‘Then when the Devi is done. What happens?’ Kai asked me with yellow eyes.

I frowned. I had agreed to help balance Earth. This Devi spirit attached to mine came with an exit clause. When she leaves, I might die.

‘I don’t know,’ I told him honestly.

He growled.

Everyone cleared their throat and Kai took his attention back to the room. “So, I want to take a team to the Arizona-Mexico border and take down Layla’s drug supply. If that doesn’t coax her out, then we can go forward with the plan to use Aurora as bait.”

Earl nodded. “It’s better than standing around. I will gather a hundred of my best.”

Kai nodded. “That should do.”

Everyone cleared out except for Kai, Jeremy, Alek, and I.

Kai looked at Alek and Jeremy. “Jeremy, you may stay here with Alek as a guest in my home.”

Jeremy shrugged. “Can you get a TV and some video games in the basement, at least?”

Kai let out a genuine laugh and it shocked me how long it had been seen I had heard him laugh like that. My favorite thing was to hear his deep rumbling laugh. This drama with Layla and Devon’s death had taken the happiness out of all of us.

“Yes, I will get you a gaming set up,” Kai told him.

“Yes!” Jeremy put a fist in the air and left to go down to the basement.

“He seems better,” I told Alek. It was just the three of us now.

Alek nodded slowly. “You’re good people to take in two vampires,” he said honestly.

“How’s your wife?” Kai asked.

Alek shrugged, looking resigned. “She’s fine, but I miss her. We talk on the phone. I’m not sure when I will be able to see her again. I can’t risk bringing trouble to her and I can’t protect her from the queen by myself.”

Kai and I shared a look. One thing about the mate bond and about Kai that I loved, is that when we shared a thought, it was like a click. Like two puzzle pieces came together.

“You know, I have an extra empty house on the mountain that Aurora’s mother was living in. We can clean it up and you, Jeremy, and your wife are welcome to live there under the protection of my pack.”

Shock registered on Alek’s face. His mouth opened and he stuttered for a second. “I’m not sure I can accept that,” he said, finally.

Kai clapped him on the back. “It’s already yours.” 

I chewed the inside of my cheek. God, Kai was such a good man. He opened our pack to humans, vampires, and anyone else in need. He would be keeping them at a distance but close enough to offer protection. My mother would have to stay with us until this was all over, anyway. Even after that, we would need help when the baby arrived. The baby. It was weird to think I might actually be pregnant.

“Thank you,” Alek said and shook Kai’s hand before retreating to the basement.

Kai sighed and rolled his neck back and forth, then he met my gaze.

“I’m going to tell you to do something and I want you to do it,” he said with a serious tone.

I raised one eyebrow. “When has starting a sentence with that ever worked for you?”

“Stay back and let us go to Mexico and lure Layla out. We can find where the girls are being kept–”

I didn’t even let him finish. “No.”

He sighed. “Yes.” His eyes flashed yellow and he stared me down. When he had forced me to stop driving the car to my mom’s, something went wild within me. This need to break free and now it turned into a need to prove myself to him. To prove what we both suspected. I was more dominant.

I stared him down and straightened my posture.

“Don’t do this,” he told me and stared back with yellow eyes.

“Kai, Gretchen told me that she could see I was already pregnant,” I told him.

His eyes lit up with joy and surprise, but I quickly got to the point. “I’m not going to be killing vampires while waddling around with my huge baby bump. I want this done. NOW!” I roared and continued to hold his gaze.

Sweat began to break out onto my forehead. Kai looked strained as well. I held my chin high. I needed my mate to know how important this was to me. This wasn’t just about killing Layla and helping the humans. It was about having a purpose in this world and needing to fulfill it. A purpose that was mine alone.

Kai bore into my eyes. “If you’re pregnant, than all the more reason to keep you safe!” he roared.

Mist crept from my skin as the pictures on the wall began to rattle. “Kai! You don’t understand. I’m the only one who can stop her. It’s my purpose. Let me do this!” I felt dizzy with the pressure of his dominance. His upper lip was sweaty and the pictures rattled more. My mate continued to hold my gaze. I felt all of his possessive love saturate my body and I realized now that if Kai has his way, I would be caged in the basement.

“What’s going on? Earthquake?” My mother’s voice came from the hall.

Shit! Kai and I broke away panting as my mother came into the room, looking at us with wild eyes.

“No, mom. It was me. Sorry.” I told her, trying to catch my breath. What the hell was I doing getting into a dominance battle with my mate? Was I stupid?

She looked confused. “Okay …” She looked between me and Kai.

“You raised a stubborn woman,” Kai told my mother in a deep voice, smoothing back his hair and wiping the sweat off of his upper lip.

My mother smiled, nodding. “She was born that way and that stubbornness saved my life.”