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"Izzy, get back here!" she heard her mate demand.
She kept walking.
*****
She felt like the entire palace was against her. Everyone here was Oron's family.
"Is otay," Creelee whispered as he patted her cheek, trying to dry her tears.
"Thank you, buddy," she said as she looked around. When she heard Portia's voice, she ducked into an alcove. When the coast was clear, she ran for the gate and down the steps away from the palace.
She made her way toward the Border City until she was standing in front of Dav's tavern. She opened the door and went straight to the bar. She eyed the changes that Meryn had inadvertently caused yesterday and tried hopping up on the stool. Unlike her previous visits, she didn't have Oron or Pierce to help her. It just drove home the fact that she was alone.
She draped herself across the stool so that she was lying on her belly and began to cry softly.
"Here now, what's this?" she heard a familiar voice ask. Warm hands lifted her and propped her up on the stool. It was one of the warriors from yesterday. He looked down at her, worry etched on his face.
"First, the tiny one comes in yesterday saying she needed Sacred Chamomile and today you're in here crying. Whose ass do I have to beat to keep you baby girls smiling?" At his kind words, she felt the dam burst. She clutched at his shirt and began to ugly cry.
"Gods Bryok, what did you do to her?" another voice demanded.
"Nothing, Casek, I swear." She felt a hand smooth her hair. "Do you need us to find your mate?" She shook her head vehemently. "Having a problem with your mate?" he asked. She nodded and looked at him through tear-blurred eyes. "He wants a baby, but I don't know where we live and he thinks I don't want his baby, which is stupid because I love him, which is scary because I've only known him for four days." She felt more tears coming. "I'm not a damn incubator."
Bryok nodded sympathetically. "Of course, you're not." He looked up. "Dav, get your arse in here and draw a pint!" he hollered.
"I'm coming," Dav called then walked through the swinging door. He saw Izzy hiccup crying and immediately pulled out a pint glass and filled it for her. "Here you go, darling."
Sniffling, she picked up the glass and began to gulp its contents. She didn't stop until it was empty. Without saying a word, Dav refilled it. She took a healthy drink of this one, then sat it back on the bar.
Behind her, she heard the door open. "Told ya she'd be here."
Izzy turned to see Meryn with Ryuu and Pierce walk in. "Is he with you?"
Meryn shook her head as Ryuu propped her up on the stool. Meryn made sure that her bracelet was tucked under her hoodie sleeve. "Nope, Aiden and Darian dragged his ass out to do drills. I bet they're explaining to him how dumb he is."
"So it wasn't me being difficult?" Izzy asked.
"Hell, no! Aiden and I basically went through the same thing. I wanted to put on this birth control amulet so we wouldn't have kiddos right away, except we had already had so much sex I was already pregnant; it kinda became a moot point."
Bryok laughed and sat down on the stool on her other side. "Doing drills with the McKenzie is a punishment in of itself."
Meryn snorted. "Please, I bet they're all standing around giving Oron advice on how to kiss ass."
Casek laughed. "That's probably true. Warriors gossip worse than old women."
"Meryn, this is Bryok and Casek," she said, pointing to the two warriors. "They were helping me when I had my meltdown."
The two warriors nodded to Meryn who waved back.
"I just need time, you know?"
Meryn swung her feet. "Yup. I think because you fell in love with Oron and adapted to this world so quickly it surprised all of us when you two were fussing at each other."
"They don't hate me?"
Meryn shook her head. "The queen, of course, is on board for babies, but then again Aiden's mom practically put bad juju on me talking about twins, so that's understandable. Aunt Aleks is probably dying to be a grandma, just like Adelaide." She kicked one foot out, then another. "Oron is like almost five thousand years old and the queen is even older, so I can see why they'd both want a baby right away. But realistically, you haven't known each other that long, so I get why you want to wait."
"At night, when warriors are done imagining their mates, we dream of our children. It's something to hold on to," Bryok said, in a soft voice.
