Heart of Stone - Book 2: Hearts Collide
Chapter 17 - Aubree (Part 1)

Aubree bolted upright in bed, slick with sweat and gasping for air. She looked around Stone’s room in the dark as beads of sweat trickled down her back drawing a shiver to course through her. She couldn’t even piece together what it was exactly that had terrified her. The nightmare she had woken from was already creeping back into the dark recesses of her mind with each passing second.

Clutching her head in her hands, she took a deep breath, remembering darkness and the sense of being watched by multiple eyes. There were brief visions of creatures with elongated jaws full of razor-sharp pointed teeth and huge claw-like hands bigger than her head. She couldn’t see what they were exactly, or where they were. The only thing that had been clear was the terror she felt.

A slick, sticky residue ran down her thigh, drawing a groan from her lips as she pulled herself up and went to Stone’s private bathroom. She cursed at the blood that soaked through her panties and pajama bottoms.

Digging through her luggage made her groan even more. She was out of tampons. Pads would have to do.

After cleaning herself up and changing her bottoms, she soaked the soiled garments in some cold water in the bathroom sink before going to investigate the bedsheets. Sure enough, there was a small red spot right where she had been sleeping.

Stone was going to love that.

Not knowing where the laundry facilities were, she decided to roll the sheets up and toss them in the tub and worry about them in the morning. With a huff, she flopped down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Now, what was she going to do?

A light rap on the door forced her to get up and answer it. She figured it was Rosemary, who had kept her company that evening along with Gavin for a couple of hours, while Hector went straight to bed.

She opened the door a crack and saw Rose looking back at her with sleepy eyes.

Crap. I woke her up. Aubree opened the door, her stomach knotting. “Sorry, did I wake you?”

Rose waved Aubree’s worry aside. “Don’t fret. I’ve been disturbed on worse cases. Are you alright though? I smell blood.”

Heat rushed to Aubree’s face. “Oh, yeah. I bet you guys can smell that.” She pulled away from the door with a sigh. “Living with lycans just got a whole lot more awkward.”

Rose shook her head in amusement. “Lucky for you, we don’t like the smell of human blood.”

“Oh, that’s even better.” Aubree groaned, sarcasm lacing her voice.

“Trust me, it is.”

Swallowing, Aubree’s mind flicked to the memory of the vampire that attacked her and the way he licked her face. She shuddered, crossing her arms over her chest and holding herself.

“Would you like some help?” Rose asked.

Aubree nodded. “I don’t know where anything is here.”

The nightmare she had was still making her feel edgy. A little chat with Rose as she helped her redress the mattress would do her some good to get her mind off of things.

Rose helped her to clean the small stain on the mattress before putting a new bedsheet on it. She seemed reluctant to leave and in the end, settled next to Aubree on the bed.

“It’s amazing how humans have the ability to reproduce at virtually any time during the fertile years of their lives. And when the seed isn’t planted, the womb bleeds,” Rose said with her eyes closed.

Aubree tried not to gape at Rose and her choice of words. Really? What century did she come from?

Instead, she asked, “Is it different with lycans?”

Rose’s lips tugged upwards slightly. “Are you sure you want to know?”

Aubree shrugged. “Why not?”

It wasn’t like they had anything better to talk about at the moment, and now Rose had piqued her interest in the matter. If they didn’t have a monthly menstrual cycle, then what did they have?

“There is something magical about the moon to us,” Rose began. “Even our reproductive cycles are based on the moon. I could spend hours telling you about our spiritual beliefs and stories of our origins, but you want to know about our reproductive cycles, so here we go.”

With closed eyes, Rose began to tell Aubree about how bonded soulmates could only conceive during a full lunar eclipse. Females could not conceive at any other time, nor with any other partner. Once bonded, the female went into heat during lunar eclipses, and it was nearly impossible for both partners to keep their hands off each other.

“It’s the most intense and amazing sex,” she said with a sigh and a faraway look on her blushing face.

Aubree felt her own cheeks heat up, as if she’d stumbled upon something deeply intimate and didn’t know how to respond.

“Of course, the first time you mate and seal the matebond is amazing as well,” she added, which only inflamed Aubree’s face even more. Rose laughed. “So, that’s pretty much it. We go into heat for a few hours during the lunar eclipse and then it’s done and gone. No bleeding for us.”

