ROMANCE: Lion Protector (Paranormal Shifter BBW Military Romance) (Shapeshifter Alpha Male Short Stories Book 2) (155 page)

Chapter 7

              From that point onward their relationship became increasingly intimate. They became clear lovers, and Casey found himself enjoying his time with Andries more and more. His old life became a distant memory.

              However, as time went on he noticed himself gaining weight. Soon that weight turned into a round stomach, and he started to worry there was something wrong with him. He didn’t know what to do, and started to wear baggier clothes, hoping to hide it from Andries. Soon, however, when his stomach was too round to ignore, he searched out Andries, hoping he would have answers.

              He found Andries in their bedroom, taking a nap. He walked slowly to the bed before crawling beside the man. He looked at him, feeling a fire build in his stomach. His heart quicken as he shivered. Gently, he reached out and gently caressed the man’s cheek. “Andries…”

              The dragon’s eyes shot open as he looked up at Casey. He smiled slightly and propped himself up on his elbow. “Hmm?” he raised an eyebrow in question.

              “There’s something…I need to talk to you about…” Casey whispered as he looked down. Andries raised his eyebrow again, waiting for him to continue. “I’ve been gaining weight in a strange way…” he admitted, a hint of shame painted on his face as he slowly pulled up his shirt. Andries’ eyes widened in surprise. Leaning down, he sniffed Casey’s stomach.

              “I don’t believe it…” he whispered in shocked.

              “What…what is it!?” Casey asked in a panic.

              “You’re pregnant,” Andries blurted out.

              “What…?” Casey gasped before quickly getting out of the bed. “You’re insane!” Andries just shook his head as he stared at the man’s bloated stomach.

              “I didn’t think it was possible…” he whispered to himself. He looked up, seeing the distraught omega, and sighed before standing up. He placed his hands on Casey’s shoulders wrapping his arms around him and encasing him in a comforting hug. “Shh…calm down,” he cooed in Casey’s ear, trying to keep him calm. He finally managed to coax Casey into a nearby chair. “Let me try and explain.”

              Andries took a moment to settle his thoughts as he ran his fingers through his dark hair. “Alpha dragons mate with omega dragons. I am an alpha. However, I was never able to find a female mate. I always assumed that my lineage was bound to die with my death. I never thought a male omega, like you, could bear my children.”

Casey looked at him in disbelief. He blinked at Andries for a moment before saying, “So…I’m pregnant with your child? How is that possible?” he asked numbly, his hands falling onto his stomach, wondering if there was really a life hiding inside of him.

              “I am not completely positive, but I am assuming it is similar to a male-on-female pregnancy. I must have impregnated you when I climaxed inside of you.” Casey blushed slightly at his words. He didn’t know if he should be happy or angry. His hands gently caressed his stomach.

              “What…what do we do now?” he asked, fear lacing in his words. He didn’t know what to do with a baby dragon.

              Andries smiled before walking over and kissing the omega’s forehead. “We have the baby and raise it together.” He looked down at the omega with burning eyes, awaiting a response.

              Casey blushed crimson before standing up and hugging the powerful man. Eventually, he nodded his head. He couldn’t believe this was happening, but if the baby was Andries’, he wanted to have it. Andries swelled with pride and encased the smaller man in his arms.

              “Andries?” Casey whispered, looking up at him.

              “Hmm?”

              “If I am an omega dragon, why don’t I have wings like you?”

Andries chuckled. “I can fix that.” Casey looked at him quizzically. Andries had a knowing grin on his face as he grabbed the man’s hand in his. He pulled him to the balcony.

              Casey smiled as he felt the sea breeze hit his face, cooling his burning blush. Andries slowly took off his necklace before unclasping it. Biting his lip, he slid the rings off of the chain until they landed in the palm of his hand.

              He closed his hand around them for a moment before closing his own eyes. Casey looked at him curiously, wondering what was going on. Soon he opened his fist. The rings had started to glow slightly. “These are my mating rings. Every alpha male is born with them on his tail. One is for himself and one is for his mate. When he places the ring on his mate’s finger it will never come off.” He said these words while staring at Casey, his gaze intense.

