The Heir (33 page)

"Is it..?"

"No one else’s."

"Is that why you came back?"

Jessica nodded and told her everything about
her time away. She told her about her ultrasound, the results and
her greatest fear. The reason for her return, "The baby looked like
a normal baby but it's going to be four months early. The baby is
not completely human,” Jessica told her, voicing her worse fears
“what if he ends up being born with fur. What if instead of giving
birth to a baby I end up with a puppy?!"

Dani laughed, "You won't, trust me, and you
will be giving birth to a baby." She assured her.

"How do you know?"

"I just do." Dani replied and rushed to
change the subject, "What about Nick?"

"What about him?"

"Have you decided what you're going to do? Do
you plan on telling him?" Jessica shrugged, "if you plan on staying
here he is going to find out. Before I left the house I talked to
Nick and he told me he wasn't giving up."

"Did you do what I told you to?"

"Yeah, I made sure no one was following
me."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that if I were
you. You didn't manage to lose them, but don't worry, I had someone
take care of them."

Both Dani and Jessica snapped around to look
at Kate. "What are you doing here?" Jessica asked her.

"I am here for the baby of course. If my
estimations are correct the baby is old enough to survive without
its mother but don't worry, I will raise the Heir as if he were my
own." Kate shook her head, "of course this would have all been
easier if you'd fallen for Shane. Who would have guessed that you
were Nick's true mate? Nick thought he was so smart, trying to lead
us away from you. But we are the ones who will have the last laugh
and I have to thank you for making it so easy. For believing my
lies, Nick never wanted me but now he will change his mind when he
finds out that I have his heir."

Jessica put a protective hand over her belly
and growled, "Over my dead body."

"That is the plan, it always was." Kate’s
pleasant tone didn't match he words or her psychotic smile.

Without warning Kate shifted and charged
towards them. Out of nowhere Dani stepped in front of Jessica and
pushed her back in an attempt to protect her and the baby. A second
later the brown wolf slammed into Danielle, it dug its teeth into
her stomach and shook her like a ragged doll.

Danielle screamed in agony and tried to free
herself but it was a futile attempt. Fearful for her child, Jessica
stumbled backwards and watched in horror as Danielle’s blood went
spraying everywhere. Then Danielle’s cries suddenly stopped and the
wolf flung her away like a discarded chew toy. It turned its sights
on Jessica and slowly walked towards her, Jessica backed away, the
wolf could have pounced at any time but Kate was toying with
her.

Jessica looked around trying to find a way to
escape; she had to protect her baby. Looking around she noticed
something for the first time, she was surrounded by them. Her eyes
landed on Danielle’s prone body and she snapped, she wasn't going
down without a fight, last time she'd run away when confronted with
the ugly but not this time.

For the second time in her life, her powers
emerged and she allowed her wolf to take charge. Jessica closed her
eyes in an attempt to shut away the pain she felt when her bones
turned, twisted and shifted. When she next opened them she was
seeing through the eyes of her wolf. It happened so quickly, one
minute she was standing upright and the next she was on all
fours.

After that her survival instincts took
over.

Kate barely had time to react, within the
blink of an eye Jessica pounced on her. They crashed into each
other, each going for the others throat. Jessica finally managed to
gain the upper hand and pinned the other wolf to the ground. She
clamped her jaw over her throat tore it out. Blood spilled into her
mouth, Kate’s whines filled her ears and Jessica growled in
satisfaction.

Kate’s' struggles to free herself were
ineffective and soon her body went slack. Her death brought her no
sense of triumph. She was still surrounded by wolves’ intent on
harming her and they were closing in.

Jessica stepped away from the dead wolf,
backing away from the one that were advancing on her she realized
that Kate had managed to bite her a couple of times and that she
wasn't healing as fast as she usually did. Jessica went to stand
over Dani's body and panic kicked in when she realized that Dani
was dying-and so was she. She tried to shift back but she couldn't,
she didn't know how and she was too weak from her wounds, too weak
to fight, too weak to even stand.

