We are officially over 200 reviews! Thank you all so much!:D This is probably one of my favorite chapters! Especially the part featuring Nova and Riker.
You're right, things are getting crazy, and still got some stuff to get through. You're also right about why Kenzi didn't want Roux and Sasha together. But that would've probably backfired on her too.
I have still been enjoying Beastars, I have to say that Melon is my favorite. (call me crazy) I also really like Louis:) As for Riker, he still has a way to go.
I am so glad my stories and characters cause such feelings:) Glad you are all enjoying it as much as I am!
Please keep those reviews coming! Love you all!
It was dark by the time Pierce got back home. Zayla had just finished helping the boys with their baths.
Lance ran up to him, "papa!" His fur wasn't dry yet, but he didn't seem to mind running around their home without a towel on.
Zayne did. He was on the couch, huddled under his towel. But he smiled when he saw Pierce, "hi papa."
Pierce smiled, "did the two of you have a nice bath?"
Lance nodded, while Zayne shook his head.
The alpha kept silent, but patted Lance on the head. He scooped him up and sat on the couch beside Zayne, setting them both on his lap.
Zayne snuggled his face in his father's chest, humming happily. "Why were you gone so long today?"
"It is a lot of work being alpha. I have to take care of everyone. I do miss you both while I am gone."
"We miss you too," said Lance.
It was the times like this when Pierce wished he wasn't the alpha. He wished he could spend all day every day with Lance, Zayne, and Zayla. His sons, and his mate.
"When Lance is alpha, will he have all that work to do?" Asked Zayne.
Pierce nodded, "maybe not quite so much, the other boys will be here to help him."
"I'll work hard," said Lance, "like you papa."
Pierce smiled fondly, "I know you will. You will be a wonderful alpha."
A grin, "Zayne will be my second in command," Lance said firmly.
Zayne preened under his brother's praise. He smiled, "I'll be a good fighter for you Lance."
Pierce laughed and ruffled their hair, "the two of you will be a force to be reckoned with someday."
Later that night, after Lance and Zayne were snuggled up in their beds, Zayla climbed in bed next to her mate. She buried her nose in his neck.
Pierce mumbled softly in contentment as she ran her hands across his chest and down his stomach towards his waist.
Zayla placed a light kiss on his jaw, rubbing circles in his soft skin.
He drew in a sharp breath. "Why are you so wound up?" He asked.
She grinned, "I just love you. So much alpha." She bit down on her lower lip, and made herself look smaller. Zayla knew he liked it when she was submissive towards him.
She squeaked a bit when he pulled her to lay on his stomach. But she liked it. His knee brushed her inner thigh and she shivered, practically melting at his touch.
"What is it that you want Zayla?" His voice was low and smooth. Zayla couldn't stop the whine from escaping her mouth. He laughed and she flushed, pouting. "Sorry love," he whispered.
"It's ok."
His nose twitched, smelling her softly. "You are in heat again?"
She nodded, face flushed.
"Tell me what you need. I will give it to you."
"More pups," she whispered, "give me more pups." Her instincts were screaming at her to get pregnant again. She needed it so badly.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," she gasped, "please." Her voice came out in a whine.
He turned her on her stomach and got behind her, "just stay quiet though. The boys are asleep."
"I'll try."
He sunk his teeth into her neck and gave her what she asked for.
"You've got some new meat Nova," grinned a very tough looking male. Subconsciously, Riker took a step closer to the elder. The other male laughed.
Nova shook his head. But he smiled.
Riker looked around, they had joined a group of rogues that were sitting around a campfire. They were also close to the desert. All of the males here seemed to know and respect Nova.
When he turned to face forward he yelped. He was nose to nose with the other male. Another laugh, "relax kid, any friend of Nova's is a friend of ours." Then he turned back to the soup he was making. Everyone had contributed something to put in it.
Nova's hand rested between Riker's shoulder blades, "come on, let's find a seat."
They sat on the other side of the fire. Riker stayed close to Nova's side. He was almost flush against him at this point. He didn't want to admit it, but he was afraid. All of the males here seemed so strong and intimidating. Was this how Brynn felt? Small and defenseless? He quickly pushed those thoughts from his mind.
He jumped when a male sat beside him. He looked down at him with a grin. His teeth were yellowed. "New pup Nova?"
