74. Lucas
Staring at Kaylee held in a headlock, I stalk toward the training ring she is in. Simon’s mate tentatively lets her go, as the power and anger inside my blood courses out in waves. I watch as Kaylee stands, worry in her eyes as she places her hand on my shoulder.
“Lucas, we were just sparring,” she states, her scent wrapping around me. Something has changed about it. It has grown sweeter and warmer. The urge to protect her grows stronger and without thinking, I scoop her into my arms and walk out of the training facility with everyone watching. I note the scrapes and bruises left on her as she silently lets me carry her. The broken bond hums with satisfaction, even though I can feel Kaylee growing angry at me.
“Lucas, put me down!” she orders, her voice imbued with a beta command. My blood hums, wanting to oblige the command, but the mate bond pushes back. I decide to ignore Kaylee, afraid I might say something I will regret while I carry her through the forest. She wiggles in my grasp, trying to get free, but I growl, holding her tighter to me. She growls back, glaring at me and I stop. I know I am crossing a boundary with her at this moment.
After realizing I am not letting her go, I continue carrying Kaylee to her cottage, pushing the door open as she protests for me to set her down and get out of her house. But something nags at me. I carry her to where her scent is strongest in the house and find her bedroom. Placing her on the bed, I trap her with my hands on either side of her head as I bury my nose into her neck.
“Lucas, let me go!” she growls, pushing against me. She manages to surprise me for a moment, and I am pushed away. Frustrated, I grab her wrists and hold her hands above her head. She glares at me as I do this, but I ignore it as I go back to sniffing her. The scent of cinnamon sugar is still there, as sweet and delicious as ever. I am tempted to run my tongue along her skin, but the mate bond urges me to sniff further down. Kaylee shivers as I move down her body, sniffing along her clavicle to below her breasts. They seem slightly bigger than what I remember from helping her through her heat, but I make sure not to touch them and face her anger.
“What the hell are you doing?” she demands, kicking her feet at me. I let her go and back away before she can connect her foot between my legs, and hold my hands out in surrender.
“Your scent is off,” I state, dodging as a pillow is thrown at me and getting ready to lunge at her and take the lamp from her hands.
“What do you mean off?” she asks, her glare turning into a confused look as she lowers her arm. Stepping closer, I gingerly take the lamp from her hand and set it back on the bedside table.
“I don’t know how to put it,” I confess with a huff of breath, running my hands through my hair.
“But the mate bond keeps telling me something is off, and I can’t ignore it.”
“Is that why it called out to you when Evette had me in a headlock?” Kaylee fiddles with the bracelet on her wrist and I sigh, unsure if I should say anything. The urge to get to the bottom of her change is strong, and it takes everything in me not to push her back onto the bed and find out what it is.
“Whatever is going on, the bond wants me to find it,” I try to reason with her, carefully taking her hands in mine.
“Please. It’s like this itch I can’t scratch. I need to find out what is wrong with you.” She stares at me, her eyes searching mine as I plead with her. I can feel the worry Kaylee has. It has only been a few days since her doctor gave her a clean bill of health, only for me to come in stating something is off.
“Fine.” I breathe a sigh of relief as she relents, carefully removing her hands from mine as she lays back down.
“You can sniff all you want, but nothing is wrong with me.” I carefully lean over her body, feeling her shudder from how close we are, and the bond hums to life. It is almost healed now, to the point all I would need to do is bite her where my mark would sit, and she will be mine. But I stop myself and shake the thought from my head. I start once again at the top of her head, sniffing down the side of her face to her neck. Her scent is still the same there, with just a tinge of warmth. I close my eyes, focusing on the task at hand as Kaylee lets out a small gasp when my nose grazes the skin above her breast.
With a quick apology, I move down her body, the change in her scent becoming gradually stronger. I go lower and lower, finding myself on my knees while I sniff the area just below her belly button. Shocked, I pull away and look at Kaylee for a moment before returning to sniff the area. She shivers, telling me to give up and that nothing is wrong with her, but I know what I smell.
“Kaylee,” I call her name, my tone filled with happiness as I stand to my knees.
“I think I know why your scent has changed, and why the bond called to me,” I add, helping her to sit up.
“Is it because you’re a possessive idiot that won’t let me move on?” she asks sarcastically. I roll my eyes as I sit beside her, my hand cupping her face to make Kaylee look at me.
“No. It’s because you are pregnant.” Kaylee’s face falls as shock replaces her sarcastic smile. She pulls away from my touch, standing from the bed and pacing the floor.
“I…I can’t be pregnant,” she mumbles, wrapping her arms around her. My smile falters as I stand, pulling Kaylee into my arms and placing a hand on her flat stomach.
“Kaylee, you are pregnant,” I reiterate, looking into her eyes.
“How can you be sure, Lucas?” Her voice is a whisper as her fingers grip my shirt. I can see she wants to deny this, deny the fact our pup is growing inside her.
“Because, Kaylee, I can smell my pup inside you.” We gasp as my words become the catalyst to mending the bond completely. Sparks dance along my skin where we touch, and the urge to mark her becomes undeniably strong as my fangs grow and blood hums.
The mate bond is whole again, all because Kaylee is pregnant with my pup.
THE END