The Bear's Surrogate: A Paranormal Pregnancy Romance (12 page)

Valemon wrapped his arms around the nude goddess as he bucked up inside her, thrusting for all he was worth.  He was so close to cumming and abandoned any control he might have had over his lust.  He felt Freyja grip him with her pussy and it was too much.  He growled as he gripped her tightly as she continued to grind against him. 

Freyja moaned and panted as she grew closer and closer to her climax.  “Valemon...I’m about to.  Just so you know,” she whispered breathlessly. 

“Good...because I can’t hold it in anymore...” he said through gritted teeth as he emptied his seed deep within the eager goddess while he felt her muscles spasming around his massive manhood.   He sent his orgasmic energy out towards Freyja as he spent himself inside her.

Freyja yelled out as her climax came over her.  She felt the psychic link between her and Valemon waver as he was caught up in the tide of energy.  His mortal synapses were overwhelmed by the goddess’s orgasm and he felt his body lurch and then nothing as he blacked out from the intensity. 

Freyja savored the influx of energy as she looked down at the unconscious Valemon.  “Well, I hope I didn’t break him,” she said to herself as she got up and put her clothes back on.   She felt more energized and better able to face the perils ahead.  Rachel had a bit more time left now that she had managed to renew herself. 

She looked down at Valemon’s nude form in the cool wet grass and knew he wouldn’t fare well like that while he was passed out.  She looked at his backpack and noticed he had made a bed roll, just in case.  She undid it and placed the blanket over the large, muscular man to keep him warm while he recovered from the ritual they had just completed.

CHAPTER NINE

Rachel sat uncomfortably in the wrought iron cage Hans had placed her in when they arrived at the large clearing in the thick forest. 

“How are you enjoying your stay?” He sneered down at her.  “I know the Iron Woods aren’t really that great on the accommodations, but we have to make do with what we have.”

She looked around and saw upwards of twenty dire wolves lounging around the dirt clearing.  There was a bonfire roaring in the center of the packed earth and torches positioned around the perimeter.  Gigantic pine trees towered overhead, blocking out the sun, which she knew must have been out since she saw splashes of blue between the massive boughs. 

“Still not saying much,” Hans said.  “Very well.  Just keep eating like a good pet and all this will be over soon.”

Rachel attempted to get comfortable, which was a feat unto itself due to the fact she was immensely pregnant and stuffed into a small iron cage.   Her blonde hair was matted beyond repair and probably had to be cut if she managed to get out of this alive.   The fog inside her brain was still there but it wasn’t as strong as it was when she was at the chalet. 

“Hello?” she thought out to the person who had taken control of her body.

“Yes?” the female voice replied.

“When will I be getting out of here? I really do not like this.”

“How are you being held?” the voice asked.

“I’m in a cage.  I’m really not comfortable and it’s painful.”

Rachel felt cold anger from the presence in her head; thankfully, it wasn’t directed at her.  “Don’t worry; help is on its way.  Just stay calm and don’t move much.”

“Don’t plan on moving, and you’re the one who’s keeping me calm.  If you weren’t keeping me under psychic lock and key I would be ranting and raving to get them to let me go.”

“Yeah, see we can’t have that, because they’ll get sick of listening to you and probably cut their losses and kill you.”

Rachel’s thoughts were interrupted by a large black snout poking through the bars of her cage.  She watched the lip curl up to reveal a pearlescent fang, as a growl rumbled from the massive animal.  Her nose was assailed by the stench of rotting carrion wafting from the dire wolf’s hot, fetid breath.    She gagged in reaction to the putrid smell and turned away from the inquisitive canine nose.

She then heard the sound of pouring water and the acrid stench of urine filled the air.  She looked over at the giant canine incredulously, as it stood there with his leg lifted, and watched it piss all over her cage, splattering her in the process.

The dire wolf let out a yelp as Hans kicked him sharply in the rump.  “You filthy beast.  Get out of here; is this any way to treat a guest?”  He knelt down and looked Rachel in the eye as his nose wrinkled in disgust. “My apologies, dear.  Sometimes my relatives don’t know how to curb their natural instincts.”  He looked at Rachel’s torn and filthy clothing and frowned.  “I do believe you need a good wash up.  We can’t have the main attraction of the ritual covered in rags and wolf piss that just won’t do.”  He unlocked the cage and seized her by the arm, dragging her to her feet.  “There is a cave nearby with some hot springs.  You’ll bathe there.  You will have guards so you won’t be able to escape.  Also you’ll have someone there that can help with that horrific mop of yours,” Hans said, sneering at the tangled wreck that was Rachel’s blonde tresses. 

