Clarence
I look at Abriya sitting across the island from me as we hear Davonyé coming down the stairs. I can't believe his ass came back here, especially after Ariella told him not to and the warning I gave him. I want him to break up with that girl of his and make my daughter his priority...
“Give him time,” Abriya says, giving me an admonishing look. “He's confused, and he has every right to be. This isn't his fault.”
‘He’s messing with two women at the same damned time, and one of them is my princess. I'll break his fuckin’ neck...’
‘Baby,’ she warns.
“Thanks for letting me see her,” Davonyé says to Abriya when he enters the kitchen. “Are you sure she's gonna be alright?”
I clench my fist but Abriya rests a hand over it. I'd kill him now, but the kid genuinely looks distraught.
“She’ll be just fine,” she answers him. “Are you leaving for school now?”
He hesitates to reply. “Yeah… You said she won't wake up till Saturday?”
“No, she won't,” I answer.
“I’m leaving tomorrow for Ontario.” He doesn't sound like he wants to. “I'm finding it hard to leave her,” he confesses.
“We understand how you must be feeling,” Abriya says gently, being the ever-supportive woman I’m crazy in love with. “Text her like I suggested. Tell her how you feel.”
He sighs. “I will.” He looks at me for permission, so I reluctantly nod my head. I can't scare him off too much cuz Ariella might kick my ass. Or cast a damn spell on me.
God damn.
“I'll see myself out,” he mutters and then leaves. A few minutes later, we hear the front door close and then the familiar sound of a car as it drives away.
“I feel sorry for him,” Abriya says sadly.
“You feel sorry for everyone. Even when they don't deserve it.” My wife has got the kindest heart. Sometimes too kind.
“I know, but he's confused, you can tell. Imagine being in his shoes. He feels a life changing connection to someone he barely knows, and who also isn’t human. He wants to be around her but doesn't know why. And then to top it off, he's supposed to be in love with another woman. It must be such a headfuck.”
I grunt but I know she's right.
But right now, we've got more important things to worry about.
Our daughter becoming an Elder.
“Do you think Davonyé knew?” she asks, having heard my thoughts. “Remember when he said about her becoming a werewolf witch the day you changed in front of him. He wouldn't have said that for no reason. And before, when she told us what she told him. She was dropping hints way before she told us properly.”
I nod my head. “Oh, she told him, alright. She trusted him more than she did us.” And I don’t know how I feel about that.
“B... He's her mate, and besides, she didn't tell him properly, did she?”
“I guess not. But she didn't trust us enough to tell us at first, either.”
I feel her sadness. “Yeah, there is that...”
“We’ll have to talk about it when she wakes up. But for now...” I check the time on the kitchen clock. “…we need to call the construction workers.”
Her face lights up and I feel her mood shift. “Yeah, we do.” She claps her hands together. “I'll call the family, too.”
I pull out my cell and make the call. “Mister James?” Claud answers on the first ring.
“We're ready.”
“We'll be there in five.”
“Good.” I disconnect the call. Abriya's still on the phone.
“It was awful, dad,” she gushes, then I see the flickers of her memory of our daughter’s change. I have to agree with her. It was the most horrific thing I have ever experienced in my life.
Even worse than Abriya's change, and I physically and mentally went through hers with her.
I’ve seen hundreds of changes in my lifetime but seeing my own flesh and blood experience it, hearing her crying out in pain and not being able to do a damn thing about it… Fuck.
“I wish you could’ve been there, too, dad,” she says solemnly.
I know her father, Victorio, still feels bad for not being there for her when she was growing up, but I respect him a lot for everything he did to protect her.
“Okay, dad. See you all soon.”
Our family is at my brother Quis’ house. They have been since the early hours of this morning. They’ve flown in from all over the world, away from their continents to be here to celebrate with us. They know how important this day is to both Abriya and me.
We're all looking forward to spending some time together as a family. It's been way too long. But we also have business to discuss. Business that's hanging over Abriya and me like a fucking boulder, and it needs fixing soon. I've seen Abriya's visions. It's worse than what people think...
“Don’t worry, baby. We’ll figure it out,” she says softly.
I get up from the table as I hear the trucks start filtering into the front yard. I watch Abriya as she comes over to me and then rest my hand on her beautiful bump, feeling my child inside her, hearing their heart beating like a train. “I don't want you worrying.” She worries way too much as it is, but I won't allow her to while she's carrying our child. It was bad enough Aura putting that bane shit on her shoulders.
“I’m not worrying.” She grabs my hand and pulls me towards the front door. “Let's get our baby’s present started.”