Riker's nose wrinkled, "I'm not a pup."
"Sure." Then he opened his bag, looking for his contribution.
Riker studied him. He was quite skinny, almost unhealthily so. His eyes didn't seem quite right either.
"What are you staring at?" He snapped turning towards Riker again.
The boy jumped, but quickly looked away.
Then he laughed, almost mocking, but not quite. "You got a good one this year Nova."
Nova grinned, "almost as much trouble as you were Creech."
"I turned out ok."
"Yeah," laughed another male, "just ok. Not as good as me."
Creech threw a bowl at him, "shut up." He was smiling though.
Riker was a little confused. All these males seemed to know each other. They threw insults around, and some liked to swear. One had spoke about a woman he'd gotten with not long ago. In detail. They had all responded in a very boisterous manner, almost in a congratulatory way. His mother would be appalled by their behavior.
He looked at Nova. The elder didn't seem to mind, he just stayed quiet, drinking from a cup. "Nova," he whispered, "is this ok?"
"Don't mind them Riker. They're young. Blowing off steam. We get together every year when we head to the desert for the winter." He smiled, "enjoy yourself."
And so Riker did.
When night fell and all the soup was gone, someone pulled out liquor. All the cups were filled, even Riker's. He grinned, his mother would have a fit if she knew.
"I saw Katrina not long ago," Dande said to Nova.
"How is she?" Nova asked.
"She seems ok. She asked about you."
"Why?"
"She really cared about you Nova."
Riker's ears perked. He wondered if that was the girl he'd gotten exiled for mating with.
The elder stayed quiet.
"You should go see her. Her mate had just died when I was there."
Nova's mouth twitched, but he kept his smile away. "She doesn't want to see me, not after what happened."
"You don't know that."
"Drop it Dande," Nova snarled.
Just like that, it was dropped.
The next morning, Riker woke up with a pounding headache. He groaned as he rolled over on his back.
The first male he'd met, Dande, laughed. "Drink too much?"
"Yeah," Riker groaned a bit as he managed to sit up.
"Don't worry, it'll get better." He gave him some water, and sat beside him. Everyone else was still asleep. "Have you been exiled long?" Dande asked.
"Not really, Nova's helped me a lot."
"That's good. He's helped all of us."
"Who's Katrina?"
"That's not my place to say. I don't even know all the details, but I do know that she was very important to him."
"Oh." It seemed to Riker that he had told all of them bits and pieces of his story, but no one knew the whole truth. He took a small sip of water.
They looked over at Nova, he was curled up on a blanket with his tail curled around him as he slept. "I am worried about Nova though," Dande said after a minute, "he seems to be moving slow."
"He said he didn't do well with the cold," Riker said.
"Yes, but it's warm here. He wasn't like this last year."
"Oh." Riker felt something twist in his chest. He wasn't sure what it was, but he didn't like it. It was kind of like fear, but different. He didn't want anything to happen to Nova, he didn't think he could take it. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Keep an eye on him, try not to let him overexert himself. That can be hard though, you still have a lot to learn about life out here."
Riker nodded, "I'll do my best."
Haven climbed up on the examination table. She was already undressed. Her stomach had a small bump showing now, despite it still being early in her pregnancy.
Anahi had her lie back and she felt the young woman's stomach. Both she and Brynn were concerned.
"Is everything ok Anahi?" Haven asked. But she winced a bit as Anahi moved her hands around on her belly.
"Did that hurt?" Anahi asked quickly.
"A little."
Brynn frowned, but she went to get some oils.
"Have you been eating and resting like you're supposed to?"
"Yes, I've done everything you told me. Is something wrong?" She asked again. Worry was in her voice this time.
Anahi didn't want her to worry, but something wasn't quite right. It seemed the pup was larger than it should be. There was only one, but Haven looked like she was having several by the size of her stomach. "I need to check inside," was all Anahi said though.
"I thought you weren't doing that for a couple more weeks."
"Yes, that was the plan, but I think it needs to be done now."
"Ok."
Brynn came back with the oils and smeared them on Haven. Soon the girl's senses were dulled enough so the examination could proceed without needless upset.
Brynn adjusted her so Anahi could look around. "Is there really only one Anahi?" She asked.
