Secrets of Heat to Innocence

Chapter 19

Carmen

-"Go! Go with your brothers, they will protect you." I did not know why, but I trusted this woman with  the tawny eyes. She looked at me with both love and worry. Who was she? Why did I keep seeing her? When I felt a strong hand on my shoulder, it startled me. "Are you okay? You have been so jumpy since yesterday. Did one of the witches wound you?" Malcolm asked. "No, my flashbacks are more frequent" I responded. "Really? What did you see?" Malcolm asked with a concerned look in his eyes.

" I was young and we were running from some sort of danger.  She told me to go to my brothers and they would protect me" I told him. "Do you think that you have brothers?" My husband asked me. 

"I think that I do. " I said, then my mind went back into deep thought again. I did not trust Stephen. Every fiber of me was telling me that he was dangerous. As much as I wanted to go look for my parents, something told me that it would mean extreme danger if anyone knew about it.  Now that I was pregnant, I was not going to take the chance of hurting my babies.  "Carmen? Did you hear me? I said are you nervous about moving into the castle?" Malcolm asked

I smiled at him, " Not at all, I knew that it would be our home eventually. As a matter of fact, I am looking forward to it. I do not feel safe since Stephen has arrived?" Malcolm looked at me and frowned, "Do you really think that he is dangerous in some way?" He asked me. I looked him straight in the eye "I have known good and bad people all of my life. I could always sense who was good and who was bad. I believe that Stephen is a real danger and I do not know how to warn the people I love the most" I said. That scared me so much and I began to cry. Pauline pushed open the partially open door to see me crying. "Is everything okay?" She asked me. I sighed, "I do not understand it, I used to never cry, now it seems I am crying every five minutes now. "I told her, leaving out the part about Stephen. She hugged me. "Having a baby is a big job, and you are having two. You have permission to cry all you want." She smiled "I am going to leave you to finish packing. I am going to miss you so much. You must visit often." Pauline cried.

"I am ten minutes away" I reminded her. "It does not matter, I want to see you often, Promise?" She smiled. when I nodded in agreement with her. 

Malcolm and I both froze when it seemed that Stephen appeared from nowhere. As usual, the strong human scent was all over him. "So you really are leaving today? Why so soon?" Stephen asked.  If anyone else in the house had asked me that  question, I would have not thought anything of it. This was Stephen and I did not trust him at all.  " The castle was always supposed to be my home. I just wanted to spend some more time with the family to get accustomed to married life." I said much calmer than I felt.

He walked in without an invitation. "I thought by now, that you would have sent a search party out for the wolves that I told you about." He asked. Although he asked the question like it did not hold much importance to him, it was obvious that it did. 

"After what happened last year, there is no way that My uncle or myself would allow anyone in our kingdom to be a part of a search party with very little follow up information. These wolves could put the princess in danger or it could be a tactic of werewolf hunters." Malcolm said firmly. A flash of anger passed by his eyes and it was not missed by myself or my husband. "So you are not going to try to find werewolves that could potentially be your wife's family? I do not understand." Stephen said with an edge to his voice.

"I will send out a search party soon enough. Yet, it will be one that the werewolf hunters will not expect. Not only will they not expect it, they have no known defense against it. It will help us to find Carmen's family and finally be rid of all werewolf hunters and any magical creature that works with them" Malcolm said with confidence.

Stephen looked stunned for a moment, "I would love to be a part of this search party, if you would allow me to. After all, Carmen may be your wife, but she is my sister." Stephen said.

"That is exactly why you would not be a part of the search party. I would not even give you the details. My wife is pregnant. The last thing that she needs is to be worried over anything." Malcolm said firmly.

"Don't you think that Carmen is going to worry about you? You are her husband. Not to mention Silas, she is as close to Silas that she is to Fenris....Stephen was saying

"Please stop you two! I am pregnant not deaf. I am not helpless either. I like the details of the search party as it is. Who knows, they may find me before the search party finds them." I said playing along with my husband. "I think you forget that I am a hybrid, I have certain qualities that regular werewolves do not. For example, my sense of smell that has become stronger since I got pregnant. " I said. "Stephen, why do you have such a strong human smell on you? Have you been home lately? I asked, waiting for his reaction more than anything else. I also noticed that my husband's attention was fully on Stephan at that moment as well.