Mate Bond(62)

"Oh," Kenzie said. She glanced at Bowman, remembering every encounter  with him since the first, her constant awareness of him, her need to  tease and dare him, the way she'd so easily accepted that they would be  mates. She'd made him persuade her the day he'd come to mate-claim her,  but Kenzie had already known, in her heart, that she'd go home with him.

Bowman still had to growl at Gil. "And it took you, oh wise one, to show us the way?"

Gil grinned, his humor returning. "Nah, you would have got there. Eventually. Goddess, but you two are stubborn."                       
       
           



       

"And you are a pain in the ass." Bowman gave him a growl. "Are you sure you're not some kind of Fae?"

Gil held up his hands, and deep pain flashed in his brown eyes. "Don't  ever call me a Fae. Those bastards wiped out everyone I held dear-don't  ever confuse me with anything Fae."

Kenzie gentled her tone. "Or a ghost?"

Instantly, Gil's rage departed, and his amusement returned. "That's just  fun. That family really did adopt me a hundred and fifty years ago and  left me the house. And everyone loves a ghost."

Bowman said nothing, but looked slightly less angry. Kenzie looked Gil  over. She didn't understand him, and thought she might never, but he'd  helped them every step of the way.

"Is your name really Gil?" Bowman rumbled at him. "Graham called you Ben."

Gil shrugged. "Neither." He winked at Kenzie again. "You couldn't pronounce it."

"And why didn't you tell us?" Kenzie asked. "Why pretend to be the cop? Why the glam?"

Gil let out a breath. "Well, to be honest, gnomes or goblins-whatever  you want to call me-are not that good-looking to humans. And I've lived  in stealth mode so long that it's my natural state. I don't know how to  open up and be myself. When I heard about the attack of the beast, I  knew I needed to investigate. It smacked of Fae. And if I'd told you I  was from Faerie, you'd have gone for my throat first and asked questions  later. Don't tell me you wouldn't. So I used a persona you'd find  agreeable. When the creature turned up dead real quick, I planned to  move on. But then . . . I thought I had a connection to you, Kenzie. I  wanted to stick around and see what was going on, and I wanted to help."

"Do you still feel it?" Kenzie asked him softly.

"Yes," Gil said, his eyes quiet. "But I know it's not with you."

Kenzie's anger had gone, and now she felt sad for him. "That means she's  still out there," she said to Gil. "The other half of your mate bond."

"If it even is a mate bond," Gil said. "I'm not Shifter; I'm not even  human. What I am feeling, the person I need-it might not be that  simple." He shrugged. "I guess I keep on looking. Maybe someday . . ."

Kenzie was still curious about the enigma that was Gil, but at the  moment she was restless, wanted to go home, and wanted to see her cub.  "When can I get out of here?" she asked.

Gil took a step to the bed and touched the handcuff around Bowman's  wrist. The locks clicked, and the cuff fell away from him and the bed,  Bowman jerking in surprise. Gil caught the cuffs before they hit the  floor and tucked them around his belt.

"You've got some healing to do first, young lady," Gil said sternly to  Kenzie. "Do that, then have your fun with Bowman. Maybe once you feel  better, I'll tell you my life story."

Bowman rubbed his wrist and gave Gil a hard stare. "Can't wait."

Gil laughed. He turned away and beckoned to someone outside the door.  "Another person to see you. She's been hoping you'd wake up soon."

A woman in a white coat breezed in, her eager smile in place. "Remember me?" she asked. "Dr. Pat, the vet?"

"Nice to see you again," Kenzie said, wondering that she had ever been  jealous of the woman. What Kenzie had with Bowman left jealousy and  anger far behind. Those were surface emotions, while the real ones were  deep, deep down. "Don't tell me they called you in to work on us."

"Afraid they did," Dr. Pat said. "Some of your Shifters were injured so  much in their animal forms that they couldn't shift back. Gil told the  hospital to call me, and here I am." She looked pained. "That grizzly  bear sure is grumpy."

