Chapter 43

Sasha
She shoved yet another plate of food away from her. Gregory growled at her.
“You need to eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Kalani knelt by her side on the floor and stroked her hand.
“Aja, please eat. I need you to get better.” She lifted Sasha’s hand to her cheek. “You can’t die.”
Irina stirred in her head, clearly irritated. She growled at Kalani.
“WE are not dying! Leave us!,” she hissed through Sasha’s mouth.
“Sasha,” Kalani cried. “No! I can’t. I need to be here with you.”
Irina drew Sasha’s body up. “I SAID GET OUT!”
Power radiated out from her and Kalani cried out as she was lifted off the floor and flung out of the door, followed seconds later by Gregory. The door was slammed shut behind them and Kalani immediately began to pound on the door, screaming for her. Irina collapsed inside of her head, panting.
‘Is it just me or is it cold in here?,’ she asked.
Sasha rubbed her arms as goosebumps rose on them. ‘It is a little.’
‘We should move. Take the blankets outside onto the balcony. Make a bed out there.’
Sasha sighed and eyed the small distance she had to cross to do what Irina asked. ‘Hard pass. I am too tired.’
‘DO IT NOW!,’ she roared.
Sasha grumbled, but got up to start the task. She bundled all the blankets up before slowly dragging them to the balcony. She fluffed them and arranged them under Irina’s direction. She was forced to go back inside to collect pillows and all of Aiden’s dirty clothes. She added them to the pile and stepped back to look at her handiwork. Irina purred her approval before the overwhelming feeling of being nuzzled whipped through Sasha’s body. Her body relaxed.
‘What did you just do to me?,’ she asked Irina.
‘I was showing you my love, human.’
‘My name is Sasha.’
‘I am called Irina. It is nice to meet you finally. I have watched you for a long time, but I could not reach you. I am sorry for not being able to protect you. I am proud that you are my human. You are strong on your own.’
A tear crept down Sasha’s face at the intensity of love she felt coming from her.
‘What do we do now?’
‘We rest. It’s coming tomorrow and we need to be ready.’
Sasha sighed, before settling on the ground, burying herself deep into the pile. She brought one of Aiden’s shirts to her nose and inhaled. His cedar walnut scent comforted her and she giggled.
‘What?,’ Irina asked.
‘Now I know I’m a shifter. I can smell him on this shirt and he hasn’t been home for three days.’
She could feel Irina smirk, before yawning. ‘I think we will be able to shift soon.’
‘Into what?’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t know, but whatever we are, I hope it’s glorious.’
‘How do you not know what we are?’
‘I have been asleep for a long time, Sasha. The longer I am awake, the stronger I get and the more I remember. Now, we should really sleep. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.’
‘What happens tomorrow?’
Irina yawned again. ‘Our lives change and our human mate better behave himself or I will kill him myself.’
Sasha smiled softly to herself as the sun warmed her and she began to drift off. Thoughts of Aiden and Mikhail comforted her and peace filled her.
“Hurry home to me, my king. I miss you,” she murmured and let herself finish falling into a deep slumber.

Sasha jerked awake and frowned when she found herself on the ground asleep. She sat up and began to stretch. Her body ached and she groaned. She didn’t know how long she had been asleep, but the sun had set and it was completely dark. She climbed up off the ground and stumbled to the door. She pulled it open and smiled at Kalani and Gregory who had her little sister on his lap.
“Hey, ya’ll.”
Kalani jumped to her feet and rushed over to her. She ran her hands all over Sasha’s body, sobbing.
“Oh my Goddess, Sasha. Are you okay? How are you feeling? You look better. What happened?”
Sasha hugged her tight as she met Gregory’s eyes. “I need food. A lot of it.”
He nodded and slowly stood up. He studied her cautiously, his eyes lingering on her stomach. She looked down and was shocked to see her stomach was bloated. Kalani backed up and also stared at her round stomach. Sasha cautiously touched it. She swallowed with difficulty when the hard lump visibly moved. Irina moved closer to the surface, curiosity oozing from her.
‘What is that?,’ Sasha asked.
‘I’m not sure, but it’s beautiful isn’t it?’
She looked at Gregory and cleared her throat. “So, about this food?”
“What do you want? I will have the chefs make it and bring it to you.”
“Anything and everything they have in the kitchen. I want steak, rabbit, chicken, venison and fish. Raw. Now!”
She stepped back into her room and went straight into the bathroom. She lifted her nightgown up to stare at her stomach. She ran her fingers gently over the bump, marveling when it trembled inside of her.
“What are you?,” she murmured.
A knock on the door had her hurrying out of the room. She opened it and gestured the two cooks inside. They put six platters onto the table, before bowing quickly to her and leaving. She shut the door and locked it, before moving to the table. She uncovered all of the platters and sat down. She lifted the first plate full, before rapidly devouring every last piece of the uncooked meat. She grunted in satisfaction and laid her head on the table.
‘That was delicious,’ Irina said.
Sasha giggled. ‘Well, you're a predator. That narrows it down by at least 10 species.’
Irina laughed. ‘Rest, Sasha. It’s almost time.’
‘Time for what?’
‘I’m not sure, but we are preparing.’ She laid down sleepily. ‘Rest, human. You are going to need it.’

