Olive woke to the sound of birds singing, the warmth of the day swarmed around her. She was somewhere soft, a light blanket laid over her body. The smell of something similar to lavender lingered then something sweetly baked roused her. She felt like the smell could lift her into the air and carry her toward the source, it smelled that good.

'Good morning sleepy head.'

The voice was feminine and familiar. Olive fluttered her eyes open to see Islana smiling at her as she sat on the bed beside her. The beautiful woman wore a dress with a bodice that looked like a bone crushing corset, a gorgeous red that rustled with her movement. Islana could see the fear in Olive's eyes, she feared shape shifters. Phabel had been distraught all night long, the pain of having frightened Olive was breaking his world apart. His parents didn't know what to do about it. It wasn't common for the dark side of a shifter to come out easily, they had to have let the blood lust go too far or be pretty annoyed for it to happen. But last night, Phabel was livid. His beloved mate had been abducted by a crazy witch, she was nearly killed by a pesky cat and she had clearly had a rough introduction into a shifters abilities. His mounting anger had caused the monster to break free, for a brief moment he had barred his fangs to scare the cat off so that it would drop the mouse. Phabel had been fooled into thinking that the limp mouse in the cat's mouth was passed out but she was playing dead. And the monster that she saw in her mate was the reason she was trying to press herself into the headboard of the bed.

'You needn't fear shape shifters Olive, what you saw last night was a rare occurrence.'

Olive looked at Islana, thinking it was rather dubious.

'For that level of darkness to come out one of two things needs to happen. Either the shifter has gone into uncontrolled blood lust, which I might add takes a rather long time to get to or the shifter is enraged. I'm not talking plain old angry, I'm talking serious blood boiling anger. When Phabel found you in the mouth of that cat, he thought you were almost dead. He was angry that he was foolish enough to leave you alone in his office resulting in your abduction. It didn't help that as they drew closer to you, Josie could hear your thoughts about the fake Phabel who had been rather rough in handling you.'

Islana smiled softly, almost a sympathetic smile. 

'Josie is a phoenix, I believe you have met Miranda?'

Olive nodded.

'Sisters. So of course she was able to hear your thoughts, found the memories of what had happened to you and told Phabel. He was appalled that someone had put their hands on you and to make it worse, they portrayed themselves as him, pretending to be a violent person. She assured him that you had figured it out pretty quickly but it didn't matter to Phabel, someone had hurt you. Then to see the limp little mouse in the cats mouth, well, you can imagine what he thought.'

Olive nodded again.

'His anger came from these thoughts, all of his fears about losing you, never having you in his life again, his own stupidity.' she shrugged 'It boiled over and allowed for the darkness to control him for a brief moment. It is rare, I promise.'

'Ok.' 

'How are you feeling?'

'Incredibly refreshed, like I have slept for a thousand years.' she paused 'I didn't sleep for a thousand years did I?'

Islana laughed.

'No my dear, you slept for approximately nine hours.'

Olive frowned as she tried to figure out the timing.

'Do not compare hours from your home to the hours here, we vary greatly which I can assure you can be a real pain. It is eleven am here but in your own realm it would be about three in the afternoon. See how crazy it is?' she grinned.

'Yeah.'

'Now, the maids will bring you something to eat, may I suggest to you that unless you require the bathroom you spend the day in bed. Said bathroom is over there.' she gestured to the wall behind the bed that she was sitting on, there was an archway at the end of it. 'If you require any assistance there is a phone, the various places within the house are on the speed dial.'

Olive looked at the phone, it looked like an ordinary office phone.

'I know what you're thinking. You thought we wouldn't bring the technology in like the wolves. We aren't that stubborn. Call it laziness, call it stupidity for our future but there were things that we were not prepared to live without. Now, the kitchen, the nurse, my husbands secretary which is me.' she winked with a sly grin 'And of course Seraphina.'

'Who?'

'Child number two, my daughter. No doubt she will be here to do all sorts of girly things with you. She will talk until your ears bleed.' she patted her knee 'If she gets too much for you tell her that you heard the sound of hooves clattering up the driveway. She will be out the door before you can say your boyfriend is here.'

