Beast, big, dominant male, wasn’t breeding her as he’d no doubt been trained to do.
He was making love to her instead.
Another wave of orgasm blasted through her, and something inside of her ripped apart. A strange noise rattled up her throat, and Beast, with no warning at all, sank his teeth into her shoulder, right over Justin’s mark.
It hurt. Oh, it hurt! The shock of it left her breathless, but the pleasure overrode the pain because they were still connected at the hips. Her release still throbbed on with Beast’s, creating such an odd, beautiful, all-consuming sensation.
When he let go of her torn skin, a wave of dizziness blasted through Kiera. Her insides were ripping apart, burning, changing, and she closed her eyes against the agony.
This time, she clawed him good because she couldn’t help herself, couldn’t control her body.
A snarl she didn’t recognize ripped through her and then…
Nothing.
With a gasp, Kiera opened her eyes. Beast was up on locked arms, looking down at her with an odd expression, as if he was waiting for something.
“What did you do?” she whispered in horror as warmth streamed from her shoulder.
Beast shook his head, looking utterly confused. “I thought it would work. I could feel her. She was calling me, calling for a bite, begging me to release her.” Beast’s face went slack when he dragged his golden gaze down her chest to her stomach. His chest heaved and even she, with her duller senses, could feel his panic.
Beast bolted off her and then paced at the foot of the bed, eyes on the swell of her stomach. He ran his hands over and over his short hair. “Kiera?”
She curled up on herself, feeling completely vulnerable under his gaze. “I wanted to tell you.”
“No, no, no,” he murmured, shaking his head. “How far along?”
“Beast,” she whispered, reaching for him.
He jerked backward and slammed his back against the wall. “How far?”
Kiera’s throat was tight with emotion as she choked out, “Four months.”
Beast gripped the back of his head. His face had turned red in the dim moonlight. He looked gutted. He slammed his head back against the wall. “Human. Kiera tell me it’ll be human.”
Tears blurred her vision. She didn’t understand what was happening, but she understood the bottomless pain in Beast’s eyes. “It’ll be a lion cub.”
“Fffffuck.” Beast slid down the wall and squatted on the floor, hands gripping the back of his head. “Who?” When Beast looked up at her, his eyes were rimmed with moisture. “Who fathered it, Kiera.”
“Justin Moore of the Tarian Pride.”
“Justin Moore,” he said in a hollow voice. Fury churned in his eyes.
“You know of him?”
“No, Kiera, I know him. Everything about him. He gave me this.” He jammed a finger at his face. “He’s the bachelor that got away, and only one because he secured an entire fucking pride under him to protect him from my wrath. I’ve been waiting for him to fuck up, Kiera. Waiting for him to be outed by another male so I can kill that mother fucker. I can’t do it now, or by Lion Law, I would have to take over his pride. He’s untouchable, torturing me with every breath he takes. Out of everyone…Justin? He’s the father of—he’s the—fuck!”
“Oh, my gosh,” Kiera whispered.
Beast’s fury morphed to panic in an instant. “Kiera, you have to get out!”
“Beast, please. I’m sorry!”
He stood and bolted for the door, but he didn’t make it. An enormous lion ripped out of him with such power it blasted her backward on the bed. He rounded on her and charged in the same graceful motion. Beast was shockingly fast. He was a blur, and then he was on her, paws the size of her head on either side of her shoulders, gold eyes locked on her and full of fury. She whimpered and covered her belly protectively, but what could she really do against an animal like this? He was the size of a truck.
“Beast, please. You bit me, remember?” she pleaded in desperation. “Look, I’m still bleeding from your claiming mark. It’s me. It’s me and you.”
He opened his mouth and roared a deafening sound, but she knew he was in there somewhere because he didn’t move to hurt her. Terrified, she reached up and ran her palms over his thick, coarse mane. Beast was a beautiful animal. The perfect specimen of dominant alpha lion. Black scars webbed his face, and his ear had a notch taken out of it, but his mane was chestnut-colored and full, his head massive. His teeth were impossibly long and white, his body unimaginably powerful. And his eyes… The anger faded and was replaced by the saddest look she’d ever seen. He looked down at her belly with a slow blink, then slunk off the bed completely. He paced one tight circle, barely able to fit in the small space of the room, then lifted one side of his lip, let off a soft rattling snarl, and walked gracefully from the room.
A howl lifted on the wind, then another, followed by the roar of a grizzly and the scream of a panther.
Holding the sheets around herself, Kiera stood slowly, but hunched when the sound of shattering glass blasted through the trailer. The battle cry of a lion followed within seconds, and Kiera screamed, “Beast, no!” She bolted for the living room, but she could see it from here in the glowing lights of the gazebo.
The D-Team was at war. They were bleeding each other with such frenzied violence Kiera barely felt the shard of glass on the floor that cut her foot as she came to a stop in the middle of the destroyed living room.