Claiming Eliza

~*7*~

At night Cassius and I lay in my bed together. Fingers trace my small bump and he rests his head on my chest.

I comb my fingers through his hair, exhausted. Today has been a long day. "I hope it's a girl." Cassius finally says.

"I would have thought you would want a baby boy, so you can teach him how to be the next Alpha." I mumbles, my eyelids getting heavy.

"I would be fine if it turned out to be a boy, but she would be like her mother, if we had a girl."

My eyelids finally close and Cassius keeps his hand on my stomach.

~*~*~*~*~*

I wake up in the middle of the night hungry. The moonlight flows through the windows and I see that Cassius is sound asleep.

Quietly I wiggle out of the sheets and get off the bed. I really want a huge bitterly garlic roll.

I know that my mother just won't have that sitting in her cupboards. Cassius doesn't stir and I tip toe out of the room and through the dimly lit cottage, to the kitchen.

Trying not to make any noise I search through the cupboard trying to find something appetizing. It must be at least 2 o'clock in the morning.

I end up just grabbing two slices of bread. Taking a butter knife, I rub margarine on the bread.

Hearing footsteps coming down the hall I spin around, mouthful of bread. "Eliza, what are you doing?" Cassius asks, rubbing his eyes. His hair is disheveled and he is in his boxers.

I chew the bread in my mouth and swallow. "I was hungry. What are you doing?" I stuff the last bit of bread in my mouth.

"You weren't in bed." He declares. Embracing me he picks me up and carries me down the hall and back to the bedroom.

Cassius carefully lays me back down on my spot in the bed. I lay there staring up at his dark silhouette.

"Are you going to lay down?" I ask. He seems to snap out of his daydream and plops down next to me. I twist into my side facing him and throw a leg over his torso.

I place my hands on his bare chest. "Cassius?"

"Umh." He grumbles.

Tilting my head up I take his earlobe between my teeth. "I'm still hungry."

His motions are fast and he ends up looming above me, his torso between my legs. My breath comes out ragged and I place a palm on his chest before he could bend down and kiss me.

"Cassius, I'm not this kind of hungry. I just want some more bread." I sigh.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

I puke up my midnight snack in the morning. Cassius is there holding my hair back, white I puke in a random flower pot sitting in the living room.

I shudder, feeling disgusted.

"Eliza!" I hear my mother shout. Plopping down on the floor I glance behind Cassius to find my mom glaring at me in her robe. "Couldn't you find a toilet?"

"Not soon enough," I say wiping my mouth. "If I didn't puke in here you would have to be cleaning it off your floors."

Cassius helps me up. "Do you need more rest? Should we take you back home to see the Healer?" He asks, concern written on his face.

"I'm fine. I just need to clean up." I leave Cassius with my mom and head to the only bathroom we have.

Rinsing out my mouth I glance at myself in the mirror, even though I feel tired and exhausted, my skin is smooth and glowing.