Chapter Eleven

Damon rubbed his stomach as he headed downstairs. Getting sick at seven in the morning was no way to start his day. It must have been those burritos he'd eaten for dinner. Damon needed to stop being so greedy when his dad cooked.

Now he needed something to settle his stomach because he still felt lightweight nauseous. He was surprised he hadn't woken his mate with all that retching in their bathroom.

Casimir slept like a rock.

Halfway down the stairs Damon paused, waiting to see if he had to make a run for the nearest trashcan. He breathed out slowly, determined not to get sick again, then went to the kitchen.

"Great, the brats are awake," he teased when he saw Elvine and Raidh sitting at the table, both with a glass of juice and a bagel. "What're you two troublemakers doing up so early?"

Damon stopped and gripped the edge of the counter, waiting for another wave of nausea to pass. It couldn't be food poisoning. The poison would have burned through his system too quickly. He really shouldn't have eaten six large burritos, but they'd never made him sick in the past.

"Are you okay?" Raidh asked. "You look…weird."

"Do you mean aside from his bedhead and unkempt beard?" Elvine asked. "Or the fact he's walking around in just his underwear?"

"Why are you looking, nosy?" Damon grabbed a sleeve of crackers from the pantry, wishing they had some ginger ale in the house. "No one was supposed to be awake this early."

"Next time we'll send you a memo that we're in the kitchen," Raidh said cheekily. "Just spending some time with my best friend. Why are you up so early?"

Damon rested his arm on the wall, pressing his head into his forearm. "I seem to have the cooties. You might want to bail before you catch it."

"What's a cootie?" Elvine asked. "Do you mean fleas? That's a total hummer."

Even though Damon felt like he was going to vomit, he grinned as he stared at the floor. Leave it to Elvine to screw up the phrase. "Bummer," he corrected. "That's a bummer, and, no, I don't have fleas, smarty pants."

Taking a few deep breaths, Damon closed the pantry, hugging the crackers to his chest. Hopefully this passed soon and wasn't an all-day thing. This afternoon, he had plans to ride motorcycles with his dad and brothers, and it would totally suck to have to cancel on them.

The four of them just wanted to get out and spend some quality time together to help strengthen their bond after everything they'd been through lately. Damon was especially looking forward to eating at Wild Tiger Barbeque.

His head snapped up when he heard a gasp. Elvine and Raidh were staring slack-jawed at him.

"It's just crackers," he said. "Why do you two look as if you've never seen them before?"

Sometimes fairies confused him.

Elvine flew from her chair and landed in front of him. When she reached out to touch him, Damon pushed her hand away. "Just because I'm only wearing boxers doesn't give you permission to get all touchy with my great body. I know I'm irresistible, but keep your tiny hands to yourself, young lady."

Great, now he was sounding like Kalen.

"You have the mytc?niz ," she whispered.

Damon growled as he looked down at her. "If you're still trying to say I have fleas, I'm gonna get really upset. Cooties is a kids' word for germs, and I was just joking."

"I'll go get Casimir." Raidh flew from the room.

Now Damon was really confused. "What's going on, brat?"

Elvine pressed her fists against her hips. "Stop calling me brat, Mr. Scratchy Crotch. And I'm not saying a word. This is something Casimir needs to talk to you about." She grinned and clapped her hands excitedly. "Kalen will be so proud of me. I minded my own flywax."

Damon chuckled. "Beeswax. I'm starting to think correcting you is hopeless."

Honestly, he liked hearing her screw-ups. That was what made Elvine so unique. That and her unicorn-blue hair. Damon looked toward the kitchen entrance. "Tell me something," he whispered as he pointed at his head. "Are all fae ears that sensitive?"

She squeaked as a blush raced over her beautiful olive-colored skin. "That's a private matter, Mr. Scratchy Crotch!" Then she grinned while wiggling her brows. "Did you play with Casimir's?"

"You're right. It's a private matter," Damon growled.

She snickered, drew closer, and whispered, "It's what humans call a G-spot."

Damon adored her blush. He was starting to look at her like a little sister. "You shouldn't know about that kind of stuff, young lady."

