The Bear's Surrogate: A Paranormal Pregnancy Romance (7 page)

“We’re almost there,” he shouted over the roar of the outboard engine. “Just hang on!”

Her abdominal muscles felt as if they were splitting in half.  Rachel gritted her teeth trying not to cry out in agony as her body contorted in the icy bilge water inside the boat.  Her stomach suddenly bulged out in a grotesque manner, and settled down, giving her the appearance of a woman roughly fifteen weeks into her pregnancy. 

Rachel struggled back onto the flat board seat of the boat. Her pregnant stomach protruded over her wet khaki pants.  Brand new angry red stretch marks marred her skin from the sudden surge of growth from the baby within her.

She felt the bottom of the boat grind on the shallow gravel shoal as they approached a small island.  Rachel perked up; it seemed vaguely familiar somehow.  That tall rock in the distance, this was the island she pointed out to National Geographic!  Why was she back here?

Igor cut the engine and stepped out of the boat into the icy water.  He held his large hand out to help Rachel disembark.  She grabbed the offered hand and carefully stepped out of the boat.  She felt a bit unwieldy due to her sudden growth, but Igor was there to steady her.  She waddled slightly through the shallows to the rocky beach and noticed tufts of white fur everywhere.

Igor dragged the boat onto the beach with his massive strength and turned it over.  He then went and found some loose boughs and covered the boat as best as he could to hide it from prying eyes. 

She looked up at Igor who shook his head and kept guiding her through the woods.  “You need to come this way,” he said gruffly.

Rachel nodded in silence as she followed the grim man through the dense evergreen forest of the island she had heard about not so long ago.   She hadn’t explored this side of the island, and it seemed that there were more paths than the one she came in on.   

She heard yips and barks in the immediate area, causing her to cling to Igor as they went deeper into the woods.  “Shh, they won’t harm you this time,” he assured her.  “They know this place is sacred.”

That confused Rachel even more as they neared the base of the large rock.  There was a triangle shaped cave and inside, the large white bear who had helped her when she injured her ankle!

“Come, he won’t hurt you, and you know it,” Igor said as he roughly grabbed Rachel by the arm and forced her to approach the great ursine.

The large bear looked at her with sorrow in his ice blue eyes as he shook his massive head in denial.  Rachel felt a twinge of recognition, beyond knowing that this bear had assisted her in the past.  It felt as if she should know him on a more personal basis.

Igor stood behind her, blocking her escape as she approached the exhausted looking bear.  She held out her hand instinctively to show this great animal she wasn’t a threat.  The bear snorted at her and turned around, as if he was insulted by the gesture. 

“Valemon, you know she has no idea,” Igor said to his cousin.  Rachel startled and looked at the large man.  “Now, if you’ve rested long enough change back and let’s go home.  Hans has betrayed us finally.  The time has come.  Also, your pet here is fat with your cub; it’s ripping her guts apart.”

Valemon took in Rachel’s pale countenance and shook his massive body.  Igor removed the backpack he brought with him and opened it up. He pulled out a large blanket and some clothes. He tossed the blanket over the massive form of Valemon.  

A loud growl type groan emerged from the blanket as it shifted around and shrunk, then it shifted into a human yell as the blanket covered the large human form of Valemon. 

“My apologies,” he said weakly to Rachel.  “I have not told you the entire truth, and for that I beg your forgiveness.”

She stood there at the mouth of the cave, completely speechless at what she had witnessed.  She was trembling as the massive Valemon approached her with his arms outstretched.  He drew her in for a warm embrace.  “I’m so...so sorry.  I should have told you.  If I had, you probably wouldn’t have agreed to carry my child.”

“Well, now it’s killing me,” she spat, pulling away from him.  “I don’t know what to do now; I might go to the city for an abortion just so I don’t get ripped apart.”

“That isn’t possible,” he said softly.  “The child would tear you apart to preserve its own life if you tried.”

“It’s tearing me apart now,”  Rachel said, as she shook with rage.  “You have no idea what this is doing to me.”

