Under the Alpha's Protection (8 page)

"The council made the decision for me, Lupe, I didn't—"

"Bullshit. Admit the truth on your death bed at least, brother dear."

"No,
Dad." With a growl Raoul shifted, seemingly intent on killing Draco.

Silly little wolves. Look at them, princess. They think they're a match for us. You and me, we'll take over, and unite the packs. We'll live forever
, and we’ll have the whole of London as our play area. You'd like that, Princess, wouldn't you?

The trembles started from deep inside her womb and traveled outwards in ever widening circles. Her senses heightened
, and her blood boiled as Draco continued to talk to her in her mind.

"No.
No!
Never."

The hysterical shriek coming out of her mouth hurt her own ears, and the wolves now piling in through the busted doors all yelped and cowered on the floor. Nikita saw red, and she leapt through the air and crashed into an astonished looking Draco. He never knew what hit him as her clawed hand broke through his sternum and she fisted his heart and pulled.

Like a hot knife through butter her fist slid through his already disintegrating body, and she held his now still heart in her hands, and squeezed. The leftover ashes fluttered through the air like macabre confetti, and her own heart slowed and stopped.

The last conscious thought Nikita ha
d was an overwhelming feeling of regret, before the incredible pain in her neck made her black out.

Chapter Eight

Nikita had died and was burning in hell. That was the only explanation for the fire in her veins and the amount of pain she was in. Her throat hurt as though she'd swallowed razorblades, her stomach heaved, and for the umpteenth time she emptied out the entire contents of her stomach. A cool washcloth placed on her clammy forehead was heaven sent, and Raoul's beloved voice brought a ghost of a smile to her face, until she remembered that she ought to be cross at him.

"Mama, let me do that."

"No, you'll be off with you. Trust me when she's well enough to care about these things she'll thank you for the fact that you didn't see her at her worst. Besides, she doesn't need a man right now. This is women's work. Go do manly things with your father. I've got this."

Raoul's furious growl seemed to shake the whole room, and there was the slam of a door, but his mother just laughed softly, and continued to stroke the blessedly cool cloth over Nikita's skin.

Maybe she wasn't in hell then. Felicia Saint Germain was altogether too kind to ever end up in hell.

"No, you're certainly not dead, my dear, though I wager you feel like death warmed up." Felicia's answer had Nikita's eyes flutter open, and the older woman's lined face lit up in a kind smile. She had Raoul's eyes
, and a little pang of regret jolted through Nikita at the thought. There was so much unfinished business between her and Raoul.

"This stage is always the hardest, and after everything your body has been through, it will take you some time to regain your strength."

She pulled Nikita up gently when she tried to lift her head, and fluffed the pillows behind her head.

"It's a miracle you're still carrying, my dear, but then you've beaten the odds at every turn. Here, sip this. It will help settle your stomach and give you some energy. I know my son is busting at the seams to see you up and about. He doesn’t seem to believe me when I tell him that this is all normal, and will pass. It's only to be expected in your condition."

Felicia pushed a spoon of tepid liquid into her mouth, and Nikita dutifully swallowed. Her stomach roiled, but the slightly bitter brew stayed down, and Felicia urged several more spoonfuls down her, before Nikita put her hands up, and waved surrender.

"Good girl, that's a start."

"What did you mean in my condition? What the fuck have I turned into now?"

She clamped a hand on her mouth when Felicia'
s eyebrows rose.

"There's no need for that sort of language, my dear, not in my house. I'll forgive you this once, but don't think I won't make you eat the washing up liquid."

Her face softened when Nikita burst into tears, and she pulled her in for a hug, which just made her cry harder.

"There, there now it's okay. Just let it all out, that's it."

Nikita eventually managed to stop sniffling and blew her nose on the tissues Felicia pushed into her hands.

"I'm sorry, it's just my mum always used to say to that to me, and I miss her."

Felicia nodded in understanding, and patted her hand.

"I understand, my dear. A woman needs her mother at this time in her life, or at least her female friends. That's why I insisted that the big lump of my son brought you back here to the old pack house. I swear he may be the Alpha, and I know he loves you to distraction, but he's thick as two planks at times."

