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CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

STONE

“What does this mean?” Zuri asked with her brow furrowed. She moved closer to me and gently caressed the stubble on my face, her gaze flickering up to Shivani and Ifa. “I … does this mean that he …”

“Can live for as long as you do?” Shivani asked. “Possibly.”

Ifa snickered. “As long as he doesn’t anger the Dark One.”

With her lips quivering, Zuri threw her arms around my shoulders and tackled me back onto the bed, sobbing into the crook of my neck. “Oh my Goddess. I can’t believe this. I don’t think I would have been able to go on without you. Ever.”

“We’ll give you two some privacy,” Shivani said, tugging her unwilling sister out of the room.

Ifa dug her heels into the ground, wiggling her eyebrows at us and mouthing the words, Make more babies.

Once they disappeared and shut the door behind them, I curled my arms around Zuri’s body and pulled her closer to me. “I already told you that I wouldn’t ever leave you, mate . You’re all mine. No matter what happens to my body or my soul, I’ll be with you.”

“You don’t understand,” she whispered, straddling my lap. “I need you. I can’t do this …”

Before she could finish her sentence, she pressed her lips together and stared at me through teary eyes.

I tucked some strands of hair behind her ear and smiled softly at her. “You can’t do what without me? You stand strong by yourself.”

“I can’t raise a pup without you,” she said.

“A pup?” A low chuckle escaped my mouth. “Are you pregnant?”

And while it seemed so far-fetched because we had only really started trying a couple of days ago, I faintly remembered my hand against Zuri’s belly right before I snapped out of the trance. I’d thought that Derrit was making it all up.

But …

I sat up taller and grasped her hips in my hand. “Are you really pregnant?”

A small smile crossed her lips. “Maybe.”

All the anguish that Derrit had put me through for those few hours, all the heartbreak … it all seemed to vanish instantly as that single word left Zuri’s mouth. I placed my hand on her belly and felt the faintest of heartbeats.

“We’re having a pup,” I whispered to myself.

After I had left Derrit and my father, I’d never thought that I’d find someone who loved me enough to give me a pup. I thought I would have to force my mate to even want to be with me. And while Zuri had come with a fight, it was a fight that I’d take any day.

Because we were having a pup. A pup!

Warmth exploded through my chest, and I pulled her into a tight hug. “Mine.”

She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and settled herself on my lap comfortably. “After Shivani and Ifa told me that I’d live for thousands of years, I feared that I wouldn’t be able to do anything without you. But … we get to raise a pup together. A freaking pup!”

“I promise to be there with you through everything,” I murmured against her mark.

I held her, and I held her, and I held her until she finally pulled away.

“We might have a pup, but we have problems we must resolve before that. Like … what’re we going to do about Durnbone?” she asked.

“We’ll help rebuild the parts that Derrit destroyed.” I pulled her closer to me and rested my forehead on hers, unable to contain my excitement. “Because, together, we are now unstoppable, Zuri.”

“Unstoppable,” she repeated. “I like the sound of that.”

“You’d better because you’re not getting rid of me. You have to deal with my crazy ass for the rest of eternity. We’re bound together by the heavens, by the goddesses. You are mine, and I am forever yours.”

She smiled. “Does that mean … I’m going to have to bathe in the ashes of our enemies?”

“Oh, for sure, mate .” I chuckled. “We’ll bathe in them together.”

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