Jen had started crying again and her hiccups in between words tore at Decebel’s heart.

“I – believe – you –”

He brushed the tears from her face and leaned down. Then he pressed his lips against hers and pushed all the comfort and love he could into that kiss.

“Please don’t leave me.”

Decebel smiled softly. “I’m not leaving your side for quite a while, love.”

Jen smiled back weakly. “Let me guess, nine months?”

Decebel chuckled.  “Something like that.”

Decebel kissed her firmly once more and pulled back, framing her face with his big hands. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not angry with you. You are mine and nothing will happen to you.” He placed his hand on her stomach and poured all the truth he could into his words. “Nothing will happen to our baby. I won’t allow it.”

Jen placed her hand over his, then pressed her forehead to his. She trembled and wept as he whispered to her in Romanian, telling her over and over how beautiful she was to him, how precious and how happy he was that she carried his child. They hadn’t even thought about the others standing around them, witnessing this very private moment.

Decebel held her face in his hands and kissed her gently.

“I love you, Jennifer,” he told her sternly.

She nodded.

“I love you, Dec. I love you so much.”

He gently lifted her shirt to expose her skin and leaned forward, placing kiss after kiss across her stomach.

“You are safe, little one,” he whispered against his wife’s skin. “You are safe and you are loved. I will not let anything happen to you.”

He raised his head back up but kept his hand, skin on skin, against her stomach. Decebel looked into her eyes.

“We are not going to spend your pregnancy mourning. We are not going spend this precious time worrying. We created this little life, Jennifer. Our love created this and I don’t want that tainted by our fears. Please. I can’t stand the idea of nine months without your smart mouth or sexual jokes. Seeing you like this today was my breaking point.”

“Shh,” Jen pressed a finger lightly on his lips, “I trust you, Decebel. You are my mate, you are the father of our child, and I know you will take care of us.”

Decebel’s body shook with emotion – he felt the trust and respect in her words, words that poured strength into him and affirmed his capability to do what he said he would.

“Thank you,” he told her quietly.

The group was quiet as Decebel held his pregnant mate in his arms. There were no words in that moment, no smart remarks, no endearing comments. It was simply a pack watching the pack mates they loved deal with the challenges of life.

~

Sally stared dumbly, stunned atJen’s revelation. Her best friend was pregnant – she was pregnant! She just couldn’t wrap her mind around it. Not only was she pregnant, but the Fates were saying they were going to kill their baby. Could things get any worse?

“Let’s not ask ourselves that.” Costin cautioned in her mind.

Sally looked up at him from where she crouched next to Jacque’s still form. She grunted her understanding, agreeing that anytime you asked that question, things always seemed to go from bad to worse. And, as if that very flip had been switched, the air grew thick and lightening ripped across the sky.

All of the males were suddenly on alert, creating a circle around the females. They looked into the forest in all directions as if waiting for the enemy to come charging at them.

Sally watched tiny bodies emerge from the darkness. They hung from the tree limbs or stood on them, but in every instance they made sure to stay above eye level. One by one they appeared, several of them, waiting. They were human in appearance, but they had an ethereal beauty. A soft glow seemed to create a halo around them. Sally thought she saw wings, but couldn’t be sure because they seemed to come and go almost as if they were flickering off and on.

Costin let out a low growl. Vasile stepped toward the largest of them. He was no more than a foot in height and was lithe in form. He had short dark hair, high cheekbones, and eyes that were an iridescent green.  He stood regally, his chest puffed out, shoulders drawn back.

“You have chosen a side, pixie King?” Vasile asked.

The pixie tensed but quickly schooled his expression.

“It is nothing against you or yours, Alpha wolf.” The pixie King’s voice was surprisingly deep for such a small being.

“That is where you are wrong. Her magic is hurting mine. Your choice is causing harm to what is mine.” Vasile’s eyes were beginning to glow and his voice was guttural.

“Careful, great Alpha,” the pixie King warned. “You are in my realm now.”

“You cast your magic against my daughter-in-law and son, you seek to trap my pack, my brothers, and then you tell me to be careful?” Vasile snarled and took a menacing step forward. “Maybe you, pixie, should be careful. It has been a while since my wolves have had any good meat, and pixie is looking awfully appetizing.”

An orchestra of hissing rippled across the trees where the pixies perched and hung. The King hopped down to a lower branch, getting closer to Vasile.

“We’ve come for the males. We can do this the easy way and you can come with us, or you can make this difficult. It is up to you, Alpha.”

Decebel snarled and lunged toward the nearest pixie. He stopped short when he heard Jen scream in pain, reaching her just as her form hit the cold earth.