“About the pregnancy symptoms…the test?” Alex asked while looking from Eleanor to Lazarus and back again. She noticed that they exchanged a look. What? The?
Eleanor nodded. “You will start to crave blood. You’ll also—”
“Say what?” Alex blurted.
Eleanor put her hand up. “You will also grow tiny fangs…much smaller than actual vampire fangs but they will be there.”
Alex felt her mouth fall open in an all-out gape. “No way.”
Eleanor nodded again. “You will crave blood…your body will need it. You’ll take on some of the vampire traits and will become stronger. Your senses will improve…at least we think so.”
“What do you mean, you think so?” Alex could hear the panic in her voice.
“To date, only our queens have carried vampire young. We are not one hundred percent certain that the same will apply for general human females that are not mated to royalty.”
“It will be fine. The shifters have had no problem with their cross-matings.” Lazarus sounded pissed. “Do not scare my female.”
Eleanor looked from Lazarus to Alex. She smiled reassuringly. “I am sure that you will be fine. The pregnancy will last ten months. You are small to carry a vampire child, especially one from a male like Lazarus.”
“Stop,” Lazarus snarled. “My female is strong. She will be fine.”
“Let’s first wait and see. I might not even be pregnant.” Alex’s voice hitched.
“That is a good idea.” Lazarus put his arm around her. “Our queen is also very small yet she was highly successful at carrying and birthing the royal heir.”
“Oh my word.” Alex gushed. “We have to include the royal heir in my story. Everybody loves babies.”
Lazarus shook his head. “Let’s think of one thing at a time. Do not bombard the kings. They are highly protective of their queen and heir. It is doubtful that they would allow such a thing.” Lazarus took in a deep breath. He chuckled. “Who would have thought? Me. Of all the males. I might be a father.” He shook his head and grinned. “Come. We have a ton to discuss.”
“Yeah we do.” She smiled up at him. Alex had never been more afraid in her whole life yet somehow she knew that as long as Lazarus was at her side, that she would be okay.
“Please come and see me if you are concerned about anything or if you have any questions. My door is open.” Eleanor was smiling. “I am glad to see that this is going to work out despite the circumstances.” She raised her brows. “Let me know the moment you crave blood.” Her eyes sparkled. “First drink from your male and then come to me. We will need to monitor this pregnancy closely.”
The vampire woman spoke as if it was a given that she was pregnant. Holy shit. Was this really happening?
“We will come straight away.” Lazarus turned back to her. “Let’s go for a walk in the gardens. We can’t go back to my suite right away.”
“I would really like to shower and change. Can we pop back in and then go for a walk?”
Lazarus made a strange growling noise.
“He wants to rut you, human. Your scent will be driving him a little crazy right now.” Eleanor’s eyes sparkled with amusement.
“That is correct.” He squeezed her hand. His eyes looked a little crazed and his skin looked taut. “I’m barely holding on. We need to talk and I don’t want to hurt you. It would be best if we remained outdoors and in public view. You might need to sleep in your own room tonight as well. We are not mated, you couldn’t possible handle the things I…” He cleared his throat, glancing at the vampire woman.
“That bad, huh?”
He nodded, looking like he was in pain.
“Okay, let’s go for a walk.”
He gave her a tight nod. They said their goodbyes to Eleanor and walked in silence until they were outside and on the magnificent lawns that surrounded the castle. Lazarus gripped her hand tightly in his.
Chapter 15
“How are you feeling?” Lazarus asked.
She had to laugh. “Nervous, excited, scared, happy, sad. A mixed bag of emotions. You?”
He looked down at her and smiled. “I’m happy and excited about the prospects of you being pregnant. My only fear is that you are not with child.” He stopped, turning to face her and took ahold of her other hand as well. “If it were up to me, Alexandra, I would take you back to my suite and do everything in my power to ensure that you do become pregnant.”
She pushed out a shuddery breath. “Okay, now you’re scaring me. We’ve only known each other for a couple of days. This is just too quick. Although I’m feeling things for you that I shouldn’t be feeling…not this soon…this”—she gestured between the two of them—“might not last. Whirlwind relationships rarely do.”
