King Cave (47 page)

It was…my choice. Utterly and completely
my choice
. I had walked down this road without being led, at any time being able to turn away. Instead of magic throwing me at Ezra, my heart had followed him.

And I wanted him to be mine, since the damn man held my heart in his hands.

All. Fucking. Mine.

I was growling softly when I felt a hand shake my shoulder quickly. Clyde growled. The hand just as quickly disappeared. My head snapped up.

“
What?
” My wolf was riding my voice, both my wolf and I feeling astronomically possessive.

I wasn’t sure who had shaken my shoulder, but Antonio leaned forward, his eyes close to mine, his expression worried. “Lil, are you alright? King Kincaid’s been saying your name for a while now.” He brushed hair out of my face, getting swiped by Clyde’s claws but not even seeming to notice that he bled for a millisecond before he healed. “Are you feeling unwell?”

“Lily?” Ezra’s voice came gently from the other side of the table.

Before I could say anything, Elder Jacobs cursed, asking, “She’s not pregnant again, is she?”

And, like clockwork, everyone at the table froze.

Stared at me.

I could imagine what was going through their minds, since almost every individual in here knew about Ezra and me. Our sexual relations were the most widely known affair with these people, but somehow they still managed to be kept a secret. There was humor in Elder Jacobs’ comment somewhere, but my wolf was riding me too hard to give that thought the proper time it deserved, wanting to pounce on Ezra and hold him down until he wanted me, too.

“Honey, are you pregnant again?” King Kincaid bent, staring me in the face. His eyes widened, horror overtaking his features. “Christ, we just fought.” His gaze slammed to Antonio. “Get the fucking medic back in here.”

Absurdly, a chuckle escaped, sounding growly because of my wolf. “I’m not pregnant.” I fluttered my hand. “Only a little distracted.” I peered around the table, evading Ezra’s gaze. “Sorry, everyone.”

And still, they stared.

Sighing heavily, I reiterated, “I. Am. Not. Pregnant.”

King Kincaid eyed me. “No chance for pregnancy?” His nostrils flared.

Well, now, hell. Bindi had told me the procedure wasn’t one hundred percent effective. It was better than a condom, but there was still that less than one percent chance. So, how to phrase it? I petted Clyde absently, thinking quickly. “The man I’m sleeping with didn’t go bat shit crazy when he smelled me, and I was able to shift into my wolf today.”

His eyebrows puckered. “I don’t know how much you know about conception, honey, but sperm can live inside you for up to five days. You may have ovulated today and the egg fertilized after he scented you and your shift.” Okay, my face was flaming by now, my wolf receding. “Have you had sex in the last five days?”

My lips pinched, not looking at anyone. “I’m not pregnant.”

King Fergus stated, “Our women often become absent-minded when pregnant…and you most definitely were a moment ago. And you did just get into a fight. With you miscarrying recently, it’s better to be safe than sorry.” And he meant it kindly, too, by his tone. Damn him.

King Kincaid stated, “Just answer the question.”

Rubbing my forehead, cheeks flaming brightly, I muttered, “Yes, I’ve had sex in the past five days.”

King Kincaid murmured, “
Truth
.” A pause. “Was it protected?”

Oh, for the love of God!
Instantly, I thrust my finger across the table in Ezra’s general direction, stating heatedly, “Just bite me and tell these people I’m not pregnant.”

King Kincaid sighed. “Honey, you really should have your partner wear a condom.”

The table was looking better and better to bang my head against. I waggled my pointed index finger and stole a quick glance at Ezra, who was sitting frozen, his heartbeat thumping so loudly in my ears I was surprised everyone in here couldn’t hear it. “Come on, Ezra. I’m not pregnant and this is getting to be a bit
much
.” I paused. “Or I can prove I’m not pregnant by stripping down right here and now to shift.”

Ezra swallowed, then his boots fell heavily to the floor from the table. He nodded. “Alright, I’ll do the blood test.”
Yeah, he didn’t want me getting naked in front of Elder Merrick.
Bending over the table, he used his free hand not holding Bonnie to hold my extended hand. He lowered his head, fangs descended, and his lips closed over my finger. His fang pierced my skin, and when he pulled I felt a wave of light comfort wash over me, my shoulders drooping and nerves relaxing with the gentle mind hold. As before, he grazed the tip of my finger with his tongue before pulling it from his mouth. And like before, he kept his head down as he swirled my blood in his mouth, slowly swallowing.

