Page 45 of Pregnant Forced Mate

“Wait,” I bellow sternly, lifting up a hand in the air. “Do you feel that?”

“Feel what?”

I turn to my best friend with a tightly knit frown. He shrugs to show that he doesn’t sense it. But I can. A strange, spirally shiver courses down my spine and sends goosebumps on the flesh of my arms.

“Danger…” I say, snapping my head back in the direction of the looming danger I can sense rearing its head. Something’s about to happen. I can feel it. “You go that way. I think we’re being attacked.”

Aidan nods and jogs in the opposite direction while I head in the direction my senses call me to snap my head in. With my fists curled at my sides, I take the corner only to see the real danger.

It’s Yazmine with her shoulders slouched amongst a group of female dragons.

“That’s enough!” I roar as I near Yazmine. She turns around at the sound of my voice, but I have my wary eyes on the group of females. I notice their terse stances, recognizing it for what it is.

They’d been belittling Yazmine because she’s a human. The thought alone boils my blood inside, sending heated pricks to the nerves in my fingertips. When I reach Yazmine’s side, I glare at the group demand, “What are you doing here?”

“Er—nothing,” Eva, a warrior dragon from my age group, hesitates. “We were just getting to know the human.”

I grunt under my breath, fists tightening at my sides. “She has a name…” I say with a warning tone. “And her name is Yazmine. She is my mate.”

Leave now, before I rip your heads off your shoulders, I threaten telepathically. I don’t want the threat to fall on Yazmine’s ears.

But the moment we’re alone, I realize she’s out here alone. She turns to smile at me, but I know better than to buy into that smile. It’s probably just another one of her acts, so we don’t have to face the real issue.

She was trying to escape. She was trying to leave the island. That’s why the twins aren’t with her. That’s why she’s out here all alone.

The realization is infuriating, angering me more than what I just stumbled on. I glower at her, anger flashing in the reflection of my eyes in her vision.

“What are you doing alone out here?!”

A frown flits past her face, fear flashing in her eyes as she hesitates to speak. “I—I was—”

Her hesitation is what sets me over the rails. I can’t believe that she was planning on running away.

After everything…

“I don’t care!” I cut her off abruptly. “Get back inside, Yazmine!”

The command is all it takes for her to rush toward the castle. I watch her intently to ensure she crosses the bridge and makes it inside without trying to run away again. Once she’s in the castle, I send the twins a telepathic warning to keep an eye on her.

“Aragon! I checked the perimeter, but there was nothing. Did you find anything?” Aidan calls from behind as he comes rushing forward.

“No,” I respond, shaking my head and turning back to him. “False alarm.”

“Thank the gods,” he breathes a sigh of relief. “Wanna head in?”

“You go ahead,” I tell him, glancing at the arena entrance where the other dragon shifters in our age group begin filing inside. “Actually, you can head training today. There’s something I must take care of.”

Aidan reluctantly agrees before heading into the arena. I know he senses that something is wrong, but he isn’t one to press for information. I haven’t breathed a word about my encounter with Yazmine to him. As my best friend, he should have been the first to know.

Perhaps it’s shame that keeps me reluctant to divulge the details. Or, maybe I’m just not sure what to do. Right now, however, I have to deal with something far more important.

Yazmine’s trying to run away from the island.

Grunting under my breath, I march toward the castle, footsteps thumping loudly on the wooden bridge that marries the path across the river. Utter disbelief fuels my anger as I head inside, ready to fight Yazmine.

“Aragon! I thought you were at training,” Lily says as she appears from behind the front door just as I shut it loudly behind me.

“Where is she?!” I fume, oblivious to the fact that Lily is carrying my nephew in her arms.

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