him away from everything else.