Free Draechen's Mate [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 2] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) by Scarlet Hyacinth Page B

impossible.”
    “According to Taryn, there’s some dubious magical blood in his line.” Hareem passed an agitated hand through his hair. “The child-bearing gene must have passed on to him. I didn’t believe it when he first told me, but at this point, it would be idiotic to continue doubting it.”
    “Overlords, Hareem… What are you going to do?”
    “I was hoping you could tell me.” There was no trace now of the ice dragon legendary for his charming, yet fake façade. Hareem was dissolving into pure panic, and that was bad, for all of them. “Taryn wants to keep it, but you know as well as I do that it’s a recipe for disaster.”
    Karein’s stomach roiled at what Hareem was saying. A child was something so precious, especially when he or she came from one’s mate. Karein would never have that. Even if fae males had the ability to give birth, Karein’s energy stealing abilities also prevented his semen from ever impregnating anyone. It was why he could never stomach the idea of a child being harmed. Well, he had another reason, and he swallowed around the sudden knot in his throat as the dark guilt threatened to choke him again. But no, he couldn’t think about that death now. He needed to focus on Hareem, and of course, on Sari. The past was the past, and he couldn’t change it.
    “You can’t do that to Taryn,” he said. “He’s your mate.”
    “I know, okay? I’ve known from the moment I saw him. But he’s ninth caste, Karein. No matter how much I want this to work, the Directive forbids it. And even if it wasn’t against the law, if one word of it reaches Father’s ear, Taryn’s dead.”
    Karein tried to come up with something that would work under these circumstances. No matter how many times he’d threatened Hareem with exposing the truth about Taryn, he never would have done it. He knew how much the werewolf meant for his brother. But sadly, Hareem was correct. Breeding outside one’s own caste was forbidden by the Directive. There were a few exceptions, but none of them applied to Hareem’s situation. In fact, if anyone even learned that Taryn was more to Hareem than a plaything, Hareem would be forced to take a different, official mate out of the draechen. The most Taryn could ever expect was a life as a concubine, deprived of any chance to breed.
    Fortunately, the Directive didn’t apply to magical creatures, but Karein could easily place himself in his brother’s position now that he had found his own mate. “You need to stall,” he said. “Keep moving him around. Make sure he never stays in one place for too long. In the meantime, we need to find a place to stash him until the baby is born.”
    “But where?” Hareem asked, looking more desperate than Karein had ever seen him. Wait. Karein had never actually seen him desperate at all. “Where could we take him that wouldn’t draw Father’s attention?”
    Karein was very tempted to approach Philip Strange once again. He’d done it once so that he could save Caelyn and Graham. Philip might be able to help them contact Taryn’s pack. Because Karein could avoid his father’s scrutiny for a couple of things, but the expense required to maintain a pregnant werewolf in a secure place would draw the eye. To Karein, one thing seemed certain. Hareem couldn’t keep Taryn anymore. The secret would come out, and then, Taryn and the child would be killed. “You need to speak to his family. They have to take him back, at least temporarily. Then, if he so desires, he can return to your side. The child can stay with the wolves.”
    “You’re insane.” Hareem shook his head stubbornly. “It will never work. I can’t do it.”
    Karein arched a brow and crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you have any other options?”
    “I could ask the fae to take him,” Hareem mused.
    The random comment took Karein completely by surprise. “You must be joking. We’re on the brink of war, and you’d have the fae protect Taryn? That’s