Heart of Stone (Parts I & II)

II. Chapter 16 | Part 1 - Aubree

Rose's lips tugged upwards slightly. "Are you sure you want to know?"

Aubree shrugged. "Why not?"

It wasn't like they had anything better to talk about at the moment, and now Rose had piqued her interest on the matter. If they didn't have a monthly menstrual cycle, then what did they have?

"There is something magical about the moon to us," Rose began. "Even our reproductive cycles are based on the moon. I could spend hours telling you about our spiritual beliefs and stories of our origins, but you want to know about our reproductive cycles, so here we go."

With closed eyes, Rose began to tell Aubree about how bonded soulmates could only conceive during a full lunar eclipse. Females could not conceive at any other time, nor with any other partner. Once bonded, the female went into heat during lunar eclipses, and it was nearly impossible for both partners to keep their hands off each other.

"It's the most intense and amazing sex," she said with a sigh and a faraway look on her blushing face.

Aubree felt her own cheeks heat up, as if she'd stumbled upon something deeply intimate and didn't know how to respond.

"Of course, the first time you mate and seal the matebond is amazing as well," she added, which only inflamed Aubree's face even more. Rose laughed. "So, that's pretty much it. We go into heat for a few hours during the lunar eclipse and then it's done and gone. No bleeding for us."

"Huh," was all Aubree could say.

"Pregnancies are a different matter altogether. Not that you'll have to worry about it."

Aubree nodded. "Because I'm not a lycan, right?"

"Well," Rose hesitated, "yes and no. Lycan pregnancies are roughly sixty to seventy weeks long."

Aubree's eyes widened at that. They were almost double the duration of human pregnancies!

Rose continued, "The first half of the pregnancy is easy and we can do most everything normally in both our human and wolf forms. Once we reach the halfway point, our bodies transform into our wolf forms and will remain locked in that form until we deliver the pup or pups. Twins are quite common. I had a twin sister as a matter of fact."

Rose's use of the past-tense made Aubree's heart skip a beat, and it didn't go unnoticed.

She gave Aubree a small, reassuring smile. "It's okay. I was very young and lucky to have survived."

"What happened?" Aubree asked.

"Vampire attack. A swarm of them, if I recall." She sighed. "My life was spared but I was not left unscathed."

"What happened to you?"

She lowered her green eyes. "One vampire... Instead of killing me..."

She lifted the hem of her pink-striped pajama top and revealed a deep scar across her stomach. Aubree stared in shock at the long thick scar before Rose lowered her shirt.

"I owe that vampire my life, even though it nearly killed me. It was a common practice. If the vampires didn't outright kill you, they rendered you incapable of reproducing. My reproductive organs were completely removed. While we do have fast healing capabilities, it's harder on the young. They are weaker and more vulnerable. Most would have died from such an injury. I was not able to regrow those organs though. And even though I will never be able to give Hector the pups he and I both desire, he has—and always will—love me."

"Rose..." Emotion clogged Aubree's throat.

"I'm so grateful. I truly am," Rose whispered as her eyes misted over. "And I know Stone is too, even though you're human. He's not going to want more pups."

Aubree's chest tightened as her heart skipped a beat and she stiffened. Her blood ran cold. "What?"

Rose gave her an apologetic look. "Not because he doesn't want to have pups with you, but because he's scared he'll lose you if you attempt to give birth to them."

"What do you mean?" Aubree's pulse began to race as a wave of fear washed over her.

Rose frowned, the creases in her forehead deepening. "I'm sorry, Aubree, but humans aren't able to survive giving birth to wolf offspring. It's one of the reasons why lycans and humans are forbidden to have relations together."

"But..." Pain seized her as Rose's words sunk in.

The knowledge that she would never get to have children with him struck her deeply. Having a family had always been high on her list of wants and needs in life. She had it all mapped out years ago. Finish college. Find a job. Meet Mr. Right. Get married. Have a family. Having a family had always been more important in her heart than going to college and getting a job to support that family, but she knew she had to be practical. She couldn't take care of that family if she didn't have an income to support it, and she needed to find the right man to share her life with.

She had been doing everything right. She went to school. Met the perfect guy. Finished school. Got a job, and was on the path to marriage.

Then, she threw it all away. All of it.

And now, that someone she threw it all away for didn't want to give her that family she'd always wanted? That she'd always dreamed of having?

"It's because he loves you." Rose reached over to wipe the tears from Aubree's face.

Aubree flinched and pulled away.

Tears formed in her eyes as Rose frowned. "I know it's hard, but you have to understand where he's coming from."

"I know," Aubree mumbled. She rolled over so that her back was facing Rose. "I need to be alone right now."

The bed shifted as Rose got up. The door creaked open softly. "He needs you, Aubree. And there's a family there who want you to be a part of their lives too."

The lights flicked off and closed the door behind her.

Aubree squeezed her eyes shut, hugging the pillow tight, only to cry out when Stone's scent filled her senses. She threw it across the room in retaliation against the ache in her chest, but it persisted as she held herself and cried. Betrayal gnawed away at her with each new revelation she learned from these people—these creatures. They had kept all these secrets from her and it wasn't fair. Had she known all this beforehand, would she still have accepted Stone?

Dan's warm, loving face flashed in her mind and she cringed in remorse.

What had she done?

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Dedicated to CrissyxPooh 

*Copyright Jo Lee Hunt (Joflower) 2016*