Page 29 of The Predator's Wolf Mate

I needed my mate to know that I was fine, and I winked, hoping he was the only one who caught it.

Everyone in the room started to negotiate as if I weren’t there. In the end, the alphas agreed to take up their old job in exchange for our safety, not just mine and my little family but all the omegas and their children. I hated that they had us up against the wall like this, but they did. We couldn’t chance the others getting hurt, and it was then that I told them so. I might not be a part of this conversation, but I sure as shit was part of this situation.

And just like that, it was done. They even let us walk out, like this was just an everyday business meeting and maybe, to them, it was. But to me? This was…whoa.

“And when we call or message, you fucking better answer,” was the last thing they said to us.

All I wanted to do was hold my mate, to feel that he was okay and to show him I was as well, but I needed to get us out of there—to be safe before that happened. As soon as we got home, I hugged him tightly, Bryant’s arms around my mate’s neck as he took his piggyback ride.

“I was so scared,” my mate whispered in my ear, trying to avoid Bryant from being more traumatized than I feared he already was. Me too, for that matter. But all things considered, it went well—as well as a kidnapping could.

We went inside and I got Bryant cleaned up and then brought him to the kitchen. Cook was making all his favorite foods. And by all, I meant all of them. The kid had a buffet being prepared for him. I needed to shower badly, but not until Bryant was fed and asleep and under the watchful eye of Aziz. My nerves were too on edge to leave him with anyone else.

A sharp pain hit my side, and I bent over.

“Did they hurt you?” Aziz was by my side in a flash.

“No, I promise you they didn’t. I was more scared than anything.” I didn’t want him to worry any more than he already was. “Why don’t you go debrief with the guys, and I’ll stay with Bryant until he’s done eating. Then maybe you could sit with him while I take a shower?”

“Anything for you, my love.”

He went to the meeting, and I stayed with Bryant as Cook gave him mac and cheese, dino nuggets, hamburgers, scrambled eggs, toast, and marshmallow cereal, along with an array of fruit and a muffin. Pretty much everything Bryant had ever asked for.

After he was done eating, we went back to our room. I settled him into our bed—he wasn’t leaving my side tonight. The next room just seemed too far away.

I assured him our adventure was over, trying to make it sound less horrific than it actually had been, and read him his favorite book over and over again.

When my mate came in an hour later, I went into the shower. This time, when I twisted to wash my feet, the pain came back. It wasn’t a stomach ache and it subsided quickly, but it felt wrong.

As soon as I got out of the shower and my mate went to take his, I called the healer and asked him to come by. Saul did, and when he looked me over, he shook his head.

“Were you doing too much work today?”

“I wouldn’t call it work.” I wasn’t ready to talk about what happened.

“Well, it looks like your little one thinks it’s time to be born. And it’s not time yet.” Saul gave me a little bottle of tincture. “Drink this, and I need you to stay in bed until you’re closer to full term.”

My mate looked terrified, and Saul must have sensed it because he went over to him, put his hand on his shoulder, and said, “Listen, as long as he does what I say, your baby is staying put until they are fully cooked. I promise you.”

And he kept that promise. I spent day after day in bed, for twenty-three hours a day. I watched movies, colored with my son, and listened to music. It was boring, but so much better than the alternative. Every day our bundle stayed in there, they were better off.

It was an odd feeling knowing that I was safe because we, as a group, decided that working for the bad guys was not the deal-breaker it had once been. That safety wasn’t enough for my mate. He stayed by my side, or as close to it as he could. The only time he wasn’t in earshot was when he was doing perimeter runs.

But, as each day passed, all of us felt better about things. We were still “getting rid of the bad guys” like we had before. The only difference was that we now knew we were pawns in their games. That sucked, but maybe…just maybe, the ends justified the means in this case?

Then, one day, I felt different, and I couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was, so I called Saul. When he came over, his face lit up.

“Today’s the day.”

“It’s too soon,” I said, grabbing my belly.

“No, it’s not. They’re ready. Don’t you feel it?”

I shrugged.

“Do you feel good?”

I let that roll around in my head before answering. “Yes, that’s what I was feeling or maybe more accurately, like myself.” Pregnancy was a trip like that. You were in a constant state of not quite being fully you, the hormones doing a number on every part of who you were.

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