Not through the bond. Just wrongness, the sense of being watched that made every hair on my body stand up.
I froze and scanned the cliff faces around me, trying to spot whatever had triggered my instincts. Nothing obvious. But the feeling persisted.
There.
Movement on the far ridge. Maybe half a mile away. A winged figure perched on an outcrop, watching our territory with the stillness of a predator observing prey.
Not Drav. Wrong size, wrong silhouette. Smaller wingspan. Younger posture, the way he held himself uncertain in a way Drav never was.
I backed into a crack in the rock where I'd be harder to spot and watched.
The figure stayed there for maybe ten minutes. Then another male landed next to him, and they seemed to be discussing something. Pointing at different parts of our territory. Making plans that probably involved me in ways I wouldn't like.
Kethar's scouts. Had to be.
I memorized their positions, their sizes, the way they moved. Then I climbed back toward the main caves, moving with the stiff, shallow-breathing caution of someone trying to keep their ribcage intact.
Drav was waiting when I got back.
"You found them." Not a question. He'd felt my alarm through the bond, probably the moment my heart rate had spiked.
"Two males. Eastern ridge, maybe half a mile out. They were watching our territory, planning something."
"Kethar's building an attack force." He moved to the cave entrance, wings spreading slightly in what I'd learned was threat display. "I felt others this morning while hunting. At least four males circling our boundaries."
"What do we do?"
"We prepare." He turned back to face me, his expression grim. "They'll attack soon. Probably within days. Kethar's desperate—the unbonded sickness is killing him. He needs a mate now or he's dead."
"He’ll attack soon." "Can we defend against four males?"
"We'll have to." His hand found mine and squeezed. "You proved you can fight. But this will be different. Coordinated attack. Multiple threats at once."
"So we?—"
I stopped. Pressure in my belly, not pain exactly but different from being full of his seed. Deeper. More solid. More permanent.
"Hallie?"
"Something's wrong." I pressed my hand to my stomach, trying to identify the sensation. "It feels..."
His hand replaced mine instantly, pressing gently. His eyes went distant for a moment—sensing something through the bond that I couldn't identify on my own.
Then his face changed. Fierce satisfaction. Possessive pride so strong it felt like a physical force.
"Not wrong," he said, his voice dropping lower, more resonant. "Right. Perfect." His hand pressed harder. "You're pregnant. The eggs are forming."
The world tilted.
"Already? It's only been?—"
"The bond accelerates it. Your body accepted my seed immediately." Both his hands were on my belly now, feeling for something I couldn't sense. "Three of them. I can sense three distinct masses. They'll grow fast over the next few weeks."
Three eggs. Inside me. Growing.
His cocks were both hard before I could process the information, which seemed unfair when my brain was still trying to process.
"Drav—"
