Amber Eyes (Amber Eyes #1)(44)

Then he noticed the small swell of her stomach and how she palmed it protectively. Her nervous gaze sought his, and he could read fear and uncertainty in her eyes.

Pregnant.

Indescribable joy swelled in his soul until he thought he’d burst. He had to grab at the railing again as he swayed like a sapling in the breeze.

She was here. She was pregnant. They had a child.

Hunter slowly walked her forward until they stood a few feet away. She stared hard at Jericho, her lips turned down into a frown.

“What is wrong, Jericho?”she asked.

He held open his arms and she hurried forward, burying herself against his chest.

“Nothing,”he said in a choked voice. “Now that you’re here, nothing in the world is the matter.”

She held him for a long moment before finally pulling away to stare up at him, concern etched into her eyes.

“What happened to you? You’re in pain, and you don’t look well.”

Jericho found Hunter’s gaze. “You didn’t tell her?”

“We have a lot to talk about,”Hunter said wearily. “I waited until we got here. She was down in Duncan’s jail.”

“What?”Jericho exploded.

Kaya jumped against him, and he gentled his touch, soothing her with his hands.

“Let’s go inside,”Hunter suggested. “We all need to sit down.”

Unable to let her go even for a moment, Jericho held her tightly against his side as he started for the living room. He stumbled when his leg didn’t cooperate, and Hunter grabbed him to steady him.

“Thanks,”Jericho muttered.

“Jericho, what happened?”Kaya asked.

Her anxious eyes found his, and all he could do was kiss her. He lowered his head to find her lips, closing his eyes as her sweetness enveloped him. Finally. Finally he was home.

With Hunter’s help, he got to the couch and sat, pulling Kaya down beside him. He kept her anchored against his side, afraid to let her go even for a moment.

“What happened, Kaya?”Hunter asked gently. “I need you to tell us everything.”

She withdrew and twined her fingers in her lap, twisting nervously.

“I stayed as long as I could. I ran out of food, and since I couldn’t shift, I had to go to the town to try and get something to eat. I thought…I thought you weren’t coming back.”

Hunter swore, and Jericho closed his eyes.

“Why couldn’t you shift?”Hunter asked.

“Because of the baby,”she said softly. “It’s too dangerous. I didn’t know at first. One day the cougar wouldn’t respond to my call to shift. I was so frightened. I thought she had deserted me too.”

“Oh honey, I’m so sorry,”Jericho whispered against her hair. “We didn’t desert you. We’d never voluntarily leave you. I know how it must have looked, but we wouldn’t have left you for the world.”

She swallowed. “Then I had a vision from the Maker bestowing his gift on my daughter, and I understood. I realized I was pregnant.”

“Gift?”

“Daughter?”

Both men voiced their questions at the same time.

She nodded and framed her hands around her belly. “She will be a great silver wolf. I saw it in my vision. She will be free and beautiful.”

The men stared at each other in disbelief. A wolf. Jericho couldn’t wrap his brain around it. How the hell did a cougar-shifting woman give birth to a wolf-shifting daughter?

She looked up at them, her anxiety a living, breathing thing hovering in the air. “Are you upset about the baby?”

Hunter’s mouth fell open, and Jericho squeezed her against him, his heart beating double-time.

“Upset?”Hunter asked.

“Hell no.”Jericho’s hand covered hers, cupping the swell. “I’m only upset that we left you here to fend for yourself, alone and pregnant.”

“Honey, how do you know she’ll be a wolf? And how is that possible when Jericho and I…we aren’t shifters.”

She offered a shaky smile. “It was the Maker’s choice to gift our daughter with the wolf. She will grow to be strong and beautiful.”

“Like her mother,”Hunter said softly.

“What happened after you found out?”Jericho asked.

She stiffened again at his side. Her small fingers curled and uncurled. She seemed to be grappling with her emotions.

Sliding away from him, she rose to pace in front of them her eyes glowing, her face creased in consternation.

Kaya sucked in her breath, praying for wisdom, but her anger was quickly building. It surprised her, this rush of rage, her feeling of betrayal. She’d held so much in for so long because she’d been so afraid, but now with the two men in front of her, she seethed like a cauldron.

She turned to face them both. “Why?”

Jericho looked tortured, his face a mask of pain, both physical and mental. Hunter looked away, his body tense.

“You said you’d return. You led me to believe you would only be away a few weeks. You left me.”

She palmed her belly again and rubbed in agitation.

“I had no way to feed myself. I had no money to live in the human world, and when I tried to feed myself and my child, I was taken and locked in a…in a…cage,”she choked out.