Page 40 of His Stubborn Mate

Now, there wasn’t any way I could send her and these two pieces of my heart back into her world alone. If that’s where she wanted to be, then I would go with her, even if it meant condemning myself to a lifetime of hiding in the shadows around her kind. Because she was my Mate, and my Kteer wouldn’t allow me to be separated from her. But what sort of life would my green-skinned son have in the human world? Would he need to be hidden as well?

At least I finally understood why the fook the damned thing had been so agitated lately. Had it sensed Cataline was my Mate? That the bairn was mine?

Well, no one had ever accused me of being too bright, had they?

I would follow her if that’s what she wanted…but I had all winter to convince her to stay in Battleborn Village, to heal and to make her home there in safety. If I could manage it.

If I could get her there before the veil closed tonight.

Suddenly determined, I rocked back on my heels and jerked my chin to Ewan.

“Come, son, let’s make a hearty breakfast, eh? For ye and yer mother.” And frankly, me as well. I had a long few days ahead of me, and I slept little last night. “And we’ll discuss what we need to do to get all of ye to safety.”

Gods willing, I would be able to keep them all safe.

With me.

CHAPTER TEN

Cataline

I slept, I think. I mean, I must have slept. I remembered little of the hours after I finished eating the porridge Maardok carefully spooned for me because he didn’t want me to sit up too often. He even made me a hot tea to warm my insides!

While Ewan played with his new brother, I swallowed down my embarrassment to have Maardok push on my stomach to force out more blood and then change the packing between my legs. Then he settled our son in my arms and I must have fallen asleep.

Our son.

As I drifted into exhaustion, I remembered my intense gratitude the moment Maardok had claimed the babe as his. Part orc. I suppose ‘twas impossible to deny his heritage, with the smooth green skin, eh?

Maardok woke me when the sun was already beginning its sink toward the west.

“I am sorry, love, but the bairn’s birth means ‘tis even more vital we reach the stones tonight, and no’ wait another moon’s cycle. Come, Ewan and I have been making plans.”

And aye, they had.

I stood there in the center of our camp on wobbly legs, holding the babe, as the pair of them bustled about, clearly at ease with one another. Ewan followed Maardok’s orders without hesitation, and for his part, the huge male listened to my son’s suggestions, even if they were nonsensical.

But when I realized they intended a five-year-old to carry the newborn on our journey, I had to speak up.

“He is only a lad! Infants’ heads need to be supported!”

Maardok’s response was calm, collected, and he didn’t look up from where he crouched in front of Ewan, wrapping the lad in what I realized was a complicated sling.

“And ‘twill be. The bairn needs to be carried by someone, and Ewan will ride the horse while I carry ye.” His glowing green gaze slid my way. “Trust me, Cataline?”

I sighed, because how could I not?

So, eight hours after I gave birth, the four of us bundled up to leave our makeshift sanctuary on what I knew would be a desperate push for the circle of standing stones that marked the pathway between our worlds.

Ewan sat tall atop the horse, surrounded by all of our possessions, with his baby brother strapped to his chest. He seemed so proud, but also uncertain, and kept glancing at Maardok for approval, his small hand splayed against the babe’s back while the other gripped the reins.

A sennight ago, he’d never been atop a horse.

As for me, I rode in Maardok’s arms. ‘Twas awkward, but unless I walked, this was the best solution. I couldn’t sit on the horse’s back, not with the packing between my legs.

“I will bleed on you,” I murmured, mortified, as Maardok strode at the horse’s side, arms supporting me. “I am sorry.”

The look he sent me—in between checking Ewan’s seat and scanning the trail for dangers—was incredulous.