Page 86 of Ronen
But I couldn’t do that all the time. Plus, we really needed to tell our families. We were running out of time, even if we hadn’t made any plans for our future yet.
Lily had assured us at our last appointment, we were out of the danger zone. While things could still go wrong, she had made it clear that our baby was growing well, and was healthy. I had truly been worried that we would tell people, and then I would suffer an early miscarriage. In my very logical mind, my fears made little sense, but they were there nonetheless.
I would talk to Mason tonight and tell him it was time to tell people. I knew he would be ecstatic, as he had said more than once he was tired of keeping it from his family. Especially since shifters only carried for seven months and I was into my fourth already.
It was really one of the only things we truly fought about, but he had allowed me to have this, even if he hadn’t fully understood my fears.
Dropping the books on the new release shelf, I checked the lock on the front doors.
A soft swishing sound caught my attention, my better than average hearing picking up the slight sound.
Turning my head, I stared into the dark stacks.
“Hello?” I called, taking a step forward. “Is anyone there?”
The sound came again, a movement like something sliding across the floor, and my heart started pounding loudly in my chest.
Gut churning, the hairs on my arm stood up. Swallowing past a lump in my throat, I cursed myself for leaving my cell phone on my desk.
I took another step forward, then another, wishing my night vision was as good as my hearing. Honey badgers didn’t have the best night vision, despite being nocturnal creatures. We relied on our sense of smell and hearing to alert us to danger.
I couldn’t smell anything out of the ordinary, but the swishing sound came again, this time moving faster.
“Ronen, run!”Emily screamed, appearing in front of me, her eyes frightened. She and the other ghosts had been absent most of the day.“Run!”
And then there was no time to run, as the thick black snake from my dreams reared up in front of me, its hooded head giving its species away.
My eyes were glued to the king cobra, as his body–thicker than my forearm–swayed hypnotically in front of me. Mesmerized, I couldn’t look away from its slitted, reptilian eyes.
If I could shift, I would have no problem defending myself against the snake, even one as deadly as a cobra. Honey badgers had a natural immunity to most snake venom. Wild honey badgers often killed large snakes for food.
But I couldn’t shift. I was just barely past the twelve week mark.
Shifting could possibly cause harm to my baby.
The snake's forked tongue slid out of its mouth, moving close to my face and I jerked back, trying to get away from it.
Before I could turn, it wrapped itself around my body, trapping my arms to my side, its large, hooded head so close to my face all I could see were its deadly fangs.
Why was it here? In Sweet Alps? In my library for fuck’s sake?
Was this why I had been dreaming the dreams I had? Was it some kind of warning? I had never been clairvoyant, but I had, unknowingly, dreamed of Mason.
Mason.
I didn’t want to die. Not like this.
I didn’t want to leave Mason.
And our baby, our baby deserved to have a happy life, full of love.
Emily had disappeared, and I was alone, with no way to save myself from this monster.
I was sure any second those sharp fangs were going to sink into the tender flesh of my neck, filling me with its venom. Would I be immune to its poison in my human form? Would my baby?
But that didn’t happen.
Instead, a hand smelling of oil and gasoline slid around my neck from behind, covering my mouth and nose with a sweet-smelling cloth. There was a disinfectant scent underneath the sweet scent, and I fought against it, choking.
