Prowled Darkness (Dante's Circle, #7)(10)

“Shh, darling, let it out,” Amara whispered. “You haven’t let yourself do this in all these months.”

Eliana swallowed hard and wiped her face even as more tears came. “I haven’t been able to. I was afraid I’d never stop.” She sniffed hard. “And now I don’t think I can.”

“You can, and you will when you’re ready. Why don’t you tell me what Malik said and what you thought about it.”

“How did you know I’d need you?” she asked before she began.

“We all wanted to come, even the guys, but I said I would be the one to be by your side tonight.” She cupped Eliana’s face and kissed her brow. “I was where you are. Before.” Her friend winced. “Okay, not exactly where you are, but remember? I thought I was crazy for wanting Seth and Tristan like I did, and no matter what we did, we couldn’t mate because of the curse.”

Eliana nodded and sighed. Amara had had to kill the siren queen in order to keep her men and survive. In fact, each of Eliana’s friends had gone through hell—sometimes literally—when they’d found their mates and figured out how they would live in a new world that wanted nothing to do with them.

She wasn’t alone, but she wasn’t the same as the others. Though they were each as unique as the realms that had claimed them.

“This sucks,” she said simply, and Amara snorted out a laugh.

“That it does. So, tell me, dear pregnant friend, what happened?”

Eliana let out a sigh once more and leaned in to her friend’s embrace, keeping her hands on her belly so she could be close to little squirt.

“Malik didn’t know I was his mate because lions apparently can’t mate humans. He left because he had responsibilities.” She paused. “He said he was falling in love with me and didn’t want to make promises he couldn’t keep, so he pushed me away and left. As soon as he found out I was lightning-struck, he came back and found out I was pregnant. And now, everything will be swept away and he will mate with me, mark me or whatever, bring me back to his realm, and be king of the lions and we’ll raise our baby in perfect accordance with whatever dream he has in his head.”

Amara was silent for so long that Eliana had to turn and look over her shoulder.

“What?” Eliana asked. “I told him to go because he didn’t apologize for leaving. He didn’t tell me what he felt now. He just told me what would happen and expected me to go alone with it.”

“He’s a dude,” Amara said. “I’m mated to two of them. They don’t always understand that they need to explain things and listen.”

“That’s a little sexist,” Eliana said, though she’d thought the same thing already.

Amara rolled her eyes. “Let me rephrase then. He’s a dude who is friends with my Tristan. So, yeah, he is an idiot when it comes to communication. They all were—still kinda are. And frankly, so were we when I think about it. He needs to apologize, yes. And he needs to listen to you and take steps with you rather than for you. But he’s hurting too, honey. Can’t you feel that?”

Eliana pressed her lips together. She’d seen the hurt in his gaze, but she couldn’t see past her own. And that was wrong.

“I have to be strong for the baby,” Eliana said softly. “I can’t just use the excuse that ‘well, Daddy had to be the king, young Simba, so I gave up everything.’”

Amara let out a snort. “Please don’t name your baby Simba or Nala.”

Eliana laughed. “No Mufasa or Scar either.” She closed her eyes. “Dude. I’m going to have a baby. A baby cub. What the hell am I going to do?”

Amara hugged her close and kissed her temple. Her friend warmed her when Eliana hadn’t been sure she could ever feel any form of warmth again. “You’re going to be a kickass mom. You and Malik are going to talk and figure out a plan. Whether you are together or apart, you’ll be there for this baby. We all will. I know fate just threw you a curveball of epic proportions, but you can handle it. You’re stronger than you think you are.”

Eliana hoped her friend was right. Because everything had changed once again and now she had to be the rock for not only herself but her baby, as well. Only she was tired of being the rock. She wanted to lean against someone. She wanted a partner.

She just didn’t think Malik knew what it meant to be a partner.

Because she sure as hell didn’t.





Chapter Four


Malik had made a colossal mistake, and he only had himself to blame. He shouldn’t have left her alone in the house. He shouldn’t have left to begin with. Yet, no matter what, he couldn’t go back to either time and make a different decision.

What he had to do, was be a f*cking adult and own up to his mistakes. Because by brushing it all away and trying to only think of the future without asking about the past, without dealing with it at all, he’d messed up royally.

He’d been so worried about not falling to his knees because of how he’d been raised, that he’d let the one person in the world who could truly be his slide through his fingers. As a lion shifter, he might not have the same fated mate idea like the others in the realms around him, but his lion had already chosen Eliana.

He should have listened to the damned cat when he had the chance.