Dammit. He sounded like Kalen again.

She said in the same secretive tone, "You're the one who brought it up, and I'm a freaking adult, toadstool."

"Mushroom face," Damon countered.

"Moss breath." She grinned.

"Lilypad toes." He hoped they didn't keep this up because he was running out of fairy stuff to call her. Nature stuff… Whatever it was.

"I'll have you know I have the prettiest feet," she huffed. Then lifted her leg and stuck her foot in his face.

" Kíen !" He shoved her foot away, surprised he'd remembered the word Casimir had taught him. "You walk around barefooted all the time. Don't stick your toes in my face."

Her jaw dropped. "Why on earth would Casimir teach you such a vile word?" she demanded.

"It means gross, right?" Though Damon recalled his mate warning him to never say it again.

"I'm too much of a lady to tell you what it really means," she snarled. "Do yourself a favor and never say it again, Mr. Icky Mouth."

Since he'd just highly insulted Elvine, now Damon really had to find out what it meant, mostly so he could kick Casimir's ass. "Sorry, squirt. I didn't know it was that offensive. I'm going to beat—" He stopped midsentence when Casimir walked into the kitchen, his gaze zeroed in on Damon's chest.

"Come on, snoop." Raidh grabbed Elvine's hand. "It's a private matter."

She tugged on his hand and whined, "But it's gonna be a sweet moment, and I want to see it!"

With a growl, Raidh forced her out of the kitchen, but not before she looked at Damon with a huge grin on her face.

"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Damon demanded. "Fine, I won't come down to the kitchen in my underwear anymore." He eased back when Casimir reached out to touch him. "Why does everyone want to touch me this morning?

"You have the mytc?niz ," Casimir said in astonishment, as if Damon would understand the word the second time around.

"Is it something like a rash? I swear to god I'm never touching a burrito again," he grumbled.

" Nékah …how?" Casimir ran his fingers across Damon's neck, causing him to shiver. "How is this possible?'

Damon had no idea what Casimir was talking about, but he was getting hard from his mate's touch. "If you tell me what it is, I might be able to explain the ‘how.'"

Casimir's gaze lowered to Damon's stomach before he glanced into his eyes. "You are with child."

The crackers hit the floor as Damon's heart stopped. "Come again?"

Placing his spread hand on Damon's stomach, Casimir looked confused. "Your neck bares the mytc?niz . It is a pale pink mark that circles your neck. When the two ends meet, you will be ready to give birth."

Ducking from between Casimir and the counter, Damon jabbed a finger at his mate. "I know I didn't just hear you right. There's no fucking way you just said I'm pregnant, Casimir. You got me fucking bent!"

His hand began to glow, causing fog to start filling the kitchen. Pregnant? His mate had lost his goddamn mind.

"Calm down, nékah ." Casimir reached for him, but Damon took a few steps back.

"Calm down?" He gestured at his body. "I'm 300 pounds of solid hairy muscle."

Casimir swept a heated gaze over him. "I'm well aware you're gorgeous."

"Don't you dare give me a look like you want to fuck me," he growled. "Not when you just knocked me up. You better tell me that you didn't know this could happen, or I swear I'm cutting your goddamn balls off."

Casimir had looked shocked when he'd seen…whatever it was called, but Damon was too freaked out for logic right now. Pregnant? He looked like a rough biker with a long beard. How in the hell…

Just then his brothers and dad entered the kitchen. "Everything okay in here, son? We heard shouting."

Damon jabbed a finger at Casimir once again. "Tell this crackpot I'm not pregnant!"

At the same time, three pairs of eyebrows shot up as their jaws fell.

"Did you just say pregnant?" Jax asked as his gaze dropped to Damon's stomach.

Casimir pressed his hands against his hips as he looked toward the ceiling as if Damon was being unreasonable.

Goddamn right he was. He wasn't born with a freaking uterus. He had a cock between his legs, not a vagina. Casimir's restored powers must have short-circuited his brain.

