Hey guys! Sorry it's taken me so long to update. This lymphadenitis comes and goes in waves. Plus, I have had chronic migraines since I was in the third grade and they can be really bothersome. I live in Texas and we've been getting a lot of rain lately. When it rains, the barometric pressure increases and causes me to have a migraine. So, I have been miserable the past couple of days. I hope you can forgive me. This chapter is a little shorter than the other ones are because I haven't been able to do much writing. I will try to update again ASAP, but bear with me, okay? I promise I will keep writing this story until it is finished, no matter how long it takes me. =] So, enjoy!

I'd been thinking for the past week how I was going to break the news to Stark. I'd seen Kalona twice, each time we spoke about how we were going to tell our…significant others that we couldn't see them anymore. It was pretty difficult because I knew that deep down in my heart I really loved Stark. I didn't want to break his heart, and I knew that by breaking up with him I would be breaking my own heart as well.

It was horrible that I was going to have to do this because Stark had been helping me so much during the pregnancy. We estimated that I was about eighteen weeks along, and you could definitely tell I was pregnant! I had the baby bump that was obvious to anyone who looked at me. So far, my pregnancy sucked. I got heartburn every time I ate, my back was always killing me, and my ankles were starting to swell a bit. It didn't help that I was breaking out and getting stretch marks.

Stark was incredibly helpful with everything. If I complained about heartburn, he'd get me some Tums. If my back was hurting, he would rub it for me. Same with my feet and ankles. He'd even rub lotion on my stomach when he caught me looking at the ugly stretch marks.

It made what I had to do that much worse. I was lying in bed, reading the new issue of Cosmopolitan when Stark came in to check up on me. I had told myself earlier that the next time Stark and I were alone, I would tell him. I really didn't want to do it, but I knew that I had to.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, sliding in bed next to me and grabbing my hand.

I gave him a small half-smile and mumbled, "I'm alright."

His smile turned into a frown of worry. "Are you sure? You don't sound alright. Is it your back? Heartburn?"

"No, no. I mean, yeah, they are bothering me, but it's not so bad." I shrugged, trying to let some of the tension in my body roll away. My heart felt like it was about to leap out of my chest.

Stark gave me another little smile and scooted closer to me. "Then what is it, sweetheart?"

That did it. Right then, when he called me sweetheart, I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take the fact that I was about to break his heart, and I couldn't take the fact that I was in love with both him and Kalona. This was all so confusing. Add my crazy hormones from the pregnancy on top of that, and I turn into a big ball of mess.

I started crying, and I mean hard crying. It just burst out of me. It was as if I couldn't control it. Stark automatically started whispering sweet, smoothing things into my ear, all the while stroking my hair. I wasn't really listening to what he was saying, I was too preoccupied crying. I wanted to get it out of my system. I knew that I would cry more after I did it, but right now I needed to cry too.

"Shush. Shush. Baby, tell me what's wrong? Is it…the situation? Are you alright? Zoey, talk to me! Please!" Stark was whispering frantically.

I held my breath, trying to collect myself. I knew that if I didn't hold my breath for at least thirty seconds I would just wind up hiccupping between every word. Stark was still whispering things to me as I did this. I finally took a deep breath and got myself under control.

"I don't know what to do…" I whispered.

Stark pulled my face up to look at him. "What is it? I couldn't hear you."

I took another deep breath and made myself look at him. "I don't know what to do." This time I said it louder. "I'm so confused. This is all just…too much."

Stark pulled away from me, making sure to keep eye contact. "What are you talking about, Z? What we're going to do with the baby once it's born? Hell, if you don't want it, give it up for adoption. If you want it… Well, we'll raise it together. I'll help you. I'm here for you."

I took another long, deep breath. "No, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about…the spell." Wow. I had not meant to say that at all. I was going to say, "I'm talking about us," but apparently my mouth was doing its own thing.

"The spell?" He looked confused for a moment, but then he got it. "Oh. You mean you and…Kalona?" I nodded. "What about it?"

That was what broke me. I couldn't hold my desperation in any longer. "It's horrible! I can't stand this! This spell makes me attracted to Kalona, and I know that that is what makes me feel everything else. When I'm around him, I can't control myself. I feel like I love him, but I know that deep down I don't. I love you! I don't know what to do!"

I hadn't realized until now that Kalona might feel the same way. When he spends more time with me, he might start gaining more feelings for me. But he might also know that these feelings aren't natural, they are from the spell. What if he loves A-ya deep down, and I am just getting in the way? Ah, hell!

"Oh, sweetheart." Stark grabbed me and pulled me into his chest. I hadn't expected a reaction like this. I'd expected him to be upset, yell, something along those lines. But, no, he had to be the guy that I fell in love with. The sweet, understanding Stark that made my heart flutter every time I saw him.

He slowly rocked me while he stroked my hair and tried to soothe me. "Honey, I know that things are going to be hard. I know that…this spell is making you feel things you wouldn't normally feel. And I know that sometimes… Sometimes you'll do things that I won't approve of. But I want you to know that, even though I'm not okay with it, I understand it. I know that you aren't doing things because you want to, but because the spell makes you think you want to."

I cried silently in his arms.

"Zoey, I love you. I know that you love me, too. It may be hard to see that right now, and it will only get harder from here, but I want you to know that I will never, ever leave you. I am not only your consort, I am your warrior. If you choose that you want to be with Kalona, so be it. I will be standing right there next to you, making sure you're safe." With that, he kissed the top of my head.

"Oh, Stark. I love you, too. So much." I turned my head up to kiss him.

