THE AWAKENING

“Did you mean what you said?”

He smoothed the hair from her eyes in a tender gesture that surprised her. “Which part?” he asked.

“All of it.”

He didn’t answer right away but shifted so that his weight was no longer bearing down on her. His hands drifted to the swelling of her stomach and he paused there, his big hand resting on the lump where her babies were nestled.

“I would not allow another man to touch what belongs to me,” he answered gravely. “But I would give my life to protect you and my child.”

Cassandra swallowed, remembering Iona’s warning. “There are two babies in there,” she said. “What about the other baby? Would you hurt the one that isn’t yours?”

Tieran frowned and his nostrils flared at her question but she didn’t know if his distaste stemmed from having to answer a difficult question or because he truly found the idea an anathema.

He rose and helped her to her feet. “We should get back to the compound. It isn’t safe out here.”

She withdrew her hand and he looked back at her. “Answer me, Tieran.”

His lips compressed to a tight line and he appeared as if he’d rather chew nails than answer that single question but she had to know.

“I will protect my babies with my life. If you plan to take one and snuff out its life, know that I will kill you for trying.”

heart broke in the

to think of the greater good rather than the life of one person. That I am weak if

blue eyes. “But the idea of

and she flung herself into his arms, shocking him with

your heart, Tieran. Your heart is good and strong. You can be the change in this clan. You don’t have to do everything that has always been done in the past. That’s why there’s so much fighting between the clans. No one even remembers why the clans are fighting. There are frightened women in Clan Janus who suffer unimaginable abuse simply because they had the misfortune to be born into a clan with an

she added with a whisper. “With

what a burden he bore for the clan and she was thankful she wasn’t

with ritual and superstition. She lifted

put her back to Tieran, staring the same as him into the inky darkness blanketing

their singing and an unearthly silence enveloped the glade. Even the slight gurgle

you shift?”

her heart hammered with fear.

a dark beast emerged from the darkness, a snarl dripping from his red jaws.

Ulster.

own. The hairs rose on her neck and she shook with fear. Madness shone

was focused on her

front of Cassandra, protecting her with

an ambush and Cassandra had played right into their