Islana rose from the bed, straightening out the dress that Olive thought resembled something that should be worn to a ball, not for day to day wear.

'Phabel will be up shortly. He had business to attend to with his father. Oh, you might like to know that while you were asleep they dealt with the witch. Drama averted, all is well.'

'Danika and Lucian?'

'Will return at the end of the week, Lucian had to deal with some things before he could take a small holiday.'

After Islana left, Olive looked around the room. To say that it was gorgeous was an understatement. To the left of her was three wide double doors that opened out onto a balcony, letting in copious amounts of natural light. The grounds beyond the balcony were green and lush. The sun beat down on the land brightly, highlighting the green of the trees. Soft white sheers floated in the summer breeze, cool and refreshing. The room was a crisp and clean looking white, the bed she was laying in was what looked like a cherry wood four poster bed. The same white sheers were artfully draped down the posts and around the rails that connected them. Across from her bed was a fire place with two antique love seats. The wood was the same cherry wood and the white material of the cushion looked plush. On the table in between the two lounges was a large vase with flowers that resembled roses. Large pink blooms mixed with deep red smaller blooms. Olive wanted to get up and look at everything but heeded Islana's words. She would remain in the bed unless she was desperate to use the bathroom.

The door opened slightly, Phabel poked his head through the door, smiling when he saw Olive was awake and still in bed. He was grateful for his mother coming in here and settling her down, ensuring that she would still be receptive to him when he did venture into the room. Phabel didn't dare do it, he didn't want to see her scared of him. He knew that kind of image would haunt him for the rest of his days. The visions of Olive would be ones of smiles and giggles, looks of lust and ecstasy, never fear. He thought that he could look upon her every day and never grow tired of her, he was grateful that she was still alive. Phabel knew it had been close, she had taken too long to wake and change back from the mouse. Once she had he was able to fix her quickly but the time difference had taken it's toll on her body. She had lost far too much blood because of that damned cat. She was also lucky that it hadn't started to eat her, deciding that he wanted to play with his food first.

There were many things that he could be grateful for. Josie and her impeccable timing, her words of advice and of course, her logical thinking. He would have been lost to the situation if it wasn't for her. Once again, he was indebted to a phoenix. Olive was sitting up looking at a magazine that had been left on the night stand for her. Phabel didn't want her dragged into the world of gossip magazines but his overbearing sister insisted that Olive was brought up to speed with the world she was about to be brought into. He thought it was more likely that she was going to drown in this nightmare of people that watched the royal families every movement. It was only a matter of time before they found out about her, then her life would change forever. There would be magazines devoting entire editions to her. They had spent so long trying to associate him with someone of some form of aristocracy or someone who might be famous, but there was no one. Well, no one that they knew of. Her eyes caught his, her smile widened as she laid the magazine onto her lap.

'Hey.'

Phabel slipped into the room, closing the door behind him.

'Hi, did you sleep well?'

'I did.'

'Are you hungry, thirsty, can I get you anything?'

He wandered closer seeing that she had already helped herself to a glass of water from the glass pitcher that had been left for her. By the looks of it she was thirsty.

'I'd actually like the bathroom but my legs are like jelly. The maid said she was going to get the nurse for me.'

'Can you feel your feet and toes?'

'Yes, I just get a bit woozy and I don't think there is any strength in my legs.'

The door swung open, the nurse entered followed by the maid. Both of them curtsied to Phabel, the nurse helped Olive to the bathroom and the maid set out her lunch. Phabel waited on the balcony, watching the gardener pick bunches of flowers for the house. He turned to see the nurse helping Olive back into bed, then moving to him. Olive picked through her plate of sandwiches that were perfectly cut into little sections.

'Your highness, her recovery has progressed well. The weakness in the legs is of no concern, she can walk fine. If you massage her feet the sensations will return quicker.'

'Thank you Anya.'