I heard the answer first in his heartbeat, which immediately slowed, before he sighed, shaking his head as he sat back in his chair. “She’s not pregnant.”

“
Truth
,” Elder Merrick stated, sounding bewildered.

King Kincaid pointed a finger at me. “Condoms, Lily.” His eyebrows rose. “Understand?”

I bit my lip because it was so damn hard not to bust up from the absurdity. “I understand.”

He shook his head. “Say you will.”

“I will.” To what, wasn’t said.

King Kincaid nodded. “
Truth
.” I could have sworn I heard King Venclaire chuckle, a few heads even turning his way, but King Kincaid either chose to ignore him or didn’t hear it. “Now, shall we get on with this?”

I nodded, and as best I could, I pushed aside my thoughts of Ezra. Rolling Dominic’s ring around my fingers, I stared at it. Right along with all that new hope and fear inside me, I also felt peace as I examined it. Peace at moving on. Smiling softly, I lifted the ring to my lips, kissing it gently. This was it. I slipped the Prodigy ring onto my pinkie. It hung way too large on my finger for only two beats of my heart before I watched it mold to my finger.

Goodbye, Dominic.

King Kincaid made a soft sound in his throat before whispering, “You had never put it on before.”

As I stared at the ring, the last of my mate gone to me but my Core amazingly peaceful, I realized that for a while it had been time for this. I was strong — had been for some time — the weight no longer so heavy that I couldn’t take a step forward. Using my other index finger, I turned the ring so the wolf was facing up. My life stared me in the face.

I glanced up at King Kincaid, who was wiping away a tear he couldn’t stop from falling, and I smiled. “Are you going to name me Queen now or are you going to hoard the ring because I broke your ribs earlier?” Yes, it was past the time.

He sniffed hard, trying to make it look like an act of irritation even though I was positive he just had the sniffles. He took my hand, making the action look rough even though it was gentle, and I barely caught Clyde before he launched at him.

“Hold on.” I took my hand back, grabbed Clyde with both hands, and lifted him. “Ezra, can you take him?”

“Sure.” Ezra’s voice was deeper than normal as he reached across the table, nostrils flared. His fingers deliberately ran over my own as he lifted Clyde from me. Green eyes captured mine. “You’ve found your solace?”

My smile was genuine. “I have.”

His head tilted as he placed Clyde next to Bonnie on his lap. “I’ve recently found risk comes next.”

My smile only grew. “Bring it on.” I knew what I wanted. I held the challenge — fuck yes, there was an ultimatum there — in his gaze for a moment longer before returning my attention to King Kincaid. Holding my hand up, grinning cheekily into his dark eyes, I stated, “Make me Queen.”

He did as the — now — Queen’s ring slid onto my ring finger.

I didn’t miss the symbolic nature of the action.

“We need disguises,” I stated as I hurried to pack my bag. The Kings, er, Elders, with their own new set of rings bestowed on them by the other Elders in the room, had given us only fifteen minutes to get our ‘asses outside the cave’s entrance’. That didn’t leave a whole lot of time. I was throwing in a variety of clothes, unsure of where in the world I was going to have to go. Most importantly, I had strapped my gun to my thigh, which showed plainly since my dress was so short and I didn’t have time to change.

“Disguises?” Jack huffed, zipping up his bag. “How the hell do we disguise the fact we’re Mys?” West was lying on the bed next to Buttercup. Jack threw a hand in his direction. “And the fact that we have,” finger quotes, “pet lions?”

I gauged Pearl, who was running around frantically. “Pearl, can you stand still for a sec?”

She shot me a poisonous glance, but stopped in her tracks. “What?”

“We don’t have time to dye our hair, so can you make us all,” I paused, peering around at the four of us, trying to gauge the best color, “brunettes, like Coms? And make our cubs appear like,” I bit my lip, “poodles?”

