"Oh, my G.o.d!" Izzy snapped, cutting off her mate. "He never tells us anything! Either get me a c.o.ke or let it go! You know this was just a job to him!"

Kale didn't say anything, just continued to hold CJ in his arms. He didn't bother telling them that this was anything but a job to him, that after he saw what that piece of s.h.i.t had done to Cloe that he'd decided to give her the one thing that he'd swore he'd never give to another woman.

His protection.

For the rest of his life, Cloe and her children would be his to protect and watch over. Her children, G.o.d help him, would make it to their immortality. As much as it pained him to protect more Pytes, he didn't have a choice. He couldn't protect the mother and not the children, couldn't let Cloe experience the pain of losing a child. As far as the rest of the shifter population was concerned, Cloe belonged to him.

"Is no one getting me a c.o.ke?" Izzy demanded when the silence in the room thickened to the point of danger.

As one, both men turned their glares at the small woman breastfeeding her newborn baby daughter and snapped, "No!"

Izzy looked pointedly away with her little nose in the air. "Then I hate you both," she said with an uppity sniffle that had them both rolling their eyes and their lips twitching despite the tension in the room.

She was just so d.a.m.n cute sometimes.

"If you want our help then you're going to start sharing," Chris announced, ruining his, semi, good mood.

"No," he said immediately, because he didn't need their help.

"How exactly do you plan on finding the other Pytes without our help?" Chris asked, sounding genuinely curious as he carefully sat down on the chair by the large bed.

"The same way that I handle any other job," he said, pressing a baby kiss against CJ's head before he carefully laid the sleeping baby on the bed as he stood up, making sure to put a pillow on either side of him to keep him safe.

"And how's that?"

"Sorry," he said, leaning over the babies and pressing a kiss against Izzy's head, ignoring the little grumble she muttered in response, "but that's a trade secret."

"How is she?"

Christofer looked up from his quickly cooling gla.s.s of blood and shrugged. "As good as can be expected I guess."

Which wasn't saying much.

For the past few hours he'd held her in his arms while she'd laid there, staring off into s.p.a.ce, appearing lost to the world. She hadn't moved or spoken since she'd broken down. He'd dried her off, dressed her and tucked her into bed after he coaxed her into taking a little blood from him. Once she was done, she'd closed her eyes and drifted off, all the fight in her gone.

She was lost and he had no idea how to bring her back.

Ephraim nodded as he grabbed a gla.s.s and poured blood into it. He took a sip, cringing at the cold metallic taste as he sat down across from Christofer at the kitchen table.

"What's your plan now?" he asked, taking another sip before he pushed the gla.s.s away with a disgusted shake of his head.

"You mean now that my mate is no longer being hunted by some sick, psychotic piece of s.h.i.t?" Christofer asked with a humorless laugh. "I have no idea what we're going to do now."

"You know that you're welcome to stay here as long as you want," Ephraim reminded him.

"I know and I appreciate that but-"

"But, you want a home of your own," Ephraim finished for him with an easy smile. "That's understandable."

"I just have no idea how we're going to manage that," he admitted, dropping his gaze back down to the cup of blood he'd been toying with for the past two hours.

"Because of the bounty?"

He sighed heavily as he sat back in his chair. "I'd actually forgotten about that."

"No matter where you go, Christofer, you need to be careful. They can't kill you, but they can bring you to your knees."

By hurting Cloe was left unsaid, but they both knew that she was his greatest weakness now. That is until their son came. Then there would be two people with the power to destroy him.

"Do you want to stay here until after the baby is born?" Ephraim offered and he knew that he should take him up on his offer, but he couldn't.

Staying here would just be a constant reminder of the world they lived in, the dangers and everything that had happened to Cloe. She deserved a home of her own, some peace. He owed her a chance to be happy, a chance to raise their child away from all of this.

"No," he said, shaking his head as he swirled the blood in his cup, "I think it would be better to get her out of here before the baby is born."

Ephraim opened his mouth, no doubt to argue, but in the end he simply nodded. "At least let me ask the Council to set you both up somewhere safe."