Kenzie grinned, her heart light. "Cade doesn't like to admit when he's  hurt." She gripped Bowman's hand again, his warmth flowing through her.  "Thank you, Dr. Pat. I mean that."

"Don't mention it. While they were fixing you, Kenzie, something came to  light, and I asked to be the first to tell you. And you," she added to  Bowman.

Bowman half sat up, his eyes narrowing. "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing at all." Dr. Pat's smile widened. "Kenzie's pregnant."

Kenzie blinked a moment. "What? How can I be?" Her hand went to her abdomen. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Dr. Pat held up a file folder. "I have the proof right here if you want to look."                       
       
           



       

Kenzie gaped, while Bowman's hand clamped down on hers. Kenzie knew  she'd never understand a single thing on a doctor's chart, so she didn't  reach for it.

Then worry washed through her. "But I was hurt. Shot, for the Goddess's  sake. How could . . . How could the cub survive?" She swallowed, fearing  the answer.

Dr. Pat looked cheerful. "Shifters have an amazing physiology and sense  of self-preservation. Even cubs inside their mamas, it seems. The bullet  went nowhere near it, and even though you lost a lot of blood, your  tissues healed fast, and your blood count is already back to normal.  Your uncle Cristian told me that pregnant females become even more  robust-they have to be, he said. The doctors checked you and the cub  inside you thoroughly. So far, you're fine."

"But I thought I couldn't conceive again," Kenzie said in a rush. "I thought Bowman and I would never . . ."

Her words were choked off as tears flooded her eyes. Bowman was out of  his bed, naked except for his bandages, heading for her. He never let go  of Kenzie's hand.

Dr. Pat made a squeaking noise and spun and faced the door, her face flaming. Gil stood behind her, his grin wide.

"Maybe, ah, we should leave them alone," Dr. Pat said. "They just got life-changing news."

Gil gallantly offered his arm. "Sure thing. How about we go grab some coffee? We can talk about them behind their backs."

"Right." Dr. Pat, flustered, took his arm, and the two left the room. Gil thoughtfully closed the door behind them.

Bowman yanked the IV out of his arm. He lifted Kenzie carefully, got  into bed with her, and pulled her against him. The bed was narrow,  Bowman taking up most of it, but Kenzie thought it a perfect fit.

"A cub," Bowman said, voice breaking, his hand on her abdomen. "Kenz . . ." His eyes were wet.

"She and Ryan are going to drive us crazy," Kenzie said shakily. "They'll gang up. We'll be outnumbered as soon as she's born."

Bowman kissed her forehead, the touch incredibly gentle. "How do you know it's a she?"

Kenzie smiled at him. "I know."

Bowman gave her a serious nod, believing her. She'd known Ryan was a boy as soon as she realized she carried him.

Bowman's kiss soothed the rest of her hurts. Kenzie rose to it, her  heart beating faster at the rough feel of his tongue, the rumble in his  throat, the way his fingers bore down as he held her. The promise of  things to come.

They'd been through so much, and yet, it had been just one more  adventure in the lives of Kenzie and Bowman. They fought side by side,  they protected Shiftertown, they argued, they made love, they came  together with Ryan as a family. Now that family would be larger, and, if  Kenzie had her way, would grow even more.

The way Bowman rolled her down into the mattress, his bare body all  kinds of good, she thought it wouldn't be long before they filled their  entire house with cubs.

The mate bond wrapped them in its strands, humming in the silence.  Kenzie twined her arms around her mate, who growled into her throat,  opened herself to his kiss, and welcomed him home.





EPILOGUE




Bonfires danced all over Shiftertown. Music blared in the darkness, pulsing beats that led to dancing, or sex-usually both.

It was February, and the celebration of Imbolc. Spring was coming,  winter would loosen its hold. Shifters danced in the circles to  celebrate fertility, coming growth, new birth. Kenzie and Bowman's  unborn cub was being celebrated, as was Marcus and Bianca's, the newly  mated pair already expecting.

But really, Bowman reflected, Shifters loved any excuse to light fires,  get drunk, dance around naked, and run off with one another into the  darkness.