Despite being out in the wilderness, Hans still kept his long black hair neatly tied back at the nape of his neck and his black goatee still perfectly groomed but his suit was traded in for a pair black pants and a black button up cotton shirt.  

They walked in silence through the clearing to a large cave.  It was illuminated inside by blazing wall mounted torches. Hans had Rachel’s arm in an iron grip as he directed her towards the back of the open cave.  In the main gallery, there was a stone table set with a wolf pelt, with four sconces, one at each corner.  Hans jerked her roughly, as she looked around. “Now, you don’t need to see that just yet.  The springs are through here.”  He motioned to a tarp-covered door.

Hans moved the tarp aside and steam filled the air.  Sitting next to one of the pools were three emaciated women with long black hair dressed in white robes.  “These are your guards, and also here to help you clean up.”

Rachel mutely strode towards the inviting water. Two of the women got up and helped her undress.  They wrinkled their noses at the sour smelling clothing and put it off to the side to be disposed of.  

Rachel stood in the ruddy torchlight.  Her stomach grossly distended and marred with purple stretch marks from her abnormally developing pregnancy.   Her pale skin was almost translucent from anemia, and her previously muscular body had wasted away to skin and bones from the demands of the growing fetus. 

Usually, pregnancies give the woman time to keep up with the demands of the growing baby inside.  This one, which had grown to almost full term in two weeks, didn’t give Rachel that chance.  This baby was rapidly killing her.

“I look awful!” she thought.  “I’m almost dead!”

“It will all be over soon.  Help is less than a day away, if you can hang on that long.”

“I hope I can.”

One of the black haired women held Rachel’s hand as she stepped into the steaming pool.  “Now you can’t stay in there too long or you’ll hurt the baby.”  

Rachel nodded mutely as the exquisite feeling of the hot springs soothed her tired and aching body.  In reaction to the hot water, the baby inside kicked her so violently one of her ribs broke.  She was still under the control of the mysterious woman so she didn’t feel the pain, just the snap.

She felt a bowl of hot water being poured over her head and gentle hands working at her knotted tresses.  The scent of lavender and vanilla filled the air as the girls shampooed her hair.

“Close your eyes so we can rinse,” the one who had been washing her hair instructed.

Rachel closed her eyes as she felt the hot water pour over her head to rinse out the suds. 

“Now we need to condition it so we can detangle it.  It would be a shame to cut it all off. First, you need to get out of the spring.  You’ve been in there long enough.  The dirt has come off.”  The nameless woman helped Rachel exit the hot spring and wrapped her in a large terrycloth towel.  “Now sit down over here.”

Rachel did as she was told and felt her scalp being gently massaged.  The woman worked the thick conditioner through the matted mess and let it sit for a few minutes.  She then took a wide tooth comb and began to comb out the knotted mess that was Rachel’s hair.

Hours passed and the unnamed woman finally finished working the knots out of Rachel’s blonde tresses.  She rinsed the conditioner out with a pitcher of water and wrapped her hair in another towel.  Hans then poked his head into the hot springs cavern and tossed in a pile of fresh clothing for Rachel to wear and closed the tarp. 

The woman who had been tending to her picked up the clothing and handed it to Rachel to put on.   She unfolded the outfit and noted it was identical to the one the other woman was wearing.  She donned the white dress and pushed the tarp aside to exit the bathing area.

“There you are, it took you long enough,” Hans sneered.  “Now you’re all clean we need to bring you back to your little house.” He grabbed Rachel by the elbow and escorted her back to her cage.  “Now, I made sure the others wouldn’t pull the same stunt on you again.  I’ll get you some more food shortly; you look like you need it.”

Rachel silently re-entered her cage and sat down.  The stupor she was being kept in rendered her mute around her captors.  She was getting fed up with being kept in such a state and railed internally against her psychic captivity.

“Just relax,” the voice inside her head said.  “Eat the food that Hans will bring you and relax. You’re going to have a real rough go of it in a few days, so you need to regain your strength.  If you don’t you
will
die.”

Rachel gagged a little as a pound of barely cooked meat was unceremoniously dumped into her cage.  “Eat it,” the voice urged.  “I’ll try to keep you from vomiting.”