We stayed like that for a long time, just kissing. It wasn't until Stark's hand brushed my hair back behind my shoulders that I realized how much I wanted him. Not just for sex, but because I wanted to be closer to him. I wanted to show him just how much I loved him.

And for the first time in weeks, I actually, really made love, instead of just having sex.

[BREAK; KALONA'S POV]

There was a shift in the air. At least, Kalona thought he felt a shift. It was very slight, barely feeling like a breeze. Something in his gut was telling him that something was wrong. He lifted his face up, trying to get a feel of what it was. If he concentrated hard enough, he'd be able to tell what it was that was bothering him so much.

"My love?" Kalona was interrupted by A-ya. He turned his face to her and she smiled up at him, putting her hand on his bare chest. "Do you think we should do white lace, or moccasin?"

A-ya had been going on and on about what type of fabric they should wear at their bonding ceremony. As far as she was concerned, they were already bonded. But Kalona wasn't so sure anymore. He loved her, deep down. He knew he did. But there was a part of him that didn't want to go through with the ceremony. He wasn't sure if she was the right one for him anymore. The feelings he had for Zoey were caused by the spell, but they felt so real!

"I think the lace would work better because we are in Nyx's kingdom, but I am torn. I want it to be authentic to our people." A-ya continued, not noticing that Kalona wasn't paying much attention.

"Your people." he corrected her.

She looked hurt at his comment. He didn't want to hurt her, but it was the truth. "I'm sorry, sweet. It's just that… I am not really of your people. I am an immortal. This place," he gestured around himself, "is where I am from. I may have stayed in your village for a time, but I am not from there."

A-ya took her hand away from his chest and turned around to look at the two dresses before her. One was made of white lace - a lot like traditional wedding dresses on earth - and the other was made out of moccasin. "Then I suppose we should go with white lace. After all, you are much more important than I am."

That last comment was meant to make Kalona feel guilty. Somewhere, deep inside him, something stirred. Yes, it bothered him a little, but not like it would have before Zoey came along. Still, he knew he had to keep up appearances. "Oh, sweet, I am sorry. I did not mean to -"

Suddenly, a searing pain made its way through Kalona's body. He fell to the ground, yelling out as he did. It felt as if his insides were being ripped out. He was aware that A-ya had crouched down next to him and was yelling. He couldn't make out what she was saying, the pain was so horrible.

Kalona spread out from a ball to laying on the ground. The pain was starting to ease up, but it was far from gone. He could feel the sweat beading all over his body, the ripples going through every single one of his muscles. His head felt as if someone had stuck a hot poker into it. His wings thrashed by themselves, he not being able to control them.

He was vaguely aware that A-ya had to move back because of his wings. He didn't want her to move back. He wanted her right there next to him.

"No!" he yelled, barely able to get the word out. "A…ya…."

She ran back over to him, trying to avoid crashing into his wings. "Oh, love! What is happening?"

He didn't know. He couldn't think through all of the pain. Maybe Nyx was punishing him for not telling A-ya what was going on. It wasn't like Zoey and…her warrior's situation. A-ya knew nothing about what was going on. She did not know that Zoey was pregnant with Kalona's child, and she also didn't know that Zoey and Kalona were having a secret affair. That warrior of Zoey's knew about the spell, so he must have thought about what the consequences would be.

Out of nowhere, the pain stopped. Kalona was able to control his body once again and breathe carefully. Every muscle in his body was sore, but they weren't on fire anymore. Finally, he was able to think about what might have happened.

There were three situations running through his mind. The first was that the spell had somehow been broken. If that was the case, something had happened that was so big it broke the bond between Kalona and Zoey. Either Zoey and her friends had found some way to break the spell, or Zoey had… No! He wouldn't think of that. Zoey would never betray their love like that.

The second was even more horrible than the first. Something bad had happened. Somehow, Zoey had lost the child. It had to have been some sort of accident that pressed on her stomach just the right way. He could only remember two instances where the mother of his children lost the child. One was in a freak accident; the mother had been walking with one of the men in the tribe along a cliff, tripped, and her stomach flew right into the side of the cliff when the man grabbed her and kept her from falling. The other…

That is what brought him to his third thought. He didn't want to think about it, but it popped into his head before he could stop it…

Zoey was dead.

He stopped himself from imagining different scenarios where Zoey had died. The only thing that he knew of for sure was that the bond between he and Zoey had been broken. He couldn't feel her or the child, and that was something that chilled him to the bone. But there was something that scared him even more than that.

He had never been this scared in his life before, and just that thought scared him more than anything else ever could.

[BREAK; ZOEY'S POV]

I was laying with Stark on the bed, loving the feel of his bare skin next to mine. He was rubbing my stomach, talking about how we were going to make a great family. He kept talking about different things we would do depending on if the baby were a boy or a girl, something we would find out tomorrow. Rephaim kept saying that he is sure it is a girl, but we want to be certain.

It wasn't until Stark was asleep, and I was close to sleep, when I realized that I hadn't thought of Kalona once after we'd made love. That was extremely weird considering the fact that I had thought of nothing but Kalona for a straight week.

In my mind, it wasn't Kalona standing with me and our child. It was Stark. I thought of nothing but Stark. My Stark.

I knew that the bond between Kalona and I had been broken when I thought specifically about Kalona and felt absolutely nothing. My problems were fixed! I could be with Stark without having to carry around the burden of also loving Kalona! Now, Stark, me, and the child that we would raise as his and mine instead of Kalona's and mine, could live happily ever after.

I should've known that it wouldn't be as simple as that…