Chapter 222

Almara’s Pov

I feel like I have this route memorized by now, which is something I never thought I’d say nor wanted to say.

We make our way back to the outskirts. I’ve thought about warning Arthur about the dead bodies that are probably still lying there, rotting and beyond recognizable, but I figure he’s probably seen more dead bodies than I can even fathom.

It’s the middle of the night, at this rate we’ll reach the outskirts at the early morning. We walk in silence. Something about the forest in the middle of the night doesn’t breed the desire for conversation. However, the journey is far from quiet.

The woods are filled with a concert of crickets, owls, and a few deer. I want to suggest hunting one but bite my tongue. I refuse to give Arthur a reason to say he was right in that I should’ve stayed behind.

Technically, I am behind. Arthur and Cody are a few feet ahead of me. Occasionally, Arthur will turn back and wait for me to waddle my way up, and I tell him to keep walking. I can keep my eyes on him.

I just don’t want to tell him that those little spurts of quickening my pace to catch up to him are causing me more physical discomfort. I like to keep my distance so he doesn’t hear me suck in a sharp breath as waves of pain pinch at my uterus.

Even when I was pregnant with Grace, I never had this kind of cramps before. They feel almost like contractions and at the first jolt of pain, I almost told Arthur that the baby was coming, but then it went away. Then these cramps have been coming on and off irregularly.

Until my water breaks, I’m not saying anything. I know I was a nurse for a while and I’m trying to apply that knowledge, but unfortunately in our war wound training, we didn’t cover anything prenatal.

A whimper escapes me and I quickly clamp my hand over my mouth, but it’s too late. Arthur already freezes in place, I can see his back tense up before he turns around and jogs over to me. “What is it?” He asks.

I’m bent over at the waist and I try to straighten myself out, but he’s already got his hands wrapped around me and it’s too much to resist falling into his arms. “Just some cramps. It’s okay, it’s normal” I tell him, but honestly, I have no idea if it’s normal.

“You’re pushing yourself too much, aren’t you?” He strokes my back. I take a deep breath to keep myself from whining. I’m not pushing myself too much, it’s just that I’m pregnant. If I wasn’t then all this travel would be fine. I immediately feel bad for blaming my baby.

Another jab of pain and I grit my teeth. Fair enough. “Zack, hold up!” Arthur shouts and his call sounds out of place in the dark forest. Some birds flock from their tree. Zack comes over to us.

“Everything okay?” He asks, raising his eyebrows when he sees me doubled over in pain.

“Everything is fine,” I respond and I can tell neither one of them are buying it.

“We need to stop,” Arthur says and my shoulders slump in defeat.

“What about Grace?” I say. “And Roman, Cathy, even Robert,” I expect listing off the names of those we love to cause Arthur to pause and reconsider, but he doesn’t miss a beat.

“My duty and promise is to your first, my wife, mate, and Luna. If you’re not well, then nothing else is.” Arthur says with both sincerity and seriousness. My heart flutters, but still I think of Grace.

“I don’t like that Grace is not with us either, but” He takes a shallow breath in as though preparing himself for what he says next. “The vampires wanted her for a reason, so they won’t kill her.” Despite the darkness of the night, the moon shows a glistening in Arthur’s eyes.

“Besides, we know our daughter is fierce and strong, she’s advanced beyond her years and if I trust any child to take care of themselves even for a few nights then it's her.” Arthur says and as much as I know he doesn’t want her to be with the vampires, he is right- even if this doesn’t make anything any easier.

“Grace needs her mom and her sibling, if something happens to either of you, that will crush her more than anything the pathetic vampires do.” Arthur says and now its me who has tears threatening to fall.

“Zack, we need to find a route to the nearest town and get some proper food and a place to rest. My wife needs to be cared for,”

Zack gives a firm nod. “You’re the boss,”

Arthur lifts me into his arms and carries me off while Zack leads the way sniffing out for a town. I nearly nod off asleep from being wrapped up in Arthur’s scent and the rhythmic light bouncing of his footsteps.

The noise of the forest lessens as the sounds of town nightlife come into focus. Through bleary eyes, I can see some clubs that are opening, or maybe they never closed. A couple of cars driving too fast on the road.

“Shh,” Arthur says trying to relax me back to sleep, but now I feel too awkward being carried like this in a public place to fall back asleep.

“Let me get down,” I say through a yawn. Arthur gently places me on my feet and my legs ache in resistance to having to carry my weight again. I look around and notice we’re standing outside of a motel.

It’s not the nicest, but it certainly will beat sleeping on the ground. The motel has a homey kind of feel to it, with potted flowers and some patio furniture. Next to the motel are a couple of restaurants that are closed, except for a bad one that has a neon open sign that’s flashing.

I notice a few people seated at the high tops through the glass windows, unfortunately, they notice me too. I advert my gaze and look across the road. A few shops line the sidewalk, but none that aren’t open. I guess it’s about 2:00 am.

I hear the bell of a door opening going off and I know it’s from the patrons in the bar. I close my eyes and say a silent prayer that they just walk away. I can’t fight right now.

“It is them!” I hear one of them shout. I turn around and notice that Arthur has already assumed his public-Alpha persona, standing tall with a camera-perfect smile plastered on his face that I know will drop the second these wolves turn around.

Illuminated by streetlamps, I can see the wolves aren’t dressed for a fight. One girl is in a skirt and pink heels, while one of the guys is wearing leather pants with a silver chain looping out from the pockets.

Aside from that, they seem almost excited to see us. As they get closer I conclude that they’re definitely excited to see us, though they quickly cross the street and go straight to Arthur, pushing me away from his side.

“We saw your speech, it was so inspiring,” The girl says practically drooling and I roll my eyes while also becoming increasingly aware of how big my stomach is and how I probably smell like dirt and haven’t had a decent cleaning in who knows how long.

“Yeah, it was truly authentic,” one guy says.

“Well, I think that’s important,” Arthur says, politely enough. His speech is one thing we didn’t talk much about. Though, I assumed it went well considering well he is Arthur, but also the lack of attacks. But, I’ve never heard someone call one of his public speeches ‘authentic’.

“What are you doing here?” Another guy wearing a low-cut black muscle shirt says.

“We’re here on business actually, taking care of things,” Arthur says, purposely making the reply vague. Still. the throng of fans nod as though they completely understand and just got let in on a top secret.

“Ahem,” Zack pretends to clear his throat from the door of the motel. Finally. “The rooms are ready,”

“Excuse us,” Arthur says and then slips his hand into mine. Instantly, my insecurities fall away as I feel the eyes of the fans on our backs. I may be utterly exhausted, but I think I can manage one more physical activity for the night.