She picked up a chunk of quivering lukewarm flesh and brought it to her mouth.  She took one bite and felt the bile boil up in the back of her throat to be quickly squashed by the person who was in control of her body.  She took a bite and was disgusted by the metallic taste of the extra rare flesh but powered through. 

“It’s liver,” the woman in her head explained.  “You need the iron.  There is a reason why they didn’t cook it for you and no, it wasn’t to torture you.  They know you’re weak and they want you to live.  The baby inside, they don’t really care about.”

“Why do they want me alive, anyway?” Rachel asked.

“Because you’ve proven to have the ability to carry a god's child nearly to term without dying, so they think.  They don’t know I’ve stepped in.”

“God's child? What?  Who are you?” Rachel demanded silently.

“I’m Freyja, the Norse Goddess of Love, Sex and War, among other things.  I also am the head of the Falcon clan.  The Bear clan are the descendents of my brother, Freyr, and Gerda.  You’d think they would be deer or elk, but he thought the bear would be less obvious or something.”

“So what am I?”

“Just a mortal that’s about to have her guts ripped open by a bear cub if she doesn’t get a chance to be turned in time.”

“Is that what they’re waiting for?  To turn me?”

“Fenrir’s children are the ones keeping you captive.  They need to wait for a very specific point to turn you into one of them.  Valemon can turn you into a bear once we get there.  He’s sleeping right now, but I’ll give him a kick.  We’re only a few hours away.”

“Sleeping? It’s the middle of the day,” Rachel replied.

“Yeah well, all the stress...” Freyja deftly evaded.

“Ah, okay.  Do you have any more information for me?”  Rachel sent out as she choked down more of the gross liver.

“Stop being such a baby and eat.  Anyway, once your labor begins, it will be short and messy.  You need to be the right shape to birth it.  If the dire wolves change you, the enchantment will kill the child within you before it’s born.  Incompatible genetics and stuff like that.”

Rachel sat up straighter at the thought.  She might not have had the chance to bond with this baby during pregnancy like most other mothers, but she felt strangely attached to this child and didn’t want any harm to come to it.  She wasn’t even sure if she wanted to give it up to Valemon and move on.  She would have to think about it.

“You don’t have much time to think about it, to be honest,” Freyja replied.  “You’re probably going to have that baby within the next day or so.  I’ll tell you this, Valemon loves you.  He doesn’t want to admit it to himself, or you, but I have my ways.  It goes along with the whole ‘I’m a frikking Goddess of Love and Sex’ deal.”

Rachel tried not to laugh aloud at what Freyja sent to her.  She looked at another gob of meat and picked it up.  “Down the hatch, eh?” she thought.

“Good plan.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they kept dropping more in for you to eat throughout the day.  Hans is very protective over you.  Angrboda won’t be making an appearance tonight, but Fenrir might.  He’s not one you want to cross.”

“Isn’t he tied up?”

“It’s difficult to explain.  Just trust me; we can be in more than one place at one time.  Goes with the whole divinity shtick.”

“Oh, alright,” Rachel thought, exasperated.  “I’m feeling pretty tired and this baby broke one of my ribs, I think.”

“Yeah, it did.  Once we get there, I’ll fix you right up.  Just be patient and gather your strength, as disgusting as it seems, the raw meat will help.”

Rachel kept devouring gob after gob of flesh as the wolves kept dropping it into her cage.  She should be full up by now, but her body literally craved all she had been given.  It was almost like a drug. 

Hans crouched down and looked in.  “It looks like you’re wolfing that right now.  Pardon the phrasing,” he said with a wan smile.  “I’m pleased.  I haven’t been able to get in contact with my mistress, so one of the handmaidens will have to attend the delivery.  I hope you don’t mind. Wait, I forgot, I don’t care if you mind or not.  I do know that you will have the esteemed pleasure of meeting the founder of our clan, Fenrir. “Well, after you have that beast inside, your encounters with Fenrir might be nothing but pleasure, but I doubt it.” He rose from his crouch.  “Keep eating, little bird, you’ll be popping any day now.” With that, Hans strode to the cave to oversee the preparations for the ritual.

Another massive dire wolf dropped a pile of meat into her cage.  She scooped up some of the bloody mess and thoughtfully chewed on it while waiting to be rescued.   She wished she could try to break out on her own, but something inside her, that wasn’t Freyja, cautioned against it.