“Huh,” was all Aubree could say.

“Pregnancies are a different matter altogether. Not that you’ll have to worry about it.”

Aubree nodded. “Because I’m not a lycan, right?”

“Well,” Rose hesitated, “yes and no. Lycan pregnancies are roughly sixty to seventy weeks long.”

Aubree’s eyes widened at that. They were almost double the duration of human pregnancies!

Rose continued, “The first half of the pregnancy is easy and we can do most everything normally in both our human and wolf forms. Once we reach the halfway point, our bodies transform into our wolf forms and will remain locked in that form until we deliver the pup or pups. Twins are quite common. I had a twin sister as a matter of fact.”

Rose’s use of the past-tense made Aubree’s heart skip a beat, and it didn’t go unnoticed.

She gave Aubree a small, reassuring smile. “It’s okay. I was very young and lucky to have survived.”

“What happened?” Aubree asked.

“Vampire attack. A swarm of them, if I recall.” She sighed. “My life was spared but I was not left unscathed.”

“What happened to you?”

She lowered her green eyes. “One vampire... Instead of killing me...”

She lifted the hem of her pink-striped pajama top and revealed a deep scar across her stomach. Aubree stared in shock at the long thick scar before Rose lowered her shirt.

“I owe that vampire my life, even though it nearly killed me. It was a common practice. If the vampires didn’t outright kill you, they rendered you incapable of reproducing. My reproductive organs were completely removed. While we do have fast healing capabilities, it’s harder on the young. They are weaker and more vulnerable. Most would have died from such an injury. I was not able to regrow those organs though. And even though I will never be able to give Hector the pups he and I both desire, he has—and always will—love me.”

“Rose...” Emotion clogged Aubree’s throat.

“I’m so grateful. I truly am,” Rose whispered as her eyes misted over. “And I know Stone is too, even though you’re human. He’s not going to want more pups.”

Aubree’s chest tightened as her heart skipped a beat and she stiffened. Her blood ran cold. “What?”

Rose gave her an apologetic look. “Not because he doesn’t want to have pups with you, but because he’s scared he’ll lose you if you attempt to give birth to them.”

“What do you mean?” Aubree’s pulse began to race as a wave of fear washed over her.

Rose frowned, the creases in her forehead deepening. “I’m sorry, Aubree, but humans aren’t able to survive giving birth to wolf offspring. It’s one of the reasons why lycans and humans are forbidden to have relations together.”

“But...” Pain seized her as Rose’s words sunk in.

The knowledge that she would never get to have children with him struck her deeply. Having a family had always been high on her list of wants and needs in life. She had it all mapped out years ago. Finish college. Find a job. Meet Mr. Right. Get married. Have a family. Having a family had always been more important in her heart than going to college and getting a job to support that family, but she knew she had to be practical. She couldn’t take care of that family if she didn’t have an income to support it, and she needed to replace the right man to share her life with.

She had been doing everything right. She went to school. Met the perfect guy. Finished school. Got a job, and was on the path to marriage.

Then, she threw it all away. All of it.

And now, that someone she threw it all away for didn’t want to give her that family she’d always wanted? That she’d always dreamed of having?

“It’s because he loves you.” Rose reached over to wipe the tears from Aubree’s face.

Aubree flinched and pulled away.

Tears formed in her eyes as Rose frowned. “I know it’s hard, but you have to understand where he’s coming from.”

“I know,” Aubree mumbled. She rolled over so that her back was facing Rose. “I need to be alone right now.”

The bed shifted as Rose got up. The door creaked open softly. “He needs you, Aubree. And there’s a family there who want you to be a part of their lives too.”

The lights flicked off and closed the door behind her.

Aubree squeezed her eyes shut, hugging the pillow tight, only to cry out when Stone’s scent filled her senses. She threw it across the room in retaliation against the ache in her chest, but it persisted as she held herself and cried. Betrayal gnawed away at her with each new revelation she learned from these people—these creatures. They had kept all these secrets from her and it wasn’t fair. Had she known all this beforehand, would she still have accepted Stone?

Dan’s warm, loving face flashed in her mind and she cringed in remorse.

What had she done?