              Casey could feel his heart quicken in his chest as he realized the implications of the man’s words. He watched as Andries picked up the aquamarine ring and held it steadily in one hand. With the other, he gently held Casey’s left hand. With an effortless precision, he slid the ring onto Casey’s delicate finger. Casey watched with a mesmerized stare.

              Andries’ hands fell away, resting by his side as he looked at the omega. Casey took a moment before reaching down, gently touching the ring on his finger. It was cold to the touch, bringing a soothing sensation to his body. Holding his breath, he tried to pull off the ring, but it wouldn’t budge. “It’s stuck,” he said simply, looking up at the dragon for confirmation.

              Andries reached forward and gave the ring a good tug, but it stayed glued to Casey’s finger. His face exploded in a bright smile as he picked up the omega and hugged him tightly. “I knew it!” It was the first burst of excitement Casey had seen in the man.

              Casey spotted the ruby ring still in the man’s hand and blushed as he spoke. “May I?” Andries looked down and blushed slightly before nodding. Casey smiled, taking the ring and placing it on the man’s finger. The two rings lit up powerfully, causing Casey to close his eyes.

              He suddenly felt a strange sensation grow in his back. Casey moaned softly as wings started to emerge from his back. It was a strange feeling at first, but he quickly began to enjoy it as a rush of adrenaline sped through his system, making him feel energized and alive.

              All of a sudden his wings expanded to their full length. He gasped when he saw their sky blue color.

              “An ice dragon…how interesting,” Andries mused.

Chapter 8

              After their mock engagement, it was just a waiting game. Andries took great care of the pregnant omega, making sure he was comfortable at all times and bending to all of his cravings, no matter how obscure.

              Casey was now reading a book by the fire. It was weird to think that he now enjoyed the heat. He liked how it reminded him of Andries. He cuddled against his blanket as he felt the soft kick of the baby dragon moving around inside of him. Placing his book down, he reached down and ran his hands over his bloated stomach, trying to picture what the baby would look like.

              As he did, he suddenly gasped, feeling a sharp pain radiating through his body. He arched his back and closed his eyes, feeling a wetness forming underneath him. With a weak voice, he called out, “Andries!”

              As the alpha rushed into the room, Casey started to lose consciousness. The room around him was becoming blurry and distant. He felt Andries’ strong arms pick him up and carry him to the bedroom. “Shh…it’s alright.”

              Casey heard the words and smiled slightly as he looked up at his lover. His eyes closed as his eyelids became heavy and he fell into a deep slumber.

              A few hours later, Casey woke up hearing the sound of soft singing. He looked around confused, trying to find the source of the sound. His eyes finally rested on his lover, who was slowly bobbing something up and down in his arms. Casey smiled to himself as he watched him.

              As the dragon turned around, he noticed Casey and smiled brightly. “It’s a girl.” His dark eyes were shining with delight as he walked over to the bed. Casey tilted his head slightly.

              Andries sat down before uncovering the small bundle in his arms. Casey’s eyes grew large as he looked at his newborn daughter. His world filled with euphoria as he saw her.

              “She’s beautiful,” he whispered as he held out his arms, wanting to hold her. Andries smiled before placing the small child in his lover’s arms. Casey looked down at her perfect face as her dark eyes looked up at him. He chuckled as he saw fiery red tufts of hair on her head. “Looks like she took after both of us…”

              Andries grinned to himself before leaning forward and kissing Casey’s head. After pausing for a moment he kissed his daughter’s head. He smiled contentedly, glad he finally found his mate.

Drilled by the Sergeant

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Chapter 1: Naval Recruit Zack Schaffer

              The educational room in Great Lakes, Illinois, was packed. The Navy’s basic training was much more difficult than I had imagined it would be. I had spent the last year training my body for the SEAL program. I had thought that the Navy’s basic training would be a cakewalk. When it came to running around in the gym, or marching around the expansive Navy base, it was. I could run in my sleep. I could run for miles without getting tired. I could do one hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, and twenty pull-ups without any difficulty. I had expected SEAL training to be hard, especially the Hell Week that I kept reading about in books written by those who had gone through the program and survived. I had not expected to find what I found when I entered the basic training program.

