The BlackWolf Effect (Book IV)

CHAPTER TWELVE - Timber's Choice

"Alright," said Timber with a deep breath. "I'll be back in a minute."

Henry made sure she was in the bedroom before he went into high gear. He grabbed Timber's duster and dusted the coffee table and side tables. He didn't really care if they were dusty but it would annoy Timber and she would go into cleaning mode and stress the baby. Henry didn't want that so he dusted every surface in the living room and swept up the floor as fast as he could.

Timber came down in her very oversized t-shirt that she wore to bed in high school and a pair of Henry's work out shorts with her hair in a sloppy bun just as Henry sat on the couch. She looked irritated as she held her hand at her back. Henry, who had read a couple of pregnancy articles online, understood that her back was hurting her so he positioned a pillow to help. She sat down and sighed in relief. She covered her lower body with the throw blanket so she was at least decent when the guests arrived.

"I can't fit in any of my jeans anymore," she said in frustration. "I can get them up, but I can't zip them all the way. I had to borrow your shorts. I hope you don't mind." She paused. "You cleaned. I thought you said it didn't matter."

"It doesn't but I know that you like to have a clean house when guests come over and I didn't want you to do it."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Henry went to the kitchen and warmed up some spiced apple cider Timber had made the day before because she was cold and craving apples. He just set it on the table when the doorbell rang. Henry opened the door and stood aside for Lord Frost, Aiyanna, and the woman named Catalina to come in. Timber remained seated under her blanket but she bowed her head to Lord Frost. When Henry closed the door, he bowed too.

"Thank you for contacting me, Henry," said Lord Frost. "Timber, how are you feeling?"

"I'm tired and hungry a lot," admitted Timber. "I've been sleeping all night and about three and a half hours every day. I've been eating about three pounds of meat a day too. Other than that and a sore back, I feel fine."

"You're not mad?" asked Henry.

"No," said Lord Frost. "You are no longer a werewolf. Though you still contain venom and you will for the rest of your life. You are a Wolf Lord, which means you are not bound by those specific Haven laws anymore."

"But the surgery..." said Henry.

"It reversed itself when you changed," said Aiyanna. "That is how Timber was able to become pregnant. The other side effect of your change happened to your venom. Your bite is now deadly to Timber. However, you will only be able to release it in your large form."

"How do you know all of this?" asked Henry.

"I have been doing a great deal of research," said Lord Frost. "Once we discovered what you had become, the research became easy, though I had to do some traveling. There has not been a Wolf Lord since the time of King Arthur. All of the documents were in a vault in Britain."

"What happened to the last one?" asked Henry.

"Slaughtered," said Aiyanna. "By Dracula. According to the document, the previous Wolf Lord had no skills in combat, either with a sword or in his wolf form, which was fairly small for a Lord. He was only in power for several months before he was killed. I never met him."

"So Henry is fine," said Timber.

"Henry's size alone makes him almost invincible," said Lord Frost. "Now, we should get to business. Timber, Henry, this is Catalina, She is going to be Timber's nursemaid."

Henry looked at Catalina and noticed several odd things he had never seen before. Catalina's skin was a pale purple and her green eyes resembled cat eyes. Instead of hair, Catalina had a Mohawk of large black feathers that ran down her neck and back too. Her ears were large and pointed and her nose was like a small pink cat nose with long plum-colored whiskers.