Chapter 56

Chapter 56

She never should have let him bring her here, Ashley thought with a grumble as she shifted to get more comfortable beneath the large bed that she’d been forced to hide under, only to swallow hard when the screams started again. For several long minutes, she lay there, struggling to remember how to breathe as the screams of agony continued, and then just as suddenly as they’d started, they stopped, and she was left narrowing her eyes on the little traitor.

“You really just can’t pull that off,” Marc said, sighing heavily with a sad shake of his head as he settled beneath the bed that carried a faint trace of Kale’s scent, next to her.

“You do realize that this is kidnapping, right?” she pointed out to the thirteen-year-old boy who’d helped Kale by distracting Cuddles with the extra bowl of frosting that she’d kept in the refrigerator so that the man that she’d stupidly allowed herself to fall in love with could throw her over his shoulder before she could make a run for it.

“And you do realize that you’re a shifter and a Pyte, right?” Marc countered, which had her once again grumbling as she went back to trying to figure a way out of this.

She should just make a run for it, Ashley decided with a nod that quickly turned into a heavy sigh since she knew that wasn’t really an option. At least, not while the owners of those incredibly sweet scents that she was really hoping didn’t belong to Sentinels, were in the house. As much as she would love to lie to herself, and right now, she would really love to be able to lie to herself, she already knew that it was pointless.

Besides the fact that Marc told her all about the occupants of the large mansion that she currently found herself trapped inside of, her mother had explained all about the incredibly sweet scent that Sentinels gave off. It was meant to entice vampires, making it easier for Sentinels to lure them out, but it also made it easy for shifters to avoid them during shifts, something that most shifters used to their advantage. She hadn’t realized just how sweet their scents really were until they’d pulled into the long driveway and she’d realized where Kale was taking her.

“Why are we hiding under the bed?” Marc asked as Ashley listened for any signs that Kale was coming back.

“Why did you help them kidnap me?” she countered, really wishing that Kale hadn’t left her in here.

“Because you’re safer here,” Marc said, shrugging it off as he settled in to get more comfortable, only to gesture towards her. “Why are you wearing headphones?”

“I’m not used to this much noise,” Ashley said, reaching up to adjust the headphones that Jacob grabbed for her while Kale had been dragging her out the front door.

“Are they helping?” Marc asked, turning his head to look at her.

“Not really,” Ashley mumbled, trying to separate all the muffled noises currently bombarding her sensitive ears and figure out where Kale was so that she could glare at the jerk for bringing her here and get some damn answers but she was having a problem doing it. She wasn’t used to this much noise. At home, the only thing that she had to deal with was the sounds of nature, the television, and the sounds that the two shifters that she was no longer speaking with, made.

It was nothing like this house. She could hear everything from the sounds of people breathing, walking, talking, moving, the sounds of something beeping steadily, a television, someone softly singing what sounded like a lullaby, a baby crying, and more noise than her sensitive ears could handle at the moment. She just wanted to go home, beat the shit out of Kale with a pillow for doing this to her, and try to wrap her mind around the fact that she was pregnant.

Every time she felt herself getting excited about the possibility of having a baby, she remembered the look on Kale’s face after he told her that everything was going to be fine and felt her stomach drop. Something was wrong and she was determined to find out what that something was, but hopefully from the comfort of home, Ashley thought only to frown when she heard it.

Footsteps.

“Oh, god…” she mumbled weakly as the footsteps came closer.

Swallowing hard, Ashley shifted her attention towards the door and waited for the footsteps to pass by them, only they didn’t. As she lay there, struggling to remember how to breathe, she listened as the bedroom door slowly opened with a small, barely audible click, and then…

She saw them.

“Oh, god…” Marc whispered hollowly as a pair of tiny feet with little toes came to a stop in front of the bed.

That was followed by the cutest little girl that Ashley had ever seen peeking beneath the bed, looking adorably confused when she spotted her only to get a look of pure excitement on her face when she spotted Marc. With an adorable grumble, she quickly made her way under the bed and joined them. Once she was comfortably settled between them, she said, “I hungie.”

