Blood and Bone
816 Words
"Get down!"
Xavier’s voice wasn't a warning, it was a physical force. Before I could draw breath, his hand was in my hair, slamming me toward the floor.
CRACK.
The railing where my head had been a second ago disintegrated into a cloud of shrapnel, a high-caliber round. My ears rang with a high-pitched whine as Xavier tackled me, his massive body pinning me to the floor. I could feel his heart. It wasn't beating like a man’s. It was a frantic, heavy thrum, like a piston in an engine.
"Stay. Still," he hissed, the words vibrating through his chest and into mine.
Another shot hit the glass door behind us. Screams erupted from the ballroom as the elite realized their money couldn't buy safety. Xavier didn't wait for a third. He scooped me up and leaped over the edge. I squeezed my eyes shut, burying my face in the hollow of his neck.
We hit the pavement of the alleyway with a jolt that rattled my teeth. Xavier didn't stumble. He kept running, his feet hitting the asphalt with a heavy, rhythmic power.
"Put me down! Xavier, you're hurting me!" I cried out, but as I spoke, a sharp pain sliced through my lower abdomen.
I gasped, my body folding in on itself. The nausea was gone, replaced by a terrifying, heavy cramping. "Stop... please. Something is wrong."
He skidded to a halt behind a row of dumpsters, his chest heaving. He set me down gently, his hands trembling as he hovered over me. The gold in his eyes was fading, but the intensity remained.
"Where are you hit? Did a fragment catch you?" His hands were everywhere, checking my arms, my legs, his touch frantic.
"No," I wheezed, clutching my stomach. "It's... It's inside. It hurts."
Xavier froze. His nostrils flared, that deep, searching inhale returning. He leaned his head down, his ear pressing firmly against my belly. Silence stretched between us, broken only by the distant sirens and the rhythm of my own breathing.
Then, I felt his entire body go still. A low, broken sound escaped his lips, something between a sob and a howl.
"Six weeks," he whispered, his forehead dropping to rest against my stomach. "It's six weeks old."
"What?" I blinked, my vision blurring with tears. "Xavier, what are you talking about?"
"The heartbeat," he rasped, looking up at me with an expression of such raw, agonized wonder that it made my blood run cold. "I can hear it, Reina. It’s tiny, but it’s there. Fast. Strong. Like mine."
The world tilted. The sickness, the heavy breasts, the missed period I’d been too scared to track. It all crashed down on me in a single, devastating wave.
"No," I whispered, shaking my head. "No, that’s impossible. It was one night. We were careful... You said..."
"I lied," he said, his hand sliding over my belly, his palm so hot it felt like it was healing the pain. "I knew the moment I saw you at the bar. I knew you were mine. And a wolf doesn't use protection with his mate."
"A wolf?" I backed away, my heart climbing into my throat as the sheer horror of his confession sank in. He had trapped me. He had decided my future before I even knew his last name. "Xavier, you're scaring me. What are you talking about?"
"Look at my shadow, Reina." He stepped into the light of a flickering streetlamp.
I looked. On the brick wall, his shadow wasn't a man. It was huge, hunched, with pointed ears and a snout that belonged in a nightmare. My blood turned to ice. I wasn't just carrying a billionaire’s baby. I was carrying a monster’s.
I opened my mouth to scream, but the alley was suddenly flooded with light.
Three men in gears stepped out of the shadows, rifles leveled. But they weren't looking at Xavier. They were looking at me.
"Step away from her, Alpha," the leader said. "The girl belongs to the Council. We’ve been looking for the Helems bloodline for twenty years. We didn't think the Regret would actually be the pure-blood heir."
Xavier didn't back down. He stepped in front of me, his suit jacket ripping at the seams as his muscles expanded.
"You want her?" Xavier’s voice was a roar that shook the very ground. "You'll have to tear her out of my chest because she’s carrying my heir. And I don't give a damn about your Council."
He shifted. Right in front of me.
The man I had slept with vanished, replaced by a massive, silver-furred beast that stood seven feet tall. He lunged at the men, teeth and claws, while I sat in the dirt, clutching my stomach.
I wasn't a mistake. I was a target. And the only thing standing between me and death was a beast who claimed he owned my soul.
- Writer
