“Fair point.”
Her smile faded almost as soon as it formed.Her hand pressed lower against her stomach, and her brow pulled tight.
He was beside the bed before he’d consciously decided to move.
“Kara.”
“I’m fine.I mean, I’m sort of fine.This is not normal.To be progressing at the speed of light.”She waved him off too fast.“The future ninja just kicked hard enough to make me question whether my kidneys will survive this pregnancy.”
He lowered himself carefully onto the edge of the bed and slid one hand against her stomach.The movement beneath his palm hit immediately, sharp and insistent, a small foot or fist or possibly an elbow making its presence known directly under his fingertips.
His eyes widened.
“That,” Kara muttered darkly, “was your fault.She knows you’re there.”
His wolf nearly purred.
She rolled her eyes.“You like that she responds to you.”She frowned down at her stomach as though it had personally betrayed her.“Honestly, if she says ‘daddy’ first, I’m going to be personally offended for life.”
Nick leaned in and pressed his forehead gently to hers.Her hair smelled like sleep and the faint herbal soap the troll matrons had left near the basin two days ago.
“No you won’t, you’ll find it adorable.”He grinned.“I hear women find a man attractive when he’s playing with a baby.”
Her smile softened.Small.Tired around the edges.“Sure, just like men supposedly find pregnant women attractive because it means they’re fertile, or some crap like that.”
His hand slid carefully along the curve of her again.“You’re beautiful.”
“Nick,” she scolded.
“No.I mean it.”His voice dropped lower.Rougher.“Every day you look more beautiful to me.”Even if it did worry him that she was moving along in her pregnancy at a speed that was not even normal for wolves.
Something flickered across her face before she ducked behind sarcasm.“Well, that’s convenient timing since I currently waddle when I stand up.And who the crap waddles at ...”, she held up her hand and counted under her breath, then shrugged, “hell, I don’t even know how far along I’m supposed to be.But I’m pretty sure it’s not waddling time.”
Nick shook his head at her.“You do not waddle.You’re notthatbig.”
“I absolutely do.”
“You walk creatively.There’s a difference.”
Kara barked a laugh that echoed softly through the chamber, bouncing off stone in a way that made it sound bigger than it was.
He needed that sound.More than air, some days.
The week had affected each of them differently.Rachel had grown quieter, her healer’s mouth pressed into a thinner line every time someone passed through a corridor.Gavril watched every tunnel entrance like he expected war to crawl out of it, and most days Nick agreed with him.Zara and Wadim spent hours whispering together in the corners of shared chambers when they thought no one was paying attention.Aphid had taken to disappearing into the deeper sections of the caverns for stretches at a time, the troll child Torvik trailing after him like an unusually feral duckling that the fae warrior pretended not to notice.
And the trolls themselves.Nick’s eyes narrowed.They had changed, too.Not toward hostility.He could’ve handled hostility.He’d been raised on hostility.Toward reverence.That part unnerved the hell out of him.
The same massive warriors who had thrown them into cages a week ago now lowered their heads respectfully whenever Kara passed in the corridors.Troll females had started leaving small carved stone figures at the entrance to their chamber, tiny shapes Nick didn’t recognize, polished smooth, set in patterns he didn’t understand but could feel were intentional.Even the children watched her now with wide, solemn eyes, the way kids watched something they’d been told stories about.
They acted as though the mountain itself had claimed her, which it most definitely had not, because Kara belonged tohim.
A heavy knock struck the outer stone archway before he could chase that thought any further.Neither of them moved.The knock came again.
“Kara Luisa,” a deep voice rumbled from beyond the threshold.“The king requests your presence.”
Every muscle in his body locked.“How do they know that name?”That was the name the Great Luna had given his mate.No one except he and Kara knew that name.
Beside him, Kara muttered under her breath, “Maybe, they’re going to finally tell us why we’re just sitting around doing nothing.Although, nothing good ever follows the phrase ‘the king requests your presence.’That’s just facts.”