As they left he returned to her bed. Olive was now on top of the sheets, the maid had helped her change into a cool summer nightdress. Phabel sat at her feet, scratching his finger up the sole. She giggled and pulled her feet away.

'I will behave, return them and I will do as the nurse suggested.'

Cautiously she returned her feet to him, watching him with a grin and a squint. He pressed his thumbs deep into the soles of her feet. Olive didn't care what he did, to her it was one awesome foot massage. She could feel the glorious pressure tingling through her body where Phabel was working his magic thumbs. His eyes grazed over her legs, a soft tan colour that led to the edge of the nightdress at her knees. It was a soft white cotton material with a small lace trim. His eyes moved higher over the ripples of the dress, the pattern on the material, the buttons that sat in between her very well formed curves. He didn't want his eyes to linger too long on her breasts but he couldn't help it. She was naked underneath the dress and the white cotton material was far too thin. Some of the buttons were open, the material folded back over itself revealing the soft skin of her chest. His eyes moved higher with the knowledge in his mind that he had stayed far too long at the thin material that revealed far more than he wanted. Her jaw moved slowly with the movement of eating her sandwich, when his eyes met hers, she was watching him. Watching him with a raised eyebrow and amusement in her sweet face.

'Find something you like?'

'Very much so.' he grinned. 

'Lay beside me.'

'Always.' he beamed.

Olive grinned as she placed the plate on the night stand and moved under the bed sheets. She held back the sheet and patted the bed. Phabel grinned harder, rose from the bed and locked the door, returning to his love. The shoes and socks were the first to be cast away with reckless abandonment, the shirt was next to follow. Olive said nothing as she watched, one wicked grin slicked across her face. The floor show was erratic but worth it. He stopped when he got to his pants, watching as Olive moved over the bed.

'All the way my lovely?'

'As far as you wish.' she giggled.

Phabel went as far as his pants, she was still too tired from the drama that had just passed. Then there was a different kind of tired that he couldn't help but smile about.

'What?' she grinned.

'I have something to tell you Olive.'

He sat on the bed leaning on one arm as his fingers circled her stomach. 

'Last night, when I had finished saving you, I discovered something.'

His hand splayed out over her stomach, feeling the life burning through her body.

'I know you want for your education and I know it isn't the best timing but we will deal with this as best we can.'

'Deal with what?' she frowned.

'You're pregnant.'

'How can you tell that?' she squinted at him 'I'd only be a day, two days?'

'I'm a healer Olive, I can see inside you. I can see your body changing with the life that is growing right here.'

He pressed his finger to the spot where the embryo had latched on.

'Itsy bitsy little life, who throughout your ordeal held strong, never giving up on this life.' he paused for a moment looking at her. 'You don't seem impressed my love.'

'I am Phabel, I have always wanted to be a mother. I just find it hard to believe that it's actually happened.' she sighed 'Then again, I know nothing about babies or their creation. Just that to get them you have to have sex.'

'Well then, maybe I should find a book about the creation of life for you to read.'

'More books.' Olive sighed with a grin.

'What do you want to do about your education, did you want to defer it?'

'Maybe I should give it up as a bad joke. Going to be a mummy now, no time for an education.'

Phabel narrowed his eyes, thinking that she was probably reciting her fathers words about her secondary education after her mothers death.

'There is always time for it, if that is what you want. You are only just pregnant Olive, you can continue your education for this year for as long as you feel up to it. We can have tutors come here and educate you in whatever you desire.'

He nestled in beside her, pulling her into his arms.

'What do you want to do? This world is yours my love, decide for yourself and no one else. I will support whatever decision you make. There is no wrong answer.'

'I will continue until I can no longer cope.'

'You will always cope Olive, I have no doubt about your abilities. You are far stronger than you give yourself credit for.'

Olive decided that she would continue her education, she would start her design business and she would become a great mother. She knew that Phabel would be a great father, his parents had given him a lifetime of love and affection and she knew that he would do the same for their child. Olive smiled as she snuggled against his body, with his love and support she knew that she could do anything she wanted.