AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Several strange wolf howls echoed somewhere off screen. Luc looked over his shoulder then swore as he turned back toward the screen. “I have to go.”
Amara wanted to pull her hair out, but she kept her composure for Luc. Instead, she forced a smile, gently touching the screen. “I love you.”
“And I love you.” His voice trailed off as he looked over his shoulder again. And then the call abruptly ended.
Drasko and Rone swore, and she slowly stood, a strange feeling coming over her. She gasped, clutching her stomach when she felt the odd yet familiar sensation in her womb, like a flower opening up.
No, no, no!
Drasko grabbed her elbow, concern reflecting in his eyes. “What is it?”
“I felt it.” She looked down at her stomach as if she had an alien growing inside her. “I felt the bloom.”
Annie jumped from the sofa. “Are you sure?”
She swallowed, giving Drasko a hopeless look. “Of course, I’m sure.” Though it had only happened twice before, she knew this feeling.
Drasko’s nostrils flared. “I smell it.” He turned to Rone. “Call Luc back.” Though his voice was firm, she could sense the undercurrent of fear. If her bloom ended before Luc could get to her, they risked the chance of not completing their family.
Swearing, Rone tapped the computer with trembling hands. The phone rang and rang, but Luc didn’t answer.
Amara aimlessly walked across the room and fell onto the sofa with her hand still clutching her stomach. How could this be happening? She thought her beta had to be here with her for her womb to bloom, that his scent had to trigger her. Had that Skype call been enough? She felt as if she was living in a waking nightmare as Drasko and Rone made frantic phone calls to their alpha father, Agent Johnson (their military agent contact and longtime family friend), and even Hakon.
Their punctured words drifted in and out of her consciousness.Yes, we were Skyping. It happened after we lost contact. I know this has never happened before, but it’s happening now. I don’t care how important Luc’s mission is, the future of our family is at risk. No, she’s not imagining it. I smell her heat.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she hunched over. That feeling in her womb intensified. She craved her beta like a drug. This couldn’t be happening, and yet it was, and if she couldn’t get to Luc in time, her sons’ pack would be incomplete, shamed by nature’s impossibly bad timing.
* * *
Drasko
Drasko paced the kitchenfloor, the tension behind his skull threatening to explode like a steaming kettle as he cast a worried glance in Amara’s direction. She sat on the living room sofa, staring out the tall back windows of their cabin home with a stoic expression. Her cousin Annie held her hand as she sat beside her. Their alpha father Tor sat at the kitchen counter, clutching a cup of coffee, his face grim. Something was jamming the communications to Luc’s camp, and Agent Johnson didn’t know when it would be restored. What if they reached Luc too late?
“What if the window closes?” Rone asked as he refilled their father’s coffee. “What if she misses the opportunity to conceive?”
Tor grimaced. “Then your sons’ pack will be reduced to three.”
“What?” Amara gasped, jumping from the sofa. Drasko’s heart imploded when she gave him a hopeless look. “No!”
Tor spun in his seat, giving Amara a pointed look. “How do you think the smaller packs with only one alpha were formed?”
She looked from Tor to Drasko. “I thought some packs were just like that.”
“No,” Tor answered. “Brother packs should have two alphas, a beta, and a gamma. Those packs with only one alpha originally descended from a pack with two alphas. One of the pack brothers died before passing on his genes.”
Well, fuck,Drasko thought to himself.I never knew this.
“If I don’t mate with Luc,” Amara asked, “won’t my sons be missing their beta?”
“Alexi will become the beta,” Tor said. “He’ll never develop the ability to shift into a protector, and instead he will have a keen sense of smell and tracking abilities.”
Drasko inwardly swore. Though he respected and admired his beta brother, his son was meant to be an alpha. He didn’t want this for him. He could only imagine him and his brothers growing up to resent their parents for breaking the cycle of Thunderfoot dominance.
The color drained from Amara’s face, and she swayed on her feet, reflecting how Drasko felt. Rone was beside her in an instant, lowering her back onto the sofa. Drasko was too numb with shock and fear to do anything other than gape at their father. This couldn’t be happening.
Amara nodded toward Drasko. “What if I mated with Drasko again instead of Luc?”
“I wish it worked that way,” Tor said with a grimace, “but your body will reject Drasko’s seed. It’s important that you breed in order when you go into heat.”