“Of course you are,” Marc said, sighing heavily as he dragged himself out from beneath the bed.

“Wait! Where are you going?” Ashley asked, trying not to panic as she watched her only ally in this abandon her.

“To get her a snack before she gets cranky,” Marc said, holding out his hand for the little girl that she was assuming was Jessica, to join him.

After one last grumble, Jessica did just that, placing her tiny hand in his and quickly climbed out from beneath the bed, leaving Ashley lying there, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth and…

“Wait,” Ashley said, deciding that staying here by herself really wasn’t an option, not in a houseful of Sentinels.

Cursing Kale for leaving her in here like this, she climbed out from beneath the bed and quickly joined Marc as he picked up the adorable little girl and followed him, looking over her shoulder the entire way as she continued struggling to block out the sounds assaulting her ears. When they reached the stairs, she slowly exhaled as she leaned over the banister and-

“They’re not going to hurt you,” Marc said, chuckling as he headed down the stairs, leaving her with no other choice but to follow him or return to the safety of Kale’s bed.

“I know,” Ashley lied, nodding for some reason as she tried to force a smile as she followed him downstairs, only to wince when the noises became louder and-

“You are the worst best friend ever!” came the loud announcement that had Ashley wincing as pain shot through her head, turning her stomach, and-

“I’ve got you,” came the softly murmured words that made everything worse as she suddenly found herself picked up and carried away from the noise making her sick to her stomach.

Maybe it was morning sickness? Ashley wondered as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to be carried off, too sick to do anything more than bury her face against the hard chest of the large man that she was really hoping wasn’t about to hand her over to a Sentinel.

“She’s pregnant,” Marc said, tearing a whimper out of her as she reached up and tore her headphones off, dropping them on the floor so that she could cover her ears with her hands since they weren’t exactly helping anymore.

“A little girl,” the man holding her said, chuckling as he adjusted her in his arms and, thankfully, kept moving away from all that loud noise.

Shaking her head, Ashley said, “Not a little girl. Pytes can’t be born girls,” until the move caused her stomach to turn harder and she decided to stop shaking her head.

“This one is and she’s strong,” he said as she felt him place her down on a counter until she shook her head, letting him know that this wasn’t going to work, not unless she wanted to become better acquainted with the nearest toilet. With a murmured apology, he carefully placed her down on the floor and since she was already down here, Ashley decided to lie down and hope for the best.

A few seconds later, she felt a cold cloth pressed against her forehead as her new favorite person on earth gently pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “Normally, you’re right, but your little girl’s scent is stronger than my son’s was, so I think it’s safe to say that she will be fine. Besides, her shifter blood is protecting her,” he said soothingly as she felt Marc sit down next to her and take her hand in his.

“The baby’s a shifter?” Ashley asked, opening her eyes only to find her father smiling down at her only…

It wasn’t her father.

He had the same blond hair as her father. He was tall and incredibly handsome, but her father had green eyes like hers and this man’s eyes were dark blue. He had kind eyes, Ashley thought as he frowned down at her.

“Why do you look so familiar?” he asked, gently pressing the cold cloth against her forehead.

“She’s Kale’s mate,” Marc explained as Jessica climbed onto his lap and settled back with a satisfied sigh.

Ashley watched as his frown shifted to confusion and then settled on anger as his dark blue eyes shifted to red, and his jaw clenched tightly as he looked at her as though he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. “What’s your name?” he asked, tossing the facecloth in the sink.

“Ashley,” she whispered softly, unable to look away from him as she pulled her hand free from Marc’s hand and covered her ear with another wince when the yelling started again.

Nodding, he said, “My name is Christofer,” as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture. Keeping his eyes locked on her, he turned the picture around and showed it to her. Swallowing hard, Ashley took in the picture of a little girl lying in a hospital bed, covered in cuts and bruises. “Is this you?”

“It used to be,” Ashley mumbled as she looked back at him.

“Do you know who I am?” Christofer asked as he carefully slid the picture back in his pocket.

“You look like my father,” Ashley mumbled, trying to figure out what that meant when Kale walked into the room and told her.

“He’s your brother.”