Sasha screamed at the top of her lungs as pain shot through her. It made her body buck and she tried to stand. Another wave of pain sent her landing on her hands and knees, panting, trying to ease her pain. She felt liquid pour from between her legs and she looked down. She cried out when she saw the puddle of blood. The door burst open behind her, making her head snap around to stare at it. Kalani tried to hurry to her side, but Sasha flung her hand out. Irina surged forward and took control.
“GET OUT!,” she hollered and another pulse of power spread out from her, pushing Kalani back out of the room.
She agonizingly crawled back out onto the balcony, sobbing. Her knee slipped in the blood. She managed to catch herself before she fell flat. She made it back to the pile of bedding, rolled over and collapsed as her body was wracked with another bout of excruciating pain.
‘Put your knees up and put your back against the wall. It’s coming,” Irina screamed excitedly.
‘What is?’
‘I don’t know! Just do what I’m asking. I’m going off of what my gut is telling me.’
Sasha sat back up, screaming out in terror when another stream of blood came out of her vagina. She put her knees up and a pressure rapidly descended in her stomach. She felt something pushing at the edge of her vagina and she reached between her legs to feel it. The smooth, round, hard edge laid at the surface of her vagina.
‘Breathe,’ Irina ordered. ‘And push.’
Sasha began to bare down and the object moved lower. She paused her pushing to catch her breath, before going again. When the object was expelled, she collapsed, panting hard with her eyes closed. After a few minutes, she struggled to sit back up to look at it. A large, beautiful royal blue egg sat between her legs.
‘It’s an egg,’ Irina declared proudly. ‘Isn’t it beautiful?’
Sasha moved her fingers over it in awe. It moved a little under her touch and she pulled back.
‘There’s something in there,’ she muttered. ‘What is it?’
Irina peered at it through Sasha’s eyes. ‘I think it’s a baby.’
‘Impossible. I am a virgin.’
‘You should rest. We can figure it out later.’
The urge to cover the egg made Sasha pull the egg carefully into the pile and wrap her body around it. She pulled the comforter over them and began to hum softly. She was almost asleep when the energy around her was displaced slightly and Irina became instantly alert. Sasha inhaled deeply. Cedar. Aiden was back. She kept the egg buried and squatted over it, protecting it from his wrath. Minutes later he walked out onto the balcony, eyeing her. Irina growled lowly inside her head as she watched the scene unfold. He held out his hand as he approached her.
“Sasha? Baby? Are you okay?”
Anguish mixed with fear flew through her and she looked up at him pleadingly. “Please, don’t hate me.”
He knelt in front of her and cupped her cheek. “I could never hate you, my queen. Talk to-” He inhaled and he looked around. “What is that?”
He began to sniff her, sinking lower towards the ground. He landed on his stomach and sniffed the blankets.
“What do you have under there?,” he asked.
“I will show you, but you have to back up,” Irina snapped, taking over.
Aiden immediately went to stand by the door. She slowly peeled the blankets back, still covering the egg with her body.
“If you move, I will kill you,” Irina warned him.
She moved off of the egg and he looked at it for a moment, before his knees hit the ground. He crawled over to her and pulled her body onto his lap. He buried his face into her neck, whispering apologies to her.
“I am so sorry I ever doubted you. Please, please, forgive me. I will never doubt you ever again.”
“What?”
He raised his head to look into her eyes. “That’s my egg.”
“What?”
“That is what a royal egg looks like. That is my baby.”
“How? We didn’t mate?”
“No, but I put my seed inside of you. I never thought you would get pregnant.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here with you.”
She nuzzled into his chest, sniffling. “I thought you were going to hurt me.”
“Never, baby. I love you.” He pulled back to kiss her softly. “I know what you are Irina.. and you will be meeting the king of kings soon. He is on the way here.”
She stiffened. “Are you in trouble?”
“I’m not sure.”
She touched his cheek. “I will protect you if you are.”
He kissed her fingertips. “We’ll be fine. I’m sure of it.”
“OK. I trust you.” She drew in a shaky breath. “What am I?”
“You are a dragon.”
She looked up at him confused. “Why do you think that?”
“Only a dragon can lay an egg. When a dragon mates with any other species it is never an egg, but you, my love, have given me the most precious gift a man could ever receive from the love of his life. A child. A dragon from both sides.”
She leaned against him as her heart sped up. “I love you, Aiden.”
“I love you, too, Sasha. Sleep now. I will look over you. Both of you.”
She kissed his lips. “Ok. Thank you.”
“Always, my beautiful queen.”