Nautilus sighed. "Can nothing be mysterious anymore?"
"C'mon, Granddad, you know I suck at the cryptic message stuff," Zak said with a groan. "Can't you just tell us?"
Nautilus narrowed his eyes and flicked Zak on the forehead with one of his whiskers. "No. Goodbye."
With that puzzling gift, Nautilus disappeared into the water, melting into it like he was made of liquid himself.
When he was gone, Zak and I exchanged a glance. We were totally alone now for the first time since we left the coast on this quest together.
"So," Zak said, smiling. "Pregnant, huh?"
His innate joy was so contagious I couldn't help smiling back. "Apparently."
Zak slipped closer, sliding his arms around my waist and grinning like a lovestruck idiot. "You have no idea how excited I am to be a dad. Oh, wait. We have to decide who's gonna be called what. Like I call my alpha father Pops and my omega father Dad and--shit, I have to go home and tell them the news!"
I laughed. "Slow down. There's plenty of time to do all of that. We saved the coast, remember? We're not in a rush."
But as I said the words, I wasn't quite sure of them. Deep down, a seed of doubt still pulsed inside me. Could it really be this easy? Could a simple pregnancy between two fated mates be enough to ward off Animus from returning? Mistral and Nautilus hadn't seemed too worried, so maybe I shouldn't have been either, and yet...
"You're right." Zak kissed me, playfully grazing my lower lip with his teeth. "Besides, we'realonealone. It'd be a waste not to take advantage of that."
The jolt of arousal he sent down my spine distracted me from my negative thoughts. I licked my lips. "Is that so?"
"Yup." Without breaking eye contact, Zak snaked a hand down my front and grasped the base of my cock. I sucked in a breath. "Don't omegas get hornier than usual while pregnant?"
"Generally, yes. Though that tends to happen a few months into gestation, not immediately."
As I spoke, Zak was fondling me, making it harder to get my words out in a collected way. Stupid tease.
"You sure about that? You seem pretty excited," Zak purred in my ear. The warm ghost of his breath sent a sensual jolt through me.
I growled and ran my fingers through his hair before gripping it firmly. "Then do something about it, wolf."
Zak flashed me a grin with his pointed teeth on full display. "Don't mind if I do."
The rest of my thoughts dissolved as Zak playfully bit and kissed my neck--all except one tiny anxious doubt in the back of my mind that refused to go away.
Everything was solved, wasn't it? Nautilus had his powers back. Zak and I were expecting. The waters were smooth, and the coast was back to normal. The haven would be safe. Zak and I had our whole lives ahead of us--a life we would share with our baby.
So why did I still have this dreadful feeling that something was about to go wrong?
18
Zakariel
The night came and went.A new dawn broke on the horizon, sending pink and orange beams of light across the calm waters, and rose into a bright yellow sun that illuminated the whole island and beyond.
It was amazing having the whole island to ourselves. I stretched with a satisfied groan, then smiled down at Kamari.
Except Kamari wasn't there.
"Huh?" I said. "Kamari, where are you?"
There was no reply. Puzzled, I shifted into my wolf form to sniff the ground where he'd laid next to me. The scent was about an hour old. I raised my snout to smell the air, then followed his trail. The island wasn'tthatbig. He couldn't have gone far unless he shifted into orca form and swam off, but why would he do that?
Maybe he doesn't really want to be with you,a voice in the back of my head said. But it was a stupid voice and I mentally stomped it to death. I didn't believe that at all. I'd looked into Kamari's eyes and seen pure love there. We were fated mates. We didn't just abandon each other.
I sped up when the scent trail grew fresher, digging my claws into the sandy dirt until I was galloping towards the shore. I skidded to a halt when I found him and let out a relieved sigh. Kamari's smooth black fin was sticking out of the water a few yards away from the shore, and there was a pile of fish laying in the sand.