I feel her good mood and grab her ass on the way to the door. So damn big... My dick is instantly rock hard. She is so damn sexy when she’s pregnant; I’d keep her continuously pregnant if I could.
She turns to look up at me. “How do you expect to go out there now, with that?” She looks down at the tent in my sweats.
I corner her against the front door. “How about we don't?”
Her eyes glow gold. “You've been waiting for his day for months. We can't just leave them out there...”
“Who says?” I lower my head to her neck to inhale her scent. She smells irresistible all the time, but when she’s pregnant, her scent is so much stronger, sweeter, and even more alluring. A full moon is tomorrow, too, and I fully intend to make love to her as much as possible before it's over.
As werewolves.
“Clarence,” she whispers, and I feel her rush of arousal before I kiss her. Her growing belly keeps me further away from her than I want, but I still kiss the hell out of her and make her breathless.
I pull back from her. Her eyes stay closed. “Let's deal with the builders first, then we can deal with the wetness between my thighs and the rock between yours.” She rests her hands on my dick and opens her eyes. “I want you inside me.”
The mention of her wetness makes me crazy with wanting to taste her. I growl and kiss her again. ‘I'm gonna lick and suck you until you beg me to stop.’
‘Clarence...’ “Knock knock,” she whispers as she gently pushes me away.
The door knocks and I groan in frustration.
“I'll open the door,” she says and smirks. “You need to calm down.” She walks past me, and I step behind her just as she opens it.
The front yard is full of trucks, vans, and men and women wearing hard hats and high-vis jackets.
Claud smiles up at us both. “Good morning.” He's wearing the same as the others but has an ID badge around his neck that lets everyone know that he's the site manager.
I nod my head, and Abriya says good morning back.
“We're gonna get straight on it,” he says cheerfully. “I've hired a few extra guys, just to make sure we're done on time.”
“Thank you,” Abriya says excitedly.
“No problem,” he says as he walks away. “Oh,” He glances over to his left. “And we noticed you had the area cleared of trees already. Appreciate that.”
I pulled out the trees by their roots last night and smoothed it over so it didn’t look obvious. I can’t risk them not being finished on time. “No problem.”
He returns to the rest of his workers. I take a deep breath and smell the family approaching. Fuck sake.
‘They were quick,’ Abriya says as she watches the workmen start offloading the digger off the tow truck and start erecting the flood lights over to the left of the house. “Do you think they'll get it done in time?” she asks nervously.
“As much as we're paying them? They fuckin’ better.”
She turns to face me. She’s smiling. “You're not gonna start being a dictator again, are you? I know what you're like when we get building work done.”
“The only dick-takin’ of mine that you need to worry about is in the bedroom.”
She shakes her head and returns her gaze outside, just as her father’s truck appears. I grab her ass and I know she's still smiling. “Shame I'm not taking it now,” she mutters as she steps outside. I can feel her excitement grow when her dad Victorio and his wife Junia get out of their truck.
Three other cars attempt to park near the garages to the right of the house, so I try to direct them out of the way of the workers so their cars don't get totalled.
“Mom, dad,” I greet my parents.
“Oi, ass—”
“Language!” my dad snaps at my youngest brother, Demetrius.
“Sorry,” he mutters as he releases his wife Cecile’s hand to give me a brotherly hug. “Good to see you, ass-wipe,” he whispers.
Mom slaps his arm. “We still heard that.”
Demetrius laughs while Abriya hugs Cecile. “It's so good to see you,” they tell each other.
Quis, Asha, and Dante come over and everyone hugs it out. Dante isn’t related by blood, but he’s family same way. My wife adores him like a brother.
Abriya wipes a tear from her cheek and I hold her around her shoulders. “I'm so glad you're here,” she says, getting emotional.
“How she do?” everyone asks.
“Amazing,” Abriya gushes. “She was so brave.”
“I’m dreading Harmony’s change,” Asha says.
“Me, too,” Quis adds.
“It was hard to watch, I ain't gonna lie,” I tell them. “But she did great, just like we knew she would.”
“Do you know how long she'll sleep for?” my father asks Abriya.
“Two days. She'll be up by Saturday morning.”
“Not as long as you then, huh?” he says playfully. Abriya was out cold for three days. I worried so much that I called him to come to England.
She laughs. “Nope.” ‘But she’s just as special,’ I hear her thoughts.
Damn right she is. “Come,” I say to them all. “We’ll cook and then we'll talk.”
I see their smiles drop before I turn towards the house, but I don't blame them.
“That bad, huh?” Mom asks.
“It will be if we don't sort it out soon.”