              It was the sleep deprivation that did it to me more than anything else. They brought me to the base on a dark bus in the middle of the night. That had been after a flight I had taken from Lincoln, Nebraska, to Chicago International Airport. I learned early on during that bus ride that the best thing I could do for myself was to keep quiet. There were a handful of people who didn’t know better and talked back to the Navy personnel. They didn’t like that much. I could tell by how they frowned and how their voices grew louder as they talked. I kept my eyes forward as much as I possibly could. I decided to say nothing unless I was spoken to. That didn’t happen until I was asked what size shoe I wore.

              I marched in the middle of the night to my barracks, which turned out to be a spacious room in a large building that the instructors referred to as a ship. Everyone in the Navy had their own terminology for everything. I did not understand it at first; I just tried to go along with it as best I could. I got an hour of sleep during the first night. Then it was out to marching again. Even though my own building—ship—had its own mess hall, I marched with my company to the mess hall meant for the entire base. That was when the weariness set in. It never went away, for I never got a full night’s sleep during his first week of training. The instructors soon started assigning watch. Every now and then, a chief petty officer—a man with such a high rank that he might as well have been a god in comparison to my rank of E-1 recruit—would come by to challenge whoever was on watch. As often as not, the poor recruit responsible for watching the door would fail the challenge. Then everyone in the company woke up with the noise from the tongue-lashing that resulted.

              In consequence, when I got a chance to sit down in a chair, I was counting my blessings. I got to sit down on the floor and stand in line a lot. The life of a Navy recruit was a life of waiting. I tried to be as patient as I could. That was not easy. I sat and waited for a well-dressed muscular man to come to the front of the classroom. I leaned forward in my seat when I saw the insignia of the Navy SEAL who I recognized from so much research. The man had come to give us all an invitation to join the SEALs, if we wished to do so. I had been waiting for it all through basic training.

              I accepted the invitation. I ended up transferring out of basic and into its SEAL training program. I hadn’t known it then, but my experiences with sleep deprivation were only just beginning.

Chapter 2: Petty Officer David Anderson

              As a  petty officer first class with the rank of E-6, I could more or less call my own shots. I had put in seventeen years of Naval service until I was selected to be a trainer of new recruits hoping to make it into the Navy SEALS program. I had told myself that I would punch my ticket during my twentieth year and get out. I would get my GI Bill and my pension and go somewhere quiet and cold where no one wanted to live. I had my sights set on northern Scotland. It was awfully cold up there, but it was also very quiet. I didn’t mind the cold. I did mind too many people around me all at once. That drained my energy away faster than the most intense training session.

              The Captain of the Great Lakes base had seen fit to send thirty-seven men and two women into my care. I walked back and forth in front of them while they stood at attention on a dark, frigid night. To me, they all looked like greenhorns who ought to be sent back to their mothers. I made up my mind then and there to put them all over my knee to see who would break and who would not. Better to find out that they break under pressure during training conditions than in the field, when lives are on the line.

              I said, “Well, I have to commend you all on your bravery. I won’t commend you on your intelligence, because if you’re here, you don’t have much of that. Now, this program lasts for eight weeks, starting today. You have fifty-six days to prove yourselves to me, or else you will be out. Now, you will see behind me a little silver bell hanging in the air. Do you see it? If you know what that is, then go ahead and ring it now. That bell is your way out of the program. This place will be complete hell. It will be the worst thing that you have ever experienced, or will ever experience. This program will kick your ass, chew you up, spit you out, and stomp on you for good measure. It will test you down to the very core of who you are. If you think you can’t handle that, if you have any doubts about yourself, go ring that bell. You won’t get punished if you do. You can’t go to jail or get kicked out of the Navy. You’ll be put back with another division to continue your basic training. Does everyone understand?”

              A nervous man who looked like a high school linebacker stepped up, and rung the bell at once. I said to the man, “Son, what’s your name?”

              The man could not look me in the eye. He said, “My name is Diffendorfer, Petty Officer.”

              “Mr. Diffendorfer, report to the petty officer at the registration desk you passed on your way here. Tell him that you rang the bell. He’ll direct you from there.”

              Recruit Diffendorfer walked away with his head hung low. I asked the group of thirty-eight recruits if anyone among them wished to quit. None of them spoke up. I thought that was a shame. They could have spared themselves a lot of trouble if only they weren’t so stubborn.