He could feel the finality through the mate bond, like a steel door shutting. I wasn’t going to budge and he knew it. Letting go of my face, he turned to everyone.

“Give me a few days to design the mission. I call the shots. If she’s injured or taken, I will never forgive any of you.”

I placed a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off. “I’m going for a run. Alone.” He crossed the barn in seconds and slammed the door behind him.

I tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. We never fought. He never walked away like that.

Shamus approached and put an arm around me. “He’s a big Alpha teddy bear who got his pride hurt and his orders shot down. He’ll be okay.”

I nodded.

“We need to get Sadie and Tara back. This is the only way to draw Layla out.” Shamus said. He looked like he hadn’t slept. He was right. Two females were taken. I needed to help in any way that I could.

Raj motioned me over with a flick of his head. Then, Sylvia and the others left and it was just Raj and me.

“I can’t believe you’re back here. Is your pack okay without you there?” I asked him. He was the Alpha of a huge pack in Delhi and they were the big, bad fighting kind of werewolves. The flight from India was a good twenty hours.

Raj chuckled. “There have been a few issues in my absence. Nothing my dominant second can’t handle. Nikhil will be a good replacement for me one day. Much less power hungry and more even tempered than I.” He smiled and I returned the gesture.

Raj and I had a comfortable relationship. He seemed rough on the outside but he was really just a loyal family guy. Kai and Raj had their issues, but I could see that all he did for his son was out of love, and I trusted his opinion.

“So, this plan—”

He nodded. “Is a good one, but I want to remind you of the intel I received from the captured vampire in my possession.”

I shivered. The vision of that creature being starved for information had been a sore spot with me. But I did remember the intel. The vampires had created some sort of bloodletting device. They would drain and bottle my blood to sell to the highest bidding vampire. Drain enough to keep me alive but also enough to impregnate thousands of vampires.

I blurted out something that I wasn’t sure if I should share with him but I was dying for a second opinion on it. “The witches have found a way to make my blood infertile to the vampires.”

Raj raised his eyebrows. Rarely did you catch this man off-guard. He opened his hands as if to say, ‘why not do it?’

“It would mean that Kai and I couldn’t have kids. Ever,” I told him.

His face fell. “Ahh. I see.”

“But the whole greater good thing, right? Should I be reconsidering that?” I chewed a fingernail. I had talked with Kai about this. We had already decided two kids and then I would do the spell. Why was I reconsidering it? I guess I wanted someone else to agree with me. I didn’t want to be making a selfish decision.

Raj placed his hands on my shoulders and stared me right in the eyes, a big dominant Alpha stare. “Listen to me, daughter. There is no greater moment in all my life than when Kai was pulled from Maya’s belly. The second I saw him, my first born, I realized how incredible life was. The fact that two people can create a life, it’s astonishing. Would my son become a doctor? Cure cancer? Would he discover a new planet? Would he fall in love and have children of his own? There is no greater gift to the world than having a child with the potential to do anything. Now, not all people want children and that’s fine. Good for them for having the insight to know themselves and make that decision. But for me, being a father is the greatest life achievement I have ever known. Don’t deny yourself of that, if it’s something you desire.”

My eyes were swimming with tears. He was right. I shouldn’t let anyone dictate my life. I deserved to be happy and have everything I wanted. I did want to have children and I would. After seeing Avery, something in me had changed and now after getting the last of the doubts out of my system, I was ready.

I gave him a hug. “I’m going to go find Kai.”

Leaving the barn, I stripped down to nothing. After shifting, I took off running and followed Kai’s scent as I ran through the thick trees, relishing in the cool breeze against my white fur. A good hard run was just what I needed. Kai’s scent led me to Bagby Hot Springs. The natural spring he had taken me to right before our wedding. He was naked and submerged in the water looking out into the sky. He sensed me approaching and looked in my direction.

I shifted instantly. “What are you thinking about?” I asked him, trying to gauge whether or not he was supremely pissed at me.

He turned to look at me with a serious expression. His wet hair was tousled and he looked all kinds of sexy. A deep sigh escaped his lips. “I feel like I’m constantly pulling you in my direction. I had to fight to get you to set a wedding date, I had to fight for you to want to have children with me, and now I’m having to fight to keep you from getting killed by vampires. I’m just wondering what it is you want in life. I’m done fighting. I just want you to have what you want in life. So, what do you want, Aurora?”

My heart dropped, a numb feeling spread throughout my body. He was right. “Kai.” I climbed over the side of the soaking tub and slipped in beside him.

“I want you! I want a baby with you. I want a happy ending,” I told him as I slid on top of him and straddled his waist.