We rode through the gates in silence, my arm still burned from the shadow-thing's claws, but that was nothing compared to the witch's mark on my chest. It throbbed steady now, like a second heartbeat that wasn't mine. I kept one hand on the reins and the other pressed low on my belly. The flutter was there again, stronger, almost impatient. Like the child in there could feel the clock ticking too.
The brothers didn't say much on the way up to the chambers. Darius rode with his arm locked around me the whole time, palm flat over my stomach like he could shield it from the whole damn mountain. Kane kept scanning the walls, knife half out like he expected the witch to pop out of the snow. Rylan rode ahead, axe across his saddle, but every few seconds he'd glance back at me and the grin would slip, just for a second. I saw it. They were all thinking the same thing I was: eight days. Eight days until the full moon, until one of them had to die or I had to hand over the child.
We got into the chambers and shut the door behind us with a heavy thud.We were all tired, angry and hungry. I peeled off the bloody cloak and let out a sigh of relief. My hands shook a little when I tugged the tunic over my head. The mark on my chest glowed faint red in the firelight, thin lines like veins crawling toward my belly. It looked alive.
Darius moved in the room first. He caught my chin, tilted my face up. "You're not doing this alone. We ride east at first light. All four of us. We end her before she ends us."
I nodded in agreement and laughed once, short and bitter. It hurt coming out. "You say that like it's simple. She already put her hooks in me. In the unborn child. You felt it out there. The mark burned hotter every time I fought."
Kane poured water into the basin and he dipped a cloth and started cleaning the new gashes on my arm, movements careful but his jaw tight. "The child is changing the bond. Making it stronger. Making the curse fight back harder. We feel it too. Like something's chewing at the edges again."
Rylan dropped onto the edge of the bed, axe across his knees. "Then we don't wait. We ride in, burn the hut, drag the old bitch out by her hair if we have to. She wants a king? She can try taking me first."
"Shut up, all of you!" I snapped before I could stop myself. My voice cracked. "Don't joke about that. Not now. Not when I can already feel the child in my belly kicking like it knows what she said."
The room went quiet. Rylan's grin faded. He reached out to me and rested his hand on my belly beside Darius's. The flutter answered, it was small but definite. All three of them felt it through the bond at the same time. I saw it hit them at once. Darius's eyes going soft for half a second, Kane's shoulders dropping, Rylan's reckless mask cracking into something almost scared.
Darius spoke first, voice low. "It's real. Ours. Yours. We're not giving it up. And we're not losing any of us."
I swallowed hard. The bond hummed between us, thick with that new protectiveness and the old rage. My body still ached from the fight, from the claiming the night before, from everything. But the heat was different tonight. It felt sharper, like the pregnancy was turning the fire up.
Kane finished cleaning my arm and tossed the cloth aside. "You need to rest Elena. The mark is draining you."
"No, I need you," I said. The words came out raw. I grabbed Darius's tunic and pulled him down to me. "All of you. Right now. Before the witch takes anything else."
They smiled and hissed as if they wanted it but couldn't ask. Darius kissed me hard with his teeth and tongue and the taste of blood from the fight still on his lips. Kane moved in from behind, scarred hands sliding up my sides, careful over the fresh marks but rough where I needed it. Rylan knelt in front of me, eyes wild, mouth on my belly like he could kiss the child through my skin.
The knotting felt different tonight. Slower at first, almost reverent, then desperate. Darius took me against the wall, one hand braced beside my head, the other low on my belly like he was holding both of us. I came with a broken sound, nails digging into his shoulders. Kane turned me around after, from behind, his breath hot on my neck while he whispered the only thing he ever really said in moments like this: "Stay with us." Rylan pulled me onto his lap last, slow and deep penetration, grinning against my throat while the bond fed us all the same fierce need.
When Darius finally knotted me, the room smelled like sex and blood and pine again.
The knot swelled deep, locking us together. I shook through the release, tears I refused to name leaking from the corners of my eyes. They stayed tangled around me after, their hands on my belly, the bond humming steady and warm.
I tried to rest but sleep didn't come easy. I lay there between them, staring at the ceiling beams, the witch's mark still throbbing under my skin. Thinking about the eight days. Eight days until the full moon. Eight days until I had to watch one of them die or give up the child I already felt kicking like it was fighting for its own life.
The flutter came again, stronger. I pressed my palm over it and whispered inside my head, so quiet even the bond might not catch it: "Don't worry, little one. I'm not letting her have you."
Darius's arm tightened around me like he heard anyway. Kane's scarred fingers brushed my hip. Rylan's breath stayed steady against my shoulder.
Morning would bring the ride east. But right now the only thing that mattered was the three of them breathing around me and the small life between us refusing to be a bargaining chip.
A knock that sounded sharp and urgent came on the chamber door.
Darius was up before I could move. Kane already had a knife in his hand. Rylan rolled to his feet, axe ready.
A scout stood outside, breathing hard, face pale. "My kings. I bring message from the southern border. Gamma Voss himself is riding with five hundred wolves. He says he's coming for his daughter… and he's bringing silver chains."
My stomach dropped. The bond roared. "What?!" I shrieked. "He's coming for the daughter he exiled to die?!"
Eight days had just become seven.
And my father wasn't waiting for the witch to finish us first. He had other plans....