"Make sure you eat all your meals. You forget if you're too preoccupied with work."

I grunted.

"Don't break something if you get angry."

Another grunt.

"And don't choke anyone else. You can only do that to me."

I was mid-grunt when Jaslynn's words registered in my mind. The smug undertone in her voice made the tips of my ears burn as she knew she caught me off guard with that statement.

There was a quiet snicker behind me, and I whipped around and pinned her to the wall, clasping a hand around her neck just as she wanted. Her eyes widened in surprise as I placed my other hand on the wall just above her head.

"If you're done harassing me with your to-not-do list, let me tell you one thing that will sum up everything I expect from you."

I could feel her throat bob under my hand as she swallowed hard, "Yes?"

"Behave," I rasped, a guttural sound escaping from the back of my throat as I attempted to hold back a growl, "Do not do anything reckless or else those fifteen spankings I gave you will seem like child's play."

"So we've moved into BDSM now? Does that mean I get to flog you?"

Leave it to my little witch to turn this conversation the other direction.

I rested my forehead against hers and muttered, "What am I going to do with you?"

Her lips curved into a sweet smile that made my chest tighten, "How about we make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Whoever gets the least amount of injuries, and you know there will be battle wounds" she lifted a finger up to my lips when she saw my protest, "Will get to punish the other person."

My blood was already rushing down south at the punishing visuals forming in my head.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Is the punishment an incentive to get hurt or avoid getting hurt?"

"Avoid getting hurt, of course," she stated in an obvious tone, "For all you know, I could punish you with no sex for a year."

The throbbing in my groin turned into a painful ache, but I knew the pain would be nothing compared to the possibility of Jaslynn getting hurt.

"Well, my left arm will get a workout, won't it? Because there is no way I'm letting you lose this deal," I determined, pecking her lips to seal the deal.

She frowned in response and was about to speak when there was a light knock on the front door to the cabin. I pulled away from her just as Reece cracked the door open to peek inside, "Is it safe to come in?"

"Yeah, we just finished packing, Reece," Jaslynn replied, stepping to the side to pick up her duffel bag. Reece nodded and glanced at me, "We have to leave now. I'll meet you by the car."

She slammed the door shut before we could reply, and I exchanged a look with Jaslynn, "Was she acting odd or was that just me?"

"Perhaps she's mentally preparing herself for the war? You can try asking her if she's willing to talk about it," she said as she slipped her shoes on.

I exhaled deeply and slung my duffel bag over my shoulder before I tugged her into my arms again, "I'll see you in five days then, kroshka."

She kissed me softly, and I savoured the sweet taste of her lips a final time before making my way down to her mark and pressing my lips against it momentarily, "Ya lyublyu tebya, kroshka."

"Je t'aime, mon loup."

My lips curved upward against her neck.

Jaslynn may not know Russian, and I may not know French, but the emotions expressed and evoked in those unfamiliar words were much more intense. Instead of focusing on the words being said, I could concentrate on her nonverbal expression– how she showed me her love through her gazes and touch.

And she would be able to do the same with me because I had nothing to hide from her.

I nipped her mark and raised my head, spanking her ass lightly, "Be good."

***

Reece was quiet throughout our ride to the airport, but I noticed her glancing at my neck just as I was scrutinizing the scarf around hers.

When we were finally on the plane, I raised an eyebrow at her as she sipped her water, "Where did you get that scarf? I've never seen you wear one before."

"Leon" she muttered, avoiding my pointed look.

"Did he give you that after he gave you several hickeys?"

Her head snapped to me, and I stared back with a blank expression, "I can see a faint outline of one of the bruises. Perhaps next time, you should use a different color other than white."

She grumbled incoherently under her breath, "I learned that dragons are much more possessive and confusing than I expected. He told me that I deserved a mate who could actually walk properly, and I told him I didn't care if he could or not. But if he didn't want to be with me, then I could try rejecting the bond and finding a wolf to be with."

I snorted, "No mate would like that idea, werewolf or not. What have you decided in the end?"

"We're going to sort our relationship out later. It isn't a priority considering the circumstances," she said, picking at the material of her jacket.

It was evident that she was disappointed by the situation, but there was not much I could do to help since it wasn't my business.

"Enough about me, look at your neck. You're a fully mated wolf now," Reece exclaimed, leaning forward in her seat to poke at the mark.

I slapped her hand away and rolled my eyes, "Yes, we decided it was about time."

