Forgotten Read online

  “A boy! A son—I’m going to have a son! Rone’s son!” Kate exclaimed, unable to hold back anymore. And then she burst into tears.

  “Oh, no!” Sophie looked upset. “Oh, Liv—we’ve made her cry! Oh, Kate, we’re so sorry!”

  “Look, hon, we know this is kind of awkward news, especially with the two of you splitting up and everything,” Liv said, staring at her anxiously. “So if you’d like to come back to the Mother Ship so we can talk about it and find a place for you to stay…”

  “Because you can stay up here with us,” Sophie put in earnestly. “And we’ll introduce you to everyone. Liv and I will be with you every step of the way. We—”

  “Kate isn’t going anywhere.” Suddenly Rone was standing right behind her, his big hands on her shoulders. “She’s staying aboard the Finder with me.”

  “I’m sorry…” Kate sniffed and somehow managed to get a grip on herself. “I’m not…not crying because I’m upset. I’m crying because I’m so surprised and happy. And Rone and I aren’t splitting up.”

  “You’re not?” Liv and Sophie asked together.

  “No.” Kate shook her head. “Because I remembered—I remembered everything! My past, the three years I lost—everything! And even better, our bond is back!”

  “Back and stronger than ever,” Rone growled, squeezing her shoulders.

  “Wow,” Liv said. “How did you manage that?”

  “We, uh…” Kate blushed. “Well, remember how the Goddess said I should, uh, feed my appetites?”

  Sophie laughed delightedly. “I’m guessing she wasn’t talking about your appetite for pizza or brownies or any other kind of food, was she?”

  “Nope.” Kate grinned, despite her red cheeks. “Anyway, everything just kind of…came back while we were…well, you know.”

  Liv cleared her throat. “You know, you might want to be a little bit, uh, careful there. Sylvan told me that due to Wulven Kindred anatomy, their mates are actually able to get pregnant twice, if the second, uh, breeding occurs within a solar week of the first. They call it ‘twice expectant’ or a double conception. So if you don’t want twins…”

  “Pregnant twice? Twins?” Rone looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

  “Oh—you don’t know yet!” Kate exclaimed. Turning back to the viewscreen, she gestured at Olivia. “Show him, Liv! Show him the flower!”

  Obligingly, Liv held the small, perfect blue flower up to the viewscreen.

  “Here you go,” she told Rone. “Looks like you’re going to be a daddy.”

  “Gods!” Rone gripped the back of the seat Kate was sitting in so violently she nearly fell out of it. “Are you serious?” he demanded of Olivia. “Is this really true? Kate is pregnant?”

  “She absolutely is.” Liv nodded decisively. “And Sylvan would really like you to come back to the Mother Ship so he can run some more tests and make sure everything is going just right.”

  “We’ll come right away,” Kate promised. She looked at Rone who nodded.

  “Yes…yes, of course.” He still looked stunned.

  “All right then, we’ll be waiting for you in the med center,” Liv said.

  “And don’t worry,” Sophie added. “Sylvan says he’s sure everything is fine—he just wants to do a more thorough checkup.”

  “See you soon!” Liv added and then the viewscreen went blank.

  For a moment Kate just sat there, soaking in the news. Then she looked up at Rone. The big Kindred still had the back of her chair in a death grip.

  “I can’t believe it,” he muttered. “I just can’t…I can’t believe it.”

  “It’s true, though.” Kate looked at him hopefully. “Are you happy?”

  “Happy? Of course I’m happy—this is what we’ve wanted forever. I’m just…just stunned.” He shook his head. “It must have happened when my Beast—”

  “When I tamed your Beast,” Kate said quickly, not wanting him to start feeling guilty all over again. “And listen, honey—this is what I was trying to tell you earlier, before the girls called. I had to meet and tame your Beast for just this reason.”

  He shook his head. “What do you mean? What are you talking about? I thought you said you had something to tell me that you hadn’t gotten a chance to say before you lost your memories.”

  “I do.” Kate looked at him intently, wondering how he was going to react to what she had to say. She took a deep breath. “Do you remember how the statue of the Goddess came to life during Emily and Tragar’s joining ceremony?”

  “Remember it?” Rone gave a short, barking laugh. “How could I forget it? I’d never seen the Goddess in person before. It was…amazing how she manifested herself.”

  “I was amazed too,” Kate said quietly. “Remember how afterwards, when everyone was leaving the Grove, I told you I had to go back because I had forgotten something?”

  “Yes, and…?” he prompted.

  “Well, I just wanted a minute alone with her—alone in the presence of the Goddess,” Kate admitted. “I mean, I thought she had left but I went back and knelt at her feet anyway—at the feet of the statue. And I prayed—prayed so hard for what we both wanted so badly.”

  “A baby,” Rone said softly. “A son.”

  “Or a daughter,” Kate whispered. “I told the Goddess I wasn’t particular. I just wanted a baby to love and I didn’t care what it took.”

  “And what happened?” Rone asked in a low voice.

  “She came back to life. Or, well—the statue reanimated or whatever you want to call it,” Kate said. “And she told me that the desire of my heart was within reach but I would have to go through terrible hardship to get it.” She looked down at her hands. “I told her I didn’t care—that I would do whatever it took if you and I could just have a baby.”

  “Then what did she say?” Rone’s voice was little more than a hoarse whisper.

  “She told me my prayer had been heard and that it would be answered.” Kate looked up at her husband. “And then I went to tell you and walked right into that damn trap by smelling the bouquet that was meant for Emily.” She bit her lip. “Are you angry with me? I think…I guess all of this—everything we just went through—is my fault.”

  “I don’t know what to say.” Rone shook his head. “We nearly lost each other, Kate. I was going to avenge you or die trying. Then I was going to go to the Desert. To—”

  “To Corith al Cruthe. Oh my God!” Kate put a hand to her mouth. “The second destination in the navcom—now I remember where I’ve heard it before! Your aunt told me about it!”

  Rone frowned. “Tante Corii has a bad habit of saying more than she should. I bet she’s the one who gave you a copy of the Volume of Submission, isn’t she?”

  “Of course she is, but Rone…” Kate got up and went to stand in front of him. “How could you? How could you even think of doing that? Of going into the Desert of Death and letting your Beast take over your mind forever?”

  “I thought I’d lost you,” he said simply. “And after what my Beast did to you I felt I deserved no better than the Living Death.”

  “For the last time, what your Beast did was necessary.” Kate pressed his hand earnestly. “Listen to me, sweetheart—we were trying to circumvent the natural order of things by using my Knowing to get around taming your Beast. Without a whole and complete bond, I never would have been able to get pregnant. The Goddess knew that and she also knew you’d never let me meet your Beast willingly.”

  Rone frowned. “Are you saying she used that sick bastard, Two, to bring you to my Beast on purpose?”

  Kate nodded. “I am. I believe there was a reason for everything that happened to us. If I hadn’t lost my memory and been taken away from you, you wouldn’t have spent six months looking for me while your hunger grew. And you know what iron control you have—if you hadn’t been deprived of my touch and taste for so long, your Beast never would have had a chance of coming out to meet me. To breed me.”

  He nodd