"Christian's blood," Kalen said, his gaze glued to Damon's gut. "Male vampires can only become pregnant if they are a direct descendant. But if he added his own powerful blood for that spell…"

"It's a gift that keeps on giving," Damon snarled.

"Can you stop making it so foggy in here?" Jaytee waved a hand in front of him as if he could dispel the fog. "I'm starting to go blind."

"It's just like you," Damon griped. "I just found out I got a bun with no oven and you're complaining about fog."

Jax cracked up. "This is going to be interesting. You're one day pregnant, and already your hormones are out of whack. So glad I don't have to put up with it like Casimir does."

Kalen popped Jax on the back of his head. "Be a little more sensitive to your pregnant brother before you have him crying into a pint of ice cream."

Damon stared incredulously at his dad.

"Listen to Dad, dipshit," Jaytee said to Jax. "Damon is in a delicate state right now. Casimir will kick your ass if you make him bawl his eyes out."

What the hell?

"I'm sorry I was insensitive, Damon," Jax said, clearly fighting a smile. "Do you want me to make a store run for some ice cream?"

Kalen and Jaytee were also trying to hide their laughter.

"All of you are jackasses," Damon snarled. He whipped around to make sure Casimir wasn't grinning.

His mate held up his hands, palms out. "I'm not an idiot."

Elvine flew into the room clasping her hands. "Congratulations, Mr. Baby Belly!" Her smile was so wide her face should have split in half. "I'm gonna be an aunt!"

Jax playfully elbowed Kalen. "Grandpa."

Why did Kalen's eyes have to mist over?

"You're all insane," Damon argued loudly. A horrified thought struck him. "I don't even have the right parts to birth a pup."

Where in Jesus's name would he even deliver the… Damon looked down at his crotch and became dizzy.

"Hold on," Jax said in a serious tone. "I'm not trying to bring the mood down."

"Bring it down?" Damon stared at his brother like he was the most moronic person on the planet. "It was never up . I'm not pregnant. There is no oven. I'm a big, hairy, deadly wolf shifter who kicks ass and…" This could not be his life right now.

"Like I was saying," Jax continued, "you're no longer just a wolf, Damon. You now carry the genetics of seven powerful men."

Damon felt his chest cave in. His child was going to be a freak, just like him. With a vicious snarl, he swung around and slammed his fist into the refrigerator, smashing in the freezer door.

His son or daughter would be a hybrid mutant!

Damon threw his hand out then walked right into the portal before anyone could stop him. He was too enraged and didn't need Casimir or his family to stop him from killing the Ultionem .

* * * *

Casimir cursed when he was unable to reach his mate in time to stop him from entering the portal. Damon had fire in his eyes. Why was he so livid? While Casimir was overjoyed he was going to be a father, his mate had acted as if it was a death sentence. Should it matter how it happened? They had created a child together out of the love they felt toward one another. That was all that should matter.

"You might want to find him," Kalen said. "I've never seen my son that enraged, and there's no telling what he might do."

"How?" Casimir asked, heartbroken at Damon's reaction. "I have no idea where he just went in that portal." Just when he thought he and Damon were on a good path, a happy one, things had gone to shit once again. Was his mate ever going to be truly happy?

"You got your magic back. Use it to find my twin," Jaytee said, panic in his eyes.

Casimir had been without his powers for so long, he'd forgotten they had been restored. Closing his eyes, he prayed he could remember how to use them. As soon as he began to chant, it all started coming back to him, like whispering a single spell had unlocked his memory.

A mist grew in his mind as Casimir searched for his mate's location. "It's dark." He pushed further, forcing the mist to expand. "A building. An empty bar, a dance floor, and a second floor above."

Jaytee cursed. "He has to be at The Manacle. Christian's club. We need to get to him now! I can feel his rage, but I also feel a dark hunger."

"He's gone there to kill Prince Christian," Jax whispered. "What have I done?"

His heart in his throat, Casimir moved quickly, chanting the teleportation spell. Raidh gripped his right hand, Elvine his left, chanting it with him, feeding Casimir's powers.

He could only pray he made it in time before a coven of vampires descended on his mate and killed him.