Page 12 of Pregnant Kidnapped Mate

I shuddered, suddenly wanting to curl in on myself and hide away. Everything was happening too fast. How was I supposed to just accept this?

But it’s Alek, I reminded myself. And it was true. Even if he had kept this from me, I knew, deep down, that he was the same person I’d met all those years ago.

I sighed, running my fingers through my hair as I tried to come to terms with everything happening. “I’m going to go upstairs,” I said. “Just give me a bit of time, all right?”

“Iris…” Alek began but then fell quiet at the expression on my face. He sighed. “All right. I’m here when you want to talk.”

“Yeah.” But I wasn’t sure when that was going to be.

I hurried up the stairs, and the entire time, I could feel Alek’s eyes on me.

Chapter 6 - Alek

When I came downstairs, I was surprised to see Iris on the couch. A book lay open in her lap, but she was staring outside, biting her thumbnail as she stared at the scenery outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. I was surprised but relieved. It had been a few days since she had found out I was a shifter, and I had barely seen her since. I was trying to give her space, but it had been nearly impossible not to knock on her door and demand she talk to me. My wolf was frustrated, sensing her nearby, constantly smelling her in the house but being unable to see her or spend time with her. Still, I’d held off, knowing that pushing her too soon was about the worst thing I could do.

Now, seeing her made me happier than I could have imagined.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” I said.

Iris jumped. Her head whipped around. I could see the tension in her shoulders and the uncertainty in her eyes as she looked at me. Then, she nodded.

“Yeah,” she said, looking back out the window. “You’re lucky to have this sort of view. My village was just sort of in the middle of nowhere, tucked in a valley. You couldn’t really see any of the mountains or scenery.”

“How are you doing?” I asked hesitantly.

She exhaled, running her fingers through her hair. “Honestly? I don’t know, Alek,” she said. “It’s been weird. I still don’t know if I’ve fully come to terms with it. There was an entire side of you that I didn’t realize existed.”

“I wanted to tell you,” I said. “But the way you talked about wolf men…I was terrified, you know?”

“You still should have told me.”

“Would you have run?”

She didn’t answer. I walked around the couch, sitting in the chair beside her. “I’m still the same person,” I said.

“I know,” she said. “And I want to trust you. But it’s hard not to see you in an entirely new light.”

I exhaled. I wanted to prove to her that she could trust me, that there was nothing for her to be afraid of. But I had no idea how to communicate that to her. It was the type of thing she had to find out for herself.

“You don’t trust me at all, then?” I asked.

Her blue eyes pierced into me. “I trust the man I remember from all those years ago,” she said. “But I don’t know how much of you is that and how much of you is wolf.”

I nodded, then looked her straight in the eye. “I’m going to show you I’m the same person. And I’m going to show you that you don’t have anything to worry about. From me or other shifters.”

“Except Dan,” she said, frowning.

I winced. “That was a fluke,” I said. “He was just being a dick. But I promise you he’s in the minority, and I’m going to prove that to you.”

She gave a small half-smile. “I hope you do.”

***

“I’ve got to get going,” I said, standing quickly after the meeting was over. The entirety of the Silver Wolves had gathered to talk about patrol schedules and other concerns people in the pack expressed. I’d been bored the entire time, and all I wanted to do was get back home. Iris was still not talking to me much, but I wanted to check on her and make sure she was all right. “See you guys later,” I added.

I hurried out, waving over my head as I made my way to the door.

“Alek.”

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