The filth of Las Vegas never fails to disgust me. I don’t know why my father insists that I come here and take over what he’s left behind when I would gladly have stayed at his side as his second. But I suppose that my best friend is here, and he owns Vegas, so there’s an upside to it. I walk into the upmarket club I’m supposed to meet him in and take a seat in the reserved VIP section. We’re meeting up for a few drinks to formally welcome me to Vegas. However, he also has some news regarding his ascension after his father’s retirement and wanted to get pissed while he’s at it. Not that it will help, since he’s a hybrid Lycan. After ordering a bourbon from the server, I sit down and observe the cattle rolling in. Every woman looks the same and they all want the same thing; it’s even more evident when you’re a vampire. You can smell the lust coming off them in waves and if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a needy, easy woman. The blatant stares coming my way makes me roll my ey
-Katherine- It's been six months, and I knew this day would come. Gabriel and I are sitting in Autumn’s office and I have Elijah in my lap. He’s cooing and making cute as fuck baby noises; this shouldn’t be a problem at all since it signifies a happy, healthy baby. But for Pureblood vampires it is because the infancy stage usually lasts for five years whereas Elijah is growing like an average human baby. “Okay, there’s no bad news,” Autumn says as she opens the folder in front of her. “But there is something.” I can tell Gabriel’s getting antsy, and so am I but there’s no point in getting impatient with the messenger who’s trying to help us. “We’re listening,” I say, taking Gabriel’s hand in mine under the table and giving it a squeeze. Autumn sighs. “Elijah is growing like a human baby because of what happened to him in utero; the stakes, the baobab mixed with blood that you ingested. This seems to have interfered with the slow growth spurt of an average Pureblood baby,” she sa
-Gabriel-“GABE!” My heart literally drops when Katherine’s scream echoes throughout the mansion. I run from my office and fly up the stairs to our bedroom, only to see Katherine standing there looking down at her feet. Her head whips up towards me and she points down. “My water broke!” And that is how I felt fear chill me to my bones. I move on autopilot and grab a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt from her walk-in, then slowly walk with her to the bathroom. Her panicked heartbeat keeps me calm for some reason, even as she trembles while I help her clean up and get into dry clothing.Afterward, I grab the overnight hospital bag by the bedroom door and pull out my cell phone. “It’s time, let Autumn know,” I tell Valentine, then kill the call and lead my woman downstairs with the SUV keys in hand. Luckily it’s just after 1 AM, so we’re able to get to Autumn’s without a problem. However, just as I put her into the passenger seat, I feel a sharp sting on my shoulder - a familiar fuckin
-Gabriel-It’s been a week since we returned from Las Vegas. Katherine is settling back in again but she’s been busy with her secret project while I’ve had to deal with starting up something similar to the council. The twins and Gustav are helping me back in Europe, while I oversee the States for now. There will be a meeting in about a month’s time to see where we sit with everything after the demise of the original council.After getting back to DC, we haven’t been able to schedule a checkup with Autumn for Katherine since the doctor has been busy. But right now we’re on our way to her first checkup and to say she’s nervous is putting it lightly.“Don’t worry, little lamb, I am sure everything is fine with the little one,” I say for the fifth time as I pull into the parking lot of her clinic. It’s 9 PM, so there’s no one around right now.“I know! But I can’t help worrying about the baby after everything that has happened. The baobab stakes, the baobab in the blood Matthew gave me, n
-Katherine-Gabriel and Church join us outside not too long after that and we sit at the pool’s edge. He takes my hand and kisses the back of it before chuckling; all of us look at him as if he’s gone insane.“I forgot to tell you all Valentine has met his second chance Fated,” he says, stunning us all with this news. Church’s mouth hangs open and Xenia literally has to close it, I am sure that I’m wearing the same shocked expression on my face. “Second chance Fated? I thought that doesn’t exist for vampires?”Gabriel nods and leans forward with his elbows resting on his knees. “They rarely happen since we never reject what the Goddess has given us; I mean, 200 years of waiting for your soulmate is a long time!” He says, winking at me. “However, if a vampire finds themselves rejecting their Fated, they have the option to choose who they want to be with afterward. This is why the second chance Fated is called a Chosen. Their Threads of Fate are gold, similar to a wedding ring.”This c
-Katherine-Gabriel is quiet while staring at my stomach, but I can hear how his heartbeat picks up after a few seconds… then he looks up at me with wide eyes.“W-what…? I don’t understand, how is this possible?” he asks, his voice and scent both laced thickly with confusion.I sigh. “At first when I left DC, it was because I was hurt and angry at everything that happened; but then when I went up to our bedroom, I heard our baby’s heartbeat and knew I had to make a choice for all three of us.”He furrows his brow and lightly shakes his head, but I continue. “I wanted you to put your all into picking up the pieces of the authority you had left, I wanted you to grow into the leader everyone wants you to be. I wanted you to focus on the role you had…without worrying about me and placing me above everything else.” He stares at me with a glazed expression while I explain.“You left not only because you were hurt, but so I can focus on being a leader?” he asks incredulously, and I catch a q