Nikita gave her a watery smile and latched onto those few words.

"He loves me? Are you sure? Even after what I let Draco do to me?" Nikita hated how small and desperate her voice sounded, and Felicia rolled her eyes.

"Of course he does. We all do, in fact. You're something of a hero in the pack's eyes. You defeated Draco and lived to tell the tale. That is some kick-ass stuff, right there, girl. You single-handedly saved this pack, the neighboring ones, and no doubt countless clueless and defenseless humans."

"Clueless humans like me, you mean. You all must have had a laugh at silly little Nikita, making moon eyes at Raoul, when all this time there was this whole other world, I never knew existed."

Felicia's deep sigh raised the ends of her sodden fringe, and she dropped a kiss on Nikita's forehead.

"You're overwrought, my dear, which is understandable, and you're blowing this all out of proportion."

Nikita pushed away from her and pulled her knees to her chest.

"Am I? Tell me you didn't think that deep down. Tell me you didn't want Raoul to settle down with some nice she-wolf and raise an army of cute little cuddly cubs."

A curious smile appeared on Felicia's face at that comment, and she stood to leave.

"I won't deny that there was some concern among the pack, and especially the council at the thought
of Raoul mating with a human. One never knows how these things will go, but you're wrong, if you think for one minute that I regret Raoul's choices. All I ever wanted was for my son to find a woman who makes him happy. Who can meet all his needs and still be the strong Alpha female he needs to take this pack forward." She paused and ironed out the creases on her skirt with a swipe of her hands. "You've proven to all of us how strong you are by defeating Draco and saving the pack. It remains to be seen whether you can make my son happy."

The inherent criticism stung
, and Nikita barely resisted the childish urge to stick her tongue out at Felicia.

"Has it ever occurred to you that he might not make me happy? He lied to me after all, and it's because of him that I almost died how many freaking times already?" Felicia flinched
, and Nikita regretted her words almost immediately. Felicia had shown nothing but kindness to her whenever they'd met in the past, and she was in the woman's house now, and she'd been nurse-maiding her for God only knew how long. Nikita had long since lost any track of time, and she had no clue what day of the week it was or how long she'd lain in the bed recuperating. In fact she had no recollection of anything after Draco's heart disintegrated in her hands and her own stopped beating at the same time.  By rights she shouldn’t even be alive, so none of this made sense.

"I'm sorry. I don’t mean to be rude." She whispered the apology
, and Felicia smiled.

"Like I said, my dear, you're overwrought. I understand, and for the record, yes, Raoul should have told you from the outset, what and who he is, but tell me this. Would you have stayed? Would you even have believed him?"

Her crystal blue gaze, so like Raoul's, held Nikita spellbound, and she didn't even dare breathe until Felicia spoke again.

"My son has his faults. He is a man after all, but I know that he's loved you for years, has watched over you from the first moment he saw you. It's killed him seeing you go on dates that never worked out. It was his shoulder you cried on, always just his friend, and he never crossed that line, not once. So, yes, he made a wrong choice in not telling you his heritage, but he did that for the right reasons. He was afraid of losing you. He still is. I know my son. Behind all that bluster and for all his dominant ways he is still scared shitless that you'll reject him." She paused and smiled with a faraway look in her eyes. "His father was just the same. Which is how I ended up with Draco. He had no qualms about biting me against my will, of forcing a bond between us that I didn't want and yet I couldn't fight against, until he was turned by that vampire, and Lupe finally stepped up and saved me."

She straightened her shoulders and smiled at Nikita.

"So, you see, you're already far stronger than I ever was. You fought Draco and won. The only thing now is will you fight for my son, or will you break his heart?"

****

Raoul paced the living room floor with ever increasing speed, until his father growled at him to sit down.

"Rein in your wolf, son. Your mother will have your pelt, if you ruin her new oak flooring with your claws, and I'll have your head. I'm too old to lay this shit down again. Nikita won't come down any faster, and you’re making us all dizzy."

Lupe tempered his command with a smile and a nod of understanding.

"It will be all right, son, you'll see."