"Yes," she replied. "Turn her on her side."
Brynn did so. "Is there going to be a problem when it's time for her to give birth?"
"I'm not sure yet. It will definitely be harder for her, we may have to do an emergency c-section, but it's too early to tell." She looked up at Brynn, "the pup is still too young to be outside of her yet." Then she went back to her examination, "it's always best if she can have the pup naturally."
When she was told, Brynn turned Haven on her stomach.
Haven gasped a little bit, she was still disoriented. She could still hear their voices, but she couldn't understand what they were saying. She felt numb.
"At least her uterus looks good," Anahi added.
Brynn nodded.
When they were finished, Brynn turned Haven onto her back and cleaned the oils off.
After Haven's senses came back she struggled to sit up. Brynn helped her. "Well?" She asked.
"We have some concerns," Anahi said. She nodded towards Brynn, her apprentice needed to be able to explain things to their patients.
"Haven, your pup is larger than normal, so that complicates things."
"But is it healthy?"
Brynn glanced at Anahi, who nodded. "Yes," she replied, "but this birth may be hard on you."
Anahi interrupted, "it will be hard Haven. We may have to do a c-section when the time comes, but only if absolutely necessary. It is better for the baby if you can do it on your own."
Haven nodded, her lower lip trembling as her eyes watered. She was afraid, but she had to do this. For Cujo's baby. For her baby.
Haven gasped as someone grabbed her shoulder. She turned around, it was Kenzi. She glared, "What do you want?"
Kenzi opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she saw the girl's stomach. "You're pregnant already?" She asked.
Haven eyed her warily, she didn't detect the usual scorn. "Yes," she said softly, "I am."
"You've been drinking the tea Anahi always prescribes?"
She jerked her shoulder free, "yes. I've been taking good care of my baby, something you don't know anything about."
Kenzi chewed her lip, torn on the inside. She didn't want to kill her own grandchild, she'd only wanted to prevent her pregnancy. Apparently Haven had conceived immediately. What was she going to do? She knew she should confess, tell Haven what she'd done. Or at least tell Anahi. But she couldn't. Her pride wouldn't let her. "Well," she said, "I'd best leave that to you then." Then she stormed off, offended that Haven thought she didn't know how to care for her pups. But in her heart she knew Haven was right.
Sasha was excited. Roux had talked to Pierce, and they were soon to be mated. She squeezed Roux's hand.
He smiled and rested his head against hers. He let go of her hand and rested his hand on her hip.
She sighed and leaned against his side. She liked being under his strong arm.
Roux slipped his fingers under the waistband of her skirt.
Sasha jumped with a small squeak. Her face heated, but she smiled.
He grinned, "you like that?"
She nodded.
He pinched her skin, then pulled away.
A whine escaped her, "Roux, don't tease me like that!"
He laughed lowly, then pressed his mouth against her forehead in a kiss. "Sorry. See you tonight." Then he let go of her.
She nodded, "see you tonight." She had to tell her mother that she was going to become Roux's.
Sasha looked up at her mother as tears rolled down her face. She was on the ground, Kenzi had slapped her when she had told her she was choosing Roux.
"You are a fool Sasha," Kenzi snarled, "he doesn't really love you, no man ever really loved a woman, he just wants to breed you. That's all any man ever cared about!"
"Mama," Kylie said softly, "I don't think Roux is like that. You haven't seen the way he looks at her."
"Shut up Kylie," her voice was full of contempt, "you don't know anything." Her shoulders heaved and she was vaguely aware of hot tears slipping from her eyes.
Kylie touched her arm, "mama? What's wrong?"
She wiped her face, sniffling. "They lie. All men lie. He never loved me," she hiccuped back a sob, "and he never loved her."
Kylie and Sasha exchanged a look. They weren't sure who she was talking about. They just knew it wasn't Roux.
"When all this blows up on you don't come crying to me," Kenzi snapped. "In fact, I don't want to even look at you anymore Sasha."
"Mama please," she whimpered, "I just want to be with him, I never wanted to upset you like this."
Kenzi turned away from her, "just go. Don't speak to me again. You're no longer my daughter."
Sasha felt like she'd been struck again. And this time it was worse. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks. "Fine," she whispered, "I'll go. I hope you're happy now." Then she left, closing the door behind her.