“I got skewered like a stuffed hog,” he said as he rubbed his nose against hers as if what he said was of little consequence.
She frownedand pulled back so she could look at his face. “You were stabbed?”
He nodded. “In my stomach. I won’t lie. It was bad.”
Bethany stood up and finally looked at the people who’d been holding down her mate. The only one she recognized was Rachel. “You all saved him?” she asked the group that was staring at her.
The male held up his hand. “I just held him down when he went into frantic-mate-mode. I’m Adam, mate to Crina. She’s a member of your pack, but we’ve been off fighting other bad guys.”
Bethany nodded. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Rachel stepped forward and motioned to the two women standing on the other side of Drake’s bed. “Bethany, this is Diedre.” She motioned to the woman with long brown hair that was braided and resting over one shoulder. She had a kind face, and a radiance filled her eyes. “She is a sprite and the head of the clan of luminous sprites.”
Bethany didn’t lift a brow at the news that sprites existed. She wasn’t surprised by anything anymore. There was really no point.
“And this,” Rachel continued, “is Lanora. She is a healer sprite. They are the reason your mate, and in turn you and your child, are still alive.”
Bethany didn’t even try to stop the tears as she hurried around the bed and first hugged Diedre and then Lanora. “Thank you, thank you,” she said over and over again. “There’s no way I can ever show you my gratitude for what you’ve done.”
Diedre reached out and took one of Bethany’s hands in hers and squeezed. “It is what we are here for, and we are so thankful that we were able to help you both. Your mate is strong and stubborn. Both of those things actually help us do our job.”
A smile stretched across Bethany’s face. She was well aware of how stubborn her mate was.
“I am very thankful that we could save him,” Lanora said, her voice soft with a musical quality.
Diedre turned to Drake and narrowed her eyes on him. “You are not to get out of this bed without assistance and only for necessity until we tell you otherwise.”
Drake, surprisingly, didn’t argue. He simply bowed his head. “Thank you. Truly, I am in your debt.”
“The debt has been paid,” Diedre said, her voice full of sorrow.
Bethany felt pain through the mate bond, but it wasn’t physical pain. It was emotional. The loss of their alpha pair. She wondered if that was the payment of which Diedre spoke.
One by one, the others stepped away until Bethany and Drake were alone.
“Come here, please.” Drake held out a hand to her.
She walked over and let him pull her next to him on the bed. She sat, trying not to move too much for fear of causing him pain. “I’m so sorry about Vasile and Alina,” she whispered.
Drake let out a deep breath. “Losing them is a huge blow to our pack,” Drake admitted. “There are people in this world who are selfless and willing to do anything for others. That’s the kind of people Vasile and Alina were. They took me into their pack knowing the type of pack I came from. But they never treated me any differently.”
She held his hand tighter and sat quietly, letting her love flow through the bond, hoping she could offer him some comfort. She felt the pain of the alpha pairs' loss, and it was so much worse through her mate’s emotions because he had a deeper attachment to them than she.
After a few minutes, Drake released her hand and then pressed it to her stomach. She loved the warmth that seeped through her clothes and set her hand on top of his, pressing it more firmly into her.
“Our child is alright?” Drake asked, worry filling his voice.
Bethany nodded. “I have it on very good authority that our little one is just fine and will do great things in his or her life.”
Drake’s brow rose. “The Great Luna?”
Bethany nodded. “She paid me a visit while we were both unconscious. She took me to the battlefield.”
Drake frowned. “You shouldn’t have seen that.”
“I’ve seen blood and death, Drake.” She hated reminding him that she’d spent a long time in the hands of the vampires. “The only reason it was hard to be there was because I knew you’d been there and somewhere on that field was your lifeblood.”
He tried to pull her down beside him, but she shook her head. “You’re not going to hurt me,” he told her.
