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“Lily!”
She stopped with one pant leg pulled up her thigh, staring at him expectantly. He sauntered over to her and kissed her forehead, which he knew made her feel blown off.
“I’m going alone. You have to stay here. You are far too important and far too vulnerable right now.” His eyes shot down to her belly. It hadn't begun to swell, but he knew it was going to soon.
She scowled, hopping on one foot, and pulled on the rest of her slacks.
“Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm useless,” she hissed at him. “I can't just let you go out there on your own. What if he brings more hunters? Or Ava?”
It was time for the alpha to put his foot down. He didn’t enjoy it, but he couldn’t lose the two most treasured people in his life.
“You aren’t coming,” he said, shaking his head. “And that is final.”
SEVENTEEN
LILY
Lily stood with one pant leg pulled up to her hip when Gabriel forbade her from accompanying him on their mission to retrieve Lucas. It was the first time she realized what was actually going on.
A shifter had marked her, and she was his eternally deemed mate. She hadn’t taken into account what all of that actually meant, not until she saw the look in Gabriel’s eyes that made her feel like meat hanging from a string.
He had been firm with her in the past, and she had been a worthy adversary. They had made many compromises that were satiating. But she knew standing there in the bedroom, the bedroom that would be theirs forever, that there was no chance in hell that a compromise was going to happen that night.
She pulled the rest of her pants up past her waist and stood there in her floral bra. He was staring down at her like she had already done something wrong.
It didn’t make her feel good. She wanted to argue with him, get heated, and resolve it with some fervent lovemaking.
But time was a commodity they had very little of.
“That isfinal?” she said, the heat rising in her throat like corrosion. “You are ordering me not to be there with you?”
Gabriel nodded without hesitation. “You’ve wanted me to be honest from the beginning. This is me being honest. I can't have you there. I have no doubt they have information about us and know that you are my mate. It's too much of a risk and too much of a distraction for me.”
Gabriel spoke bluntly, with far more conviction in his words than she had ever noticed before. The fierce red light in his eyes indicated he wasn't going to budge. Not a single inch of flexibility would be permitted.
Lily suddenly felt embarrassed about the way she had spoken to him, as well as the fact that she was standing there in her bra. They just had an intimate moment. Being snuggled to sleep was rather healing, and then they were fighting. She knew him well enough to know that she had to trust that he knew his own world better than she did.
And she had wondered before if she was a distraction. She really didn’t want to be. It gave her an empty, hollow feeling.
Her anger faded, and she picked up a T-shirt that she'd tossed onto the bed. When she pulled it on, Gabriel stood closer, his hands hovering at her waist.
He had softened from the stone-faced look he had given her mere seconds before.
“I don't want you to get hurt, Lily,” he said, hooking her chin. “If anything happened to you or the baby …” Gabriel trailed off, his eyes glossing over.
Lily no longer wanted to argue. She kissed his chin and then whispered against his lips with a reassuring lilt.
“I know, I'm sorry. I understand what you're saying. I will stay here and keep us safe.”
She patted her tummy, which prompted him to move down to his knees as if groveling, to lift her shirt and kiss the spot where their blended lifeform was sprouting. She had felt strange about it when he first started doing it, but not when he did it then, the only light on the bedside table throwing his reverent silhouette against the wall.
She felt like a goddess. She knew he was pure of heart when it came to her and their child. She ruffled his hair, then pulled at his shoulders to encourage him to get up.
“When can we see the healer?” Lily asked.
Gabriel immediately called Claire and informed her of the situation. They wanted to see the healer before he went out with his enforcers to meet with Malcolm. The alpha was adamant about that. It was the middle of the night, but the healer was available, most likely because their noble leader was asking.
He drove her to one of the oldest-looking homes on the pride compound, sitting just outside the entryway gate.