Lazarus grinned. “Vampires can very quickly decide on a future mate. A few days…it’s a long time. Trust me, Alexandra, we know. I know that you are the right female for me.” He looked so sincere. It made her feel a bit better knowing that he was so sure. If she made herself stop thinking for a second and listened to her heart and her growing feelings for this vampire, she was sure that she would find that she was inclined to agree with him.
Alex smiled up at him. “So we’ll know in a couple of days then?”
Lazarus nodded. His pocket began to vibrate and his phone began to ring. He released her hand and pulled the device from his pocket. Without even looking at the screen, he gave her an apologetic glance. “I’m sorry…I need to get this, it’s my king.”
“My lord,” he said, as he put the device to his ear. Lazarus swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple working. He sucked in a deep breath as he listened to the person on the other side. “That is correct.” He glanced at her for a second before looking away. “It was a misunderstanding. Everything is under control. Alexandra is my future mate.”
Future mate.
Oh hell.
Although he’d alluded to it, he’d never actually said those words. Alex should be running in the opposite direction. She should be screaming loudly. This was crazy…it was just too much. Instead, she stayed right where she was, she even held Lazarus’ hand that much tighter. They would get through this. Everything was going to be okay and what was meant to be would be. Panicking and stressing were not going to help.
“I chose her yesterday. She is mine and would’ve been mine regardless.” He paused, listening. “Yes. Thank you, my lord.” Lazarus pulled a face. “I will keep you updated.”
There was talking on the other end.
“I realize that. It was in no way intentional. Like I said earlier, it was a misunderstanding. We will use birth control going forward…at least until we know for sure.”
Lazarus released her and ran a hand through his hair, looking frustrated. “Okay. I understand.” He ended the call and huffed out a breath. “Eleanor informed the kings. They’re having a small panic session, which is to be expected. I had hoped to break this to Brant myself but hey…” He shrugged. “What can you do? They are concerned that you did this intentionally to ensure that you would secure a vampire. They are worried that you may have had an ulterior motive. That you did this on purpose.”
She must have looked worried because he put his arm around her. “I know that is not the case. They will figure that out for themselves soon enough.”
She nodded, feeling a lump rise in her throat. Although she hadn’t been totally honest with him, she had at least told him that she wanted to do the story but it was a part of the plan. The kings knew it as well. This whole pregnancy thing and her exclusive with the vampires were totally unrelated. She did need to come clean…at some point though. There was no way she and Lazarus could start a future together otherwise.
Alex yawned. Her lack of sleep and all of this worrying was taking its toll on her.
“I’ll take you back to your room. You can shower and rest up and I’ll go and have a chat with my kings. Try and see if I can calm them down. So far, things have not worked out according to plan.” He chuckled. “It’s pissing them off. Please do me a favor and don’t take anything to heart. Brant means well but he can be a total dickhead at times. He might say something and I don’t want it to upset you.” They began to walk in the direction of the hotel.
“He would be well within his rights. I was supposed to be on birth control and I wasn’t. I should’ve told you but I didn’t want to get kicked out. I totally get that he’s upset.”
Lazarus shook his head and smiled. “My really good friend York, one of the ten, ended up falling for a female that was outside of The Program. The kings had a shit fit but they came around. York and his mate are trying for a baby and Cassidy might even be pregnant already.”
“Really?” It was amazing how much better she felt knowing that she wasn’t alone. Someone else was going through this too.
“If you both end up pregnant, you could be there as support for one another.”
She nodded.
“Anyway, my point is that York defied the rules and so did Gideon. And then there’s us...” He pulled his lower lip between his teeth for a few beats. “Not everything and everyone fits neatly into a small little box. Things don’t always go according to plan. In fact, sometimes things go horribly wrong. Hidden beneath all of that wrongness is sometimes something so right, so special. My kings will understand.” He kissed her forehead. “They will have to.” They walked into the hotel lobby. It was eerily quiet now that most of the women had left. Jenna was so thankful that Sarah had decided to stay…at least for the time being.