She could sense their joy as they watched her
struggles to stay upright. Acting more like hyenas than wolves,
they watched and waited patiently for her to go down. Even
untrained, a Lykaon was hard to take it down, her father was proof
of that and they couldn't take any chances.

Jessica's legs went out from underneath her
and she laid down next to Dani her head on her paws and closed her
eyes.

Not a second later she heard a great
commotion, wolves were growling and snarling. Jessica opened her
eyes and time to see the last of her attackers being killed.

"Jessica!"

Nick stepped into the clearing to find
Jessica in wolf form lying next to Dani, both of them dying;
surrounded by treacherous wolves. Nick lost it, he shifted and in
the blink of an eye he charged those looking to harm his mate. He
showed them no mercy and went straight for their throats.

The confrontation ended as soon as it began.
,'

When all threats had been taken care of, he
ran to kneel beside Jessica and ran his hands over her fur, while
Matt checked on Dani, "Oh god baby, you have to shift. Jessica if
you don't shift you will die."

Jessica whined and looked at Nick with pain
filled eyes.

"I don't think she can." Matt said from
beside him.

Jessica looked at Matt and whined again as if
in agreement.

"Why not?"

"I don't think she knows how."

Jessica whined again.

Nick took a deep breath and talked her
through the process. Jessica used every spare ounce of energy and
followed nick's instructions. Nicks gasp of shock upon seeing her
stomach was overshadowed by Christians' cry when he stepped into
the clearing and saw Dani dying on the ground.

"Dani!" Christian ran to her side, pushing
Matt away he looked at her stomach wound and unsuccessfully tried
to stop the bleeding with his hands, "oh god, Dani no, you can't
die. You have to fight."

Matt put a hand on his shoulder, "it’s no
use, the medics won’t get here in time, and she’s lost too much
blood."

Christian slapped his hand away, "No! I'm not
letting her go!" Christian turned to look at Jessica, with the eyes
of a wild and desperate man, "you can save her. You are the Lykaon,
if you wanted to, you could save her."

Jessica cringed in pain from her wounds as
she moved to kneel beside him, and croaked, "How?"

"You could turn her into one of us; you’re
the only one with the power to change her."

"No!" Nick exclaimed, "Jessica's too weak,
the wounds and the baby are taking most of her energy. She could
die."

"Dani is dying!" Christian screamed then
turned his pleas to Jessica, "please! She is my mate!" he
cried.

"It hasn't been done in twenty years!" Nick
argued wildly trying to pull Jessica back but she weakly slapped
his hands away. "All three of them could die! That’s my child she
is carrying!"

Jessica ignored Nick’s outburst, she'd never
planned on saying no. Dani had risked her life for hers and her
baby’s, if it wasn't for her they would already be dead. Jessica
would agree to do anything to save her sister, even risk her own
life. "What do I have to do?"

Christian rushed to explain over Nicks
cursing and growls, "Your nails and teeth have to shift, and
you-you bite her neck and dig your claws into her. As your enzymes
enter her blood stream you have to send a shock of power to her
through your claws to keep her body from rejecting the change and
dying."

Jessica nodded and concentrated on shifting
her teeth and nails. It was easier now that Nick had talked her
through it once. When she was ready she bent over Dani and followed
the instructions hat Christian relayed to her. When it was time to
transfer some of her power to Dani, Jessica closed her eyes and
pictured herself dividing the last of her energy in half. She
infused one half of it with all the love in her heart and
transferred it to the innocent being in her womb who was fighting
to live after suffering so much trauma. The other half she pushed
it out of herself and sent it into Dani.

Jessica kept enough of her energy to stay
conscious long enough only to make sure that both Dani and the baby
would survive. The strengthening of their heart beats was all the
reassurance she needed and stopped fighting the currents pulling
her under.

"Jessica! No!"

Nick screaming her name was the last thing
she heard.

