Alex

ALEX

M y gentle giant of a gladiator is quiet as Sontok gives me various vials and potions, some for the residual effects of the poison, some to "help" with my pregnancy, and at least one bottle comes with a filthy wink. Like Sylas ever needed any encouragement.

What he needs now is sleep. We both do. Peace and quiet to come to terms with what she's told him about himself. Time to decide what to do. Time to get used to the fact we're going to be parents. Time to get used to the fact I'm going to give birth .

Literally not something I ever thought was in the cards for me. Not on Earth. I was too busy surviving to contemplate the future, and as for after my abduction, it was something I was almost terminally fearful of.

Being used as a breeder.

To some extent, Ixor's undisguised disgust at me was a relief, even if he regularly threatened to offer me up to his acquaintances as a sweetener to whatever he needed.

Sylas encloses my hand with his huge one, claws completely sheathed.

"Little feather, what are you thinking?" he asks, voice rasping even in the warm air.

"I'm thinking about our baby," I reply.

I find myself suddenly, delightfully, lifted up into his strong arms, his lips on mine in a dominant, possessive kiss which I never want to end.

It does, of course, how can it not, and I have the handsomest face with the most beautiful dark eyes, the black pupils visible within the chocolate depths. Eyes which are searching my face, as if he's lost something, then found it again.

"A youngling, our youngling," he breathes.

"I guess if you do what we did as often as we did, it's a possibility." I trace my finger over the shadow scar which runs across his left eye and down his cheek.

"It is because of you, my eregri . You have starlight in your eyes, and you gave it to me. You made me whole where I thought I would always be hollow. You've even shown me there is so much more. I am not the Gryn I thought I was."

"You are the Gryn I believed in." I span my hand over his cheek, cupping his chiseled jaw. "And you saved me, from everything. I needed you to show me what freedom meant."

"You will always be free, little feather. It will be my honor to keep you and nest for you, forever," Sylas says, a smile brightening his features into something almost god-like.

"I should think so, and I'll hold you to that when I'm very, very pregnant."

Sylas growls deep in his chest, one of lust. "I long for the day you are round and ripe with our young. I will mate you until you cannot stand," he rumbles.

Oh, lord, I wasn't sure if I had recovered, but the way his words have made me drench my knickers, I suspect I'm on the road to good health.

"I'm going to hold you to that." I bury my head in his hard shoulder, breathing in his natural spice, part feathers, part him. The heat of his body infuses me with warmth, pleasant even in the humid forest.

We still have a long road ahead of us, but we are together, and that's all which matters. It's the only thing that matters.

I must have dozed off because I snort myself awake as Sylas comes to a halt. Up ahead our home rises up on tall legs, which lift it into the canopy.

"Home." I smile up at him.

Sylas is not smiling. He gazes ahead, unblinking, his muscles tense.

"What is it? Another one of those things?" I whisper, my limbs trembling slightly.

"No," Sylas says, as he lowers me to the ground, keeping tight hold of me as he does. "There's someone here."

"The Tref?" I ask, my heart beating out like a drum.

I want it to be the Tref, or anyone from the settlement, come to check on us, to make sure we made it here safely. Because having the biggest predator around doesn't mean you're always safe.

We are not safe. It is not the Tref. I see the glint of a weapon, and then a Habosu steps into the clearing. My relief it isn't Ixor is immediately ripped from me as two other creatures come out of the forest. Part spider, part scorpion, and utterly, utterly terrifying, they clack their jaws as they advance.

"Bognarok," Sylas murmurs. "Don't make any sudden moves."

"I genuinely don't think I could move if I wanted to," I respond with chattering teeth.

A tall biped with short horns and teal skin comes out from underneath our home.

His face is, on first glance, quite benign, but then there is a flicker of something else, something so terrible my brain rebels at the sight, and once again the even, boring looking creature stares at us.

"Medius," Sylas snarls, the sound shaking through him.

"You remember." He shoves his hands into the strange vest he's wearing and sighs. "That's such a shame. You were doing so well, Commander Sylas."

"How did you find me?" Sylas asks, slowly flicking out each one of his claws as he eyes the Habosu and the Bognarok. "Was it the Tref healer?"

"No." Medius removes his hands and stares at them before looking over at where Sylas bristles with his weaponry. "The Tref seem to have taken to you for some reason. They wouldn't betray you. I had an implant installed so if your memory alterations were disturbed, I'd be able to track you."

Sylas' chest heaves, and a quick glance up at him shows a muscle ticking dangerously in his jaw. Before I can do anything, I'm being slowly pushed into his wing as he attempts to hide me from this Medius, whom he seems to know.

"I should have expected as much from you," Sylas says.

"You shouldn't have remembered enough to be able to expect anything," Medius says, his mouth filled, for a second, with needle sharp teeth. "But you have, and we have to deal with it, with you and with your little…" He leans forward even as Sylas snarls up a storm and eyes me. "Female?"

" is mine. Do not look at her," Sylas says through fangs which seem to have extended in size.

"A mate for the Gryn? But not a Gryn female, interesting." Medius rubs his chin. "Take them both. If the Gryn resists, kill her."

"No!" I cry out. "Run, Sylas, run!"

I duck back under his wing. There is no way, absolutely no way, my sweet Sylas is ever going to end up in the hands of anyone again, not because of me.

I get so far when something heavy hits my shoulder, stopping me.

"Little feather," Sylas rasps, and I turn to see he has one of the Bognarok at arm's length, its shorter forelegs slashing at his flesh. "I will never let anyone harm you, not now, not in the future. We must surrender. It's the only option if you are to stay safe."

I go limp in his grasp, at once hating his logic and seeing it.

"I won't let them hurt you," I say.

"My fierce little mate." Sylas smiles at me. "I know you won't."

He tosses away the Bognarok as if it's weightless, and it slams into a tree and slides down, unmoving.

"Now, Gryn, the hard way or the easy way?" Medius says in his whiny, even voice.

"With you, there is no easy way," Sylas says.

"Correct again." Medius lifts a single digit to the Habosu, who fires a pulsar at Sylas.

He drops to the floor in a heap.

"What did you do?" I yell out, falling to my knees beside him.

"The only thing which can stop a fully grown, fully altered Gryn warrior is a plasma shot. He'll recover," Medius says, toeing Sylas's leg. "Take the female," he orders the Habosu. "Let's have her ready for when he wakes."