Raoul balled his hands into fists, and slumped back against the floral settee. If only he could believe that. His brave little Nikita had saved them all, and it had been a long painful recovery for her. By rights she should be either dead or vamp, but
Mother Nature had one last trick up its sleeve, it would appear.

Nikita was carrying his baby, and it seemed that the fetus's stem cells crossing over into Nikita's bloodstream had saved her from the full turn. That and sheer
bloody-mindedness on behalf of his girl. Raoul had been too worried about her to give that tiny cluster of cells nestling in her womb too much thought, but when he'd entered her room earlier, he'd scented his son or daughter as clearly as though he'd seen them on an ultrasound. Their child's heartbeat was strong and steady, and the pack's physician had decreed that there should be no reason for Nikita to not carry a healthy baby to term.

No reason at all, but Raoul's
deep-seated fear that she may not want
his
baby. Not once in the weeks she'd lain up in his old room at his parents’ place had she called for him, and surely if she loved him she would have done so.

His mother and father simply said it was to be expected. She didn't know where she was, or who she was, and her body was struggling to accept the changes, changes brought onto her by his bite. A bite she hadn't given permission for either, which in Raoul's eyes made him as much as a bastard as Draco had been.

His whole relationship with Nikita was based on trust, and he had lied to her, albeit by omission, but he knew how much she despised liars. He'd lied again by not telling her about the baby. They had all decreed to keep that bit of information to themselves for now, until she was strong enough to be told.

That day was supposed to be today, but she still hadn't made it downstairs, and the fucking wait was killing him.

The creak of the door alerted him to her presence as surely as his wolf jumping to attention. Her scent called him, and he forced himself to open his eyes slowly.

"There you are, my dear. I must say that emerald top suits you. You've even got some color in your cheeks, which is lovely. I told you the brew would work."

Nikita pulled a face, and then smiled, and his wolf whined. He knew she'd heard him because she now had a shifter's sensitive hearing. Her body shifted in his direction, before she caught herself, and turned her back on him.

It was the equivalent of a slap in the face
, and his hands itched to just grab her, take her somewhere private, and spank her luscious ass into submission. His wolf smirked his agreement with this plan, and his cock, too, signaled its readiness with the raging hard-on he was sporting, and he pulled one of his mother's frilly cushions onto his lap.

What was it with women and their need for scatter cushions?

"
No idea, son, but your mother loves them."

His father's amused reply chuckled in his brain, and his mother's glare reduced him right back to a quivering
five-year-old afraid of her wrath. Amazing how she could do that with just one look. No doubt Nikita would perfect that look for their offspring, too. His heart turned over and shriveled at the thought that this might never happen. He had no idea how she felt about babies. Other than a discussion about her being on the pill, following on from that first night when he hadn't used a condom, kids hadn't entered into the equation.

He knew she hadn't fallen then. The physician's best guess had been that she'd fallen shortly before business had taken Raoul away. She'd come down with food poisoning the week before, which must have been when her contraceptive proved ineffective.

"Well, I dread to think what’s in that concoction, but yes, I do feel better, thank you. In fact, I need to be out of your hair soon. I hope to be able to get my job back, and I've got things to sort for the start of term, and—"

"Like hell you will." Raoul's growl stopped her, and she froze.

Lupe shook his head and his mother fixed him with another glare, but he couldn't just sit here and not say something.

"Dammit, Nikita, stop ignoring me, and if you're gonna chew me out, then let's get this over with. Fuck knows I deserve it, but there's no way on this earth, that you'll just walk out of here, as though nothing's happened. There's the
… fuck it."

He'd almost blurted the news out in anger, and that's not how he wanted her to find out.

His mother came to the rescue, like she always did.

"May I suggest a little turnabout in the garden? You've been cooped up in doors for far too long, and Raoul and you can chat in private. Plus if you kill him his blood won't stain my new flooring."

That brought a weak smile to Nikita's lips, and she nodded her confirmation.

"You mess this up, son, and you'll have me to deal with. That girl loves you with all her heart. No woman fights like she did, unless she's in love. Now swallow that stupid male pride, stop thinking with your dick, and sort it."

His mother's reprimand rang in his ears, and he stepped up to Nikita and held out his hand.