I grabbed the human boy’s shirt sleeve and pulled him in front of Kenna. She cried happily when she saw his face, even if it was swollen and blotchy. Rush threw Kenna on the ground in her cell and closed the door before she could get out. She ran to the bars, fighting to reach Joel.
Rush roughly grabbed him from my hold and, in one movement, snapped his neck. Joel slumped over and clattered to the floor loudly. Kenna’s mouth parted slowly, and then a long, loud wail poured from it.
“Call Kenna’s brother down here,” I said softly to one of the border guards. Kenna’s brother, Griffin, was a border guard, it would be better news coming from someone he was close to. Griffin came down to the cells unknowing, smiling calmly.
“Griffin.” Rush shook his hand and let it go, letting his hand brush back against his pants. “It’s time to say goodbye to Kenna.”
“What?” Kenna panted. “No, no, please. Please! Sloane, don’t let him do this!”
I kept my eyes on the ground, in between Rush and Griffin’s feet. If I looked at Kenna, I would feel remorse where I should have felt anger. We all made mistakes, but hers would cost her the life of her mate and her own.
Griffin sauntered up to the bars, looking wistfully onto his younger sister.
“Kenna.” He smiled sadly, touching the wall near her cell as if he were touching her arm. “Tell Dad I say hi.”
“Griffin,” her voice grunted more animalistically, begging him to help her.
“Kenna, you made your choices.” He stepped back.
“Griffin, you don’t know what these people are like!”
“Kenna, don’t blame them for what you’ve done. It doesn’t suit you to play a coward,” he sneered. I expected him to display more compassion to his sister, but he remained cold.
“Rush,” I called softly. He stepped toward me and pulled me to his chest. My skin tightened over my neck and shoulders, chills skimming down my arms.
“Why don’t you go upstairs,” he suggested, nuzzling the side of my head with his nose. “You don’t need to be here for this.” I looked up at his reassuring face, allowing him to gently persuade me to leave the cells. Griffin stayed behind, but the two border guards escorted me up the stairs, one in front of me and one behind.
We were five steps up the stairs when Kenna screamed loudly, and Rush cut her off, ending her quickly and swiftly. I staggered and placed my hand on the wall, my other hand snapping immediately to my stomach.
The Guard behind me stopped and placed her hand on my back, looking over me quickly.
“I’m fine,” I grunted. When I reached the top floor where our room was, I immediately found the bathroom and expelled everything in my stomach. I heaved a few more times, stomach acid and air were the only things left after a while.
Rush’s hands were stroking my hair, rubbing small shapes on my back as I dry heaved. I leaned into him when I was done.
“Morning sickness,” I murmured, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “It hits all times of the day.”
Rush didn’t dispute, he allowed my lie to become my truth, knowing if he brought up Kenna, I would begin dry heaving again. He held me on the bathroom floor, gently scratching my back as I closed my eyes.
I noticed the tears on my cheeks as I moved in Rush’s arms. I wiped them away and chuckled childishly, shaking my hand. Rush grabbed my hands, moving them away from my cheeks. He frowned.
“I don’t know why I’m crying,” I claimed, laughing again. “She kidnapped me and gave me to humans. She could’ve killed our baby. She marked Harrison’s nephew.”
“I know,” he soothed, curling his hand around the back of my head and bringing me to his chest.
“It’s stupid, right?” I cackled, knowing how ridiculous I sounded.
“It’s not stupid.” His voice was strong. “She was your friend. She was the last person you thought would betray you.”
“You’re the last person I think would betray me,” I argued.
He smiled against my forehead. “You’re right,” he agreed. “But I would never do anything to hurt you.” I hummed in agreement and let him carry me to bed. He climbed in next to me and pulled me towards him.
“What time is it?”
“It’s four,” he told me, pulling the blankets up to us.
“We can’t go to bed, it’s nearly dinner time.”
“We’re the Alpha and Luna,” he boasted proudly. “They can bring us our dinner in bed.”
He fell asleep quickly next to me, the emotional toll of killing two people was enough to put him into a deep slumber. I, on the other hand, laid awake while he slept, listening to the repetition of Kenna and Joel’s neck’s breaking. Every twist of door handles in the building was a reminder, every clattering of knives and forks sent me shuttering, fighting the urge to expel my food.
I could barely eat when they brought up our dinner, blaming it on my temperamental pregnancy stomach. It wasn’t a complete lie, the bump demanded what the bump wanted, and it was never anything I wanted to eat.
“You look exhausted,” Rush commented, stretching from his nap. I pushed the food around my plate.
“Thanks,” I grumbled.
“You didn’t eat?”
His tone was soft, endearing in reality, but things got misconstrued in my head. The hormones and exhaustion and death had me fighting a loud sob. Rush sat up quickly and had his arms around me before the first yowl erupted.
“Sweetheart, I’m sorry,” he whimpered, kissing my temple. “I’m just worried. You’re still beautiful, you’re always beautiful. Beautiful and strong. Beautiful and strong and smart and amazing,” he chanted.
“I need tomatoes,” I wailed, sniffling into my shirt sleeve. He pulled away and looked at my blotchy face.
“Tomatoes?”
“Yes!” I yelled. He shot up from the bed and held his hands up innocently. “The bump wants tomatoes, not chicken!”
“The bump?” Rush
