Chapter 27 #2
And then the bastard stopped. I mean everything. He pulled his fingers out and washed his hands, whistling.
“Get your finger back in there,” I growled.
“Nope. We’ll pick this up later,” he promised, kissing my neck.
“You’re such a dick,” I ground out.
Kip laughed. “I have control of the dick you love, so you should be nice to me.”
Turnabout is fair play, right?
I smirked. “Absolutely.” I faced him, then grabbed the front of his pants and stroked his hard-on.
“Hey, no fair,” he whined, hunching into my fist.
The door opened and Deron strode in. “Hey, Mason? Are there anymore—what are you doing?”
Kip whirled away, his cheeks flaming. “Nothing. Go back to the other room.”
He snickered. “You two should get a room. God knows this place has enough to choose from.” Then he was gone.
Kip enfolded me in his arms. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I just wanted to tease you a bit.”
“It’s fine,” I promised. I cupped his cheek. “But later, after everyone is gone…”
“What?”
I grinned. “Can we try that tongue in my ass thing? Sounds hot.”
Kip gasped. “That’s fine talk from a prospective father.”
I glared at him. “Will you keep your voice down? I thought we agreed to tell them all tonight?”
His eyes sparkled. “I’m excited. Bite me.”
I smirked. “I think that’s more your domain.” I knew how he felt. We’d hoped I’d get pregnant quickly, especially after Kip’s knot filled me to the brim. It had only been a matter of weeks since our first time condom-free, and we’d been delighted to get the test results.
I kissed him. “Okay. Let’s go share the good news.”
Kip took my hand and led me to the dining room. Our parents joined us, all smiles. Then Deron and Maia strolled in from the living room.
“When’s dinner? We’re starved,” Deron said.
“I’ll start it in a minute,” I promised. “Kip and I wanted to talk to you all first.”
Fiona frowned. “Is something wrong?”
“Wrong? No, not at all.” I pulled the envelope from my pocket. “We went to the doctor and had some tests done.” I did my best not to scream the words.
Mom’s eyes widened. “Are you?” she asked excitedly.
I nodded. “We’re going to have a baby.”
Pandemonium broke out as everyone surrounded us. The men clapped Kip on the back, while the women were hugging me and crying.
A ringing phone broke the revery. Tony glanced down at his cell and his face went pale. “I have to take this.” He headed out onto the patio.
The door closed behind him, and the celebration continued. For several long minutes everything was happy and joyous.
“Am I gonna be an uncle or an aunt?” Deron asked.
Kip snorted. “You’ll have to excuse my brother. I think I got all the brains.” He rolled his eyes. “I think what you meant to say was, are you gonna have a nephew or a niece, and the answer is, we don’t know yet. We don’t even know if it’s gonna be one baby or sextuplets.”
I gaped. “Why would you even say a thing like that out loud?”
“You said you wanted lots of babies.”
“Yeah, but not all at once!”
Then the patio door flew open, and Kip’s dad burst in, his face pale as snow.
Kip froze. “Dad? What is it? What’s wrong?”
Tony’s eyes were filled with pain when he looked at Kip. “Jerome is... He’s dead.”
Kip
Behind me, Mason gasped.
“Is that all?” I asked, because really, I’d have done it myself if I could. “Why should we care if he killed himself?”
Dad was still pale. “That’s the thing. He didn’t. The guard was watching the camera and he heard Jerome scream, then his body contorted as his limbs snapped. Whoever it was ripped off his head and placed it on the floor before they vanished.”
A chill ran through me. “You’re not saying....”
Dad’s grave expression only added to the ice crawling over my skin. “The dragon knights sent the assassin.”
He’d told me about the assassin before, a dragon knight who was melded with a shadow dragon, making him nearly impossible to detect. They sent him in to eliminate other knights quickly and efficiently and with as much pain as possible.
“But Jerome wasn’t a knight,” I protested. “Why would they kill him?”
“He was to be Mason’s intended.” Dad’s brow furrowed. “I can’t be sure, but what if they want Mason so he can help them churn out more dragon knights? What if they want him to breed for them?”
Mason frowned. “Wait a sec. What am I missing here? Humans created the original dragon knights, right? And then once all the dragons had been eliminated, humans used a team of these knights to kill the rest of their kind?”
Dad nodded.
“But when some of these knights—like you—escaped, humans used that same team to hunt you all down?”
Another nod.
“Then help me out here. Why would they want to breed more dragon knights?”
I froze, my mind racing. “Wait. Dad, Mason is already pregnant with my children. What would happen?”
Dad flushed. “Best guess? They’d rip the babies out or wait until they’re born and kill or sell them.”
“Kill my baby?” Mason asked, horrified.
“I won’t let that happen,” I vowed.
“But they’re part dragon,” he reminded us.
Dad sighed. “They’re the offspring of a dragon knight. A fallen dragon knight. I fled, so I’m not a ‘viable’ knight, which is why they’d kill me and anyone connected to me. Since Kip is the father of your baby, he’d be branded as corrupt.”
I clenched my fists. “Then I’ll fucking slaughter them all.”
“Kip....” Mason entreated.
“Why would they want children anyway?”
Dad frowned. “Best guess? They’re plotting something they’ll need an army for, but I can’t imagine what.”
Mason stiffened. “An Omega is supposed to be all about peace.”
Dad gaped at him. “Maybe that’s it. They want an Omega.”
I scowled. “What do you mean? What are you talking about?”
Dad scraped his fingers through his hair. “There were stories… tales that they’re tried breeding with other humans, but the strain was too much and the human died. Other stories too, that there weren’t enough births to meet all their needs.”
“But what does any of that have to do with an Omega?” Mason demanded.
“Why does a pack place so much store on Omega babies?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I guess because those babies are always happy and healthy.”
Another nod. “Exactly.”
Mason stared at me, his gaze like steel. “Then you’ve got the right idea.”
“What do you mean?”
He squared his shoulders. “I want you to kill them, Kip. Chop them up into tiny bits, then burn what's left with fire.”
It chilled me to hear Mase talking like that, but I understood it.
Then it hit me.
I swallowed. “But... if you’re right about Jerome’s death, that means...”
Dad nodded, his face grim. “They’ve found us.”