"Where did you get protection from? Did the Minister have the cabin stocked with condoms? Maybe that was where he would take Hel–"

She rambled on excitedly, but my thoughts were at a standstill as I recollected my last memory of that night.

Jaslynn marking me. My cum dripping down her folds. Me passing out.

I was an idiot.

We hadn't even discussed moving her and her coven close to my pack, and by the time I saw her again, our pup would probably already be forming in her womb.

It was times like this I cursed my Alpha blood for being too strong.

"By the look on your face, I'm guessing you went for it raw."

"We're fucked," I muttered to myself, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"You have to tell her. With a she-wolf, her wolf steps in to protect the pup during a battle. But Jas..." she trailed off, knowing that I caught on to what she was saying.

"I'll tell her," I murmured, feeling a headache coming on, "I have to."

***

The adrenaline in my blood was pumping faster than ever before.

The last five days had zoomed by with training and assembling the witches and wizards of my coven and a few other covens into little brigades based on their strengths. And with Dario's help, I was able to transition from my wand to the Minister's staff.

We were standing in Santissima forest, a half-mile away from Mortiferum Abyss, with an invisibility spell cast over our troops to conceal our presence for the time being. It had been decided that the griffins and vampires would circle around the forest and charge from the other side to stop whatever demons escaped while we raided Malcolm's group on this side with the werewolves and dragons.

A few of the dragon trackers had already informed us that Malcolm was by the abyss and preparing for midnight just like the rest of us.

I ran my hand over the staff and basked in the thrum of energy that reached my fingertips. When I was training with it, I had discovered that the Minister had such a tight grip that he had left indents of his fingers on the handle. So I found myself involuntarily lining my fingers up with the indents whenever I held it still in my hand.

The Minister may not be here in person, but he still managed to find a way to insert a piece of himself in the battle.

"Jas, the werewolves are arriving, you will have to lift the shield to let them through," Meredith said, pointing to the dragon tracker signaling to us from above.

I raised the staff and pulled the bubble-like shield in a few feet so the wolves were able to see, and once I heard the barks and growls of a few wolves, released it so it encompassed the whole group.

Meredith nudged my side and smirked, "Incoming Alpha to your right."

I spun around and beamed as Alrik jogged over to me in nothing but a pair of shorts.

"Thank goodness," he mumbled, enveloping me in a hug as he nuzzled my neck. I hugged him back tightly and enjoyed the warmth of his slightly sweaty body, "You're just in time. We have exactly fifteen minutes to midnight."

"It's quite foggy. We could barely see the moon through the trees and mist," he said, releasing me slowly.

"It comes from the abyss."

The abyss was located in the middle of a mass of trees, and the thick fog that rose from it masked the area enough that no one was able to see where it began or ended. Malcolm had probably inched his way closer to the abyss before he felt comfortable to set up his camp.

"I need to talk to you about something," Alrik blurted, taking me by surprise.

"What–"

"You might be pregnant."

I blinked, "Pardon?"

He did not beat around the bush, which was both good and bad at times. But in this case, it was bad, I did not need surprises right before we fight.

"We didn't use protection," he scratched the back of his head, "I guess we forgot in the heat of the moment."

"Is it a guarantee that I'm pregnant? I was on birth control before all this traveling."

"There is a good chance, considering I'm an Alpha. For all we know, our pup could be developing right now."

A throat cleared behind us, and we snapped our attention to the large, normally quiet wolf.

"Pardon me for interrupting. I wanted to wait for you to finish, but considering the time constraints, I decided it was appropriate to cut in now," Yerik stated, staring at the two of us sheepishly before lifting up the large piece of black armor in his hands, "I overheard Alrik tell Aleksei about how you might be pregnant and decided to make this for you."

He handed it over to me slowly and scratched his hands awkwardly, "The alloys used for the plates will protect you from almost everything."

My heart warmed, and I rushed to give him a hug, "Thank you, Yerik. Really. This has given me some peace of mind."

He patted my back, "It was nothing. I wanted to make sure you had some protection, whether you were pregnant or not."

I smiled and slipped my arms through the holes as Alrik thanked Yerik, who shrugged it off humbly and walked away.

Alrik helped me tighten the thick leather straps on the sides, before I turned around and glanced at my watch, "I know you just dropped a bomb on me, but I'm going to have to process it later. We only have two minutes until the portal ope-"

Violent tremors began to shake the ground we were standing on, causing the tree branches to rattle and leaves and dirt to shower on us as the birds living in the forest were awoken.

It was pure and utter chaos.

And that could only mean one thing.

The portal was open.