“Yes, I do,” he said softly.  “I witnessed Igor’s mother go through the same torture as you are.  Only another who is under the Bjorn clan curse can carry a Bjorn child. I was foolish to try with another normal human.”

“Another?” Rachel shouted. “What do you mean another?”

“Well, I have tried at least four times prior to you.  All four have met with unfortunate results.  Three went through ectopic pregnancies that ruptured and killed them. The other went insane and hurled herself off the cliffs.  You felt different, stronger.  I almost had hope.”

Igor coughed nervously, interrupting the two.  “I remember my father saying, if he had just taken mother to the Aerie, she might have lived, while he was experiencing one of his nights of drunken self-pity.”  

The man tossed the folded clothes towards the naked Valemon.  “I have no idea where the Aerie could be, but it’s worth a shot.  We can’t go back to the manor.  Hans has summoned the
Úlfhéðnar
to search for Rachel.  Rumor has it that the Ironwood clan also need females that they can sire offspring from.”

Valemon grunted as he pulled on his clothes. “Yes, I guess they can’t get on Angrboda anymore.”

Igor smiled “Yeah I’m guessing that fucking their grandmother lost its luster long ago.  They seek fresh meat.”

Rachel coughed. “I’m right here, you know. This Ironwoods clan, or whatever they are, are looking for me? Are they crazy animal people, like you two?”

“Yes,” Valemon answered.  “They are the dire wolves you encountered on your first visit here.  Some are locked in their bestial form.  Some can shift between the two, like Hans.”

“Wait, you knew Hans belonged to your enemy?” she interrupted.

“Yes.  Long ago, there was a battle.  We struck it from the national history roles and shattered all the rune stones that mentioned it.  It was long and bloody.  The bears, my clan, fought the clan that belonged to the Troll Hag, Angrboda, because my ancestor slighted her and married another.  She really handled the rejection poorly.  After half a century of warfare, my ancestor and Fenrir fought for days in a great battle, neither would give quarter.  He wanted to defend his mother’s honor, and my ancestor, Valemon, yes, I carry the same name, fought to defend his honor. Angrboda finally had enough as both of the combatants wore down.  My ancestor and she agreed to a truce.  In that agreement, she cast an enchantment on our clan.  By the time each male reaches fifty years of age, if he has not produced an offspring, and offered it to her in sacrifice, he shall be forever locked in his bear form.  To make sure we honored our end of the bargain, she sent one of her grandchildren to watch over us.”

“Where do I come in?” Rachel asked.

Valemon heaved a heavy sigh and continued with his story.  “The only acceptable offspring was one of pure Bjorn blood.  Angrboda would have no other.   For generations, despite great pain and sorrow, we honored our agreement with the witch of the Iron Woods, for we did not want another war.    Then one day, while my father was out hunting with my mother and sisters, Angrboda snapped and set her dire wolves to attack them.  They didn’t have a chance,” Valemon said through gritted teeth. 

“I was then set up as heir, at thirty.  My wife, whom I was paired with since childhood, was fat with our first child.  We were steeling ourselves for the inevitable.”

Igor shifted and looked at his shoes as Valemon spoke.  He knew very well what went on next.

“One day, my wife went into labor.  Hans was busy cleaning the infirmary for the impending arrival, and then all of a sudden, the wolves attacked.  They charged through the doors with their fangs flashing.  The biggest one set upon my wife, who was in the throes of labor, and tore her throat out.  It then ripped her pregnant belly open with one bite and devoured my son.   I charged in and broke that one’s neck with one swipe and the other turned tail and ran off.  Hans offered no explanation as to why his brethren acted as such.  I have yet to forgive him for his treachery, and now this...”

Igor looked at his cousin and then at Rachel.  “You should have been prepared, Valemon.  You knew that mangy dog was no good, and Angrboda has lost her ever loving mind.  He’s loyal to her and only her.  Soon, no place will be safe from them, not even here.  We need to get moving soon.”

Valemon glanced at Rachel.  “Are you sure you can make the trip?” he asked her.  “It will be long, and we won’t have a car.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said.  “I just don’t want to die.”

