The Arena novel Chapter 13

Pregnant? I look down at my stomach, laying my hands over my flat stomach where Ishir says I have a baby.

“I’m pregnant?”

He leans in, sniffing deeply. “If I’m not mistaken, that would be Cedric’s baby.”

He looks at me closely, his eyes narrowing as mine fills with tears. “And based on the dragon’s lament that I followed to find you, he’s not here.”

I shake my head, unable to say anything with the huge lump in my throat.

“Do you have a place where you are staying?” he asks me gently.

I nod and turn, leading him to my cave. He checks it out, like I did, before looking at the fire. “Have you eaten?”

“No. I was out looking for food when I heard you. I tried to call on my dragon, but she won’t come forward.”

“That’s because you’re pregnant. You’ll have to wait until after you give birth to shift. Otherwise, you will kill the fetus.”

I suck in air, my hands automatically going to my stomach again. I didn’t even know I had a child growing inside me an hour ago, but now, I can’t imagine anything happening to my baby.

“I’m glad to see that you are willing to keep your child, even if Cedric left.” He strokes the fire before looking at me. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

I look at him for a long moment. There has always been something about Ishir that I’ve liked. It’s not just that he’s strong and stoic; his personality matches well with dragons. He said he had befriended Avani, and I know I would also be willing to call him my friend.

“I’ll make a deal with you. If you catch dinner, I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“Deal, be back shortly,” he says before standing and heading out of the campsite area. He turns back to me. “Everything will be okay, Tana. I’ll help you if you want. I won’t leave you.”

“Thank you, Ish,” I say, deciding on a nickname for my friend. He smiles, then jumps into his tiger form and runs off to catch us dinner.

While he’s gone, I blow more fire into the fire pit and prepare to cook whatever animal he brings back. He returns with a wild hog.

“Bacon for breakfast tomorrow,” he says, making me laugh for the first time in days.

We clean the hog, pulling out both racks of ribs and both back flanks. We cook them over the fire pit, and while they cook, I tell him about what happened with Cedric, how he marked me, and then his anger at not knowing what I am before he left.

“Is that why you ran when I found you a week ago?” he asks me.

“That was you? I couldn’t smell you; I just heard you and knew you were a supernatural, so I flew away. I didn’t want to risk it being Cedric or another werewolf.”

“Thankfully, I have an amazing sense of smell, so I was still able to track you.”

I look down at my stomach. “Do you know how long I have before this baby will be born?”

He looks at my stomach. “Werewolf pregnancies last about five months. I’m guessing, since you got pregnant while in your human form, that it will follow that length of time rather than a typical dragon pregnancy.”

“Well, since I’m growing a being inside me versus laying an egg, I’d agree.”

“Do you have any money?” he asks me.

I look at him, giving him a look that says, ‘Are you kidding me?’

“I’m a dragon. If you know anything about us, you must know that we hoard treasure. I have money.”

Ishir smiles at me as he finishes his food. “Well, if you have money, I have someone that can get us jobs and …” He looks at me, “I have someone that also needs a job and would make a good babysitter.”

“Who?” I ask him, frowning. This man is connected to all sorts of people.

“The Kestrel.”

He smiles at me knowingly. “How about we go get your money, pick up the little Kestrel, and head to the city? We have some planning and settling to do.”