Page 167 of His Retribution

No, no, no.

This is not the end.

Havok's eyes flick to his brother, his best fucking friend, and it's almost as if he doesn't see him, not really, before they return to my face. He squeezes impossibly harder on my throat, my skin popping under his nails and I'm thrown back into a nightmare I've tried so hard to escape.

The only difference is this time, this time I know it can't end the same way.

"Havok!" Andrej barks, naked body poised for attack. "Havok, let the little one go!"

My mate whips his head toward him and growls, a growl that doesn't belong to my love, one that belongs solely to the darkness.

He lifts me off the ground, my toes the only thing touching, my body struggling to find purchase as my vision goes black and when Andrej takes one step forward I use all my strength to stop him.

"No!" I gasp. "N-not y-yet!"

Andrej stops immediately but doesn't ease up.

"H-Havok… l-lovey, please." I sob while trying desperately to take air into my lungs, fingers still scratching at his hand. "I… n-need you..." Those black eyes find mine again. "I… l-love you… H-Havok..." For a split second his grip loosens ever so slightly so I keep trying. "I l-love you. Please, p-please, my h-heart… I n-need you… we need you..." My feet touch the ground as he studies my face. "Yes… it's, it's me, lovey… and I-I need you… need you w-with me for always be-because you're g-going to be a father."

His eyes flash that ice blue and he abruptly lets go, drops me completely to my hands and knees before he roars and spins away. Havok doubles over in pain as I drag lungful after lungful of air into my body, Zan immediately falling to the ground next to me before he drags me into his lap. He cradles me to his chest as I fight for breath but my eyes stay glued to my mate.

He drops to his knees, clutches his stomach, his essence at war, the black fighting to consume the bits of white trying to break free. Havok's body contorts, twists and writhes in agony and I know that he can't fight this alone. His light won't be enough on its own.

So as soon as my breathing is a little less jerky, I lunge off of Zan's lap and crawl as fast as I can toward my mate, and put myself in front of him.

"Cora, no!" Zan yells, but I don't listen.

I don't listen, I don't care, not about anything except helping my heart find its way back to me.

"Havok," I gasp then grab his face. "Havok, my love, you fight." His eyes connect with mine, so much pain, so much anger flash against the black that is flickering between red and ice blue. "You fucking fight and you come back to me." I press my forehead to his as my body starts to glow. "You fucking fight this shit and you do it for you, do it for us." I grip his cheeks firm, and don't take my eyes off of his. "And you fucking do it for our babies because you are going to raise them with me. You helped me make them so you are damn well gonna help me raise them to be the most stubborn, most spirited, most beautiful little babies ever." My light grows, shines to the point of blinding and I plant a hand right over his heart. "I need you,weneed you. You hear me? We need you and we fucking love you more than you will ever know so you come back to me right fucking now!"

My light explodes into the space around us, explodes from my body into Havok's and we both shoot backwards, our physical connection severed as we each land with a thud.

Zan and Andrej immediately come to my aid, my eyes flutter open to see them hovering over me.

"I'm ok." Maybe. "I'm fine." I cough a few times as they help me sit up, my hands going right to my head that is now pounding.

"Cora?" Zan actually looks freaked out. "My gem, are you sure? Are you—"

I bolt forward when I see Havok laid out, his body sprawled like a goddamn starfish and totally unmoving. I scurry over to him, consequences be damned, and check for a pulse, trail my fingers over his cool skin until they rest on his cheeks.

"Havok? Lovey, please, please come back to me."

He shifts a little, groans in pain, and just when I'm ready for his hand on my throat again, his eyes flip open and latch onto my face.

"Cora?" Havok blinks, blinks those ice blue eyes that now have a thin rim of black on the outside of his irises, then go wide as he takes in the mess I must be. "Oh, my angel," he rasps as he immediately goes upright. "My angel, my light, what have I done to you?"

Tears of blood stream down his cheeks as he lifts his fingers to my throat, and traces the fresh but already healing marks.

"Oh gods, what have I done..."

Now crying tears of joy, I climb into his lap, press my forehead to his once again and smile. "You knocked me up, that's what you did."

Havok blinks about a million times and pulls back. "Angel?"

I nod and wipe away his tears. "You fought so hard, didn't let the darkness win and you came back to me." He searches my eyes, drops his gaze to my throat as a look of devastation and anguish crosses his beautiful face but I shake my head. "It wasn't you. You didn't do that. The darkness did, but you fought it and you won." I press a kiss to his lips and smile when he relaxes just a bit. "And you totally knocked me up."

Havok wraps his arms around me, and buries his face in my neck as I stroke his spine. "I am so sorry my angel, so fucking sorry. I..." He lifts his head and meets my eyes. "You are truly with child?"