Chapter Sixty-Four

KEYARA

She could sense Ash as he approached her from across the camp and the anxiety he was feeling as well.

She wondered what news Mateo had brought. She had been distracted during their conversation and had not been able to overhear. Her own anxiety made her nervous and jumpy.

They had barely spent any time together with the camp so full of people and tasks to see to, and the separation along with the rogue haze was creating extra anxiety in both of them.

She turned to him when he was a few feet away, raising her eyebrow in question.

He sighed lightly at her demanding expression and gave her an amused smile. He placed a hand lightly on each of her shoulders, his thumbs running up and down her neck gently.

“Mateo can get you around the patrols to speak with Anne,” he told her.

Her heart started racing at his words, excitement rushing through her body at the thought.

“But we need to—” He suddenly broke off in his explanation, and his whole body stiffened. He leaned in to press his nose heavily against the mark on her neck, taking in her scent in a deep breath.

When he straightened again, his eyes were as black as she had ever seen them, and he seemed more animal than man as he let out a deep rumble from his throat.

She knew his wolf was rising to the surface.

She was not yet able to feel her own wolf as strongly as he did, being so new to the life, but she could feel enough to notice an extra sense of interest in the recesses of her mind at his unusual reaction.

“What’s wrong?” she asked him, panic creeping into her voice. Her eyes swept through the camp for any signs of danger.

There was no scent of intruders in the breeze, and no one else present seemed the least bit concerned.

Everyone was sitting around just as relaxed as they had been a few moments ago, and her confusion at his sudden reaction only grew.

Ash dropped to his knees in front of her, his eyes still dark and his body tense. He gripped her hips and pressed his nose into the junction between her legs.

Her face flamed, and she tried to push him away, but he held her tight as he inhaled deeply.

“Ash,” she mumbled quietly to him, not wanting to draw any more attention than necessary to the situation. “Stop. What are you doing?” Her attempts to push him away from her were futile; he didn’t budge an inch.

She wanted to die from embarrassment, but still no one around the camp seemed too concerned or interested in his actions, minus a few brief glances from those closest to them.

He stood after a moment, the black dissipating some from his eyes as he met her gaze, and he cupped her cheeks softly, smiling unexpectedly.

“You’re with child,” he told her, his voice deep and heavy with emotion, happy tears glistening in his mostly green eyes, though the black of his wolf still swirled in the corners.

She stared at him in shock. Her blood wasn’t due for another few days. How could he possibly know before she did?

Then she remembered everything else he used to be able to tell about her from just his nose, back when she was only a human. She supposed she couldn’t smell it on herself now that she was the same as him.

While she could smell Ash intently, she never noticed any distinctive scent around her own body.

“Are you sure?” she asked him in a whisper.

He nodded in confirmation, leaning in to kiss her softly and intently. She could feel his emotions of pride and love, as well as possessiveness overtake her.

“This changes things,” he told her when he broke the kiss. “I won’t send you now. I can’t.”

“Ash, I have to!” she argued. “Finding the tunnel is the safest way. I’m the only one who Anne will tell.

“She wouldn’t dare trust anyone else enough to give up the tunnel. I will be fine,” she insisted. “It will be a quick in and out.”

He shook his head sharply, gripping her shoulder, the remnants of black still swirling in his eyes getting darker. “No,” he replied sternly.

She bit her tongue to keep herself from arguing with him. He had never before commanded her in such a way, and while it made her bristle, she knew she could not convince him otherwise with his wolf so close to the surface.

It was almost dark, and she would take tonight to come up with a plan that could work for both of them.

“Mateo,” Ash called loudly, never breaking his eye contact with her. “Change of plans. We will talk tomorrow, but everyone stays here for now.”

He didn’t wait for a response before hooking a hand behind her knees and lifting her into his arms. She gasped in surprise at the sudden movement, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He began to walk out of the camp, bending down briefly to pick up their sleeping blankets before walking a good distance away to a second clearing on the next hill.

They could still hear and smell the others, but it also gave them their own space.

He lowered himself to the ground, still holding onto her tightly, settling her into his lap. He wrapped the blankets around their bodies and gently pressed her head against his chest.

“Sleep,” he ordered, his voice gruff. She knew he was still fighting for control of his wolf, so she complied, relaxing against him and closing her eyes. He began rubbing her back in soothing circles.

She doubted she could sleep, and indeed they sat that way for a long while, thoughts and concerns swimming in her mind at the sudden revelation.

He never stopped touching her, his hands moving lightly over her back or stroking her hair. Eventually, his comforting touch relaxed her enough so she drifted off, still nestled tightly in his lap.