Free The Bear's Surrogate: A Paranormal Pregnancy Romance by Angela Foxxe

gulped, and fled the room.  She still felt woozy after her accident but she was not going to let that stop her.  She felt a chill go down her spine as she remembered the conversation that had just taken place between her and the groundskeeper.  He put the emphasis on the word try, and that was not lost on her.
    She pulled her khaki hiking pants on and pulled on her grey sweater over her turtleneck.  She tied her long blonde hair back in a rough ponytail, grabbed her camera bag and swiftly left the room. She strode by Hilda as she silently fled the manor before Hans knew she was gone.   Rachel knew Hilda wouldn’t say a word to Hans as to her whereabouts so she wasn’t too concerned.
    She exited the large front door of the ancient manor and noticed Igor hulking near one of the stone corners of the castle.  The day was overcast with a mild drizzle filling the air.  “Good,” he said.  “This will help mask our scent from them.”
    Rachel looked up at Igor, confused. “Scent?”
    “No time to explain; let’s get down into the tunnel.  With luck, Valemon left the boat behind.” Igor shuffled her down the ramp as he held the door open.  “Get in, hurry.” The sounds of distant howls tickled her ears as she climbed the ladder into the tunnel below.  She heard the thud of the door close over her head followed by the heavier thud of Igor leaping off the ladder.  “Let’s get to the cavern, fast.  Hans knows where this tunnel leads to.”
    They rushed down the steep dirt path towards the sound of the lapping waves, she stumbled and Igor swiftly picked her up by the shirt collar with his powerful hands and pulled her back on to her feet.  “No time for that, there’s the boat.”  He pointed to the wooden rowboat with a new outboard motor fitted to it.
    Rachel climbed down the rope ladder that hung off the dock and into the old wooden boat.  Igor followed suit and caused the boat to list dangerously to the side as he embarked.  “Sorry about that, it’s sort of difficult when you’re as big as me,” he rumbled as he pulled the cord to the outboard motor to start it up.  The roar of the small engine echoed through the cavern causing Rachel to flinch at the noise.
    “There’s no hope for secrecy now,” Igor said as he increased the throttle and steered the small craft out of the cavern and into the narrow fjord.
    Rachel looked at Igor carefully, now that she had the chance.  She noticed there was a slight family resemblance between him and Valemon.  “Um.  I was wondering, are you and Valemon related?”
    Igor cast her a side-glance as he kept his eye out on the water.  “Yes.  We’re cousins.”
    “Really?” Rachel sat closer to the edge of the seat.
    “Yes, the thing is, I’m a bastard.  Like the whelp you’re pregnant with right now,” he rumbled.  “I have no rights to this castle, nor have I attracted the attention Valemon has.”
    Rachel nodded quietly.  “So you’re saying...”
    “Valemon will explain everything to you in short order.  We have a few hours of travel down this fjord to get to his location. He rarely ever swims this, so it must have been urgent.”
    Rachel looked out at the sheer cliffs to hide her concern for Valemon.  She felt a little queasy as a small wave lapped at the boat and tried not to vomit, she definitely did not want to fall into the frigid waters. 
    Suddenly a searing pain ripped through Rachel’s abdomen.  She doubled over and clutched her stomach, collapsing in the wet bottom of the rowboat.  Igor didn’t stop, he knew he couldn’t.  He glanced at the woman who lay in the boat writhing in agony as her insides felt like they were being torn to shreds from the inside.  He knew exactly what was going on, but remained mute.  He put his own mother through the exact same agony Rachel was going through.  He secretly hoped that her outcome would be better.
    “We’re almost there,” he shouted over the roar of the outboard engine.