Firstborn [malexmale]

Chapter One

Chapter One

My eyes flew open, a sharp gasp escaping my lips.

I stared up at the paneled white ceiling over my head, my heart pounding hard against my breastbone, cold sweat sticking to my face and hair and chest. Every part of my body ached and cramped, including my stomach where I felt eternally bloated. I swallowed compulsively, managed to turn my head to see Thorn still fast asleep beside me.

He was laying on his side, turned away so I could have most of the bed for the constant squirming I'd been doing since I'd gotten pregnant. He'd also managed to tear away most of the blankets and was bundled up in a cocoon, only his thick wavy hair visible at the top of his blanket burrito.

I turned my head back to stare up at the ceiling.

It was morning now. The hot morning sun poured through the gauzy curtains over the windows of the bedroom, streaming across the ceiling and furniture. The room smelled strongly of linen and vanilla. I felt nauseated and cleared my throat, rolling over slowly. My weight was unbalanced, thanks to the bulge where my muscled abdomen used to be. I slid a hand under the weight of my belly, shifting so I could sit up. I breathed hard from the effort, gripping the edge of the bed for a moment.

Nightmare, I thought grimly, rubbing slow circles over my tight belly. I felt a brief shift inside me, almost like the creature inside me was comforting me. It helped, but only a little.

It's been two days since my brother, Theo, had contacted me. According to him, the next prophetic event was ready to take place, and he was terrified it had something to do with me. Blood of the first born son, he said. His mother, his real mother and not the bitchress who'd raised him, and him had come to the conclusion that they would want the blood of a newborn, because newborn blood was always strong due to its concentrated purity.

But that was if I was having a son.

So far, we didn't know the sex.

I didn't want to know, and neither did Thorn, and now, we wanted to know even less.

But Theo's paranoia had led to them sending more guards in to watch over the palace. Even Hannibal, King of Atlantis, had sent his very own private guard in to watch over us. So it was getting crowded with all these soldiers all over the place, but I wasn't too worried about it. I'd rather have someone around at all times to make sure some sneaky bastard didn't end up in my palace to take my fucking kid.

A cramp ripped through me and I grimaced, leaning over as much as I could and placing a hand over my stomach. The baby was shifting a lot lately, like it was picking up on my stress and protesting its effects. I took a deep shaky breath before I heaved myself onto my sore feet. I made my way across the room, moving at a snail's pace to get to the bathroom where I closed myself in and decided to soak in the tub for a while.

I filled the huge tub with hot bubbling water and stripped off my clothing before I eased into the water, sighing relief once I was submerged. The kicking beast inside me settled down, like the child was also relieved to have some form of stress relief. I reached to the tray on the edge of the tub, grabbing a hair clip and putting my hair up so it was out of the water. I leaned back, staring up at the ceiling again, trying to remember the details of my nightmare, but it was all a blur.

I remembered darkness, voices talking all around me, a painful tugging sensation in my stomach. It was when I had heard a baby squealing when I'd woken up abruptly. I swallowed at the thickness forming in my throat.

I wanted to tell myself it was nothing, but with the whole shifter thing? Fuck.

It reminded me of what happened to my dad.