She stared at me for a long moment before beginning to whisper, her eyes glowing. She snapped her finger at the cubs, which quickly appeared as poodles, still with their own coloring, and with another snap of her fingers we all had boring brown hair.

I smiled. “Perfect.”

Jack picked up a piece of his hair and stared at it with disdain. “This is disgusting.”

“If anyone saw you with your blue hair, they would shoot you instantly,” I reminded him, going back to throwing items into my duffle. “And everyone try not to look so damn hot. Your good looks give you away.” A thought, and a glance at Pearl. “Can you manage some really ugly glasses?”

Another snap of her fingers and she had four pairs of horn-rimmed spectacles in her hand.

“Ugh, those are horrible,” I said with a smile, grabbing the feminine white ones. “They’re perfect. I wore glasses like these in the Com schools.” I put them on. “How do I look?”

“Like a sexy woman trying to look ugly,” Ezra muttered, waving a hand at my dress. “You’re seriously not wearing that outside the cave, are you? Every Com male is going to take notice and try to jump you.” His eyes flashed, his muscles bulging as he stuffed clothes into his duffle.

“Look who’s talking,” I mumbled, placing my hands on my hips, my gaze roaming up and down his frame. Yeah, every damn Com or Mys woman alive would fuck him in a heartbeat.

He picked at his thermal shirt with irritation. “This is not,” a flicked finger at my dress, “that.”

Jack snickered, tossing his bag over his shoulder. “We gotta go.” He took the pair of black glasses, putting them on before picking up West. “Our fifteen minutes are almost up.”

Ezra grabbed the pair of silver glasses, clearly aggravated. “We’ll meet you outside.”

Pearl put on her green glasses, transforming her into an Amazonian library goddess with her brown hair. “Uh-huh. You two don’t have—”

Ezra cut her off, growling, “I said, we’ll meet you outside.”

Pearl muttered a curse as Jack hustled her and Buttercup out of our bedroom, who barely gave her a chance to grab her own bag.

Ezra was suddenly in front of me, lifting my chin gently. “Are you sure you want this?” His eyes darted back and forth between mine. “I’ve had a few weeks to think this through. You only decided yesterday you wanted it. Maybe you need more time?”

Staring hard at his chin, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to tell him otherwise, my heart pounded erratically, but I went for it. “Ezra, I’m in love with you. I know I want to be with you.” I placed a trembling hand on his chest. “I want you to be mine. And I want to be yours.”

I didn’t hear anything for a moment…and then, I felt dizzy when I did. Ezra’s heartbeat jumped, and then took off in a wild frenzy. His grip tightened on my chin, and he shook it a smidge. “Look at me, sweetheart.” I did. And met intense green. “You’re in love with me?”

My chin quivered, my heart flew. I felt weak in the knees. “I’m very much in love with you.”

His voice was guttural. “Promise?”

I nodded, lifted my hands to cup his cheeks and pull his face down closer to mine. “I promise.”

His jaw clenched. “I first knew I was in love with you that night in the storage closet.” He paused, his eyes holding mine. There was an almost vulnerable cast to them that he couldn’t quite hide. “I’ve been waiting for you to catch up with me, but the whole while I was still afraid of the risks that come with a relationship without magic.” He paused. “I still am afraid of the risks.”

And yeah, like a girl, my eyes were a little watery and a few tears spilled, my heart soaring higher than the clouds. It was a good thing I had stored that bottle of wine in my closet and we didn’t drink it. I was definitely going to cherish the damn thing as a keepsake. “You’re in love with me, huh?”

He nodded once, his face fierce even though his eyes were still showing that vulnerable cast.

“I think I know what comes after risk,” I murmured softly as he brushed the tears off my cheeks. Going on tiptoe, I kissed his thinned lips until they softened slightly. “Do you want to know what it is?”

Again, he nodded once, rigidly.

Biting his bottom lip softly, I whispered, “It’s trust, Ezra. Trust that the person you love won’t hurt you with unkindness and disrespect. Trust that the person won’t crush your heart with infidelity. Trust that, in the end, your partner will love you just as much as you love them, because there will be problems in life that threaten to tear you apart. It’s simply trust.”