I hope you all are enjoying the updates. I am trying to keep on top of it. (-: A nice cup of coco and some beautiful winter scenery always helps of course! Enjoy this chapter!

Aileen treated Isaiah's wound in silence, his skin was already starting to weave itself back together; soon the chunk of missing skin would become a large pink mass, a scar marking his victory with the dragons, a story for his children. Isaiah gave no flinch of pain he chose instead to sit very still and stare at the wall in front of him. Connecting the bandage together Aileen stepped back, indicating that he was finished. Isaiah brushed past her, making his way to the fridge. Aileen flinched as he slammed the meat onto plates, nearly cracking the thin thing. Slapping a plate down in front of Aileen Isaiah moved to the other side of the table, avoiding all and any eye contact with his mate. Aileen sat staring at the blood pooled in the center of the thick slab, if she looked hard enough she could make out the tiny vessels that wove its way through the meat. Isaiah ate the meat hungrily from the other end of the table, his teeth tearing through the innocent raw flesh easily.

"I'm sorry," Aileen spoke suddenly breaking the silence. Isaiah glanced up briefly before returning to his meal, a new rage set in. Poking at her own meat slab Aileen gingerly bit into it, making sure to make no noise. The meat was gamey, at first Aileen thought it was bear, but she could catch a small hint of snake which threw her off. Aileen tossed the chewed piece back and forth between her cheeks trying to figure out what she was eating, but no immediate thoughts came to her head.

"It's dragon," Isaiah muttered startling Aileen.

"Oh," Aileen responded. "I didn't see you butcher any of them out there."

"Because I didn't," Isaiah retorted. "We found a nest of them, they were moving closer to the village. So we decided they were too much of a threat to let them live. I've been stocking the fridge with them every night while you sleep."

"Why didn't you wake me?" Aileen asked surprising herself at her concern.

"I didn't need you awake," Isaiah shrugged.

"I'm sorry," Aileen piped in trying to continue the conversation.

"I care for you Aileen," Isaiah began dotting his mouth with a torn napkin. "But I am the alpha and you must respect me as so. I am your mate, like it or not. Jack is not, if you seek him out or ask about him again I will kill him."

"Don't say that," Aileen sighed heavily, hands wrapping over her stomach. "You haven't been you Isaiah. I hate the man you have become. Where is my best friend? Where is the boy that wanted to run away with me?"

"You destroyed that boy," Isaiah growled. "I am not as I once was Aileen. I cannot afford to be that soft love-struck boy, I will be killed. I must lead this clan, we need the numbers. Our species is dying and I am guiding it to the future. We are one of the last three clans to exist. Our clan needs this Isaiah, the alpha, to keep us alive."

"I'm sorry," Aileen dropped her head into her hands. "I never meant to hurt you Isaiah."

"You did," Isaiah stated simply. "But yet I still love you. I chose you, I could pick anyone and I chose you. Every woman in the village would beg to have the chance to be my mate, to have me by their side, to have me breed them. And yet I wanted the one girl who has and always will hold my heart."

"The baby likes to kick near my ribs," Aileen said softly. She didn't know why she said it, sharing this piece of information she kept secret between her child and herself. Isaiah stared at her in confusion, his jaw stuck in a tight line. Aileen looked to her stomach rubbing it in small circular motions.

"I know you tell the child stories," Isaiah mumbled under his breath. Aileen nodded her eyes searching his face for some sign of emotion, but Isaiah remained a blank stone, hard and cold.

"I like to believe that he can hear me," Aileen mused. Isaiah glanced at her stomach his mouth twitching upward slightly. Smiling Aileen moved toward him, pulling a cool chair to his side. Grabbing Isaiah's hand Aileen pressed it against her stomach where the child was kicking. Isaiah jumped in shock as the baby kicked again, a small thump against his palm. A small smile crept onto his face, one that reminded Aileen of the boy she had befriended long ago.

"That's amazing," Isaiah breathed. The pair sat frozen in time, enjoying the shared moment of admiration of their unborn child. Barriers fell as they bonded a new path beginning off of the one they had destroyed. Small tender steps imprinted themselves onto the path as they wove their way down it together, a small subtle happiness settling in the pit of their stomachs. Aileen felt free, she felt the hate she carried disappearing with every moment she shared with Isaiah. She told him about what she thought the child would look like, how beautiful and loved their baby would be. Isaiah shared his hopes of the child becoming alpha when he passed, or of the child starting his own clan. Moonlight bathed the two in a silver light creating a peaceful picture.

A pain filled howl destroyed their piece causing them both to turn to the door, eyes fixated on the doorknob. The howl was soon followed by a louder, deeper howl one that was tattooed with pride. Finally the last howl came, though it was more of a cry, one of new life and a new hope. Isaiah slipped his hand into Aileen's large fingers brushing over her smooth skin. It was a loving gesture, one that Aileen allowed to happen, even welcomed.

"Soon," Isaiah whispered into Aileen's ear. "Very soon, that will be us howling with pride."

"Very soon," Aileen smiled, listening to the young cry settle as his parents calmed him.