"Thank you," he said, looking up and meeting Ephraim's kind gaze. It went against what his father had taught him, leaving it up to someone else to take care of what was his, but he knew when he was over his head. He didn't have the first clue about finding a home that would be safe from demons, shifters and vampires. This man did and he'd be foolish to refuse his help.

Ephraim nodded as he got up to get a fresh gla.s.s of blood. "We'll find you something in the morning."

Chapter 65.

One Week Later........

"How are you feeling?"

"Good," she mumbled, watching as the small town's busy road disappeared and was quickly replaced by a winding country road.

"Are you okay with this?" he asked, caressing the back of her hand with his thumb as he continued to drive towards what would be their home.

"Yes," she said, although she wasn't so sure that she was.

Only a few months ago she was on her own, living life on the go with no one and nothing holding her back and now.....

Now she no longer had a reason to run. Her nightmares were a thing of the past. She was in love, expecting a baby, heading towards her new future, one that had been chosen for her, would live forever and she felt oddly...disappointed. Everything had been decided for her. There had been no planning, no agonizing over the details, researching, getting excited about planning her future, nothing. The same could be said for her relationship with Christofer.

There'd been some excitement, but she'd found herself falling in love with him without him having to romance her. Not that she was a hopeless romantic or anything, but shouldn't they have experienced the anxiety of dating and falling in love? Of not knowing what the future held? The blood exchange had ruined all of that.

There would be no romance.

No chance of experiencing the ups and downs of falling in love, because it was simply impossible to love him anymore than she already did. He was her rock, her heart and soul and that should make her happy that she'd found the one person meant for her, and she was, it was just that....

She inwardly sighed as she admitted to herself that she wanted it all. She wanted him to sweep her off her feet, to bring her flowers, chocolate, to see really horrible romance movies, to go for walks on the beach, enjoy candlelit baths with him after a romantic dinner. She wanted the dream, her Prince Charming trying to win her hand. Instead, her Prince Charming had captured her heart by being everything that she needed. She loved him so much and couldn't imagine life without him. She had no problems with spending the rest of her life with him, she just wanted.......

More.

They were going to have a child in a few months and once that happened they'd most likely already be settled into their new life. There would be no chance to enjoy their time together for another eighteen years at least. She just wanted to- "Where are we going?" she asked, her brows furrowing in confusion as she slapped her hands against the dashboard in an attempt to keep herself upright as Christofer did a u-turn in the middle of the road.

"I can't do this," he said, shaking his head as he headed back the way they'd come.

"Do what?" she asked, already deciding that if he was having second thoughts about them after making her fall in love with him and knocking her up that she was going to go for his- "This."

Yup, she was definitely going to have to rip his b.a.l.l.s off just as soon as he pulled over and shut the engine off.

"It's a little too late for that, don't you think?" she pointed out through gritted teeth.

He shook his head, keeping his focus on the road. "No, it's not."

"You want to fill me in before I start having paranoid thoughts about being left by the side of the road with a kid in tow?" she suggested, dropping her hands and sitting back to- Squeal as he suddenly veered off the road, slammed the brakes and threw the truck in park. Panting hard, she found herself sitting there, gripping her seatbelt tightly as she stared straight ahead, watching as the dust began to settle around the truck.

"Stop doing that!" she snapped, closing her eyes as she swallowed in an attempt to catch her breath.

For several minutes he didn't say anything and her pounding heart thanked him for that. While they sat there, him staring off into s.p.a.ce and her trying to calm down, she studied him. He sat there, gripping the wheel, his jaw locked and pointedly not looking at her while dread filled her. He couldn't be doing this to her. Not now, not after she'd allowed herself to fall in love with him. He just......he couldn't.

"I love you, Cloe," he started off saying and just like that, she knew that it was over.

"You f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.d," she said, shaking her head in disgust as she reached down and struggled to release her seatbelt, but the d.a.m.n thing refused to release her.

"Cloe-"

"I don't want to hear it," she snapped, struggling with the d.a.m.n seatbelt. Why the h.e.l.l wasn't it releasing her? She needed to get out of here before he could say another word. She didn't want to hear this.

