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Anton
That Grace survived was the greatest blessing I could have ever hoped for. That our son lived was a miracle. Dr. Enders couldn’t swear he would make it to term, but she sounded optimistic. The baby’s vitals were stable and strong, Gerwin’s blow having missed him. But the trauma Grace sustained might be too much for her body to also handle a pregnancy. Two weeks into her recovery, both of them thrived. We agreed to take it one day at a time.
The plastic surgeon managed to repair most of Grace’s shredded neck. I could barely see the faint lines where Grace carved out the implant. To think I almost didn’t gift her that pin because I loved her hair free-flowing. Grace didn’t recall digging out the implant, only trying to do so. We found the implant’s mangled casing a foot from her face.
Despite nanotechnology and the revolutionary medical advances, healing Grace’s jaw and ribs could take two months. Dr. Enders couldn’t get over how Grace’s jaw hadn’t broken right off. Her eardrums also sustained some damage, as had her throat during Gerwin’s assault. Knowing I had hurt her in a similar fashion would haunt me for the rest of my days. Whatever our respective motives, my actions made me a monster same as him. I would devote every hour of my life making it up to her.
Thankfully, the doctor felt fairly confident that Grace would make a near-full recovery. All damage to her scalp had been mended and her hair was growing back. For the time being though, singing was out of the question.
Grace hated how Gerwin derailed her debut show. She felt especially bad for her dancers, Sacha and Carrie. She begged me to intercede with the owner of Sade to give them a shot while she recovered. Marissa didn’t need any additional dancers but, as a favor to me, she gave them a small gig.
After she recovered enough, Grace and I talked about our family. With my history, why she doubted I would protect my son baffled me. I knew she waited for me to take her as my mate. But I needed to do this right, and make sure her life and that of our son and future children wouldn’t be at risk again. Then I’d marry her in the human tradition.
In my eagerness to get Grace medical attention, Gerwin slipped my mind. It turned out Fenton informed the Magnar of what was transpiring on his way to the docking bay. Ravik ordered him to bring Gerwin to him alive. With Elder Montag and Elder Curbis helping, they hauled him back to Braxia to face the Magnar’s justice.
At first, I felt cheated – Gerwin was mine to kill, regardless of the Magnar’s agenda. Although he apologized for the ruthlessness of his actions, Ravik didn’t reconsider his position. According to him, the grievous injuries Grace and I inflicted upon Gerwin were sufficient personal vindication. The public trial was too important for the half-breed cause for him to pass up. In the end, I didn’t really give a shit as long as Gerwin died.
The clans were torn by the Magnar’s interference on my behalf. Yes, Gerwin violated banishment, but I remained a mutt. However, two respected Elders and the Magnar’s own confidante witnessing me enter battle rage caused the real uproar. Few warriors on Braxia achieved battle rage. Those who did, called Berserkers, were revered by their clans. It was a rare genetic trait passed on within the main warrior clans. On the field of battle, once a Berserker entered battle rage, he could enhance the strength, speed, and endurance of his clan mates, turning them into Furies.
The trial proved the potential worth of a half-breed. It dealt a devastating blow against Clan Caldes. As I refused to leave Grace’s side to attend the trial on Braxia, my father stood in my stead. When the guilty verdict was announced, as per custom, the sentence could either be carried out by the offended clan or by the clan of the condemned, in a gesture of peace.
Gerwin had received financial assistance, likely from someone within his former clan. Those credits allowed him to hire Samuel Trent. Fearing I would permanently sever all business deals with them, Clan Leader Caldes begged for the privilege of carrying out the sentence on his son, Gerwin. My father declined. He would carry out the sentence personally and all of Clan Caldes was to bear witness.
Three days later, Gerwin the anCaldes, firstborn son of Clan Leader Raylor Caldes, was flayed alive by my father. He was then tied to a pole at the entrance of the clan’s compound to die a slow death. He would hang there for thirty days as a warning to respect the banishment laws. At the end of the proceedings, the Magnar publicly declared me Friend of the Empire.
While unable to visit Grace himself, Magnar Ravik sent his personal physician to Dr. Enders. He promised to come as soon as he could.
Over the past couple of weeks, we spent an outrageous amount of time in bed, talking and watching sappy romantic movies. I was developing some kind of immunity to their overly sweet gushiness as I no longer ached with the need to airlock myself whenever watching them.
We cuddled a lot during that time with the occasional kiss. Greater intimacy wasn’t an option. Knowing the extent of my sexual drive and appetite, Grace worried. She didn’t bring it up, but I felt her tense every time we went for a short stroll and women passed by. Eventually, she offered to suck me off.
That angered me.
Yes, like all Braxians I was constantly horny, but that didn’t make me a sex-starved rutting beast. As much as I loved her lips around my cock, her jaw was in no condition for that kind of action. Moreover, I believed she was in denial of the extent of the psychological trauma Gerwin inflicted upon her during his assault. Once her body fully healed, I expected it would take more time before we became intimate again. Even though I ached for her, I would wait however long she needed. I loved her. No other woman even felt attractive to me anymore.
The doctor said we could have sex again, as long as we were careful. It was my choice not to. First, I didn’t trust myself to remain gentle in the throes of passion. Second, I knew Grace wouldn’t tell me if it hurt her. Third, I wanted her to know that it wasn’t sex that made me want a lifetime with her. And when the pressure got too much, well, I had two very capable hands.
As sappy movie five-hundred-and-so-damn-many-I-lost-count ended, I couldn’t withhold a deep sigh. Grace rubbed a soothing hand along my back.
“Worried about your father?” she asked.
I nodded, frowning.
Tonight, my father and our clan Elder Baras were coming to see me here, at the penthouse. It had been four years since my father last visited the Hive. It coincided with the repayment of the loan. I wasn’t sure what to expect. They had an announcement to make, and I believed it had to do with Grace’s pregnancy. I had an announcement of my own to make. No matter how well I prepared for it, fear gnawed at me.
“Is he…?”
“No, Grace, he won’t ask me to kill my son,” I said, knowing that thought kept her up at night. “He wouldn’t demand from me what others couldn’t force him to do. But I don’t know what the council wants and that scares me. My father and Elder Baras wouldn’t make the long trip here to speak to me unless it was something very important.”
Grace nodded, then leaned forward to kiss my lips. It was gentle, soft, and comforting.
“Do you think he’ll want to see me?”
“Yes. I’m pretty sure he will.”
She shivered and I rubbed my hand reassuringly along her back.
“Will he ask… anything of me?” she asked, her tone hesitant.