Chapter 26

“Wake up Jessica, please wake up."

Jessica walked through the thick fog
following the faint voice that was calling her name. She turned in
a circle to look around her and found nothing. There was nothing
here, no time, no pain, no ending or beginning-nothing. As far she
could see there was only fog.

"Please open your eyes, please."

There was desperation in the pleading voice
that touched a similar chord deep inside of her and she picked up
the pace and ran towards it. She didn't remember how she'd gotten
here or why but she knew that this wasn't where she belonged. She
lost track of the time she spent running, following the voice,
looking for a way out when all of a sudden the fog began to clear.
The voice sounded clearer, closer and as she drew near she
recognized its owner.

"I can't do this without you." Nick
murmured.

Jessica opened her eyes slowly.

Disoriented, she looked at Nicks down turned
head for a moment before the sunlight had her cringing and closing
her eyes again. With her eyes closed, she took a deep breath in an
attempt to clear her mind. She had the nagging feeling that
something was wrong, that she should remember something but she
couldn't figure out what…

Nick was looking down at the floor when he
noticed a slight movement out of the corner of his eyes. He scooted
to the edge of his seat and leaned closer to the bed. Clasping one
of her hands between his, he called her name and his heart soared
when he felt the hand he held move just the slightest bit.

"Oh thank the moon!" Nick got up and rushed
to the door "She is awake!"

Not a second later, a doctor came jogging in.
He headed straight for Jessica and checked her vitals. When he was
done he looked at nick and motioned for him to follow him to the
door, "Everything looks good, she healed fantastically and like I
said before she shouldn't have any problems conceiving again." The
doctor reassured him in a hushed tone then looked at Jessica who
was fully conscious and added, "I'll give you guys sometime alone
but I will be back to check on you again."

Jessica gave a soft nod and Nick once again
took his seat by her bed. He'd been here for days, willing her to
live, to wake up.

He took Jessica’s hand and asked, "How are
you feeling?"

She tried to speak but her words came out in
a painful croak and she brought her hand up to her throat. Nick
offered her a sip of the water from the cup that sat on the night
stand and after clearing her throat, she tried again, "I've been
better." She rasped, "What happened? What was the doctor talking
about?"

Nick eyed her with trepidation, "what's the
last thing you remember?"

Jessica closed her eyes; at first all she saw
was darkness but then it was as if she'd hit a switch and all of
her recent memories came flooding back. She remembered her
disillusionment, her heart break, her time in New York, her return
home. She remembered her confrontation with Kate. She remembered
Dani lying on the ground dying and she remembered sacrificing
herself for Dani and the baby.

Her baby!

She finally realized why she'd been having
that nagging feeling as if she'd forgotten something important. How
could she have forgotten her baby? Jessica looked at her stomach
but she already knew what she would find, it was flat.
Horrorstricken and pale, she looked around but found no signs of
her child.

Afraid of the answer, she looked at Nick and
asked about her baby.

Nick closed his eyes and bent his head, "I'm
so sorry, I couldn't let you die. The doctor assures me that you'll
be able to conceive again. Please forgive me for what I had to
do-"

Jessica shook her head vehemently and cried
"oh no, no, not my baby. Nick, not my baby! Not my baby!"

His heart split in two upon seeing the pain
in her eyes and he shook his head when he realized that he'd given
her the wrong impression, "No! That’s not what I meant," he tried
to explain but she didn't hear him over her heart wracking
sobs.

Holding her stomach, she curled herself into
a ball and nudged Nick's hand away when he tried to get her
attention. For the second time her world came apart and Jessica
wasn't sure she'd survive. This time she had nothing to live for.
With every breath she took, she prayed for death. How could she go
on living when her baby was gone?

Eyeing the inconsolable Jessica, not for the
first time, Nick wondered if he was forever destined to hurt his
mate. He knew he didn't deserve her but during the time she'd been
unconscious he’d promised the gods countless of times that he would
change.

He would make her happy.

Starting now.