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Chapter 20 – At Last

Eudora’s POV

We entered Domino Park and I had hoped to stop at the ice cream parlor across the street for a sweet treat on our way out. However, we left with nothing more than silence and my craving for ice cream completely forgotten.

Ares reached for my hand, and I pulled it away. He was not going to be able to smooth this over so easily. If the stranger in the park knew, then they all knew. No one bothered to tell me, not even Apollo. I recalled Wylder’s comment from this morning and now it all made sense. He could scent the growing pup and knew that Tymber might as well if I went into the restaurant alone. A wave of burning anger filled me, why was I always the last to find out? I was the one growing the baby after all. Growing a werewolf baby is hard on a human body because it happens more than twice as fast.

“How long have you all known?” I asked and could feel the tension in the air.

“Known what?” Ares asked, hoping by some small miracle that I didn’t catch on to what was said.

“Don’t play dumb with me! Wylder already let it slip this morning that my scent was different. You remember, the fart you thought you smelled.” I waited for an answer. “Well?”

“I thought I caught a faint scent yesterday, but I wasn’t sure until this morning.” He replied with a sheepish grin.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I should have been the first to know.

“After what happened the last time, I wanted to plan something special…” He said something about dinner and jewelry as if that would somehow make it better.

I sat lost in my thoughts. I wanted more children but with everything going on, now wasn’t the right time. And now with Lukas being special at such a young age, I wondered if the others would also be the same. We reached the hotel and I set the baby down with his play toys on a blanket. Paola sat on the floor with him, and Ares tried to talk to me.

“Amor, talk to me.” His low husky voice called to me.

“I’m not ready to talk about it. It’s life changing news and I’m always the last to find out what’s happening inside my own body.” I went to our room to have a few moments alone. I needed to think. The news made me anxious, though I wasn’t mad.

I was considering giving Lukas a bath when I remembered he had no more diapers left. The pharmacy was just one block from the hotel, and Ares kept forgetting, so I reached for my purse. I’d be back before they realized I was gone. Tymber offered to come with me, but I just wanted a few moments alone.

I took the elevator to the lobby and stepped outside. The warm humid air on my skin reminded me of my home in Mexico. When I think about home, I think about my parents. My world had changed a lot in the last year and it was about to change again. Another baby. If the new baby is anything like Lukas, it will be a handful. With any luck, it might just be a sweet little girl, I tried to convince myself as I approached the pharmacy.

I was greeted by the cool air from the air conditioner as I entered through the automated double doors. I made my way to the back corner of the store to the baby needs section. Turning the corner of the aisle, I found the diapers and selected a package of twenty-six, size three diapers. It seems like just yesterday Lukas was in newborn diapers.

I racked my mind trying to remember if there was anything else I needed. Reaching the end of the aisle, my eyes looked over at the home pregnancy tests. Werewolf pregnancies developed much faster than human pregnancies. If they could already scent the pup, I wondered if one of these tests could already detect the pregnancy. I was considering buying one when a female voice disrupted my thoughts.

“You don’t need one of those. You’re definitely pregnant.” She said.

I looked up to meet the eyes of a familiar looking blond I had only seen in pictures. It was Victoria and her eyes looked wild. The diapers fell from my grasp, and I wondered if she was alone. She looked rough and disheveled, almost feral like a rogue. I suppose her wolf was now a rogue since she was packless. For a moment I stood frozen in place and then I lifted my head, holding my chin high. I was not going to let this bitch intimidate me.

“Can I help you with something?” I asked.

“I need to talk to you.”

“So talk.”

“Not here. I have hunters on my tail.” She said nervously as she looked over her shoulders.

“I’m sure you still have my mate’s phone number, you can give me a call anytime to talk. Why stalk me?” I emphasized my mate and saw her eyes flash red. Her wolf was rogue and trying to surface.

“You need to come with me, human.” She said in a low growl and pointed a small handgun at me.

“I’m not going anywhere with you, mutt!” I stared her in the eyes, challenging her, as I considered the silver knife I carried in my purse. She wanted me alive, and I doubt she’d shoot me in public.

“I’ll shoot you right here and rip it out of you if I have to. There’s an exit in the back stock room, MOVE!” She threatened and her eyes flashed red again. I realized she was unstable, and her wolf was desperate. I walked slowly towards the large silver swinging door leading to the back stock room.

“I’m surprised you survived the birth, most humans don’t. Ares doesn’t seem to care much for you if he’s risking birthing another pup again.” She grumbled to herself. “I suppose he wants an heir and a spare for his mighty kingdom. Honestly, you should thank me, I’m doing you a favor.” She continued.

I crossed my arms over my chest and slipped my hand into my purse that was hanging over my shoulder. My hand quickly clenched around the handle of the small blade. I knew there would be no way to outrun her, wolves were much faster than humans, in their wolf and human form. I fought back the fear and my heart raced with each passing moment.

She wants to hurt my unborn child. Perhaps she was not only feral but her human side had gone crazy too. She sounded delusional. Demeter once told me that Victoria was obsessed with the idea of having a pup with Ares. Maybe she was just jealous?

“This should please the master.” She muttered as we entered the dark stock room.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and quickly swung my arm back to knock the gun out of her hand. The gun skated under the metal shelving that surrounded the walls of the stock room. In a flash, she delivered a strong blow to my face, and I stumbled back on a tall stack of toilet paper. Her eyes were red, and her wolf was in control. I held tight to the knife and tried to stand up when she grabbed a fist full of my hair and wrapped the other hand around my neck.