G.o.d, she'd been so stupid to fall in love with him, she berated herself as her hands shook and her sight went red. She should have never- "Shhhh," Christofer said, reaching over and releasing the seatbelt for her. Before she could make her escape he'd picked her up and pulled her onto his lap, forcing her to straddle him and sit there as he broke her heart.

"Let me go, Christofer!"

"Never," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her, but she turned her head, refusing to allow him to kiss her and make this worse.

When she tried to move off his lap, he reached up and cupped her face so that he could lean forward and rest his forehead against hers. "I can't do this, mein Schatz. I'm sorry. I love you so d.a.m.n much, but I can't just meekly walk into this future and put my dreams on hold again. I can't do it."

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you got me pregnant," she bit out angrily as she attempted once more to get off his lap, but he refused to let her go.

He ignored her struggles as he tilted his head and brushed his lips against hers. "I want to see the world with you, mein Schatz," he whispered softly against her lips.

"W-what?" she asked, feeling herself soften in his arms.

He pulled back so that he could look in her eyes as he explained, "I've always wanted to see the world, visit historical sights, famous museums and to see what I could do with my art, but now," he smiled as his eyes devoured her, "now I want to take you with me. I want to take you to fancy French restaurants, to walk with you through the Highlands, to make love to you in some ridiculously expensive Italian villa, to hold you in my arms while we watch the sun set on a different continent, to go for midnight swims with you and to make love to you on a beach."

"There is just so much that I want to do with you," he admitted hoa.r.s.ely. "I want to have a life with you, to raise a family with you, but first-"

"You want to see the world?" she guessed with a wobbly smile.

"Yes," he said, before rushing on to explain, "I want this life with you, the one where we plant some roots and watch our sons grow into men, but I need to do this with you now, because I don't think I'll be able to survive the next eighteen years without knowing how it feels to have salt water lapping at our toes while I make love to you on the beach."

"And if I say no?" she asked, having absolutely no plans on refusing this man.

"Then I'll turn this truck back around and we'll go start our lives."

"And you'd be okay with that?" she asked, watching him as he nodded.

"I'd do anything to make you happy, mein Schatz," he swore as he sat back, patiently waiting for her answer.

One look at the expression on his face and she knew that he would give up his dreams for her in a heartbeat. In that moment she knew that he truly loved her, which was a good thing since she was head over heels in love with the brooding b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

Smiling, she leaned in and asked, "So, where should we go first?"

"Where do you want to go?" he asked, his deep voice sending tremors through her body and making her toes curl with pleasure. Speaking of toes......

"How about the beach........."

Epilogue.

Three months later.....

French Riviera "I'm fat," Cloe said, pouting as she nibbled on some fancy French pastry that he wasn't even going to attempt to name out of fear that he would say the wrong name and spark her interest, resulting in him making another midnight run to the all the bakeries in the area.

"You're beautiful," he told her, leaning in to press a kiss against her forehead while he placed his hand over the very noticeable baby b.u.mp that she was now sporting.

"I'm fat," she muttered pathetically as she took another bite of the decadent dessert and adjusted the towel she'd wrapped around her after her bath.

"Beautiful," he corrected her, pulling away and picking up his pencil stub from the patio table as he returned his focus back to his sketchpad.

"You're just saying that out of fear that my hormones will make me homicidal again," she grumbled, making him chuckle.

"You are truly dangerous, mein Schatz," he admitted, only half teasing.

When she didn't say anything for several minutes, he became understandably worried, afraid that he'd somehow caused her to cry again. He looked up only to find the woman that he loved, the very hormonal woman that he loved, sending him the look that he was all too familiar with by now.

Knowing what was coming next, he placed his sketchpad and pencil down. He reached for her only to have her push his hands away as she stood up and dropped the towel, exposing her back to the moonlight as she leaned forward and placed her hands against the stone wall that surrounded their private villa. When she sent him a sultry smile over her shoulder, he found himself going to her.

"How?" he asked, not bothering to clarify his meaning since she knew exactly what he was asking.

"No waiting," she said, already panting as she spread her legs and arched her back, letting him know just how desperately she wanted him.