The Alpha And His Mate (Silver Hills #1)

Chapter 30

A devilish grin paints his face.

"Everything is a lot," he purred, eyes still flickering to Diana. Eventually, her gaze fell on him. He instantly turned his face back to me.

"I need to know about my child," I insisted.

He shook his head, bemused. "Why did you instantly presume I would know?"

"You're ancient," I pointed out. He cocked a dark eyebrow and pretended to be offended. "There's no way you wouldn't know at least something."

"I probably know more than anyone." I wasn't sure if he was taunting me, holding out his knowledge but refusing to give it.

"Tell me then," I begged, easily giving in to the bait. "Please."

He held out a finger, as if to stop me, even though I was doing nothing. "I will give you all my knowledge, no holding back, if you do one thing for me."

"Anything," I promised, my voice too desperate.

His fearsome disposition fell as he gulped, almost embarrassed. "Heal Diana's arm."

I paused a second before laughing out loud. Luckily, it was a quiet laugh, otherwise I would've interrupted the mourning.

The mourning. I had nearly pushed Richard out of my head, despite the fact his body was still warm.

"I can't heal her," I said. "There are witches who can though- why hasn't Elisabeth done it already?"

We both turned to look at the cousins, Caspar elegantly tending to Elizabeth's cuts. If she hadn't even healed herself...

"What sort of attack was this?" I finally asked. It was a question I should've explored from the start. My mind had been so focused on the child inside me I had almost learnt to disregard every other event.

His expression darkened. "It was strange: we were all sat in this room, the Council were deciding what to do with me, when a darkness fell upon us. It felt cold and evil- I can only presume it had something to do with him."

"Him?"

Victor laughed humourlessly. "Ezaryth. The dark Shadowlord. No doubt he had sensed the power taking root in you and sent some foul beast to track you down."

I felt myself pale. "Why did it come here and not to my house?" I was grateful (in a sick, demented way) that the dark lord hadn't attacked my mom or Angel.

"Your mate was here, and a house full of important council members would've been far more tempting then some humans and a Shadowlord-mortal hybrid," he pointed out. "I may've been able to fight them off had it not been for the chains and injuries, but by the time anyway had got their wits together there was screaming and the smell of blood in the air."

A chill ran through me.

"And then," he said through gritted teeth, "when the darkness left, Elisabeth had been cut up, Richard was lying on the floor, not breathing, and Diana-" he took a deep breath to calm himself- "Diana's arm looked like it had been got at by a wild beast."

"What happened to Richard?" I asked. "And why couldn't the injuries be healed?"

"Richard was just... dead. They can't explain why." His head jerked towards the Masons, towards the shroud that cloaked their youngest son. "And whatever attacked them gave them shadow wounds. Magic can't heal them because whatever caused them was immensely powerful itself."

I shook my head, swallowing down bile. "And why would I be able to help?"

From behind us, Diana let out a small moan of pain as Caspar reached out for her arm. Victor drew his lips back over his teeth, revealing animalistic canines as sharp as a daggers edge.

"Tell your vampire bait to keep his hands off Diana," he warned me. "At least until you heal her."

I almost jumped forward and hit him. "I can't! I don't have magic or any first aid training."

His grin was wolf and feral as he got as close to me as possible. "You have something better," he whispered clandestinely. "You have Shadowlord blood."

I slumped back; he was going to be one disappointed vampire when he discovered I couldn't access any magical powers my father had.

He saw my deflation and tried to explain further. "You don't need to have Shadowlord abilities, but only a Shadowlord can heal shadow wounds."

I twisted my face. "I wouldn't even know what to do."

"When the time comes, I will guide you. For now," he spread his arms out wide, dark hair spreading out behind him like a charcoal curtain, "ask your questions."

The first challenge was trying to organise the ideas in my head. So many wild thoughts had been chased around in my mind since... well, a few hours ago.

"Will my child be human?" It sounded stupid out loud, but I needed to know.

"Vaguely human," he replied with a shrug. "Human enough."

What a wonderful helper the vampire lord was. Looked like I would have to rephrase it a million different ways until I got a cohesive answer.

"Wolf or mortal?" I snapped.

"Wolf," he told me, "and mortal. And Shadowlord."

My heart sank. "Why... why aren't I a Shadowlord if my child will be?"

"I suppose it skipped a generation- I've never had the chance to study it." He seemed almost bored now, his eyes straying back to the Thorpes.

"So my child will be extremely powerful?"

"Of course."

"Will it..." this had been the question. The only one that really mattered to me. "Will it be evil?"

His cold eyes looked directly into mine. "Will they be evil," he corrected. "And the child has the same chances of being evil as any other creature."

I supposed that reassured me a bit. "What will the pregnancy be like?"

He chuckled darkly. "As hellish as any other pregnancy I guess."

I nodded, my hand once again straying to my stomach. Victor stared at me for a second before sighing."

"I am tired. And your husband is coming."

Jax. How would he react to my pregnancy? Perhaps he already knew.

The vampire lord turned his back away from me, away from the world. "Leave me be," he said. "I am tired."