Karizma: Reborn
Chapter 25: Ryleigh

Ryleigh jumped to her feet as she stretched out her hearing. Nothing. The pack is safe for now. They haven’t found me yet. She rubbed her hands over her arms and was startled to replace herself shaking. She turned around to face Bailey. “What happened?” Ryleigh asked.

“Your magic sent out a shockwave of heat,” Bailey said.

“And you smelled of Karizma,” Lukas added through clenched teeth. Ryleigh wrapped her arms around herself to attempt to calm her body, but she failed. Her wolf was petrified, her magic burned her, and the memories of the vampires in the church churned a wave of nausea in her stomach. Something did happen, but not here.

“You smelled it?” Ryleigh asked softly.

“The second that he did, he ordered me to draft up a cloak and pull you out,” Bailey said. “What happened?”

“They smelled it, too,” Ryleigh said. “All of those vampires smelled it, smelled me.”

“What?” Lukas growled darkly.

“I found Naomi and Nathan. They’re building a vampiric army like a fucking factory. Nathan bites, Nathan feeds, Naomi gives human blood, and repeat. But they all suddenly stopped. Naomi…spoke to me,” Ryleigh shuddered. “She addressed me by name, and every single vampire in that church was staring at where I was hiding.”

“How is that possible?” Bailey asked. “You haven’t smelled of Karizma since you turned.”

Ryleigh’s eyes widened. “Kristopher. We need to replace Kristopher. Nathan ordered for him and me to be found and brought to him alive.” Ryleigh took a step back. “I can’t be here. I need to replace Kristopher, and we need to hide. She found me too soon. I can’t stay with our people, Lukas.”

“What happened?” Lukas asked.

“Are you not listening?” Ryleigh snapped. “There’s a fucking vampiric army being built, and now there is a bounty on mine and Kristopher’s heads. Which part of this are you missing?”

“The part where you smelled like a Karizma, and Naomi called you out by name,” Lukas responded.

“Maybe I slipped or something. I don’t know. But that doesn’t matter—”

“You wouldn’t have slipped up,” Bailey stated. “And your magic sent out a beacon while you were gone.”

“And your wolf cried out to me,” Lukas added.

Ryleigh was still shaking, but she inhaled and closed her eyes. Something was wrong, and both her magic and her wolf were trying to tell her. Whatever it was had revealed her existence once again to the world, so it had to be serious. She heard her wolf whine as her magic crackled beneath her skin, but neither were the indicators of a problem. As she focused more, her wolf’s whine sounded affectionate, not like she was in pain. Her magic continued to crackle under her skin, but she realized that her magic was crackling because it was extending itself. Her magic and her wolf were no longer just for her.

Ryleigh opened her eyes and cupped her stomach with her hand. She looked at Lukas and Bailey. “I know why they smelled me,” she whispered softly.

“You were right about the strong swimmers, then,” Bailey said. Ryleigh felt the air thicken around her as Bailey’s magic strengthened the cloak around them. Ryleigh simply nodded in gratitude, but kept her eyes focused on Lukas. She was still shaking. Lukas immediately wrapped his arms around her tightly and pulled her against him. “You’re safe, my love,” he whispered as he pressed a kiss to her head.

Ryleigh had never felt fear so strongly before. The fear of being discovered must have been intensified because her wolf and her magic knew that she was pregnant right at that moment. The strength of the fear was crippling, and she felt her body start to shake again. Lukas hugged her tight to him. “You need to calm down,” he whispered softly.

“That moment…that moment when every vampire found me…Lukas, if I had been there…” her voice trailed off.

“You are safe here, you and our pup. I promise you,” Lukas whispered. She felt his heart rate start to increase, and she realized that he was reacting to her own fear. He was feeling how intense it was, and it was starting to scare him as well. Ryleigh rubbed her face against Lukas’ chest and inhaled his scent deeply. Immediately, a wave of calm spread inside of her as his scent clung to her.

“I am sorry,” Ryleigh said as she pulled her face away from Lukas’ chest to look up at him. “I am sorry for scaring you.”

“Are you all right?” Lukas whispered. He kept one arm tight around her as he released his other arm. He cupped her face with his free hand. “I’ve never felt you so scared before.”

“They all stopped, Lukas. The entire church and production line just stopped. It was like a horror movie; everyone just stopped and looked at me like I was food.”

“None of them will harm you, neither of you,” Lukas said.

“We have to replace Kristopher,” Ryleigh said. “We need to protect him. They’re going to kill him.”

“I don’t think we have a chance in protecting him now,” Lukas replied bitterly. “He is easier to replace than you are. There is a good chance that he was already captured. With the cloak around you, it will delay them locating you.”

“Oh, right,” Ryleigh said. She dipped into her magic and created an invisible cloak of armor around her, significantly stronger than her previous cloak. She nodded to Bailey, and a shift in the air confirmed that Bailey had dropped her cloak from Ryleigh. Lukas sniffed briefly but shook his head. “You just smell like Lycan again.”

“Thank you,” Ryleigh said to her sister.

“I’m glad that I came this time,” Bailey nodded. “You would have been taken before Lukas would have brought me back out here.”

“There’s no hope in trying for Kristopher?” Ryleigh asked Lukas. “I can’t just leave him alone, Lukas.”

“My love, you know how fast vampires travel. Kristopher is only ever at his club, and they know this. He’s already gone. I can go investigate the club on my own, see what I can replace out, but you must stay here. I can spin my interest in Kristopher for other means, but you cannot come with me. They may know that you’re alive, but the vampires have no idea that the Lycans are responsible. We need to keep that surprise to our advantage, as well as to protect our people.”

Ryleigh went to speak, but Lukas dipped his head down and kissed her deeply. She relented and kissed him back. She could feel his agitation and his worry, but she also felt his excitement. Underneath all the worry and stress of the war to come, he was excited to become a father. She smiled and rested her arms on his shoulders. He pulled back from the kiss slowly and looked down at her. “Give me this moment, my love. Please,” he whispered.

“I think that we both need this moment,” Ryleigh answered. “It just came much quicker than we thought.”

“I told you that having an Alpha as a mate could expedite things,” Lukas grinned. “Luckily, it doesn’t expedite behind closed doors.”

“Did you just go from scared to horny?” Ryleigh teased as she remembered their earlier conversation.

“Did you?” Lukas purred darkly.

“Pregnancy hormones,” Ryleigh stated innocently. “I can’t control that.”

“As happy as I am to become an aunt, and a little grossed out by this conversation, we do need to get back,” Bailey said softly. Lukas nodded and gave Ryleigh one final kiss. He slipped his fingers through hers and they began their walk back to the pack. Ryleigh still felt fear, but she also felt more determination now than she had before she died. She had something to fight for, something that she needed to live for; she needed to live this life with Lukas, to raise their daughter, and she would be damned if she was denied her chance at a true life after everything that she had been through.