“Such a helpless and weak little human.” Her lips curved up in a wicked grin and I could feel the warm blood from my split lip running down my chin. “Luna Queen? I think not!” She laughed.

I sent a mouthful of spit and blood into her face. I whirled my arm as fast as I could and tried to lodge the silver blade into her neck. She let out a growl and threw me to the ground as the blade sliced a cut on her neck. I landed with a hard thud and the sound of the silver clanked out of my hand as it hit the floor and slid away from my grasp. Victoria hissed as she rubbed her hand over the burning cut from the silver. I quickly turned and reached for the knife.

“Oh no, you don’t!” She grabbed my foot, pulling me towards her, on my back.

I reached for the nearest thing to me and found the packages of toilet paper I had knocked over. I grabbed a package, and another, and another. I aimed for her face and managed to hit her a few times. It didn’t hurt her, but it distracted her long enough for me to bring my leg close enough to give her a good kick. I focused all my energy and strength on that single up-kick from the ground, pulling my free leg back and putting everything into it. I landed it right between the crazed she-wolf’s legs, hitting her lady bits hard.

To my surprise, she bent over and cupped her crotch. “I’m going to fucking kill you!” She screeched as I scurried back. My fingers wrapped around the handle of the silver knife and I stood up.

“Bring it bitch!” I nearly growled back. There’s no way I was going to let her hurt me or my pup. She had already caused Ares a lot of trouble and she was about to get her payback.

Victoria stood and grabbed at a metal object on the rack next to her. It was large, oval, and shiny. She held it in her hand and swung it at me, aiming for the knife in my hand. Her shield of protection from the silver blade in my hand was a metal bedpan.

I stepped back and she continued stepping forward, swinging the bedpan as her eyes glowed red from the feral beast she had turned into. I needed to get close enough to dig the blade into her and poison her bloodstream, but she was quick. My back hit the shelf behind me, and I knew I was cornered. With one hand, I reached for the bottles on the shelf behind me. Mouthwash. I launched a few bottles of minty goodness at her, and she managed to dodge them. The last one hit the bedpan and exploded open, splashing her in the face.

She closed her eyes and growled as the liquid burned her retina. I took advantage of the opportunity and charged forward with all my strength. I plunged the silver dagger right into her left breast, through her heart.

Victoria let out a muffled screech and the bedpan tumbled to the ground. She tried to open her eyes, looking down at her chest, before she took a step back and dropped to the floor. Gasping for air, she lifted her hand to the knife but was too weak to pull it out. She made some whimpering sounds and twitched around on the floor. I watched in shock as blood pooled in her mouth, running down her cheek. Her eyes glazed over, and she stopped moving, all signs of life gone.

Panic set in. I wasn’t sure if I should take the knife and run. I had just killed someone in the back room of the pharmacy. Human law enforcement would be looking for me in connection with the dead body. Would I be able to prove it was self-defense? I looked up to see if the stock room had security surveillance. The large silver door swung open, and Ares rushed to me.

“Eudora! Thank the Moon Goddess. Baby, are you okay?” He pulled me to him. Conner and Wylder stepped through the door and Conner quickly moved to make sure Victoria was dead.

Wylder looked down assessing the messy stock room and let out a low whistle. “Looks like Icky Vicky met a sticky end!”

“We need to get out of here before someone finds us.” I looked towards the back door emergency exit.

“The surveillance system is closed circuit and local. The storage will be somewhere in this building.” Conner looked at Ares and Ares nodded his head, understanding what Conner was suggesting.

“Everyone to the back door.” Ares said as his eyes glowed with flames of fire. “Do you want the knife back?” Ares asked me and I shook my head no. I could always get another silver knife, but I didn’t want anything to remind me of her. I picked up my purse and moved with Ares to the back of the stock room.

We opened the door and the emergency alarm sounded. Ares sent bright burning flames at Victoria’s corpse without hesitation and spread the flames to the ceiling. We waited a few moments so the humans can escape from the front of the pharmacy before he allowed the fire to move to the rest of the store.

“I need diapers for Lukas.” I suddenly remembered the reason I had come to the pharmacy.

“We’ll stop on the way to the airport. I need to get you back to pack territory.”

We moved quickly to the parking garage of the hotel where the others were already waiting for us. A fast car ride later and Ares was guiding me up the stairs into the jet. No one said a word as Ares buckled down Lukas’ car seat in the plane and strapped the sleeping baby in. Mateo, Wylder, and both of their mates were returning with us to the Moon Realm. Conner and Chris would be staying behind and looking for the lab.

We waited while the flight crew prepared for takeoff. Visions of Victoria’s lifeless eyes flashed before me. I had killed Ares’ former mate. I should probably feel some kind of remorse, but I couldn’t. She was going to kill me and my unborn baby. But, why? I haven’t done anything to her. It was the Moon Goddess that fated me with Ares.

I remembered what she said, she was going to “cut it out of me.” What kind of sicko would do that and why? I could hear the heavy footsteps of someone rushing up the jet stairs. Ares quickly moved to the open cabin door of the jet. Relief swept through me to find Conner holding a package of diapers.

“Didn’t want you to go looking for some again.” He smiled.