Linton huffs. He hasn’t minded fighting alongside Warden to deal with the Selkies, but I sense his patience is at an end with the big centaur.
But Warden is generally noisy, busy, and loud. Everything Linton is not. My mothman might have gained some clarity in his mind since the hunter’s moon, his former persona and life coming back to him, the horrors of the Night Lands receding, but he still has the occasional night terrors, and he very muchdislikesnoisy Warden, even if he’s generally okay with quieter Warden.
“It’s fine, Linton. I need to get back. I suppose the prisoners probably haven’t been fed since I left.”
Unable to help myself, I gasp at the callousness of his words, even if I know now what might lurk within the walls of his prison.
“Don’t fret, Kaitlyn. They don’t actually need feeding.” He laughs uproariously. “My job is to stop them from getting out into the Yeavering.”
“A task you took upon yourself.”
“What else am I to do with eternity?” Warden growls at him. “I am the last of my kind. The chances of me finding a mate are naught.”
Linton sniffs. “Still believe you can only mate with another Brag. Outdated,” he says, pulling me close.
“I harbour no such prejudice.” Warden stands, finishing off the apple in two bites. “It’s complicated.”
I guess it’s alwayscomplicatedin the Yeavering.”
“My mate and I have been breeding hard,” Linton says as Warden heads towards the door, picking up his saddlebags.
I slap him on the chest, just over the slight scar from where the arrow pierced hissecondheart. “Shush!” I warn him.
Linton ignores me.
“She is with young.” He slides a hand over my stomach. “You will come back in due course for the birth celebration?”
Warden turns and looks at both of us.
“Fyr-bæth - Here-Wulf - Wuldres Thegn - Gast-Bona - Sund-Hengest,”he says. “As impossible as it sounds, there is more for us all to do.”
Linton snorts. “I’ll have nothing to do with the Shellycoat, and you know it.”
“The Yeavering doesn’t,” Warden says. “So, we need to celebrate every occasion. Of course I will return.”
Linton smiles, still not seeing my shocked expression as Warden takes his leave with a deep bow to me. The sound of his hooves once he’s back in his Brag form echo away.
“What did you mean by all of that? I’m not pregnant.” I grab Linton’s face. “I think I’d know.”
Linton lifts his antennae. “What do you think these are for?” he asks.
“Usually to make you come in your trousers,” I respond, with all the cheek I can muster.
He closes his eyes, and a delicious shudder flows through him.
“Linton!” I raise my voice to utter his name, pulling him back from whatever dirty thought is filling his usually crowded mind.
“I sense pheromones, hormones, and many other things through my antennae,” he rasps. “Your scent has changed. You are with young.” He cups my stomach. “And I cannot wait until you swell.” He pants out a breath.
“You can sense I’m pregnant?” I ask.
Linton twitches his antennae. “Yes.” He smiles. “And I will always be able to sense when you’re fertile too. That way, we can breed over and over.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I murmur, pressing a kiss to his lips.
“I love you, my Kaitlyn,” he replies, hungrily taking my kisses. “And I will breed with you for as long as you want, or we don’t have to breed again at all. Whatever you want, you can have.”
“I wantyou, Linton. And I already have you.”