“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.” Valemon comforted her as he embraced her.  “You have no idea how sorry I am about this.”

“You can make it up to me by making sure your cub doesn’t kill me,” Rachel snapped.  “Alright Igor, where do you think we need to go to fix this?”

Igor heaved a sigh. “That’s the thing; I have no idea where the Aerie could be.  I just know it’s up in the mountains somewhere.” 

“So we go north,”  Valemon stated. “How much gas does the outboard have left?” he asked Igor.

“Not much.  It took almost three quarters of it to get here.  We can get half way to the ocean but we’ll have to row the rest of the way,” his cousin replied.

Valemon grunted, it wasn’t ideal but it would have to do.  “Now if we need to go on foot, and we probably will, we won’t be able to carry you unless you really need it.  Every time I shift into my bear form before I offer Angrboda her sacrifice, it increases the chance of me becoming locked in.”

Rachel swallowed hard.  “So if I become too big too soon...”

“We’ll worry about that when we get to it.  Just try not to get injured on the way,”  Igor replied as he looked up at the blue sky above.  “We need to get moving now if we are to at least try to get some distance to the mountains.  Maybe we’ll run into someone who might know where the Aerie might be hidden; reindeer herders and shepherds out in those parts keep to themselves mostly and know the local area better than anyone.”

“You’re right.  Let’s go.”  With that, Valemon pushed his way out of the cave and made his way to the path Igor and Rachel had used to find him. 

Rachel mutely walked between the two large men to where Igor had beached the rowboat.  She was lost in her own thoughts as they trekked through the dense woods.  She knew the deal was too good to be true; she kicked herself mentally for her impulsivity.  She was so swept away by Valemon’s charm and wealth that she didn’t completely pick up that something was amiss.  Sure, Hans gave her bad feelings and she sure was on to something when she found that rune stone on the internet.

“Hey guys,” she spoke up.  Both men slowed down and looked at her. “I think I might know something that could help.”

Valemon arched a silver eyebrow. “Go on,” he said skeptically.

“OK, when you were gone one time, Hans gave me some serious skeevy vibes.  I wanted to know more about your family and whatnot, because the maid said that old hatreds die hard and to be careful.  Well, I got on the internet and I found this page in some kind of Norse dialect and there was a picture of this huge rune stone on it.  It had a bear on top of a wolf and a bunch of old runes carved into it.  I was about to look for a way to translate the picture but you showed up,” she said as a blush crept over her cheeks.

“So you saw a grainy photo of a rune stone,” Valemon said.  “Do you remember the address of the site?” 

“Well, it should still be in my laptop’s history. But my laptop is still at the manor,” she said sadly.

Igor smiled.  “I think I might have a plan. Do you have your cell phone?” he asked Rachel.

“Yeah, but there’s no signal here,” she replied as she fished it out of her camera bag.

“We’ll get one when we leave this area.  I’ll call Hilda and see if she can bring us the laptop into the cavern without Hans knowing.  The manor’s WiFi should extend into the cavern so you can get that page up again.”

“That works,” Rachel said as she waddled behind Igor.  Her belly seemed to be getting larger as the day wore on.  At least it wasn’t as painful as it was when it first popped, but the pain still throbbed intermittently as the creature within her grew rapidly.

Igor looked back at her.  “Valemon, she might have two, three weeks at the most before that spawn of yours rips her to pieces.”

“I know,” he barked, and suddenly went quiet.  He heard a growl off to the right that caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end.  “They’ve found us,” he whispered. 

“We’re only about fifty feet away from the boat.  If we make a run for it, we can make it and I can put it into the water.  The wolves can’t swim, their bones are too dense and they sink,” Igor explained for Rachel’s benefit.  “On the count of three, we’ll run.  I’ll go first so I can get the boat ready; you and Valemon follow as fast as you can.”  He crouched down as the snuffling and growling got closer. 

“One...two...three!” The massive man bolted out of the brush and ran full tilt towards the mound of branches that concealed the large rowboat.  He heaved it back upright and dragged it to the water.  Valemon and Rachel followed as fast as she could go, holding her large belly as she ran towards the wooden craft.